#SBSColoredPencils #PlaysWithPencils Development piece of an interior view...

Waiting in the dentist's office for Tom. Practicing with colored pencils in my Jane Davenport Canvas Journal. My only view was of 2 chairs and a window with vertical blinds. Not one person in the room to sketch, so this is a development piece of an interior view also known as practicing sketching chairs .

#30Pages30Days Page 12 March 12: How to Sketch the Perfect Roof Line

#30Pages30Days Page 12 March 12

This is a "prompt mash-up." Roz's challenge (Day 10) was to pick one approach or medium and use it for 3 days. Yesterday I painted Amelia Sweetheart's mouth with gouache, so I worked with gouache again today. 

On Day 4 when I went to the park to nature journal, I arrived early to sketch the mansion to play "catch up" for Anita Davies' challenge on Day 3 to go on location to sketch a building because on that day I went outside and painted crocus.

The subject that I sketch or paint the least is buildings! It was cold so I sat in the car. The only view of the mansion was through the trees. I have a sketch series called "trees in parking lots while waiting for appointments". I tried to boost my confidence by telling myself that this will be same only there will be some shapes behind the trees!

I followed Anita Davies tip of learning to break the structure down into shapes and observing their relation to one another. The mansion is big on shapes! Many pointed roof lines, round turrets, stucco and wood, stones, etc.

I completed a quick ink sketch on location. Added Anita's tip to the page when I got back home. I didn't paint it until today. I put the trees in because I figured that if I didn't like the way the building came out, I could hide it with a forest! But after painting the mansion, I decided to not paint the trees and just left them inky. I made a command design decision! Anyway time was up. And then some. 30 minutes or less! 

I want to share my secret weapon that I used to get the correct roof angles, so I recorded this just for you!

#30Pages30Days Page 5 March 5 Sketching on location...nah, home with a tummy ache.

Today's Sktchy Challenge was all about sketching on location: advice about breaking down the view, noting the people and the flow of movement, writing down the place and time. My place was being at home and there wasn't much action except looking through a Pier 1 Import flyer at cute and fluffy spring critters. And that was my inspiration for the day.

Watercolor and ink in Jane Davenport Canvas Journal.

Watch the process here:

Art Journal Flip #6

A narrated flip through my 

Strathmore 500 Series Mixed Media Journal #6

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More Journal Flips!

August Journal Page: Urban Sketching in Cheshire, CT

A bit of urban sketching on the Cheshire Green: The First Congregation Church of Cheshire (1827).

Inspired by Liz Steel to try to draw a few buildings but I don't have the architect's eye! Liz makes the lines and details of a building sing and dance and come to life with color.

Ink and wash in my Strathmore 500 Series Mixed Media Journal.

60 MPH Challenge: Draw the Dunkelburger Bridges over the Merritt Parkway (Connecticut) as you pass under...

Road trip this past weekend! I challenged myself to quickly sketch each gracefully arched overpass between mum's hometown in Connecticut and the New York state border.

The Merritt Parkway, which is on the National Register of Historic Places because of these bridges, spans the distance between the Hutchinson River Parkway in New York and the Housatonic River in Stratford, Connecticut.

I believe there are around 40 bridges the whole distance, though my travels took me under 25 of them. In some stretches of road, the overpasses come up quite quickly making the details hard to capture.

All of the bridges were designed by George L. Dunkelburger in the various styles of the late 1930s: Art Deco, Art Moderne, French Renaissance, Gothic, Neoclassicism, and Rustic.

I believe I missed at least two! My sketches do not do justice to the beautiful art that each bridge actually is! If you ever drive through Connecticut, take the parkway and look up! You will be rewarded with cast iron grape vines, stylized Griffons, Puritans and Indians, rustic rubble rock, winged wheels, flowers, fiddle head ferns, and of course, the State Seal of Connecticut.

Lamy Joy and Safari fountain pens in a BG Green Sketchbook by Metro Books NY.

But Drummer Hoff fired it off...

Urban sketching at Gettysburg Battlefield with limited supplies: white gel pen, black Sharpie, green, blue, red and yellow Pitt artist pens and toned tan Strathmore sketchbook. The 4th Maryland Regiment reenactors fired off their canons. Kaboooom!!! It's hard to sketch with your hands over your ears. It reminded me of the children's book "Drummer Hoff fired it off." Each soldier had a specific job to do.

Quick sketch of Devil's Den from up atop Little Round Top.

Down at Devil's Den and up close, this huge rock looked like a duck. Diabase boulders tend to weather into amazing shapes. 

"Art In" at Mt Cuba

Mt Cuba is a wonderful native plant preserve that holds events where artists can visit without charge for the day. Any completed art work can be submitted for consideration to be included in the Mt Cuba program guide.

This year, the fall event was held on September 16th. The New England Asters were among the most colorful flowers in the meadow.

This side of the page was done with watercolors. The trees had not yet turned, but the fall blooms were gorgeous. Lots of Rubeckias and Joe-Pye-Weeds.

Loved the rustic wooded chairs set out by the pond. This side of the page started off as watercolor but morphed into gouache. Even with the gouache, the chair is wonky. Oh well, the weather and the day were "picture perfect"!

Fancy Shawl Dancer

Getting into a habit of not finishing sketchbook pages. I found this page from back in July when I went to the Hobby Horse Powwow. 

I decided to just put a dramatic monochrome to the page and call it done. Though, when it comes to a sketchbook, I guess done doesn't matter, right?

Urban Sketching in Boyertown... and Tree # 136

Samara and Andrew performing at Walnut Woods Retirement Living in Boyertown. Spent too much time sketching Samara - didn't have time to finish Andrew. Note: I did adjust Samara's skin tone when I got home. 

Egads! Buildings and people, people and buildings. I'll get the hang of it (Urban Sketching). At least there's lots of trees in the city.

Birch tree study done on N. Walnut Ave., Boyertown. Tree #136/10,000.

 Urban Sketch:

National Dog Day Friday August 26, 2016

I have a horse and a dozen (barn) cats but not a single canine, so I went to my friend Andee's house to sketch her pooch, Cody. He's very sweet.

Urban Sketching in Boyertown... And Tree #135/10,000

So used to drawing organic shapes! Buildings and angles are hard to understand. But I gave it a go anyway. This is the Good Shepard Church in Boyertown, PA. The church was built around 1814 and the steeple was replaced by the clock tower about a 100 years later. Instead of tackling the whole building, I started with just the clock tower and one chimney. What a wuss. I probably should take Liz Steel's course on drawing buildings or at least practice, practice practice.

Gum Ran is a wonderful artist who puts up with my sketchbook antics while she masterfully executes watercolor paintings. The other day she actually said, "You're getting better!" 

Egads! Look at the angles on that tower!

Ahhh, saved by the trees on the side of the church. 

Interesting display of very old tombstones behind the church. I searched for information about them on the webber-net. All that I could discover was that a cemetery was "reduced" for the expansion of a bank and then again for some work done at the church.  The headstones are arranged in 5 double rows. The names on the monuments are barely or not at all readable and yet someone planted an American flag by one of them.

Tree #135/10,000.

More trees:

Art in the Car: More Thinker Rabbit...

Friday August 12th. Traffic jam on NJ Rt 78.  Tractor trailer truck on fire. Sketched in the car during the delay. Thought I would revisit my new favorite rabbit. I sketched this with a Stablio All pencil and a water brush. I had one watercolor pencil with me so I used that for the background. 

"Fast and Slow" of Thinker on a Rock: