Sonnenberg gardens

During the Fingerlakes Plein Air Festival there is one day where the Sonnenberg Gardens are open to the public and free. Being the cheap-o guy that I am I hurried up there for some sketching! [namiki falcon and a Lamy Safari with DeArtementis Document ink, D+S watercolors in a Stillman & Birn Gamma sketchbook-landscape] 

Performances

The spring as an elementary teacher means performances. And performances mean--sketching! I would usually load up with sketching tools but for these I went minimal with usually one pen, and added the color later. A few of the performances were VERY DARK in the theater, so I had some fun drawing blind, and editing as I went (the ones with the orange background). 

[various pens probably filled with DeArtementis Document ink, D+S watercolors in a Stillman & Birn Gamma sketchbook-landscape]

 

Barnes and Noble meetup (edit)

Here are a few sketches from our most recent (and long over due) sketch meet up. 

[sailor bent nib pen and D+S watercolors in a Stillman & Birn gamma sketchbook-landscape--and a cookie]

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]

Bernie! Bernie!

After a quick breakfast I noticed some Bernie supporters on main street. They were waving signs and chanting things the sunday before the primary. I though they would make a great sketch subject so off I went. 

I learned a lot sitting there:
-Trump supporters are rude
-Trump supporters drive HUGE trucks
-Bernie supporters drive Civics or a Prius
-You are NEVER going to change people's minds by yelling at them
-You are doing any political favors yelling at people who yell "Trump"
-People are very ill-informed
-Opinions created in a vacuum are dangerous--for either side. 

[various pens, d+s watercolors, stillman and birn gamma sketchbook]

Eastman House

Being a Rochestarian, one of our founding fathers of this city was George Eastman. He built Eastman Kodak company from the ground up. Had many patents created that we still use today and was a great philanthropist (his donations created U of R and MIT--donated as Mr. Smith). His home is now a museum and gallery. So my good sketching buddy Genine and I sketched the afternoon away at his home. 

The "guns" are actually cameras and the bottles are the old Technicolor dyes used to create "colored" movies! 

[LAMY Safari M nib, Namiki Falcon with DeArtementis Document ink, a brush pen with water and J. Herbin Pearl Noire ink, D+S watercolors in a Stillman & Birn Gamma sketchbook-landscape]

Germs

Part of the bonus structure of being an educator is the immune system build up. But when that breaks down, we get sick--fast. I had the flu and then bronchitis in the month of march (thus the delay in posts). While sitting in the waiting room of urgent care (mask and all) I sketched some other sick folks. Joseph was a cool looking old guy. He was the type of guy that had stories. Stories from a war, or business, or some cool science thing he did 40 years ago. The other girl had a very neat Pokemon hat on--complete with Pikachu ears. 


[Uni ball vision pens in a Stillman & Birn Gamma sketchbook-landscape]

ROC to ORD (CHI)

At the end of March I got to participate in my first ever National Art Teacher Conference. It was a very overwhelming experience. There were art teachers everywhere, 2,000 sessions to pick from, and the city of Chicago to explore. I sketched as much as I could, but recovering from bronchitis I rested as much as I could. 

At one point we attacked Blick Art Supply and a few art teacher friends bought some sketching supplies so when we went out we could all sketch! It was a nice way to infect people with the sketching bug. 

captive audience on the plane

2 minutes waiting to board in ORD

one man dinner party

sketching the other art teachers! 

a cool pile of shiny service wear 

more art teachers

the place that invented "dive bar"

more captive plane models

and more captive travelers.