Sketching while camping near Stinson Beach

We were lucky enough to get a prime camping spot at Steep Ravine near Stinson Beach. This place is amazing. We've been many times before, but we have to book 6 months prior on the 1st of each month at 8am on the dot. And even then, weekends are almost impossible to get.

So, we were camping mid-week at this beautiful location with hardly any other people around. We saw dolphins, pelicans, brush rabbits, a seal, star fish, anemones, hermit crabs, and so much more!

Best of all, I got to sketch a lot! Here are my sketches and some photos of my new portable easel in use.

The fog created some interesting textures in the sky and ocean!

Sketching at the beach by the cabins.

Sketching at the tide pools at low tide this morning.

Sketching using Grisaille

In Steven Reddy's excellent Sketching Interiors class, he instructs us to use a series of India ink washes after our contour ink drawing (among other things). He makes drawing details easier by instructing us to draw foregrounds, middle ground, and then backgroun elements in that order with the freedom to edit out items as we choose.

I took a photo from our recent trip to Paris and tried out his techniques. Here is the phase before adding color.

Using this method really helps me to see values (lights and darks). But, I can't help but add watercolor.

Grisaille refers to a painting done entirely in gray tones and was popular during the Renaissance. Have you tried it?

Point Richmond Sketches

Another day out at Point Richmond while Chloe is at ATDP. In previous years, I will spend the hours while she is in class at the local Starbucks. This year, I am using every precious minute to sketch! Needless to say, I am enjoying my time in Point Richmond much more this year!!

Today, I remembered my chair and sat out on the Richmond shoreline sketching the San Francisco skyline shrouded in fog. Good thing, I took some photos as the sky changed dramatically during my sketch.

I started with a couple of value/composition sketches.

But, I decided I liked this second thumbnail better with more foreground elements included.

Here is my finished piece.

I am happy with my new brushes (a Rosemary & Co. Roger Jones size 12 sable, a Rosemary & Co. size 7 squirrel mop, and an Escoda Versatil size 16 synthetic sable) and the techniques I learned from Shari Blaukopf's Sketching Landscapes Craftsy class! I finally have a sky with no unintentional water blooms!

Next, I went back to Kaleidoscope Coffee and sketched the back of the coffeehouse. Here was my view.

I used Steven Reddy's techniques from his Sketching Interiors Craftsy class to arrive at this sketch that I'm pretty happy with:

Which do you prefer? Interiors or landscapes?

Sketching at Broadway Plaza

I had planned to sketch an urban scene in downtown Wlanut Creek yesterday while out with my husband. But, it was so hot - all we did was marvel at how The recent construction and changes at Broadway Plaza are making Walnut Creek look like an outdoor Southern California shopping mall.

We had almost given up finding a good vantage point, when I spotted this fountain and, more importantly, a shading bench from which to sketch it. So, I took about 15 minutes to sketch it.

Here is the actual fountain. I decided not to put the striking workers in behind it.

Sketching People in Motion

I've been enjoying Marc Taro Holmes's Craftsy class, Sketching People in Motion, but I don't often get a chance to practice his techniques. I do, however, love to play tennis and watch A LOT of professional tennis players on tv and in tournaments in person, when I get the chance.

Today, I was watching the Citi Open on Tennis Channel and decided to get out my scribbler (3 x 5" homemade sketchbook) and test out my new water soluble Lamy black ink (in my Lamy Joy fountain pen) and my newest watercolor brushes from Rosemary & Co. and Escoda. Here are my attempts.

Monfils serving with Zverev hitting a 2 handed backhand behind him

Davis & Pegula hitting serves in watercolor

Pegula hitting a forehand in watercolor; Davis lining up a forehand in watersoluble ink

I find that what is key to drawing people in motion is to develop my visual short term memory as the pose I want to capture lasts for only a split second and is repeated every 30 seconds or so per game. I will need to keep practicing - but, lucky for me, it's the U.S. summer hard court season with lots of tournaments culminating in the U.S. Open AND including the Olympics this year!

How do you practice sketching people in motion?

2 Very Different Urban Sketches

This morning, I had several hours in Point Richmond while waiting for my daughter's class to end. Since I wasn't able to do a detailed interior sketch yesterday at Tender Greens, I decided to make that a priority today and went to Kaleidoscope Coffee.

This independent cafe is a major improvement over the Starbucks up the road! Here were my choices for possible views to draw.

