The Great Outdoors…At Last!

At long last, a gorgeous spring day in Chicago! And what a great way to spend it, sketching outdoors at the Art Institute of Chicago! What first caught my attention when I walked into the park was how the trees were bare but the grass and ivy were green.

Happy Earth Day!

i thank You God for most this amazing

day: for the leaping greenly spirits of trees

and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything

which is natural which is infinite which is yes

- e.e. cummings

Pick Your Battles

One would think that after all these years I would pay attention to the paper! I took this sketchbook on a recent sketch outing and fought the paper with watercolors the entire time! The Lincoln Park Conservatory stick-on covers a spot where the paper won.

Actually, the paper (Hahnemüehle) has a beautiful hand and I look forward to working on it with pencil and markers. 

Surprise!

Pods like these fall all around our neighborhood. The other day I picked up these two. My intention was to practice painting subtle dark values. I accidently step on one. Whoa! What a surprise! It's incredible how something can appear so plain on the outside and, on the inside, be so colorful and bright. I think people are often the same way.

Little Things Do Brighten My Day

I was in Home Depot the yesterday and this tiny cyclamen made me smile. It brightened a very gray Chicago day. Obviously, I had to bring it home! I thought I'd share it with you.

This is a quick watercolor done in a Stillman & Birn Beta Series book. Usually, I do a preliminary sketch in pencil or marker, but, on a whim, I painted directly, without a preliminary sketch. 

If Winter Comes Can Spring Be Far Behind?

Well, in Chicago it can be W A Y behind!  This is a sketch of Washington Square Park. It looks more like autumn. Note: I didn't sketch it while the snow was falling.