Urban Sketching in Denver

DazBog Coffee Shop, Tennyson Cultural District, Denver.
The block letters that I drew say "thank you" in Russian.

Reverse side of above--black marker bled through so drew again.
Experimenting with different types of pens and markers.

Had Urban Sketching class with Frederick Pichon, a French architect and artist.  We
drew at the Starbucks at REI in Denver, too cool for outdoor sketching.  Hadn't drawn
people in years.  Surprising to experience how connected I felt to individuals that I drew.

Looking forward to finding a life drawing class in Denver so I can get my figurative
chops back.  Surprised that I enjoyed drawing girders and the angles of staircases as
much (well, almost as much) as drawing flowers and leaves.  After just drawing botanicals,
for the most part, for the last two years, it is interesting to broaden my subject focus.  

On the right is the large, industrial space, then drew the piece on the left with people added.
Loved that the poster the man is looking at it a poster of Nepal and a Buddhist stupa. 

A mixture of quick studies of metal steps and girders and people.  I really like the mixed and overlapped images.

A week passed between the above REI interiors and my second, and last, class with
Fred.  We were sitting outside close to the new wing of the Denver Art Museum.  Such
a great view of the library and sculptures down a corridor between buildings.  I had
seen a set of thumbnails from Urban Sketcher Miguel Herranz (Freekhand) and decided
to make small drawings in a grid rather than giving myself the whole page to labor over.

Great to meet Cynthia Morris, a fellow Urban Sketcher, artist and life coach through this
class as well.  Hope to draw with her again this summer and plan to get together with other
Urban Sketchers.  See there is a drawing and urban sketching group through Denver MeetUp.

Got an an additional unexpected treat.  Turned out to be first Saturday "free day"
at the DAM and got to see the wonderful Georgia O'Keeffe exhibit I had been wanting to see for
free as well.  What a great day!!  My Visual Art Journaling Group, Colorado group met in
the morning, then went to Tenn Coffee to hang out and sketch, then went to U. S. class.

Happy with my drawings, in general and pleased with my Urban Sketching experience.
As an art therapist I could not avoid noticing that my recent concern about my teen aged
son not wanting to talk about his homework showed up in my drawing of a huge calf and
cow sculpture near the museum.  Mom cow looks anxious and son calf has no mouth at
all.  I talked to my friend Sandra whose son is my son's best friend and laughed about this
image popping up.  Sandra's so great!  She just laughs and reassures me that my son will
be fine and not to worry.  Somehow I know she is right.  Hmmm, maybe I should take
the tag out of his ear and just let him grow up the way he will.  All I can do is make sure that
he knows he is loved and that I want to help him succeed in the best way for him.

Calm Down Bessy!

Masking Taped Journal Page Experiments

Vine
Taped page with Sepia Walnut Ink
I drew in pencil and colored with
Derwent Inktense Watercolor Pencils.
This is an altered book journal.

Sepia Art Table Buddha

Another taped page stained with Sepia Walnut Ink.

This is the drawing of my art table Buddha. This is my first taped page.

 Experimenting with this in Juliana Coles Quick Draw workshop.

  I think her layered style is akin to patterned style I have.

Doll Dress
Taped page over painted with bronze paint. Rubbed on Walnut Ink.
Drawing of doll's dress painted with acrylic.

Detail of Pine cone painted on taped page in altered book journal 

Pine Cones
Taped altered book journal with light Walnut Ink. Drawn and
painted in acrylic paint.

Pitchers
Taped page (masking tape) painted over with blue acrylic and gesso.
Drawing a Day Challenge. In altered book journal.

I've heard people advise to never put masking tape in a journal but I think

that these pages will change your mind. I love the texture and it is especially

nice when the words or illustrations from the altered book show through.

Drawing Buddha's Hand

Buddha Holding the World
Watercolor, stenciled halo, Sharpie Pen

I drew one of my Buddha statues and found the face
was easy but the hands and feet were a challenge, especially 

the left hand.  My son said he really liked the left hand because the heavy

lines in the figure joints meant that that hand could move, like the

cartoon figures he likes to look at online.  I kept on staring at that hand

and began to think that it was trying to tell me something.  Buddha's hand

can move?  I started to think that there was something IN Buddha's left

hand, although that wasn't what I thought I was drawing.  Hmmmm, looks

like a ball.  I decided to just let that cook and see what came up.

