St John USVI Sketchbook Part 07

A wonderful bay called Waterlemon (not watermelon--it takes a while to learn to say it without feeling like you are saying it wrong!)--about a 30 minute walk from parking to the beach.  Worth it if the snorkeling is good, which it was on this day.

St. John USVI Sketchbook Part 06

A trip to Maho Bay.   We were a little surprised, again, at how crowded St. John has gotten since our last visit.

St. John USVI Sketchbook Part 05

This set of sketches from the beach reminds me of many things.

First, the weather is rarely what you expect.  Also, it's worth taking the moment to write down funny things you hear other people say!

Both landscapes and close-ups, even on the same page, are fun to include.

People on the beach are just fascinating.  And they move a lot more slowly than people in "normal" life, so it's easier to draw them.

Talking to people can get you good recommendations, especially for food.  We tried out the restaurants this woman told us about and they were great.

Funny thing:  I drew her while she talked to us, and I don't think she even realized it.  This is a partial blind contour and came out really well.

St. John USVI Sketchbook Part 04

Today I tried to draw a reef squid from memory and discovered my visual memory is just not very good!

I do much better from life, or from photos.

St. John USVI Sketchbook Part 03

I love to draw and paint at the beach.  I have my kit reduced so it travels well, and I'm pretty careful to keep it all sand-free.

This next one I sketched from a photo I took.

This one resulted from very VERY fast scribbling from the car.  The donkeys obliged by standing still and no other cars came for the few seconds it took me to do fast nearly blind contour drawings of their bodies.  Then I snapped a photo and did the coloring at home.

A beautiful view along the drive.

This last one was really fun to draw in an outdoor restaurant, watching the Super Bowl.  Capturing the crowd in the dark, lit up by the giant TV screen was a fun challenge for me.  I drew and painted this on the spot.

St. John USVI Sketchbook Part 02

The trip from the cold Midwest to sunny St. John.

It's nice to never be bored in an airport.  Because the waits can be long.

St. John USVI Sketchbook Part 01

In February 2017, I travelled to St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands to snorkel, practice underwater photography, and sketch.

I'll include some of my sketches here (I filled two sketchbooks in 14 days).  For a summertime change in the blog, I'll post every day for a few weeks until I complete the St. John sketches.

I worked in Strathmore 500 mixed media softcover sketchbooks, which I customized by providing them with a hardcover before I left.   I love this sparkly Japanese book cover paper I found!

I kept the title page simple, with just a cut-out from a photograph I took during my last trip there a few years ago.

I always start my travel sketchbooks with a reminder of the palette I took with me.

And also a list of the art supplies I took with me.  Later, I'll make notes about what I used and what I didn't, so that on future trips I can cut down on the stuff.

This next spread I did right before we left, setting my intention for the trip:  to see lots of beauty underwater and to capture what I saw in photographs and sketches.

While I do make packing lists, I also have fun drawing the luggage, because it's not just what I take but what I put it in that I'll want to remember later!

This is my most favorite sketching bag.  Years old and it wears like iron.  Still, I tried to buy a new one the other day (for a back-up) and they don't make this size anymore.  Or at least, I can't find them.