A 1-minute pencil study for a barn that will be going into a larger finished work.
Archive for the ‘Urban Sketching’ Category
Dilapidated Farm
Sunday, December 13th, 2009Wisconsin Farm
Sunday, December 13th, 2009
A 15-minute sketch from my trip to Twin Lakes, Wisconsin.
Tombstone Angel
Sunday, December 13th, 2009
I found this on top of a gravestone in some tiny graveyard in the middle of nowhere. The light was hitting it in an interesting way, so I sketched.
Main Street Laundry
Sunday, December 13th, 2009
Actually, this is the building next to the Main Street Laundry in a little town called Twin Lakes, Wisconsin.
I sat on the sidewalk and drew this building while, apparently, half the town sat inside the diner across the street and watched me. Eventually somebody came out and yelled, “What you drawing?” I answered him, and he replied, “Mavis thought you were doing homework. I said that a strange place to be doin’ homework!”
Funny how people have no compunction about asking what you’re doing if they think you’re drawing. If I had been fixing a lawn mower or balancing books on my head, I’ll bet nobody would have said a word to me.
Lincoln Park Conservatory
Sunday, November 8th, 2009
This building near the Lincoln Park Zoo is comprised of a bunch of greenhouses and is one of the more interesting looking buildings in the area. My perspective is all screwed up on this. Also, I should not have tried to capture such a detailed subject with charcoal in such a small format as my sketchbook.
I’m going to have to give this one another go sometime soon. Unless the weather doesn’t hold out; in which case, I’ll have to wait til spring.
Summer Evening Near Fullerton Beach
Wednesday, August 5th, 2009
The summer in Chicago has been unusually cool this year. But that doesn’t stop people from taking full advantage of the beaches. This park overlooks the beach at Fullerton Avenue and the buildings downtown can be seen a couple miles south.
There are a few things that scare me (from an artistic perspective). Water and people are at the top of that list, so I had to work hard to stifle the voices in my head saying, “what are you doing? You can’t paint that!” The water didn’t work out as well as I had envisioned; but given that I was going for something of stylized painting and not realism, I’m really happy with the group of picnickers on the grass.
The Landmark Cafe at Lincoln Park Zoo
Sunday, August 2nd, 2009
People who dine at this building in the Lincoln Park Zoo have a nice view of the lion habitat. The lions have an equally nice view of the people. I wonder who enjoys watching whom more?
This building caught my eye a few weeks ago, and I’ve been waiting for the perfect day to go back and paint it. Today was that day.
I arrived before the cafe opened, and sketched out the contours. I layed down the first set of washes, and then wouldn’t you know… someone came out and opened all the umbrellas. I decided to leave them closed in this painting and just rely on memory for the color and shadow.
One thing I learned from this painting is that I need to get faster. It took me an hour and a half to get the painting to its current state. And, while I’m relatively happy with the end result, it still looks to me like a rather quick sketch.
I’m still having trouble getting really dark darks. I’m not sure if this is a limitation of the medium or if I’m just doing something wrong. Given some of the better watercolor paintings I’ve seen, I am inclined to believe the problem is me.
Another thing I learned today is that people will leave you alone at the zoo. Everywhere else that I’ve drawn in public, people had no qualms about walking right up to me and looking over my shoulder to see what I was doing. Today, people walked by as if I weren’t there. That almost more unsettling than the other way ’round.
This is the first traditional watercolor I’ve done in a while. I’m not sure which I prefer doing: traditional, or ink and wash. I suppose I’ll have to continue working on both until one emerges as a preference. The ink and wash sketches are certainly faster to finish; but that may just be a matter of practice.
Note: The scanner washed the colors out slightly. Bad, scanner.
Compositionally Challenged
Sunday, July 12th, 2009
Not everything goes according to plan. If I ever forget this, all I have to do is sketch something.
My plan for this sketch (another view from the back of our condo) was to make the telephone pole the center of attention. I thought framing it with the flowers and planters we have on our deck would help with that. Unfortunately, I think the foreground objects have taken over instead of retreating to the background.
I think the single biggest mistake I made in this regard is that I made the plants too colorful, and added too much contrast. I think if I had made them more sillhouetted, that would done the trick nicely.
Or, I could have cheated, and just done a strategic crop. But what would that have proven?
I’m also not happy with the how flat the background buildings came out. I wanted to push them to the background, so I knew I had to leave details out and avoid putting too much emphasis on their color and structure. Unfortunately, I think I went too far the other way.
Oh well, they can’t all be winners. Plus, I learned something as a result. And hopefully, I won’t have to make the same mistake a hundred times before I finally learn how to deal with it.
Reading Between the Lions
Tuesday, July 7th, 2009
The Art Institute of Chicago has these giant bronze lions on either side of the steps leading to the main entrance. People sit on the steps and read between the lions when the weather is nice. As for me… I stand across the street and draw them. And of course, the woman on the steps was talking on her cell phone instead of reading, thus messing up my very clever title. Maybe I should have gone with a telephone-related title like ‘Hold the Lion’ or ‘The Lion is Busy’?
This lion is the one on the north side of the entrance. His unofficial name (given to him by the sculptor) is ‘On the Prowl’. When one of our home teams is in the playoffs, the lions are dressed in team jerseys. They even have super-size helmets for the lions for football season. Since it isn’t playoff season, the lions are naked.
I did the line drawing during lunch this afternoon and painted it when I got home this evening. There was just barely enough time to eat, walk over there, draw, and walk back. But the weather was really nice today, so I felt like I had to take advantage of it. People hovered around and looked over my shoulder. I could hear them whisper to each other, “Ooh, he’s drawing the lion!” It was, simultaneously, nerve-wracking and exhilarating.
This was real challenge for me for a few reasons: 1. I am intimidated by drawing living things, even if (as in this case) that living thing is not really a living thing; 2. Mostly related to number 1, I actually included a human being in this sketch; and 3. I had to paint from memory so I was left to my own devices with respect to color and shadow. The lion’s looking a little chubby, but overall, I’m happy with how this came out.
Urban Gardening
Sunday, July 5th, 2009
Today was a nice day to sit on the deck and sketch. In fact, it was a perfect day to stretch my ‘urban sketching’ muscles.