Later I realized that the ball is the World.  The World is in Buddha's hand.  I

decided to work on the drawing (the top drawing is the finished one) and

render what I had realized.  Somehow I feel like crying.  It makes me think

of something I visualize when I am feeling despair.  I imagine myself in Christ's

arms, like Mary holding the crucified Christ in the Pieta.  Of course I am not

dead but only crucified, usually by my own thoughts.  This image came to 

me from that story of the footprints in the sand--the story where Christ shows

a man his life and how he has always been with him.  The man sees the extra

pair of footprints, along his own in the sand, but then notices that there is a

time in his life when there is only one set of footprints.  The man accuses

Christ of abandoning him right when he needed him the most.  Christ smiles

and says "That's when I carried you".  

So now I have another healing image, that of Buddha holding the world.  The

reality that the Buddha represents is large, the world is small.  I also realize that

this is Buddha offering the world to us.  Offering the world to me.  Offering 

a world of compassion and peace.  It can only be offered.  I must receive.

Buddha, Left handed

Left Hand Drawing

In Jane LaFazio's Sketching and Watercolor, Journal Style workshop we were asked to

draw a continuous line drawing with our left hand.  I decide to draw one of my Buddha statues.

The drawing only took a little while, but I kind of liked it.  I was surprised, however, when

people in the class remarked that it was "so full of emotion".  Hmmm I can see it but guess

the directness of my left hand drawing came through.

In week 6 we were asked to draw a man-made object.  I found that I just didn't want to

draw kitchen appliances or the like.  So I did a right hand drawing of my statue.  It was easy

to draw the upper half of this statue but I kept on erasing and redrawing the bottom half.  I

still wonder about some of the details.  The color, which began when I picked up the wrong

colored Sharpie Pen actually turned out to be a happy accident.  I have always loved images

of the "Medicine Buddha", the Buddha depicted as being blue.

So which Buddha do you prefer?  I am always looking for comments about my posts.

Urban Sketching

inked pencil sketch with watercolor

I think I've figured out what I want to do for the rest of my life: illustrate the world through travel, Urban Sketching, Botanical Art Journaling and just observing the beauty and fascinating details of the world in general.  

Really excited about taking an Urban Sketching class from Frederick Pichon later this month through Colorado Free University  and I'm also having great fun teaching a Botanical Art Journaling class that started last Sunday.

You know that great feeling you get when the details of life all seem to sort of magnetically align and point to a fork in the road you hadn't really noticed before?  I love observing the world and recording what I see.  I've been wanting to travel to see all the places I teach my students about in my Art History and Humanities classes.  Universe, am I asking too much?  How about if I draw everything I love and am curious about and teach others to do this too?  Deal?

Derwent Inktense Watersoluble Pencils

Pencil drawing inked with XS Faber-Castell Pitt Pen

Drawing colored in with Derwent Inktense Watersoluble Pencils

Here is my first attempt at capturing the beauty of a picture I saw of "Rainbow Swiss Chard" which is,

now that I've done a little research, a mixed bunch of different colors of Swiss Chard.  If you like

spinach, like I do, then be sure to try Swiss Chard which is even sweeter and tastier.  I've been really

enjoying drawing and painting a variety of fruits and vegetables which, of course, can be eaten later,

after I've tried to paint and draw them.

If you haven't tried the Derwent Inktense Watersoluble Pencils you must!  They are my very favorite

kind of watersoluble pencil because the colors are so saturated and inky when you release the color

with a brush and water.

I'm going to have another go with this image (I printed a copy of the drawing on watercolor paper)

with watercolor by itself.

Journal Pages with Wood Icing

 Wood Icing, Walnut Ink, Stencil Girl Stencils, Sharpie Pen, Crayola Glitter Glue

Wood Icing, Stencil Girl Stencil, collage with magazine images, Delusions Spray Ink,

Tattered Angels Spray Ink, tissue paper, Derwent Inktense Watercolor Pencils

Just getting started with Wood Icing which can be found for sale on the Stencil Girl website.  That is where I got the cool tree stencil I used on both pairs of pages.  I made the pages with the medallions on them as demo pages for my Visual Art Journaling Group, Colorado.  We met on Saturday the  2nd.

I started the second pair of pages during the group when I was demonstrating collaged journal pages with Wood Icing.  May add more info to this page tomorrow.  It is after 12:30 and going to bed because my teen finally finished his homework.  Nite!