Shaking off the rust and getting back to sketching!

It seems like forever since I have sketched.  This is partly due to getting ready for the Art Sale but I have also been taking a watercolor class this fall given by Tom Hoffman.  It has really taken me out of my comfort zone doing pure water color no lines and using large brushes.  I will post later some of the work that I did. This is my excuse for feeling a bit awkward with the inkline sketching and watercolor.  I need to try to practice as much as possible.  Just like practicing piano.

Seattle Urban Sketchers went to the UW Botany Greenhouse to sketch today.  I spent time with the Orchids.  I would like to go back when they are all in bloom.

Later in the afternoon I attended my son's end of the year Cross Country Banquet at the Pacific Science Center.  Here is a sketch of some dinosaur statues in the pools around the science center.

The Absentee sketcher!

Sorry I haven't posted in a while.  I have been busy getting ready for the Souluminations Annual Artist Sale coming up December 7 and 8th.  If you are in town please come to this.  I will be selling my art cards, gift tags, calendars and original art there.    A portion of the proceeds goes to the non-profit Souluminations.  Souluminations connects photographers with families who have children with terminal illnesses. The photographers will take photographs of the children with their families free of charge.  These photographs are then put into albums and  given to families as a remembrance in celebration of the life of their child.

My cards and calendars have new images of sketches done this year.  Since Barcelona and Granada were the highlight of our year,  many of my sketches of Spain  are incorporated into the 2014 Calendar.  There are also new gift cards that include images of Lynette Johnson's wreaths, luminaires and beadman ornaments which she sells at the Artists' Sale.  Please come you will be amazed at that quality of all the artists' work.

Here is a postecard announcing the Artist's Sale with my sketch of Point Hudson.

A trip to Craven Farms for Autumn Sketch outing

Urban sketchers went to Cravens farm for our monthly outing.  It was a far distance about 40 minutes from Seattle but worth the drive.  Here are the sketches from the day.

Harvest Barn

Craven Farm Panorama

Gaudi Sketchbook sketches

Sketches of Parc Guell

One of the sketchbooks we received at the symposium was a watercolor accordian sketch book by Sennilier.  It was a tiny sketchbook folded it was about 3x5.  I decided to dedicate it to the Gaudi buildings we saw.  I just finished adding watercolor to the last sketch I did.  All the line work was done on site but I only had time to finish 3 sketches in watercolor on site. 

Sketches of Sagrada Familia

Sketches of Casa Mila

Sketches of Casa Batlo

Urban Sketchers Celebrates Edmonds

The month of October Urban Sketchers will be showing their sketches at two venues in Edmonds, WA.  Gallery North and Cafe Louvre.  This Sunday October 6th from 1-4pm will be the artists open for the show.  Please come join us to see what we have done. 
I have three pieces at Gallery North and 5 pieces at Cafe Louvre.  All are for sale.  Here is a link to the video advertising.
http://animoto.com/play/3f7M2pF7A0J0hxz5ghZ0bQ

Sketches From Boehms Candy Factory

Sunday Urban sketchers met at Boehms Chocolate Factory to sketch and tour the facilities.  The facilities included the store, Mr. Boehms Chalet, a replica of a 12th century Alpine hut, and the chocolate factory.  There was a lot of art and stuff around the site.  But I tried to find a view I liked and found these two more simple views.

Boehm's Chocolate factory

 

Alpine Chapel

First Sketch Crawl with the Urban Sketchers in Barcelona

Wednesday July 10 was a pre-symposium sketch crawl for all those who had arrived in Barcelona.  We missed  the early morning sketch crawl but met up with the sketchers at noon for the sketch-crawl at Sagrada Familia.  Sagrada Familia is the unfinished Gaudi Cathedral. It has been under construction since 1882, Gaudi became involved in the design in 1883 and worked on it until he died.  The projected finished date is 2026 which will be the anniversary of Gaudi's death in 1926.

Nativity Entry @ Sagrada Familia

Detail at Sagrada Familia

Mercat Santa Caterina, Barcelona Spain

The second day of sketches in Barcelona ended with this sketch of Mercat Santa Caterina. Renovated in 2005, it has a colorful and eye catching undulating roof of ceramic tiles. It was designed by Architects Mirales and Tagliabue of EMBT.

Placa del Rei - "King's Square"

Plaça del Rei (means "King's Square") is a 14th-century  medieval public square in the Barri Gotic.
This plaza immediately drew my attention.  It beckons you to linger there.   According to Wikipedia,  
"The square is surrounded by the Palau Reial Major, the Saló del Tinell, the Palau del Lloctinent ("Lieutenant's Palace"), the 15th century Torre Mirador del Rei Martí ("King Martin's Watchtower"), the Capilla Reial de Santa Àgueda ("Royal Chapel of St Agatha"), and the Palau Clariana-Padellàs..."

