Maukaonyx's "Life is GOOD!": January 2013

Aloha and Welcome to my small speck of cyberspace! Dec 8, 2010 is the birth date of my blog. Never had one before, but my son encouraged me to have one, and it seemed like a good way to at least keep a log of my RC airplane building and flying. With the initial design kicked off by my son, I'll carry on from here and have fun with it. Now that I have it, I will use it to also keep track of my oil painting efforts, and any other ideas, hobbies, travels, or whatever else that come up. LIFE IS GOOD!

Update on 02/25/2011. It's been a few months since I began this blog, and I am enjoying creating and having it! I like documenting the things I have done in my hobbies, and sharing with my small family. I think Jer and Tad actually view it fairly regularly, as a means to see what I've been up to lately. At worst, it serves as a reference for my own use.

Update on 12/22/2011. This blog stuff is habit forming. My blog is a year old now, and I make an entry about every other day or so as that seems to be the frequency of doing something in one of my hobbies. Like my hobbies, this blog is a lot of fun, and it has become in itself another hobby that I enjoy.

Years are flying by...update on 01/11/2013. Still enjoying maintaining this blog even though hardly anyone sees it. I don't advertise it anywhere or to anyone, and it is mainly just a way for me to keep my own notes and thoughts on my flying, painting, and cars. If a stranger happens upon it, I think it is by pressing NEXT at the top of the current blog they are visiting, lol. It's a great device for me.

August 2014: still here! Took up flying RC helicopters one year ago and got hooked. Had flown micro Helis up to then, but got serious with 450 size for a couple months, then bought the Goblin 500 and Gaui X5 . Also got my Boxster in April 2013. Most importantly, Ariel was born 12/02/12 followed by Skylar 07/20/13, and they are little beacons of joy in our lives. Life is indeed good!!!

Thursday, January 31, 2013

27 days later...

I finally got to fly again after a dismal stretch of days either too cold, too rainy, too foggy, or too occupied with another part of life. Today was a surprise with less wind and higher temperature than forecasts showed. It was nearly dead calm, enabling me to takeoff and land from all directions, which I did for practice. And it was about 50F when I arrived at the field. NOBODY else was there from around 10:30 till 12:30. Feeling somewhat rusty, I took the reliable SNAFU and also the Imagine 50. I got in 4 flights on the SNAFU and 3 on the Imagine. Both flew well and the engines ran great. Couldn't ask for more except company! Managed not to dumb thumb today after the long layoff, and it felt satisfying to get out and then return with everything still in flyable condition.

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Autumn Snow

3 paintings in 3 days! I just painted Autumn Snow, given that name since there are still leaves on the deciduous trees. Anyway, I tried to create a painting similar to #70, which I gifted to Syl and Richard a few months ago. I never can copy a painting, each one turns out different, but this came out pretty good and just a little different from the first. I felt good doing this one because throughout the flocking of the trees and shrubs on the river banks, I was getting more and more adept at it. I think the last three paintings are a step for me up to a new plateau, and I am pleased about that.

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Frigid Peaks

Whoa Nelly, I painted two days in a row! Here's my 3rd painting for 2013. I saw Bob Ross do it on TV today, and tried my hand at it too. I was done in just over 2 hours, some kind of record for me. I wasn't rushing, and was surprised to see the time when I wrapped up. It just went pretty well. I got some more snow bush technique improvement today, first time in a long while. Also the mountains were fun, as the snow white broke on long strokes like I want it too. Things are getting easier, less mud mixing nowadays!

This painting is fairly monochromatic, using just prussian blue, black, van dyke brown, very little alizarin crimson, and of course white.

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Mellow Creek

Painting #73 is Mellow Creek. Bob Ross did something like it last Fri and I tried to do something similar today. Brown mountains are challenging. Deciduous trees are challenging. Grassy meadows are challenging. I felt challenged to say the least, but I want to learn so I took it on. I scraped the mountains off once, the big tree once, and the grass meadow once. After the redo's I am darn proud of the results. Maybe I learned something and will do these subjects even better next time, lol. Lots of fun anyhow, good therapy. This is my 2nd painting for 2013.

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Long Break from Oil Painting!

I finally painted again, after about a three month spell of laziness!!! Today I painted a mountain cabin scene again, after seeing Bob Ross do something similar the other day. His did not have a mountain in it, and I wanted to practice that so I added it to the scene. I've done similar paintings but practice makes perfect...I just like Winter snow scenes and enjoy painting them, so what the heck. This is my 72nd painting since starting the Bob Ross method three years ago, and it is my FIRST of 2013. I started after 8AM and was done by noon! I need to figure out what to do with so many paintings. I have given quite a few away to family and friends who seem to like them. I think I need to find a charity to take them, IF they will.

Friday, January 4, 2013

First Flying Day of 2013

It was a nice day of 45F, calm air, hazy sky, no rain! I flew my Sbach 342 for three flights today. The DLE-30 continues to impress me with quick starts and reliable running. The Sbach was its normal self with smooth rolls, rolling circles, loops, cuban 8's, reversed cuban 8's, hovering and harrier flying. Getting more of the hang of the hovering and harrier. Landings were light with power on to keep speed up. I mowed afterwards, and then a few guys showed up, but I was ready to head home.