Sketchkon Sketches #4 -- Lawlor and Reim Workshop Part 2

Continuing with sketches from my full day Urban Sketching Boot Camp workshop with Veronica Lawlor and Melanie Reim...

After drawing 20 thumbnails in 20 minutes, we chose three of those thumbnails to explore further.  In each thumbnail we had to identify three specific objects.  Then we had to do a variation on each thumbnail moving each object through foreground, middleground, and background.  

I sort of screwed it up in the first example, but in the last one you can see I finally got the hang of it, with the person, the tree and the wall occupying different picture planes. 

This was, for me, a mind-bending exercise.  I LOVED IT.

A bit later we walked to a church and our assignment was to draw it in several ways, thinking about depicting emotional content.  How does this building--and all it signifies for you in your life--make you feel?

That was fun and really tapped into my storytelling impulses.

Sketchkon Sketches #3-- Lawlor and Reim Workshop Part 1

As part of Sketchkon, I signed up for a full day workshop with two of my sketching heroes, Veronica Lawlor and Melanie Reim.  We drew for hours in this Urban Sketching Boot Camp.

We started by learning about and practicing quick thumbnails.  We had to sketch twenty in twenty minutes.

What a great exercise for exploring ideas and space.  Twenty in twenty minutes meant you had to keep looking always for the next idea.  I'd be in the middle of drawing one and thinking about what would be next!  And you couldn't stop to criticize.  And you couldn't even attempt to draw more than just basic basic shapes because you didn't have time.  

Bonus:  what a great exercise to help you BE IN A MOMENT and in a space.  You pay such close attention to where you are when doing this.  It imprints the whole scene deeply into memory.

Sketching in Church: The 150th Anniversary of Grace Episcopal Church

I really like to sketch in church.

I have permission from the priest, fyi, so no worries there.  And I always show my work to any parishoners who ask, so people know I'm not goofing off.  They know that, in fact, I'm probably paying better attention than many others.  My mind can't wander.  I'm capturing the service.

These pages capture my attendance on a Sunday which opened the year-long celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Episcopal Church in Holland, Michigan.    Instead of using a "sketchnote" form, I used more of a "comics" form, with panels and speech bubbles and the like.

All of these were done live, during the events. 

I captured some of my favorite moments from the liturgy.

I captured some details from the reading of the gospel and the sermon.

And after the sermon concluded, some of the special announcements.  And communion.  All are actually really welcome here.

And today, after the service, we all went outside for the dedication and unveiling of a new historical marker commemorating the church in the State of Michigan.

Scotland Sketchbook Part 14

Some architecture sketches from St. Andrews, Scotland. 

I really need a lot of practice with things as precise and "hard edged" as architecture.... or I need to embrace the wonkiness...

Scotland Sketchbook Part 9

Travel from Oban to Iona, and impressions of some Iona architecture.  Some of this I drew while in a moving car!

Scotland Sketchbook Part 6

Fishing villages have wonderful architecture on hills overlooking the sea, and harbors full of lobster traps, which were a challenge for me to capture!

Scotland Sketchbook Part 5

One of our favorite places in Crail was the Crail Harbour Tea Room and Gallery.  We returned several times and I sketched while enjoying terrific treats!

Scotland Sketchbook Part 3

Welcome to Crail.

We stayed in a lovely fishing village for our first few days in Scotland, enjoying the landscape, and hiking to other little villages.

It had a walled harbor that was fun to sketch from a nearby hill.

A Day at the Hospital

Last spring my mom had some out patient surgery, and I went along to take her to the hospital, bring her home, and stay with her for a day afterward.  Everything went very smoothly.

It was up early, then hours of waiting.  So, of course, I brought along my sketching stuff.

I was working in a Midori Traveler's notebook (thus the unusual paper size), in an insert book I had made out of Strathmore mixed media 500 paper.

I had fun doing a variety of subjects, though you'll see I dropped the color as the day wore on.  I think I was just too darned tired!

St. John USVI Sketchbook Part 11

This day we needed a break from the sun, so we headed into Cruz Bay to hang out, eat, shop, and draw!

Travel Sketching: White River Junction, Vermont

I had a little bit of time and a lovely lunch in White River Junction, Vermont.

There is plenty there to draw and I hope to return soon!

You can read from my notes the things I thought about and overheard as I drew.  All of those things would be lost if I hadn't captured them in the sketchbook.

Travel Sketches from New Hampshire

Last fall I had the great good fortune to take a trip to New Hampshire and Vermont.  I spent much of my time sight-seeing and doing some travel sketching.

For me, the impact of keeping a travel sketchbook is combining both the visual and the verbal.

I do not write down the "dear diary" sort of entry to capture everything I did on a trip.  And I don't even use the sketches to commemorate every wonderful thing I encountered on a trip.  I take loads of photos and I enjoy them.

But in the quiet moments, or the moments when I can find time to draw, I draw whatever is in front of me, and I can write a bit about what the travels have brought to my attention.

Such sketchbooks made a great record of the experience, that complements any photos I take.

Below are a few of my sketches from the start of the trip.

First, a sketch of the blaring CNN coverage of the political situation in the United States at the time.  It was around 9 am and because I am always nervous about flying, having to listen to this horror show while I waited for the hotel shuttle to take me to the airport didn't do me any good.  I recorded that moment of frustration on this page.

 Scribbling on a plane is a great way to distract yourself if you are  a nervous flyer!

We stayed with friends who had a comfy chair in their front yard with a lovely view of foggy mountains.  I had the chance to go for a morning walk and capture this scene before others were up and at 'em for the day.

I am sure I would not remember this quiet moment and that delightful wet walk if I hadn't done this sketch.

Below, I captured (and not exactly accurately) one feature of their home in New England that I remember seeing a lot in my childhood days growing up on the east coast, but which I never see in the midwest:  wall sconces.  I love them.

One day I traveled to Portsmouth, NH, to explore.  I had a lovely lunch on an enclosed porch on the water, where they let me sit for two hours and paint while I ate.

While I was painting, another woman in the restaurant came over and asked if she could take a picture of me sketching.  I said sure!  So now I and my work are in someone else's memories of this excellent day!

I see more and more how scribbling in public brings the most interesting encounters and opportunities.