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Tuesday, August 2, 2016

Sketching at the County Fair Part One

Last week I attended the Ottawa County Fair to scribble.  I attended both Thursday afternoon and Friday morning.

I prepared "journal cards," something I learned from Roz Stendahl's blog post on "unbound journals."

I bought one 22 x 30 sheet of Strathmore 500 Gemini cold press watercolor paper because it is super stiff.  I tore it down to 16 pieces roughly 5 x 7.  I pre-painted them all with abstract shapes using Daniel Smith Quinacridone Gold and Quinacridone Burnt Scarlet.  I wasn't sure how this would look in the end, but Roz suggested it would eliminate fear of the white page and help the resulting sketches look more like a set.

I prepared my tiny Jack Richeson's child's palette with 8 colors--two red, two blue, two yellow, burnt sienna and a green--all Daniel Smith colors.

I included two permanent fineliners, wrist band (for brush wiping), waterbrush, paper towel, hat, water, pencil... and I was ready to go!  Very excited to meet my sketching friend, Julie, for an afternoon of discovery and drawing!



I didn't really know anything about the fairgrounds so I just wandered into the first barn.  There I found Red and Bowie, two abused donkeys who had been rescued and were there to get used to people.  Seemed a good option for a first subject.  They stood very still, until Red decided that perhaps a journal card might make a lovely snack.


It was super hot, and my sketching friend was about to arrive, so I sat in the shade near an outdoor duck and goose enclosure.


After Julie arrived, we investigated each barn, stopping to draw, and to plan for our return trip the next day.



Julie became great friends with a calf.



So, I sketched for just about three hours.  My goal was to produce sixteen sketches in that time, focusing on speed with accuracy in balance.  The sketches, four of which I completed after I got home, are below in the order I did them.  You can see what a delightful result came from that pre-painting I did!!






















Be sure to check out the Part Two post for the rest of my sketches.


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