Zoo time!

Things I learned while sketching at the Seneca Park Zoo:

1. Rhino farts are loud. Really, really loud.
2. Animals, not even sloths, sit still for very long.
3. Elephant roars, grumbles, whatever you want to call them, are terrifying.
4. People in public places think they are the only humans in existence at that very moment.
5. Lions like presents that contain goat heads and cow legs.
6. Lions are terrifying.
7. Orangutan's are eerily similar to humans.
8. I know how to spell Orangutan now.
9. For 12$ the zoo is a great sketching haven
10. Kids are way more interested in what I am sketching than adults. 

[pentel brush pen, Lamy Safari M-nib with Deartamentis ink, uni pin pens, pitt gray brush pens, W+N watercolor markers, D+S watercolors in a S+B Epsilon Series sketchbook]--basically whatever my front pockets could carry. 

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! 

Winsor + Newton Watercolor markers

I have been reading A LOT about Winsor + Newton's new (Swasky and I were chatting about them on Instagram) watercolor markers. Yes, watercolor markers. I own bleeding-markers, as they all usually do, but these are lightfast, actual watercolors--in a marker. Too cool! I really enjoy Inktense watercolor pencils and I really enjoy markers, so these seemed like a marriage of both things!

While in Michael's I noticed that a few sets were already on clearance--how convenient! So I grabbed a large 6 marker set and a smaller 3 color "Dark" set. 

I quickly tore into the package and tested these guys out. I was quick to notice that they didn't work as I had imagined. I would make a line and then hit it with water electing watercolor-like results. Instead I got a wet line with minimal bleeding. I tried a cool skull sketch and the markers were fun. I could imagine doing an underpainting with these, or adding quick details after a watercolor wash. 

that is supposed to be a peach!

The next day I tried them in my classroom and showed my students how cool they were--but they didn't work! What I mean by work was they didn't bleed, they just sat there. You can see my VERY sad attempt at sketching my peach I was about to have for lunch dessert. The ink/watercolor just sat there and had minimal interaction with the other colors around it. The only thing that bled was my cheap black pen I happened to have with me that day. The results were so bad I sad I wasted a sheet of my sketchbook on the test. I quickly tried another test on some cheap watercolor paper (bottom of image) and that was a little better. So I began to wonder if it was the paper? or me? A quick internet search and I found that Stillman & Birn paper is internally and externally sized. The Zeta series holds up to anything, I was surprised it didn't work with these markers! I sent a note to W+N who was quick to respond with "We do manufacture a Winsor and Newton paper that is suitable for them but there are also other brands that will also work  well.  I have used them on Arches CP and Rough with good effects." Oh great, it only works on their paper!? That sounds like a poor marketing scheme to me! If they don't work on my S+B paper, than the markers are no good to me. S+B sketchbooks are fantastic and I am a loyal customer for life--looks like the markers are going to go back to the store. 

Bummer.