#jon gnagy

[flashenondeux]

Jon Gnagy Master Art Studio (1980)

[larrysland]

This is another of the pencil sketches from the Jon Gnagy Learn to Draw Art Studio kit.

When I lived in Cincinnati there was a yearly Riverboat festival called Tall Stacks. This coming October 8-12 the celebration is now called "America's River Roots" and the cities of river cultures.

Mark Twain published a book in 1883 titled "Life on the Mississippi." In it he wrote:

When I was a boy, there was but one permanent ambition among my comrades in our village on the west bank of the Mississippi River.  That was, to be a steamboatman.  We had transient ambitions of other sorts, but they were only transient.  When a circus came and went, it left us all burning to become clowns; the first minstrel show that came to our section left us all suffering to try that kind of life; now and then we had a hope that if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates.  These ambitions faded out, each in his turn; but the ambition to be a steamboatman always remained. 

It makes me think of all the dreams and adventures I had when I was growing up. Sometimes my friends and I did things that were clownish - and we were definitely laughed at! We would also sing rock and roll songs and folks songs and dream of that kind of a future. Pirates? No, I don't remember that being one of our ambitions. But we all did have dreams of many different kinds of adventures. Driving a great hot rod car was likely our equivalent of being a steamboatman. It was our way of looking for new adventures while going up and down the river of life during the times when we were growing up.

[larrysland]

In February 1898 my grandfather left Delaware, Ohio on a train that took him to Milford, Ohio. And from there he took a train to Chicago.  Then it was a many days ride across the northern prairies and snow covered mountains to Seattle, Washington.  From there he sailed north to Skagway, Alaska.  At that time there were no trains into the Yukon Territory so it was a lot of walking/hiking, and some boating along trails and rivers to Dawson City, Yukon and then on to his land claim, #23 at Bonanza Creek.  He returned to Ohio on a train in September 1901.

This drawing is of the type of train that was in use at that time.  This is another image from the Jon Gnagy art set.  I made a slight change to the Gnagy drawing.  You can see on the building the last few letters of the town name.  I made it to be the last letters of town of Delaware.

I have taken a few train rides in my life.  My father took the photo of the rainbow from the train window on June 2, 1953 as our family left Heidelberg, Germany headed to the port of Bremerhaven to begin sailing back to America. 

In 1966 I took a 36-hour ride from Columbus, Ohio through Indianapolis and St. Louis then to San Antonio, Texas and Ft. Sam Houston where I began my Army medical training.  I don't have any pictures of that trip. 

In 2015 my wife and I were in Skagway, Alaska and took a 2 hour or so train ride over the White Pass trail that my grandfather had hiked on back in 1898. Fortunately there was a newer train passage than the one built in the summer and fall of 1898.

[larrysland]

As I continue my journey on the path of my life I sometimes come to situations where I have to build my own bridge to continue on. Other times I come to situations where others have built bridges for themselves to cross.

When I can, I will use those bridges to help me in my life journey. And I intentionally try to not stomp my way across those bridges because I don't want to damage something that has helped another person; that is helping me now; and that could help others in the future who may come across the similar situations in their lives.

I am reminded of the Paul Simon song that says: Like a bridge over troubled water, I will lay me down...

I hope that the bridges I have built, and still am building, are not damaged by others as they struggle on their life journeys. I am thankful that I am still finding people who are building bridges that help me cross paths in my life where I would otherwise be stuck.

[larrysland]

Here is another sketch I made from the Jon Gnagy art instruction book. Also here is a photo of our dog Spotty that lived with us for many years when I was a child.

Many of us have known dogs in our lives. Some lived with us and others were ones that lived with our friends. Below is a story and a quote about dogs I found that I thought you might enjoy.

Spotty was a stray who wondered down the back alley behind our home at Ft. Knox. We did not know then that he was very protective. One time, my then 2-year-old little brother had not been seen for close to 2 hours. We all went searching for him. I found him asleep in the far corner of the back yard among the deep bushes. The reason I saw him is that Spotty stood up from next to him and stepped out into the yard. Spotty had been with him all that time.

Dogs are our link to paradise. They don’t know evil or jealousy or discontent. To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden, where doing nothing was not boring – it was peace. Milan Kundera

[larrysland]

This is another drawing from my Jon Gnagy art instruction. And here are also a few thoughts about snow.

A snow day literally and figuratively falls from the sky, unbidden, and seems like a thing of wonder. Susan Orlean.

The horse knows the way to carry the sleigh, through the white and drifted snow! Lydia Marie Child.

Christmas snow can never disappear completely. It sometimes goes away for almost a year at a time and takes the form of spring and summer rain. But you can bet your boots that when a good, jolly December wind kisses it, it will turn into Christmas snow all over again.  Santa Claus from Frosty the Snowman.

Wishing you all a blessed, happy Christmas.

[larrysland]

This pencil sketch is from an art instruction book/set called Learn to Draw by Jon Gnagy. Though Gnagy did not give it any name I call this drawing "Lake Cabin."

As a child I developed an interest in drawing and art from coloring books and crayons and things teachers would have us do in school. But what really "drew" me into art (Unintentional bad pun - hmmmm, or maybe just a good pun. You can choose for yourself.) was a television show that had been made in the early 1950s and was being re-broadcast in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It was titled Learn to Draw with Jon Gnagy. Each episode was only 15 minutes long. It was not unusual in those early days of expanding commercial television to have shows that were only 15 minutes long.

Here is a link to one of those episodes that is on youtube and there are others too that can be watched.

When I was around 10 or 11 years old I asked my parents for the art drawing set as a gift for my birthday. It was the only gift I received that year. But it has been the gift that keeps on giving! The entire art set was reproduced and now includes water colors and pastels besides the original pencils and chalk. I bought one of the new sets and have enjoyed going back through the book and drawing.

The Lake Cabin sketch is the first of about 6 drawings that I will post over the next few months.

[coupdetorchon]