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

Another Good Afternoon

Architectural Artifacts, Chicago

What a fun afternoon with Urban Sketcher's Chicago at Architectural Artifacts. So much to see, it's hard to focus on what to sketch.  I decided to sketch the story– artists from all over the Chicago area and artifacts from all over the world sharing their unique styles.

More fun days on the calendar, registration for the Urban Sketchers Chicago Sketch Seminar, July 9-10, opens on May first.

One Watercolor a Day…But Not Quite

Exercise 1

 When I read, way back in the summer, that Veronica Lawlor had a new book coming out I was so excited I immediately preordered it,  One Watercolor a Day. These thumbnails are the first exercise. The exercise is an invitation to play with the paint, to get involved with the medium. The book is an invitation to play with your creativity and develop your style and skill. I've been an admirer of Veronica's work for a long time and look forward to working/playing my way through the book. There's a group, One Watercolor a Day, on FaceBook to give support and encouragement. The FB group is moving at a weekly rate rather than daily. That's more doable for me! I'll keep you posted. Better yet join in!

So Much to Learn

It's been a hectic week and I'm glad I have the watercolor class to make me take time to paint.  Dan Goodwin at A Big Creative Yes had a post recently about the first port of the day. As you begin the day's adventure, he suggests that you start the day doing something creative. A while ago, I also read about someone who began their work day, everyday, with a sketch taken from a photo in the morning paper. (I wish I could remember who it was so I could give them credit. It was in one of Danny Gregory's books I think.) Anyway, I believe they're on to something - maybe "Morning Sketches" instead of Morning Pages! Hmm–seems like a plan is brewing in my head…

This watercolor was done in class last week. It's from a photo I took in Santorini. The doorways tucked all over the curving, hilly and narrow streets  fascinated me. It's painted on 300 lb. Arches paper though Fabriano is more to my liking.  This painting, though not a gem, was worth the effort. I learned a lot.

Project.2

My second art project and reason for doing this blog is the Travel Sketching™ Workshop conducted primarily for designers by Richard Scott. I read about this workshop on Trumpetvine Travels, a blog as generous with its advice and information as it is with its beautiful sketches.

At the end of this week I'll be off to San Francisco to take this class. I'm excited and really looking forward to the experience. My supplies arrived on Wednesday and I felt like a kid on Christmas! More about the supplies in another post.

Here are a few of my travel sketches from airports, Napa Valley, Vermont and Chicago. They were all done within the last year and are quite small. I'm interested to see how the workshop effects my sketching. I always find it intimidating to sketch in public so I'm looking forward to the opportunity to draw in public with a group, safety in numbers and all that I guess!