Looking from the back towards the front of the cafe

So many great choices! I ended up choosing the view looking towards the back as I had already unpacked a lot of my art supplies on a table in the window in the front (if I finished quickly, I could sketch my view outside the window). Also, this view captures the great kaleidoscope-like artwork on the wall and ceiling.

I practiced using Steven Reddy's techniques from his Craftsy class, Sketching Interiors: Structure, Detail & Play. First, you need to consider several vantage points from which to sketch, then, make a thumbnail compositional sketch - identifying the foreground, middle ground, and background. Next, you block in the major shapes of your sketch in pencil and then, do a contour drawing of all the tangible edges in your sketch. After that, you apply a series of ink washes (1) a 25% India ink solution over all areas that are not white in your sketch, (2) a second application of the 25% solution over areas that you wish to darken from your first pass, (3) a final application of a 75% India ink solution on the darkest areas of your sketch.

Here is my sketch after following all of the above steps:

Steven often stops at this stage, but I continued with his two final steps: (1) adding a limited palette of watercolor glazes (which I added to because I don't really like the limited palette effect), and (2) adding hatching for darkest and texture. Here is my final version.

Final version with watercolor and hatching added.

I had about 15 minutes left before I needed to pick up Chloe, so I went outside and did a quick urban sketch using my waterproof Kuretake sable brush pen and my watercolors. This took me about 20 minutes from start to finish and yes, the girls complained when I picked them up 10 minutes late!

My Redbubble Contrast Tank Arrived

I am so excited that my Redbubble contrast tank arrived today with on of my urban sketches from Paris on it!

Redbubble says that it is printed and constructed by hand in America. It is very lightweight and has a chiffon front with a black cotton contrast back. I really love it!

I ordered a contrast top with one of my Barcelona sketches on it. I can't wait to get it and will post when I do. Please let me know your thoughts or suggestions.

Long Line Lunchtime Sketches

After practicing my landscape sketches this morning, my plan was to get some lunch and practice sketching interiors using Steven Reddy's techniques from his Craftsy class at Tender Greens. But, when I got to the restaurant, it was packed and the line for ordering and getting the food was long! I took advantage of this opportunity to quickly sketch the workers behind the counter as they made the food.

Food prep counter, dessert case & back counter

Patrons in line, cash registers, and coffee machines

I sketched using my Kuretake brush pen in line, which helped me sketch fast and loose. Once I got back to my table, I added water with a paint brush for the tone. In the end, it was too chaotic in there to do the detailed interior sketch I had planned, but I was grateful for the figure sketching practice!

Grizzly Peak Landscape Sketches

I am really enjoying Shari Blauskopf's Craftsy course on Sketching Landscapes. I went out today to Grizzly Peak in Berkeley to sketch the amazing views from up there. I suspect it's my small brushes (small squirrel mop and size 10 Kolinsky sable) are to blame for my skies not coming out quite right (too many blooms), but I will be getting an Escoda Versatil size 16 and a Rosemary & Co. squirrel mop in size 6 in the next few days. I will tell you if they make a big difference when I get them.

My second sketch in a slightly different location

Any suggestions or comments would be greatly appreciated!!

Urban Sketching on the Richmond Shoreline

Today, I decided to go through that inviting tunnel I sketched last week in Point Richmond to get to the Richmond shoreline. There was so much to sketch there!

I just started taking Shari Blaukopf's Sketching Landscapes in Pen, Ink & Watercolor Craftsy class and wanted to try out some of her excellent techniques -- especially painting skies and drawing the horizon line.

Here are the sketches I did while my daughter was at ATDP this morning.

Shari advises us to take photos as you never know what can happen. The sky and clouds changed a lot during my sketches - so it was a good idea.

Do you enjoy drawing/painting landscapes?

Urban sketching in Point Richmond & San Francisco

After driving my daughter and her friend out to Point Richmond for their summer school program, I tried some "real" urban sketching - setting up my lawn chair and sketching The Plunge (Richmond Municipal Natatorium) and the tunnel leading to Ferry Point. But, the wind coming through the tunnel chilled me to the bone! And after an hour or so, I had to retreat into Starbucks to finish painting my drawing.

This building is commonly known as The Plunge. It was built in 1925 by John Nicholl, who unsuccessfully drilled for oil on this lot but donated the land to the city for a swimming pool after drilling to a depth of 1,232 feet and finding nothing but water. Today, it is powered by a solar heating system, with 200 operable Windows to dehumidify and circulate air and water cleaned by UV light rather than chemicals and uses salt water.

