More on location sketching, yay!

The agapanthas, those tall lacy clusters along our walkway, are just starting to bloom. They’ve been here for longer than our 20 years in this home. And this afternoon I sat down to try and figure out how to sketch them, and the rest of the scene. . .

As I was sketching the birds and the bees were checking me out, or so I thought. I like to think I’m accepted by the plant and animal kingdoms even though I spend the majority of my time in my house/studio with frequent and all too brief forays into the outdoors. The hummingbirds, whose feeder is to my right, did that suspension in mid air thing as if to say, what are you doing here? And Sylvester the cat, who has never let me pet him, talked to me in that soft kitty way that I wish I understood.

It ended up being more about the red geranium because, of course, it’s a scene stealer.

Yesterday I made another trip to the farmer’s market and had a different vantage point than last week. Turning my head in a 180 degree arc I found enough subjects of interest and just piled them up to make a single scene. The conversation I overheard was yet another typically local one which included the remark “I can’t believe my brother is a Trump supporter!”

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Venturing out a bit

I donned my mask last Sunday and ventured out to the Sebastopol Farmers Market, not necessarily to shop, but to enjoy some on location sketching. This setting never has disappointed me!

I’ve been sketching from pictures alot lately, but this one was done on location, growing out from the center as things happened.

Not only did I have my mask on, but my invisibility cloak as well, which I draw around myself when sketching people in public without their permission (you never want them to pose for you and ruin it). At some point the old woman on the right showed up and started talking to the guy on the grass playing guitar. Not only was she colorfully dressed, but I caught snatches of conversation about vibrations and karma and the third dimension, all of which are probably common discussion topics on this strip of lawn in the shade in the Sebastopol plaza.

I had to look up third dimension and here’s what I learned. . .I mean if you’re interested:

“The third dimension is a theoretical realm of space and time in which the particles and dark matter of this parallel, alternate reality bends light to collide with the electrical charges of the subconscious mind. What is light becomes dark. What is dark becomes light. Some look into the third dimension and see nothingness; others believe they see the very face of God.”

I wish I’d heard the whole conversation to learn which one she saw!

Another day I attended a Sketching Play Lab with urban sketchers Suhita Shirodkar and Paul Wang on Zoom. These guys are so fun to hang out with, and FUN was the operative word. Playing with watercolor. Making colorful wet “caterpillars”, while learning powerful watercolor techniques.

And then we tried it out, playfully still! on whatever we’d put on the table in front of us. You’ll have no trouble guessing what I had brought out, from my refrigerator.

I think my eggplant was trying to gobble up the lime.! If you want to learn something new while playing, try registering for a Sketching Play Lab.

Sketch Stories in Pandemic Times

Have you been wondering how to get your hair cut in these perplexing times? Well I took things into my own hands and at least got some of it out of my eyes. The scissors I grabbed were not so sharp and I had to get my glasses to see well enough, but it more or less worked.

So how did I sketch this when both hands were occupied with the hair? The iPhone is good for so many things, like the timed selfie picture. So I leaned it up against the wall below the mirror.  etc etc.

Another day I ventured out to buy some plants for my spring garden. My local nursery, Harmony Farms was mobbed with people anxious to plant their vegetable gardens, so I stopped by Ace hardware and found some plants. They were all set up with the plexi window and masks to protect the cashiers, but it became a comedy act as I was asked to shove my plant under the window and lost a bit of soil and flowers in the process. (The sketch is from memory.)

My friend Bettina lives next to the old, historic part of the Santa Rosa cemetery. The back gate of her garden leads directly into this wonderland of historic oaks and vines and every shade of green. Nature has aggressively moved to reclaim this final resting place. A dense sprinkling of rain started just as I set up my stool to sketch this story, so I collected some pictures and later put it together in this.

