Pictures from sketching classes this week

I gave two classes this week on sketching.  One was with a smaller group of 5 at St. Joes and the other my Architecture 415 summer class a larger group of 18 students. Both are great in their own ways. It is interesting teaching non-architects vs. the architecture student.  It challenges my skills in teaching perspective to people who might not have otherwise been exposed to these ideas. Teaching architecture students is more fine tuning them and if they aren't getting it...helping them see a view more clearly and understand the underlying structure of a sketch.

Sketching at St. Joes

My Tuesday Sketching Class will be sketching at St. Joes tomorrow afternoon.  So I went out to scope out what there is to draw.  There are some great spots there, of course Capitol Hill has wonderful old homes with tree lined streets.  It should be fun.
I decided to test out my watercolor pencils instead of watercolors.
Here is the ink sketch at two stages.  With watercolor pencil over lay and then with a water brush wash to blend the watercolor pencil.  It gave an energetic sketch!

We still have openings for the watercolor session starting July 1st.  If you are interested contact me about the class:  gail(at)glwarc(dot)com .   Meets Tuesday from 2-5pm.

Water wash over watercolor pencil

Watercolor pencil over ink.

June 28th Workshop Opportunity At SAM with UrbanSketchers Workshops

Don't miss this opportunity! There are still a few spaces available. The price of the workshop includes the entrance fee to the exhibit at the Seattle Art Museum as well as the afternoon workshop and supplies donated by our Sponsors, Stillman & Birn and Daniel Smith. To reserve your spot in the workshop contact Workshop Coordinator Jane Wingfield at janewingfield@gmail.com.

We are pleased to announce an Urban Sketchers Workshop in partnership with the Seattle Art Museum. The event is tied to the upcoming exhibit Modernism in the Pacific Northwest featuring the work of the late Seattle artist Mark Tobey and other leading figures of the modern art movement that took place in the Northwest in the late 1930s and 1940s.

The workshop includes a tour of the exhibit and a hands-on field sketching session at Pike Place Market led by Urban Sketchers instructors Gabriel Campanario, Frank Ching and Gail Wong. During the workshop, participants will gain valuable sketching tips to draw on location —from perspective and composition to watercolor basics— and channel Tobey's spirit of sketching at the market.

Date: Saturday, June 28, 2014.
Hours: 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Registration: $50.
Schedule:
9:30-10 am: Check-in at the museum (1300 1st Ave, Seattle)
10-11:30 am: Introduction and tour of the galleries with USk Instructors and museum staff
11:30-12:15: Lunch break/Presentation by instructors
12:30-3 pm: Field sketching session at the Market

Sketchbook sponsor: Stillman & Birn.
Art Media sponsor:  Daniel Smith

To reserve your spot in the workshop contact Workshop Coordinator Jane Wingfield at janewingfield@gmail.com.

Patterns and Textures of the Flower Market at Pike Place Market

A close up sketch of the flower stalls at Pike Place Market.  So much color texture and pattern there. This was just a corner of the stall about a 20 minute sketch and watercolor.

Mark Tobey Inspiration

In  getting ready for the upcoming workshop at SAM I studied Mark Tobey's Pike Place market sketches and used them as an inspiration to try a different approach to sketching.  Mark Tobey worked on newsprint and used watercolor and gouache.  You can see his limited palette and use of a lot of white in some of his sketches.  I see a lot of pattern and rhythm to his work. He ignores perspective, but you do get a sense of depth by location of objects in relation to each other in space and size.  With that in mind I made a attempt to sketch using some of those ideas.  It is hard not to draw using what you know of perspective.  I think you have to get beyond the mindset of realism and  look for geometries, patterns get the essence and feeling and vibrancy of the place.  I used brown sketch paper, ink lines, watercolor and white chalk.

Sketching and Watercolor Classes this Summer

If you are interested in Sketching and watercolor classes for the summer, see attached information below. Contact me as soon as possible to secure a spot.