Scratchings of an Old Dog

providing a warm and friendly spot for all my homeless sketches

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Written by don

July 28, 2010 at 2:20 am

Posted in sketching

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Written by don

July 28, 2010 at 2:19 am

Posted in sketching

Homey Window

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There is nothing like a geranium in an old wood window. This was at an old house near Grand Forks with a horse in the front yard

Written by don

July 7, 2008 at 9:38 pm

barn engineering

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Written by don

July 6, 2008 at 10:30 pm

Fruit stand

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This old car performed it’s promotional duties for decades at Keromeos in the okanagan, pointing the way to the fresh taste of corn, cherries and other produce.

It also served, for us, as a time marker during our twelve hour trips from the East Kootenays to the Fraser Valley. It became an achievement to reach this point of the trip and it was always a welcome and uplifting sight.

Written by don

May 14, 2008 at 5:22 pm

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Mexico trips

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For many years, dozens of adventurers journeyed from BC to Mexico each fall in this old bus which had already been retired once. Each trip was more tenuous than the last but no less joyous…Fort Langley – San Francisco-Mexicali – Mazatlan – Vallarta have all felt the rumble and vibrations of this old girl.

 

Now parked and entwined in blackberry bushes and grape vines with the motor long gone it now serves as a dark cool getaway for a summer read

 


mexican express

Written by don

May 11, 2008 at 11:42 pm

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Ivan

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I volunteer at a breeding centre for endangered animals and get to see and work with an amazing array of endangered animals.

This is a page of sketches of Ivan an Asian Greater One Horned Rhinocerous and is an amazing critter, very calm and peaceful but you get the feeling he is taking your measure. Loves to have his upper lip scratched and I can never feed or clean up the results of the feeding without smiling. He is a treasure.

Written by don

April 16, 2008 at 12:21 am

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Chinatown

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chinatownsmall.jpg

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
This building exposed it’s peculiar dimensions only after the buildings beside it were taken down and to me it became almost “cartoon like”. The various curtains intrigued me and populated the building with individuals

Written by don

April 3, 2008 at 5:32 pm

Fishy names

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blog-fish.jpg               

 

I have always been intrigued with the many bizarre names for fish and form an image in my mind when I see them. So I’ve decided to do a little series of illustration of some of them.

Here is a start 

Written by don

April 1, 2008 at 5:25 pm

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Cates tugboats

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cates-tugs.jpg

 

Cates towing is an old company that has been a big part of the marine history in Vancouver for a full century. This is a composite drawing featuring Charles Cates one of the originals in the company which was run by the family into the 1990’s.

They had tugs of all types from “the little tug that could” wooden coal burners up to the almost ballet like Z-pellers.

It is now owned by an international company and has lost it’s unique identity so this is a little bow to the company and the early mariners.

Written by don

March 20, 2008 at 4:54 pm