Yesterday I went to town and sat in the plaza to see what action I could capture. Sebastopol is a small town where as far as I can tell people are taking the Shelter in Place and social distancing order pretty seriously. The main event that Friday morning was a helicopter circling noisily overhead. I wonder why? After sitting for a while in an empty plaza finally at noon there were a handful of folks in family groups eating lunch.

The sign on the road made my day though.

Kindness is also contagious

Spread it around!

Women’s March, Sebastopol

While hundreds of thousands of demonstrators were marching in major cities cross the country this weekend, our town of Sebastopol, aka Peacetown, filled the plaza yesterday with pink hats, protest signs, music and speeches, and a crowd of all ages in undisputed support for women’s and all human rights!

Derwent Graphik pen and w/c in Stillman + Birn 6X8″ sketchbook

Standing in a jostling crowd while listening to speeches and singing along to the music, the pen went a bit wild in the sketchbook. I had my water brush and miniature credit card sized palette to get some quick color down.

Turning a bit to the right I got another view. The mother of the girl in the tree (not pictured here) was watching me and finally came over and asked for a picture of the sketch of her daughter. The lady in the pink hat was filming the speaker on stage or maybe the colorful crowd.

Intro to Sketching in Public (Sebastopol)

It’s always a crap shoot to schedule an outdoor sketch workshop in March! But somehow we slipped between the rain storms for an idyllic weather day last Saturday in Sebastopol town for the Intro to Sketching in Public workshop. We took over the stage area on the Plaza for the introductions and then spread out in the plaza for the morning of demo and sketching.

We look at bit bundled up here, but it was warm in the sun. After some drawing warm ups I demonstrated continuous line drawing and shared thoughts about how we decide what to put in and what to leave out of a quick sketch.

I certainly left out more than I put in! All those cars and benches and things. I’d still be there sketching if I’d put them all in!

Lunchtime and the afternoon was spent in the Barlow where there’s plenty to eat and sketch. I picked a spot across from a clothing shop for a 5 minute sketch and then added the color in a demo later, adding splatter and white pen detail with the Uniball Signo white pen. Once again I left out way more than I put into this scene, capturing only the “bling” that attracted me.

Last stop of the day was in front of everyone’s favorite coffee shop, Taylor Maid, and the Floral Design shop. There are still areas of the Barlow that are undeveloped, like this scene from bygone years across the street  And if you can tell me what it is, I would appreciate knowing. Does it have something to do with apples? Grains? Wine? Beer? None of the above?

Sketching at home

When it’s not the season for travel or time for local event sketching, there’s always what is close at hand. I no longer sketch my food and drink, which is recommended by some of my favorite luminaries such as Danny Gregory and Liz Steel. But I’ve had my eye on the rusty mailbox next door, and then there’s always the goats at the bottom of the hill.

Lamy Joy fountain pen and watercolor in soft cover Beta Stillman + Birn sketchbook

And then there’s the town I live (outside of), Sebastopol, where I’ll be teaching two workshops this spring. The first is “Introduction of Sketching in Public” on March 25th. So I’ve been wandering around town with the eyes of a tourist sketcher to find what one could capture quickly in a workshop setting.

A lovely water fountain in the plaza and an exercise in connecting it with the background while leaving out most of the rest of what was there! That’s the hard part.

I found a bench in the sun and had a few minutes left to doodle some people. I often end up liking these “doodles” better than the more finished ones. You’d think I’d learn.

But another day I had more time, and a good spot to sit with a friend and kept sketching awhile after my subject had left. Of course they always leave before you’re done!

fountain pen and watercolor in Toned Tan Strathmore Art Journal

And then there’s always the selfie. This one done while on an hour-long phone call in front of my computer (one looks for time where it is to be found), which might account for having lost a bit of the top of her head. Oh well.

I’ve had people tell me I should paint more attractive self portraits of myself, but this is so much more amusing. I think I feel a series coming on. After all, you don’t have to pay this subject to sit and she’s always available to sketch live!