Here is the drawing with a photo.

After warming up, I found a sunny spot to sketch and tried using Marc Taro Holmes's single line sketching technique (not lifting my Platinum Preppy extra fine fountain pen), adding brush pen and then watercolors.

This little building housed a coal, wood, hay, and grain delivery business starting in 1903 and became the Richmond Supply Co. in 1911. It now houses the Point Richmond History Museum.

Next, I had 15 minutes before I needed to pick the kids. So, I tried a speedy drawing using my Pentel brush pen and watercolors.

This is the old Bank of Richmond building built in 1902. It now houses a realty office.

Yesterday, I tried an urban sketch sitting in Patricia's Green in Hayes Valley, San Francisco after getting my husband a new pair of glasses at Warby Parker. Even though I tried to sketch fast with my Kuretake sable brush pen, I decided to attempt a panorama view across my sketchbook (6" x 18").

I was able to add some, but not all of my watercolors on site.

I will be doing more urban sketches soon. Have you tried any?

Paris Terrace View

Here is the view from one of our terraces at our Paris apartment.

Urban Sketches

Here are some urban sketches that I've done recently around town.

At Claremont Resort waiting for my tennis clinic - about 15 minutes

At the Lafayette Public Library - about 20 minutes

I will be driving my youngest to UC Berkeley's Academic Talent Development Program (ATDP) in Point Richmond over the next three weeks. Usually, I spend the few hours in Starbucks while I wait - but I will be out and about sketching in downtown Piint Richmond. So, stay tuned! 😉

Finished Travel Sketchbook!

I finally completed the travel sketchbook I made for my trip to Paris, London & Barcelona. I really enjoyed sketching on the trip and even drawing from my photos once I got home. It really let me relive my trip again!

Here is a quick tour of my sketchbook and a more leisurely one below that.

A slower sketchbook tour.

Final Pages of my Travel Sketchbook

This summer, my 9 year old is attending "Camp Mom" - which means I am entertaining her most days while Chloe completes a year's worth of math with her teacher's tutoring. After math today, we worked on using Marc Taro Holmes's continuous single line sketching for some of our urban travel sketches.

We used a timer and drew all 4 of these sketches within 20 minutes. We added brush pen and watercolors afterwards.

Chloe did great with her own sketches but soon got tired. I finished my travel sketchbook with this last view out of the airplane before landing at SFO.

I'm a little sad to be done with this travel sketchbook. But on to the next!

Additions to My Travel Sketchbook

I've been adding drawings to my travel sketchbook based on photos I took during the trip. Here are my latest from Barcelona.

Barcelona Travel Sketches

We were only in Barcelona for 4 days - and there was so much to draw. I did my best in completing sketches while there, but there was not enough time to draw all that I wanted. So, I took lots of photos.

Here are some sketches I recently completed and added to my travel sketchbook.

Él Born Cultural Center - about a block from our apartment

Sketching with Miguel Herranz and Lapin near the Cultural Center

Stay tuned for more!

Devour Barcelona Food Tour

On our recent trip to Europe, we took two lovely food tours. One in Paris's Latin Quarter with Sidewalk Tours and one in Él Born in Barcelona and Barceloneta with Devour Barcelona Food Tours. They were both wonderful!

Here are the pages from my travel sketchbook detailing our Devour Barcelona Food Tour.

Casa Gispert, Pasteleria Hofmann & Bodega Fermin

Have you taken any food tours while on vacation?

Urban Sketching Practice

I have been trying to use the techniques I've learned in Marc Taro Holmes' and James Richards' Craftsy classes. Here are some recent examples:

Using a single line drawing with my extra fine Platinum pen, then adding darks with my Kuretake brush pen, finally adding watercolors

Sketching at a recent SF Giants game - it was cold!!

Just using my Pentel brush pen at dinner last night

Sketching my girls after dinner just using watercolors directly

Sketching at the Claremont Resort with just my Pentel brush pen

Urban Sketching Commissions

Before my trip to Europe, I was lucky enough to get a commission for four art pieces of my choosing from an art lover on Instagram. Although I completed these two pieces while on my trip - stupid me left them on our plane from Barcelona to Paris! 😩

So, armed with my many photos from the trip, I put these four pieces together since coming home.

I'm so happy that my client loves them.