I spent part of the first afternoon sketching here, interrupted briefly by a large truck working on the road. I then came back at the end of our stay to paint on site.  Here is the final colored version.

Sketching with Shari, Liz and Chris

One of the nice things about going to the symposium is the chances to "bump" into sketchers on the street. The second morning we were in Barcelona, John and I went for a walk to get familiar with the city. As we were walking in the Barri Gotic, I happen to look into a courtyard and see Liz Steel, Shari Blaukoph and Liz's friend Chris sitting there sketching.  I came up to them and introduced myself.  We all know each other from the internet, Facebook, urban sketchers blogs and flickr, but this was the first time I have met them in person.  It was as if we had known each other for a long time!

Shari was running through her workshop for the next day and using Liz and Chris as guinea pigs.
I asked to join them and they  graciously said yes.  We spent at least 2-3 hours watching Shari demo and doing some of the exercises Shari was considering using for her workshop.  We gave her some feed back on the exercises.  Here are the process photos I took of Shari building up her watercolor.
The bottom sketches were the thumbnail sketches I did looking at composition.
It was really a great experience and one of the benefits of going to these symposiums.

And where was John?  He took off to photograph Barcelona and came back a couple of times until we were done.  Patient husband!

First sketch in Barcelona

On our first day in Barcelona, we met up with the Urban Sketchers for the evening drink and draw a C3 cafe.  It was great to finally meet all those sketchers you have been communicating with on line but not in person.  The first sketch I captured Miguel, Cesar, Isobel, Debo and Kathy.  After the drink and draw Cesar lead us all to our first dinner at a local restaurant  La Ginesta.  We had Tapas for dinner and continued to sketch.  That was the first of many dinners at Ginesta.  

From Granada to Barcelona

I like sketching our modes of transportation.  Rarely do we get to travel via train, however we took the Trenhotel from Granada to Barcelona.  It is an overnight high speed train run by Renfe.    We went tourist class...it was cheaper than getting a room with a bed and it was fine.  The train was booked not an empty seat.  The nice thing about traveling by train is that you get a chance to see the countryside and you have more leg room and space.    The train made multiple stops along the way and took about 11 hours.  At least that was spent at night and we saved the price of a hotel room.

Here is the view from our seats.

Mohai and sketching with a twig.

Last Tuesday was the last class for Architecture 415.  We always meet at the Center for Wooden Boats and Mohai.  While waiting for the students to arrive I wanted to sketch trying out the twig I got from Kiah Kiean (Penang, Malaysia) at the Barcelona Urban Sketchers Symposium.  Kiah uses Chinese Ink in a bottle with gauze in it and dips the twig in the gauze.  It works great to keep just enough ink and not enough to spill.  I did not use Chinese ink but used Noodlers Bullet proof in.  The down side of that is that you cannot add water to the ink to smear it.  I will have to look into purchasing Chinese ink.  This sketching tool keeps you loose and gives you calligraphic lines.

Mohai using twig and ink.  Watercolor wash overlay.

Quilcene, WA

The last couple of days we spent in Quilcene, WA for a family reunion and to celebrate my mother-in-laws 85th birthday.  We were lucky to be able to use a friends cabin on Dabob Bay.  There was  fishing, kayaking, crabbing, clamming, going into Port Townsend and of course sketching. 

Point Hudson Marina and Resort, Port Townsend, WA

Moving fallen tree from Road

Donut shop in an Elevator Car at Port Townsend WA.

Clamming at Dabob Bay

Sacromonte, Granada, Spain

On our last day in Granada, my husband wanted to go to Sacromonte a neighborhood in the Valparaiso Hills outside of Granada.  It was 103 degrees that day and I was complaining about the heat.  We walked part way up the hill to this neighborhood and luckily found a bus stop to catch the bus the rest of the way.  

This place is known for the buildings considered cave dwelling that are built into the hill side.  It is also reknown for the Flamenco dancing and music and as the neighborhood where the gypsies live.  The place is dry with few trees for shade.  Cactus and bushes and dry grasses dot the hillside.  It looked pretty run down.  There were no people on the streets because we were there during the hottest time of day.  Most people were in siesta.  In the background one could hear the sound of Flamenco guitar playing.

I did find a great spot to sketch and was glad for the shade from a building that protected me while I sketched.  I finished a black and white sketch while I was there and took pictures to finish the painting at home.   

Architecture 415 class sketching with Gabi Campanario at Westlake Center

After coming back from Barcelona and seeing the vibrancy of the urban plazas and streets, I was thinking about our own city and where we have a great outdoor plaza full of life.  Westlake Center is just the place.  It was buzzing with life and music.

Tuesday Gabi Campanario was the guest instructor for my UW Architecture Sketching Class.  Gabi demonstrated his approach to quickly capture people in action.    We then sent students out to sketch individual people, groups of people, kids in action and reconvened to talk about their sketches.  Architects are great in drawing buildings and spaces but typically find it challenging to draw the human form.  This was a great opportunity for students to learn  how to infuse the life of the city in their sketches.

