Louis Thursby and his family were the first white settlers to make Blue Spring a permanent home in 1856. In the early years a steam boat was the only link to the outside world. This home was built in 1872. Originally the home was 2 stories with a cypress shingle roof. Louis’s son John added the third story and the metal roof around 1900. There have been no major changes since. The first story is open to the public. It has been restored to the time period of 1872-1887 to recreate the family life during the steamboat days.
Blue Spring
The past 2 nights have seen temperatures drop below freezing. In Florida this is big news. It means citrus crops get frozen and many plants that are not cold tolerant will burn to the ground. It also means that manatees make the pilgrimage to Blue Springs to enjoy the springs constant water temperature of 72 degrees. I saw on the news several nights ago that over a hundred manatees are now in the springs. I figured the park would be empty on a weekday but oh, was I wrong. There was a half hour backup waiting to get into the park entrance. I almost turned around but decided to tough out the traffic. It was worth the wait. I do not know the official count but there were lots of manatees along with Gar, and Cat fish schools. I did this digital piece on location but when the sun made its way to the screen, I could not see what I was doing. I actually had to lean over to block the sun enough so I could see the screen. A large group of manatees were lounging on the far bank of the spring, and once in a while one would glide by heading up toward the source of the spring.
Full Sail Sketch Class
Kathy was kind enough to let me spend some time next door to test my tablet doing some sketches from a model. A number of students walked up to me between poses to find out what I was drawing with. Even the model was curious about the tablet. He is now considering getting one for his brother in law who he says, “has to have the latest gadgets.” I am finding the ability to add large flat tones behind the initial gestural sketch to be a real advantage. A brush size of 2.5 is about right for how I think the line should feel. I am slowly adjusting to this new way of working, but I still feel a bit retarded scratching away on a computer screen.
Orlando City Hall
I sat in the shade and tried to do a sketch with the tablet but it was to cold with the wind chill. So I decided I would have to sit in the full sun with a traditional sketchbook in order to stay warm while sketching. This location on the lawn of a Methodist Church fit the bill. Across the street is a municipal parking lot and the Modern City Hall building. It is an absolutely crisp cloudless day.
2D Animation Class
It felt good to be back at Full Sail after spending a few days wasting away on my living room couch. Kathy, the Course Director, showed the documentary called Frank and Ollie about two of the nine old men of Disney lore. It is inspiring to see how these two artists inspired and provoked each other to produce work that might not have been as good if they had not supported each other. This sketch is a reminder that the animation disks have to compete with students laptops for attention. I am experimenting to see if I can come up with a way to get my digital sketches to read with a few sepia tones.
Waiting Room
My wife advised me to do in to the Doctors office after several days with a flu. The doctor squeezed me in to the schedule so I had to wait till the two other patients in the waiting room were taken care of. I had a fever of 104 the first night but what remains is just a nasty cold. The doctor just wanted to check my lungs to be sure there was no Pneumonia. I am fine.
ORCA Frag Auction
Last night I went to a meeting of the Orlando Reef Caretakers Association (ORCA). The meeting was held at a friends home and the place was packed. ORCA is a club for people who raise corals in reef tanks. I have had a reef tank for the past 5 or so years. I bought 6 coral frags to the meeting to be auctioned off. Last night they had over 270 frags to auction off. I got to the meeting at 6:30 pm and the auction was still going strong when I left at 12:30 am. John is in the middle of the sketch holding up a plastic bag containing a frag. He is holding a microphone so everyone inside and outside the house can hear. Most folks are sitting outside in a screened in pool area and the rest are jammed into the living room and kitchen. A fake palm tree is in the corner of the room. Each purchase is logged into a laptop.
Terry prepares April
Terry has been taking horse riding lessons. I go with her each weekend so I can sketch the horses. The Letisma Stables are on a large plot of land with many fenced off pastures. It is a nice break to get out and sit in the shade of a tree and observe the horses at work and play.
Animation Class
I work part time at Full Sail as a Studio Artiste’. This means I help out in the lab as students are working on animation assignments. I like that this gets me out of my studio to meet young enthusiastic students just discovering this amazing medium. Here is a typical view of the Full Sail students at work doing traditional animation. On the left are the work tables with disks where the animation drawings are produced. On the right students are sitting at stations where they shoot the drawings which are then digitized and played back in sequence on computers. This allows the students to quickly see the animation play at 24 frames per second.
Performers
This is the only sketch I did of Bluegrass Performers. By this time I was tired, cold, and the tablet had died. The lead singer of this group had on a loud jacket with roses sewn on so he looked like he belonged in a mariachi band rather than a bluegrass band. Terry and I had moved forward and sat in the lawn chairs left in place by people who had gone home. I imagine the people were planning to come back the next day to reclaim there prime seating.