I love this. It reminds me of artist Billy Renkl who has a journal where he paints the color of the sky on a daily basis. I feel like this would be a great way to connect with drawing the weather patterns. Thank you for sharing 💙💚💙💚💙
In the 1950s, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago had the kids make a color swatch matching the color of Lake Michigan day by day for a month. The title of their calendars was, "Is Water Blue?" The answer was a resounding "No!"
I've seen cross-stitch kits where you stitch a little bird each day (or a leaf or a flower, or something), color-coded for the high temperature that day. If you keep up with it, at the end of the year you have a finished piece, suitable for framing.
I have vivid memories of Nash Roberts, a weatherman in New Orleans, who reported the daily weather with a whiteboard and a black marker on TV. I am a daily weather tracker and I owe it all to him.
As a flight instructor I drew lots of weather maps by hand for my students, although I don't think other instructors did. It really takes a visceral feel for weather systems.
I especially liked the exaggerated serifs on the Hs and Ls. I had learned them from studying the NY Times maps.
Weather analysis is a crucial skill for pilots; I wish we taught it better. I did a lot of "why is this forecast wrong?"
An oddity: around 2000 the chief forecaster at our local National Weather Service branch died, and suddenly the forecasts really sucked, almost to the point that they were dangerous. His weather intuition and experience made a real difference.
Two memories! I took a meterology class in college and we drew some weather maps! We were given the date of a notorious break out of tornadoes in Indiana, so that was fun, but don't test me on what I learned. Also, David Letterman was once a local weatherman on one of the news channels in Indianapolis, before he became famous. You can find a few clips on YouTube, like this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k66ek3AYz30 I don't know if he drew weather maps but it does seem he made weather forecasts fun.
I love weather maps and learned about tracking hurricanes by hand in coastal Florida elementary school. Also, w/a father WW2 meteorologist and a brother Air Force Hurricane Hunter, I can highly recommend the recent movie Pressure about the conflicting forecasts that determined when D-Day could occur.
A) I love the way you captured the movement and reflections in the water in the first painting. B) This is so fun! I took a meteorology class back when I worked in air quality as a kind of professional development (and an effort to make my boring job slightly more interesting). It was fascinating--especially the physics of it all, which I knew nothing about (also, it was a literal correspondence course, like through the mail, even though this was the mid 2000s or maybe early 2010s and email was ubiquitous). I'm sorely tempted to take these classes now!
Thank you for this post. I absolutely love maps and I'm so pleased to hear about people still drawing them and using them for weather predictions. I live in the mountains and my neighbors often talk about the inaccuracy of weather apps -- but mountain people, damn, they get it and can predict whether (weather! ;-) it's going to rain or not. :-) Cheers!
I'm obsessed with weather apps and maps! I've pained a few big hurricanes in my Leuchtturm1917 bullet journal but never an ordinary day's map. Now I have a never-ending subject!
This is so timely! I also just came across The Weather Academy and put it on my to watch list. Ive always been fascinated by the weather but never took the time to learn anything about it. How cool is it that we get rain in Missouri from hurricanes that started off the coast of Africa!
This past March a tornado producing storm system rolled across Missouri followed by a cold front that brought in heavy snow. The radar showed half the state in red and green and the other half in blue. I painted it in my nature journal.
My waterman husband paddles surf ski in Kauai and is all about the wind, currents and weather. I shared this post with him and he showed me the surf news network where you can click on the weather dropbox and then click animations for some bitchin drawings. There's all kinds of kool stuff including a glossary of terms. So fun. Thanks Amy for another great share.
Does anyone remember Vivian Brown on the Weather Channel? I used to watch her every morning. She's an African-American from the South, and when she first started, in the 90's, I believe, her accent, down-home expressions, and asides were a total delight! Who cared about the weather — I just wanted to watch her! After a couple years, she toned it down so she became more like a boring white talking head. I don't know if they made her tone it down or she decided to, but it was no longer that fun to watch her.
I took Atmospheric Sciences 101 as an undergrad... does that count? 🤣 I can still remember most of the names of cloud formations! Oh, and the comment below about cross-stitched weather reminded me of Elizabeth Alley's crocheted afghan that tracked the temperature each day for a year! If you aren't familiar with it, search on her Instagram... she posted it periodically to show the pattern changes!
I love this. It reminds me of artist Billy Renkl who has a journal where he paints the color of the sky on a daily basis. I feel like this would be a great way to connect with drawing the weather patterns. Thank you for sharing 💙💚💙💚💙
Thanks!
In the 1950s, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago had the kids make a color swatch matching the color of Lake Michigan day by day for a month. The title of their calendars was, "Is Water Blue?" The answer was a resounding "No!"