Here is a quick sketch I did before meeting with the class and some photos of the class and Gabi.

Morning Joe at Fremont Coffee Company

Saturday I met Sharon Hager and Jo Moniz for coffee and a sketch.  We met at Fremont Coffee Company which is  a quaint coffee shop located in an old house.  It has great wrap around porches and we ended up sitting and sketching to avoid possible rain.

There was a fountain in the corner of the porch which attracted my attention. 

View of Alhambra from Calle Zafra

The last day of our stay in Granada we wandered around the Albaycin up to a lookout point at the top of the hill.  This was a spot on one of the windy streets going up to the look out.  It was such a great view of the Alhambra with the street scene as the foreground.  I just had to stop and do a sketch of it.

Sunday Breakfast at Restaurante La Hacienda Plaza, Granada Spain

On our last day in Granada,  we wanted to get an early start.  And went out to look for a place to eat before 9:00 am.  Most places were closed except the cafe's near Plaza Nueva.  We found Restaurante La Hacienda Plaza open  and sat down for a nice breakfast.  I had time to sketch this scene while having my breakfast and a large glass of freshly squeezed orange juice.

National Night Out Block Party

Last night our neighborhood block watch had a street party for National Night Out.  We celebrated with a great potluck,  big band music from Magnolia Big Band, and a bouncy house for the kids to play.  It is an event I always look forward to.

Fall Line to Color Workshop: September 6-8 2013

Frank Ching and I will be giving the last Line to Color Workshop for 2013.
The workshop will be limited to 22 attendees and  located in Ballard, Fremont, Gasworks Park, Pike Place Market.  Three great days to sketch in the Northwest.  We still have some spaces available,
if you are interested in taking this workshop contact gail@glwarc.
See  Fall Line to Color Workshop September 6-8 2013

Hotel Capitel Nazari

Hotel Capitel Nazari built in 1503 and was a Renaissance Palace that has been renovated and converted into a hotel.  This is a view of the central court yard.  Many of the older buildings in Granada surround an open courtyard.  The natural ventilation occurs as a result of a heat stack affect through the courtyard.  This was a wonderful place to stay.

New Backyard Project

Projects never end.  This is the beginning of another project...a new patio. The kids jackhammered the patio while we were in Barcelona and got rid of the concrete last weekend.  We are getting ready to put down a layer of gravel first.  Also testing Stillman and Birns Zeta Series,  180 Lb smooth surface paper.

Alhambra Lit Up at Night

We did not pay to go to the Alhambra in the evening which I hear is quite beautiful.  But along the Carrera del Darro we got this view of the Alhambra sitting at a street cafe have tapas.  We were also serenaded by a group of street musicians.  What more could you want!

Testing out Stillman and Birns Sketchbooks

I am testing out Stillman and Birns Sketchbooks.  This sketch was done on the Beta Series Sketchbook.  It is archival quality paper.  Extra heavy weight paper, Natural white  180 lb rough surface paper.   Suitable for mixed media and watercolor.  The paper is very white which allows the colors to read well and purely.  The intensity of the colors on this paper  is pretty amazing. These scans don't really capture the hues correctly..which has more vibrancy in real life. 

Sketch from the Alhambra

Jet lagged from our flight across the country and Atlantic, we overslept and almost missed our ticket time to see the Alhambra.  We rushed to get there in time to walk through the exquisite Palace.  I think you need to go through two times.  Once to just see it and once to sketch it.  This was the only sketch I had time to do at the end of the day after leaving the Palacio de Generalife. This is the view from the back side of the Palace.  Protected by the shade of the trees I found a spot to do this sketch.

 I will have to return to really sketch the main Palace.

Dusk Along Carrera Del Darro

While sitting at Cafe La Taberna De Tiacheta having a wonderful salad for dinner, I did this sketch.  It was dusk and the sun was setting so much was in shadow except the little bit of sunlight hitting the tops of the buildings.  A street musician was playing the accordian.  Wonderful musical entertainment with our dinner. 

Granada Spain

After 26 hours of travel to our first destination we arrived in Granada Spain at around 1:00 in the afternoon.  We were picked up by a shuttle and taken to our hotel which was located in the Albaycin neighborhood at the base of the Alhambra and just off of Placa Nuevo.  To get to our hotel we walk along one of the most scenic streets in Granada, Carrera del Darro which follows the river Darro.  The streets and buildings date back to the 16th and 17th century.  Our hotel was renovated from a 16th century building. 

Here is a view from Monte De Piedad looking up toward the Alhambra.  I didn't quite get the proportions correct in this sketch and realized it while I was sketching it.  The Alhambra should appear much higher up in the sky.  It was looming above.  I was able to capture that feel in a later sketch.  This was my first one in Spain and I had to get use to getting the verticality of the streets and start doing 3 point perspectives.  Because of the tight streets you find yourself always looking up.