Ah, November

I love fall! Today was beautiful, even with the rain. When the air is chilly and it's rainy like today, it reminds me of home. The lake always smells fresh and cool. Other people don't like it, but I do.

I miss home quite a bit. I didn't think I would this much, since by the time I left I felt like I just had to get out. Now, hours away from my family, the lake, my small town, I feel kind of lost sometimes. Maybe not lost, since I'm plenty happy here, but just... wistful. I count the days until I can take the train just as far North as it will go; until I can walk the pier, breathe fresh air, paint outside.

Even though I was excited about the weather today, I had to spend most of the time in either the recording studio or the painting studio. A friend of mine, a music composition major here, is working on a solo album on which I get to sing. There wasn't much for me to do today, though, so instead I drew this picture of him recording:

I don't often work in pencil any more, so this was nice for me. I fell out of the habit of carrying a decent-sized sketchbook for a while, until I found a nice one at Barnes and Noble. It's small, about the size of a lined notebook, which is perfect for carrying around.

I'm beginning to work on a series of pieces about my favorite places. The first on my list is a campsite my friend's family owns on the lake. I haven't really painted landscapes or seascapes before, so I'm a little nervous to see what will happen.

Here's a small watercolor study I did for one of the smaller paintings:

I'm never really sure what my paintings will look like when they're done; that is, I rarely go in with a strict plan of action. This time I'm trying to do a good amount of studies before actually beginning any paintings on canvas.

My goal is to try and post a few sketches a week here as I do them. If I have no reason to do them, other than for practice, I usually don't. Hopefully, I'll look back at each older post and realize first-hand the importance of drawing every day.