Over the weekend, I had the occasion to tour Comstock House, the historic 106 year old home of Jeff and Candice Elliott. We were a small group of artists, who were offered not only a tour but also time to sketch and paint. The house was designed by locally well known architect, Brainerd Jones, and the property is currently being restored and scheduled for completion in 2012.

As I drove past the address on a hunt for parking, it was difficult to see the house as it is mostly obscured by trees. But when I walked onto the property, I saw the Craftsman style house with its unusually asymmetrical roof and facade covered in shingles. Full-blooming dogwood trees and shrubs were scattered about and colorful flowers surrounded the porch area, guarded by two small stone lions stoically protecting the entryway.

When I entered the old house I felt time slip back a century. Redwood beams and paneling fill the house. Leaded glass decorates the windows along the staircase. Art deco chandeliers with gas candlesticks, and grape-shaped glass housing electric bulbs adorn the stairs landing. I was completely taken by the warm wooden consoles of vintage radios and TV’s scattered throughout the house. At 10 am, Jeff and Candice greeted us in the foyer and began telling stories. The open floor plan let us all gather around our two hosts to listen.

The original owner James Wyatt Oats was a murderer who fled the east coast from his crime, settling in Santa Rosa. He was later acquitted as his older brother William bribed the prosecutor who just happened to be the victim’s father. William was also a commander in the confederate army at Gettysburg. He most famously led the 15th Alabama regiment that lost the Battle of Little Round Top.

Nellie Comstock purchased the house in 1916 for $10,000 and members of her family lived there over the next 74 years. In a complete reversal from the house’s previous owners, Nellie’s father was the head of the anti-slavery group that funded famed abolitionist John Brown.

After the tour, I stood beside the piano and drew a cozy corner of the room with its vintage console radio. I just love the streamlined art deco design. While I was drawing, Jeff told me the history of the mirror hanging above the radio, which turned out to be a picture frame engraved with the artist’s name and painting title. The frame, Jeff said, is from a missing painting by the British artist J. B. Payne titled “In the Village of Cheddar”, which no one has ever heard of nor seen the original. Now there’s an important mystery to be solved!

A warm thanks goes to Jeff and Candice Elliott for the tour and allowing us to sketch and paint their delightful, historic home.

While siting in the waiting room of a doctor’s office, I had a chance to do a quick sketch. I found the room amusing because it looks like a typical, old fashioned doctor’s office. All the furniture is wicker, including the magazine rack on the floor. A poinsettia left over from Christmas graces the business card table while enjoying the afternoon sun through the blinds. The only thing missing was macramé hanging on the wall.

The H-34 Choctaw Helicopter on the field at the Pacific Coast Air Museum.

A few days before Halloween, the Sonoma Sketches met at the Pacific Coast Air Museum for a morning of sketching. The museum is located right next to the Charles M. Schulz Airport. One of the old planes had been converted in to a haunted house, errr haunted plane and terrible halloween music filled the air.

I was a little disappointed to find mostly military air crafts and hardly any old prop planes in the mix but there was plenty to draw so over all I was happy.

Drawing of the HU-16E Albatross along with a fire engine.

Friday afternoon while doing a few errands, I stopped by the local grease monkey to get my oil changed. As I pulled into the parking lot, I was disappointed to see about six cars already queued up and the unfortunate thought of having to wait an hour entered in my mind. But then to my right, I saw a bright red, 57 Chevy Bel Air in the Autobaun Detail Shop next door and my mood lifted. After checking in with the technician, I parked myself on a shady curb and began to draw. I’ve never had the pleasure of driving in one of these old classic cars but it sure looks fun. Back in the ‘50s, my dad’s parents owned a ’57 Chevy and he use to borrow it while in High School to take girls out on dates. I bet this car would still work well on dates today.

Yesterday I gave a presentation at Santa Rosa Junior College about illustration. My only hope was to keep the interest of the students for the scheduled hour but they managed to keep me talking for almost two an a half hours. The subject I emphasized most was the importance of learning to draw in a sketchbook. Sketching I told them, will bring more life to their finished illustrations, giving them more depth, accuracy, and interest. The students responded well to my talk and spent a good amount of time looking through several of my sketchbooks and my published book, The Artist on the Road. It was a pleasure talking to this group of students and I hope I lit a fire in them get off the computer at some point during their week and sketch from life. (my illustration work can be seen here: Artstudios.com )

After my presentation I went over to the anatomy lab where my wife Marilyn was studying for an exam coming up. Although Marilyn graduated from college with a degree in English, she’s going back to school to get a medical assistant certificate. While hanging out with her for a few minutes in the lab, I drew a student studying a human skeleton.