Speed sketch

I went sketching with my sketching buddy--Genine on what we thought was a nice afternoon. We found some cool old industrial buildings to sketch but when we got comfy the wind made us a little chilly so we opted for a speed sketch. We had 15 minutes for inking and color! Afterwards I went back in to add some value and details! 

[LAMY Safari M nib, with DeArtementis Document ink, D+S watercolors in a Stillman & Birn Gamma sketchbook-landscape]

Whoa, it's been a while (part 1)

It's been a while since a meaningful post, so here it goes:

I've had a very busy July and am finally back in town, caught up and ready to dump all of my sketches in one post. It'll be a long one so bear with me. 

I bought a cool sketchbook at one of the oldest art supply shops--Sennelier in Paris, France and had to give it a run for the month of July. I started this book on July 7th and almost completed! This may be a new record for me. 

I broke in the new sketchbook during my visit to Neeburyport Mass.:

Now that I enjoy sitting on a beach I got some sketching done on Plum Island, Mass. 

And as Scott and I toured some breweries like Riverwalk Brewery and Newburyport Brewery, I sketched a little to capture the occasion. 

Some quick bar sketches at the Grog.

I had the most awesomest opportunity to join 40 other art teachers from 20 states at the Mass College of Art and Design for a 7 day TAB institute. And my goal was to learn as much as I could and to sketch as much as I could. Mission accomplished. 

This first one was our first dinner out at a cool restaurant just outside Fenway Pahk. Who just got pummeled by the Yankees three games in a row. I reminded a lot of people that as they walked by. 

Our first talk at the institute. People presenting are perfect subjects! 

More presenting. 

We had some seasoned teachers present some station ideas for our rooms and I had a 5 minute window to capture them!

A quick sketch between lunch and class--I still want to add color to this guy. 

We had this cool thing one night where you got to present 20 slides and had 20 seconds per slide to chat. Your subject could be whatever! 

We got to tour Fenway Studios which are artists studios that have been there for 100 years! These studios were to die for! 

During a tour of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, I snuck away to sketch a 5th century sculpture. 

Our last night in Boston, we trekked down to the ward and dined on seafood. There happened to be a concert right next door so we stuck around long enough for a...

Portrait PARTY! 
We passed around my sketch book and we all did blind contour line drawings at dinner! Only with 6 art teacher can you get away with this at dinner! 

Sketch meet up with Lapin and Freekhand

As many artists/sketchers do, we follow the many artists on Urbansketchers.org--add in the opportunity to travel to Barcelona where some of these artists live and I had a recipe for one of the coolest artistic moments of my life to date! 

Before I left on my trip to Europe, I emailed both Lapin and Miguel "Freekhand" Herranz to see if they wanted to meet up and go drawing and they said yes! We happened to have a free saturday together and with the support of my trip director I made it happen! 

We met up at the Hospital St.Pau in Barcelona on a gorgeous 60 degree sunny day! I got there super early and enjoyed an espresso in the shadows of a splendid modern masterpiece of architecture. 

Lapin was the first to show up and we traded some stories, and of course, we got to peek at each other's sketchbooks. I've seen a ton of his work on social media and I always thought he sketched in large ledger books--turns out--they are very small! I am envious of anyone who can sketch small-scale! (this will be a new goal for in the up coming weeks). 

Next to arrive was Miguel! I've been swooning over his toned sketches for a few years now, and to meet the man behind the work was especially exciting! We chatted about materials, as well as teaching--he was amused that I teach little ones!

Eventually we got our sketchbooks out and started to sketch. I was intimidated by a few things: 
1: sketching with these two great artists
2: the enormity of the structure we were sitting in front of!

Regardless, it was a super fun afternoon and I enjoyed every second of it! I look forward to meeting up with these gentleman sometime soon. 

my horrific attempt

5 different views from 5 different artists! 

Lapin and Joel's sketches matched up perfectly! 

Lapin's signature hat

Miguel

our view

Miguel's artwork

Lapin's artwork

Rochester Museum and Science Center

We had a sketch meetup this past sunday at the Rochester Museum and Science Center. There was a record breaking 12 sketchers there to partake in the festivities. Not really that festive, but it is a fun place to sketch. I gravitated to the Mammoth/Mastodon display and the other animal dioramas. Eventually I tucked myself away into a family and kidless area and basked in the peace and quiet of the Native American mask displays. 

[pilot falcon with DeArtementis Document ink, D+S watercolors in a S+B Zeta sketchbook]

playing catch-up

Below are a random assortment of some one-off sketches from the past week. 

From top to bottom:
-A pile of creamers while I ate a lonely breakfast at the local diner's counter
-My favorite local haunt and their interesting customers. This one was difficult because the lights were soooooo low that I couldn't see what I was drawing. Sort of like a forced blind contour drawing! 
-same place, same night
-nobody is safe! especially at staff meetings! 
-one of my favorite USK artists did a cool sketch/collage at an antique shop and I wanted to give it a try! Of course his is a lot cooler, but I dig the idea. 

[copic .25 pen, white gel pen, PITT warm gray markers in a strathmore toned sketchbook]

[pilot falcon, w/noodler's black eel ink, watercolor in a S+B gamma series sketchbook]

cajun jam session and sketching

pretty straight-forward, musicians played we sketched! 

[watercolors, falcon pen w/noodler's black eel ink, PITT cool gray markers, white gel pen in a strathmore toned sketchbook or a still man & birn gamma series sketchbook]

sketch group meet up

it's amazing when a group of people get together that have zero things in common except one simple thread that holds them together. we all have different backgrounds, different ages, different ethnicities, yet drawing for 3 hours together brings strangers together. i would have not met some of these people, nor spent time with them if it wasn't for art-making. 

this past sunday a few of us from the sketching group got together and did a coffee shop sketchcrawl on park avenue.

[pilot falcon w/noodler's black eel ink, white gel pen, PITT warm gray markers, Tri-Tone colored pencils, Derwent inktese watercolor pencils all in a strathmore toned sketchbook]

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]

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]

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]