Chicago's Chagall Oasis

Chase Plaza, Chicago

It was a beautiful day in Chicago today. I sat in Chase Plaza with a couple of other Chicago Urban Sketchers and was taken by the color and texture of the garden. It almost over powered the Chagall mural. You can see a hint of it here, peaking out among the trees. The plaza is a beautiful oasis in a bustling city.

Of course, I can't sketch the city without a few quick reminders of the endless cast of characters that add so much to the city's story.

The Halloween Gathering!

Reportage – Chicago's Longest All Souls Train 

What a great time I had at the Halloween Gathering brought to us by The Chicago Cultural Mile! USk Chicago gathered there to sketch and join in the fun… and boy did we! 

This is my sketch of  Chicago's Longest All Souls Train, just one of the many colorful events of the day. Thank you to Allisu Geriach, the producer of the Halloween Gathering, for using my sketcher for her post gathering FB cover photo! 

You CAN Teach an Old Dog New Tricks!

Morning light in the alley

There's always something new to learn! I spent Saturday in Chicago's Ravenswood neighborhood at the workshop "FEARLESS Sketching in Pen, Ink and Watercolor with Adriana Gasparich."  What a fun day! The workshop was held in Ingrid Albrecht's studio in Ravenswood.

As an artist, no matter how much experince I have or how much I know (or think I know) there's always more to learn. That certainly was the case last Saturday. Thank you Adriana and Ingrid for an inspiring, friendly and encouraging day!

I'm a big pencil fan. I love the feel of it on the paper and the expressive lines you can draw with it. It was great to challenge myself and just jump right in with ink. These sketches were done with a black Sharpie in a Stillman & Birn Zeta Series sketchbook. The watercolor was my usual "out and about" palette you see in the blog header.

It was typical Chicago fall day, warm in the sun and chilly in the shade. The changing light was fantastic.

Afternoon light