Oh I love that!
Oh boy, this is so kool!
I've seen cross-stitch kits where you stitch a little bird each day (or a leaf or a flower, or something), color-coded for the high temperature that day. If you keep up with it, at the end of the year you have a finished piece, suitable for framing.
OMG!
I have vivid memories of Nash Roberts, a weatherman in New Orleans, who reported the daily weather with a whiteboard and a black marker on TV. I am a daily weather tracker and I owe it all to him.
Nash Roberts, weatherman! Love it.
I always love our newsletters and following along on your curiosities. Also that painting of the willamette (I assume) from the water is stunning.
As a flight instructor I drew lots of weather maps by hand for my students, although I don't think other instructors did. It really takes a visceral feel for weather systems.
I especially liked the exaggerated serifs on the Hs and Ls. I had learned them from studying the NY Times maps.
Weather analysis is a crucial skill for pilots; I wish we taught it better. I did a lot of "why is this forecast wrong?"
An oddity: around 2000 the chief forecaster at our local National Weather Service branch died, and suddenly the forecasts really sucked, almost to the point that they were dangerous. His weather intuition and experience made a real difference.
WOW
Love the LA Story reference! I reviewed it for our paper back in the day when it came out. (And Dead Poets Society.)
That first painting is, I think, my fav of yours yet.
And remember Groundhog Day with Bill Murray. That's a fun spoof on weather and one of my all time fav movies.
Two memories! I took a meterology class in college and we drew some weather maps! We were given the date of a notorious break out of tornadoes in Indiana, so that was fun, but don't test me on what I learned. Also, David Letterman was once a local weatherman on one of the news channels in Indianapolis, before he became famous. You can find a few clips on YouTube, like this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k66ek3AYz30 I don't know if he drew weather maps but it does seem he made weather forecasts fun.
I love weather maps and learned about tracking hurricanes by hand in coastal Florida elementary school. Also, w/a father WW2 meteorologist and a brother Air Force Hurricane Hunter, I can highly recommend the recent movie Pressure about the conflicting forecasts that determined when D-Day could occur.
oh wow I want to watch that!
A) I love the way you captured the movement and reflections in the water in the first painting. B) This is so fun! I took a meteorology class back when I worked in air quality as a kind of professional development (and an effort to make my boring job slightly more interesting). It was fascinating--especially the physics of it all, which I knew nothing about (also, it was a literal correspondence course, like through the mail, even though this was the mid 2000s or maybe early 2010s and email was ubiquitous). I'm sorely tempted to take these classes now!
That’s awesome! Yeah I definitely want to know more about meteorology now. If I learned any of this as a kid, I have absolutely no memory of it.
Thank you for this post. I absolutely love maps and I'm so pleased to hear about people still drawing them and using them for weather predictions. I live in the mountains and my neighbors often talk about the inaccuracy of weather apps -- but mountain people, damn, they get it and can predict whether (weather! ;-) it's going to rain or not. :-) Cheers!
I'm obsessed with weather apps and maps! I've pained a few big hurricanes in my Leuchtturm1917 bullet journal but never an ordinary day's map. Now I have a never-ending subject!
This is so timely! I also just came across The Weather Academy and put it on my to watch list. Ive always been fascinated by the weather but never took the time to learn anything about it. How cool is it that we get rain in Missouri from hurricanes that started off the coast of Africa!
This past March a tornado producing storm system rolled across Missouri followed by a cold front that brought in heavy snow. The radar showed half the state in red and green and the other half in blue. I painted it in my nature journal.
I love the weather fronts that pass thru your mind, Amy! Always interesting, not always predictable.
Oh what fun!!!!
My waterman husband paddles surf ski in Kauai and is all about the wind, currents and weather. I shared this post with him and he showed me the surf news network where you can click on the weather dropbox and then click animations for some bitchin drawings. There's all kinds of kool stuff including a glossary of terms. So fun. Thanks Amy for another great share.
Does anyone remember Vivian Brown on the Weather Channel? I used to watch her every morning. She's an African-American from the South, and when she first started, in the 90's, I believe, her accent, down-home expressions, and asides were a total delight! Who cared about the weather — I just wanted to watch her! After a couple years, she toned it down so she became more like a boring white talking head. I don't know if they made her tone it down or she decided to, but it was no longer that fun to watch her.
I took Atmospheric Sciences 101 as an undergrad... does that count? 🤣 I can still remember most of the names of cloud formations! Oh, and the comment below about cross-stitched weather reminded me of Elizabeth Alley's crocheted afghan that tracked the temperature each day for a year! If you aren't familiar with it, search on her Instagram... she posted it periodically to show the pattern changes!