How to Choose a Model for Sketching

Saturday was Worldwide SketchCrawl. It was also the regular gathering of Urban Sketchers – Chicago. We originally planned to meet at Cloud Gate, (a.k.a. The Bean) Anish Kapoor's iconic sculpture in Millennium Park. Chicago's weather being what it is forced us indoors at the Chicago Cultural Center on the other side of Michigan Avenue. 

There is so much going on at the center that it's hard to focus. After viewing two art exhibits on display I settled down in the center section on the first floor. Despite the glorious mosaics and architecture, I was pulled toward the floral arrangement that added a touch of spring to my tired-of-winter-gray eyes. Then Jodie, another USk–Chicago sketcher, came along and sat next to the flowers and began to sketch. Perfect! That settled it, two lovely subjects to sketch that weren't going to move for a while! Just before it was time to reassemble as a group in the main lobby, Mary Beth came along and sat on the other side of the table. I managed just a quick sketch of her. 

Thanks to Alex Zonis, here's a panorama of the motley crew.