Portraits 84 & 85

Sktchy has been running occasional art challenges on Instagram featuring a particular person who has inspired lots of artists and one particular photo to draw. Portrait 84 was done for Sktchy's latest art challenge.

For portrait 85, I drew a Sktchy inspiration photo of the coolest kid. I love her sunglasses, hat, Mother Teresa tank, and frog!

This is her brother, whom I've drawn previously. They look like such a fun family!

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.

Portraits 80-83

Here are my latest portraits for the 100 Day Project. I've been trying to loosen my style and improve my watercolor skills.

This is a piece done of a friend's niece. Such a cute inspiration photo!

This is a Sktchy portrait that I attempted in an effort to also work on skies as I've been doing in Shari Blaukopf's Sketching Landscapes Craftsy class.

This is a portrait of Megan, my dear friend's niece who recently tragically died in a car accident. I plan to redo this in an 8 x 10" format that she can frame. I tried to emulate the loose, sketchy style of many artists I admire, especially Sktchy artist Dominic Beyeler.

Finally, this is another Sktchy portrait in which I tried to loose my style like I did with Megan's portrait above. More practice is needed!

Which do you like best? Do you prefer a looser style of sketching?

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!!

Portraits 75 - 79 for the 100 Day Project

Here are my latest portraits for the 100 Day Project.

Portrait 75/100 - for the Sktchy IG #artchallenge

Portrait 77/100 - also for Sktchy's IG #artchallenge

Portrait 79/100 - using graduated ink washes

In my last two portraits, I tried using Steven Reddy's graduated ink tonal washes that I've been practicing in his excellent Craftsy course, Sketching Interiors - Structure, Detail & Play. I definitely need more practice with these techniques! Have you tried any Craftsy classes?

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?

Portraits 71 - 74 for the 100 Day Project

Here are my recent portraits for the 100 Day Project using inspiration photos from Sktchy.

Which do you like best?

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.

Portraits 68 - 70 for the 100 Day Project

My latest Sktchy portraits for the 100 Day Project.

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! 😉

Portraits 64 - 67 for The 100 Day Project

Here are my most recent portraits for The !00 Day Project.

Finished Moleskine Sketchbook!

I work on several sketchbooks at a time generally. This sketchbook was started back in January and I finally finished it today! I always love the feeling of completing a sketchbook!

Here is a quick view of the sketchbook.

And a slower tour of the same sketchbook.

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!