Boredom...Or Just A Good Exercise For Your Eyes?

You have to be bored to find something like this to draw!

But, it was a great exercise to try and not overlap the lines and think before I draw. For me, that is not as easy as it sounds. But, 'dere ya geaux... the truth hurts!

Copyright 2013/Ben Bensen III

"Fifties Plymouth... From Another View"

Same car as...

About six months back, I did three sketches of this old junked Plymouth that seemed to be on this person's front driveway for over a year. This is just another angle from across the highway with traffic speeding by. On this country thoroughfare, there is barely a soft shoulder to park on and on the other side of those shoulders are ditches and culverts. It started to feel dangerous and I couldn't really concentrate, so I gave it up. I eventually realized I needed to get closer if I was gonna capture the real spirit of it being there.

Copyright 2013/Ben Bensen III

"Kayaking 'da Bayou"...

This is just a quick sketch of two kayakers skimming across Bayou St. John. The lushly vegetated waterway has a unique history and one which is, at this point, too involved to get into. Let's just say that even though it is pretty to look at from basically Canal Street to Lake Ponchatrain, it hasn't always been well kept and for many years the fish you caught was fish you didn't want to keep!

That being said, these kayakers helped me make it a better sketch when they made it to the lake and returned back my way, so I got them coming as well as going!

Copyright 2013/ Ben Bensen III

"Oh, To Be Twenty-five Again...

A sketch of a B-25 Mitchell bomber at 1/72 scale...

I was in my son's room the other day and noticed on his bookshelf, which I was dusting, an old model bomber in a state of slight disrepair. I remember making this model to use as reference for a painting I did for the U.S. Air Force. The completed painting was entitled, "To B-25." At that time, the model was in fine shape with little and fragile parts like guns, prop blades, antennas, pitot tubes, etc. still intact. I remember even before I "loaned" my son the model, he expressed an interest in building his own an reading a book or two on the design of this very versatile WWII bomber.

Anyway, this is a drawing of an AirFix B-25J Mitchell complete with clear plastic stand in 1/72nd scale. I used my illustrative prowess to add both engine's prop blades and 50.caliber guns which had been lost by Brian over the many years. The piece was more like a doodle than a rendering because I just mindlessly put pen to paper and it practically produced itself. It took me about forty minutes or so to  complete and given the fact that I was allowing myself to be distracted, I thought it came out looking pretty good... almost good as the original box art, ha!

Which I still have!

Copyright 2013/ Ben Bensen III 

Lagoon Bridge in City Park...

Bridge with light standard cropped...

Well, I like this drawing for all the textures and the fact that I didn't really have to concentrate to arrive at this conclusion, but being so nonchalant wrecked the idea of drawing the real focus of the sketch. I ran out of room at the top of the page to complete the decorative lamp on top of the light standard. In a way, it is one of the better parts of this WPA bridge. I thought about doing it on the opposite page, but got disgusted with myself and decided to suffer for my art...

... and my lazy mind!

Copyright 2013/ Ben Bensen III

A Sleepy Swan Couple...

The foreground swan seems to be happy he's asleep...

I drew this snoozin' swan couple the same day I spent sketching other City Park niceties. It was a beautiful warm winter day to visit the park. The swan in the foreground must feel the need to protect the other one with its head tucked away. Assuming standard gender roles, ( I don't think they change that much in nature! ) the one up front is a male and the one in more of a deep sleep is a female. She never budged the whole time I was sketching this rather tranquil scene. Maybe she is resting up for when she has goslings to patrol and corral come the spring.

Every now and then, the male would blink a wary eye at me and then doze off again. It is always more productive to sketch dozing subjects whether they are animals, birds, lizards... people!

I hate wasting paper!

Copyright 2013/ Ben Bensen III

City Park Swan Goes Vogue On Me...

Giving me the wary eyed look...

 Just a sketch of one City Park's many residents that resides in the lagoon there. It was nice that he was more wary of me to give me the evil eye as he drifted slowly away from. It was a real slow drift, so I was able to even capture his shadow as he drifted away!

If you like the line quality, credit the Pentel. It was slowly drying up as I drew!

Copyright 2013/ Ben Bensen III