new years eve

just a quick sketch at a local establishment while i waited for a delicious burger. (yes, that is a smurf taped to the top of a 1988 phone)

[pilot V5 pen, white gel pen in a strathmore toned sketchbook]

chemex

i was informed that if you want a great cup of coffee, get a Chemex brewer. so i did. and come to find out it is a beautiful piece of cookware--it's design is in the permanent collection at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC. 

[pilot falcon, white gel pen, PITT brush pens-warm gray all in a strathmore toned sketchbook]

painting woes

i had some friends inquire about the "boathouse on canandaigua lake" painting i did for my mother--they wanted one! so i bought some canvases and set to work. i wanted to give it to them before they made the trek home, but at 10:30 at night, once i was finished, i was far from happy with it, so i gessoed over it and started over. but i made a "sketch" that i was really happy with that will be there finished painting shortly! 

[acrylic paint on cardboard, shaprie marker]

bluegrass jam

whoa! whoa! whoa! this was way cool. another sketch group admin posted a sketch outing at the greenhouse cafe for their "bluegrass jam". the video below gives you an idea that it wasn't 2 hippies banging on bongo drums in a park. this was about 20 musicians that blew my mind. i am always impressed by people who are very good at a task. if someone didn't know the song they would watch another musician for a second, think, bounce the beat with their foot and jump in! 

I also had an art teacher friend join me and an art geek friend of hers. we were sketching and sketching and sketching! we didn't even have time to catch up! 

wicked. 

xmas presents

xmas presents are fun to make! 

[acrylic paint on 8"x 8" canvas, oil based markers]

xmas shopping break

what better way to take a break from xmas shopping than a little sketching time at B+N. 

pilot V5 pen, pitt warm gray markers in a toned strathmore sketchbook]

Lamberton Conservatory

we had a meetup this weekend at the Lamberton Conservartory in Highland Park. it's a wonderful old building that has a ton of different plants in giant greenhouses and rooms. there are also quail running around and my favorite, the turtles. i sat in the 80 degree room for a few hours sketching my non-moving cold blooded friends. i attempted to capture the progression of my work with some snapshots along the way. while my first painting was drying, i attempted another sketch in my toned book and was very pleased with the results. 

[watercolors, watecolor pencils, pilot falcon w/noodler's black eel ink all in a stillman & born sketchbook]

[pilot falcon w/noodler's black eel ink, pitt warm gray markers in a toned strathmore sketchbook]

wed. night painting

i was uber-excited to get to my wednesday night painting class. i got all setup, all ready to go, and i ad no idea what to paint. another student had the idea to paint this still life. a cliched wine bottle, carafe, and some grapes. i wasn't feeling it and neither was my instructor. so i wiped it down and started again. i am still unhappy with the results and i think the MDF panel is going to meet mr. turpentine and mr. sander next week. 

gelli plates!

oh man are these cool! i bought some gelli plates for my students to use in the printmaking station. but of course, i had to try them out first! if you are unfamiliar they are a reusable monoprint plate. but the plate is made out of a thick silicone gel. you can layer, and layer and mask, and draw and layer, and keep printing. they are amazing! 

these are some of the initial results:

mall sketching

i got to meet up with my favorite local sketcher genine--or as google wants to autocorrect her name to--genuine. we sat at my not-so-favortie coffee shop and sketched the robots waiting for the name to be called and to get their hands on a cup of overpriced, bad coffee. we then shuffled over to the food court for a snack and some more sketching. we ended the day sketching people in line for santa! 

at the end of the day i bumped into 5 students, 1 fellow teacher, the woman who cuts my hair, a local illustrator friend, and a partridge in a pear tree. 

[various pens, strathmore toned sketchbook]

xmas presents

here is a pic of the painting i made as my parents christmas present. i did a sketch a while back of the boathouses on canandaigua lake and my mother exclaimed "i want a painting of that for the spare room!". voila. 

you can also a hyper lapse video of me in action painting most of it.

[16"x40" canvas with acrylic paints and paint markers]

burgers and sketchbooks

my usual wednesday night painting class got cancelled due to a snow storm, so i grabbed a a burger, my sketchbook and sketched some unsuspecting models. 

[pilot V5 pen, white gel pen, PITT warm grays all in a Strathmore toned sketchbook]

wednesday night painting!

here is tonight's adventure. i was trying to capture the progression of the painting process. but i got too into the painting and forgot some other shots. oh well. there is always next week!

tools: [oil paint on board]