Urban Sketching Workshop in Bothell, WA - Part Two

More from the 2 day Urban Sketching workshop with Gabi Campanario in Bothell. On Saturday after the walk by sketch of the vacuum parts robot casually sitting on a bench, the group moved to Hillcrest Bakery. This is a business that's been family owned and operated since 1934. It's a cute little blue and white shop at the bottom of Main Street. The drawing exercise here was to focus on line work and composition.

Hillcrest Bakery

Line Work and Composition Exercise

Gabi's first sketch demonstration was on the side walk next to the bakery but with 12 or so sketchers that got a bit crowded so we moved across the street to draw. The throw down of sketchbooks was interesting as always and my sketch.

The fourth stop of the day was at Bothell Landing. It was a beautiful afternoon and it was packed with all sorts of people from young ballerinas, family reunions, two or three wedding groups, a girl in her huge puffy quinceañera dress held by her younger brother, and plenty of others. We first got to tour through the Hannan House, one of the three historic buildings grouped there.  Gabi gave a demo of three ways to show value when he drew the school house. One was pencil, another was pencil with crosshatching and the final was watercolor. The exercise for us was to practice value. Incorporating the earlier ideas on composition and line work was encouraged - not surprisingly.

Bothell Landing

Value Exercise

Two Dogs, Two Owners, Two Portraits

I finished a second ink and watercolor portrait of the happy dog pals, Oyuki and Gabriel. It's interesting to see the pictures side by side because they're the same but have their differences. One of the dogs and owner have moved away so the dogs can't play together any more, so one of the portraits will be sent to Gabriel's mom. I love how these turned out! Contact me if you'd like a portrait done of an animal you know.

Urban Sketching Workshop in Bothell, WA - Part One

Over the past weekend, I was in an Urban Sketchers workshop at Cloud 9 Art School in Bothell, Washington, led by Gabriel Campanario who started Urban Sketchers in Seattle about 10 years ago. It was a great class with plenty of inspiration but also challenges in trying to put the concepts down on paper and have them work out. After every sketching stop, there would be a throw down where everyone would lay out their sketchbooks (or iPad) and we could see what everyone from the group had done. That part was always interesting. Here are some pictures from the workshop and the first two challenges.

Historic Tree in Bothell

An exercise in composition

This exercise was focused on composition. The tree was to be the main character in the sketches. It was then a matter of finding a spot to draw it. The photos show Gabi doing his demo for the tree, the spot I chose to draw the tree from, and then the throw down of sketches. Composition is a tough thing to do well in an urban setting when so much is calling for attention. "Draw me, draw me!", "Include me too!", "Ooh, that's interesting..." It's definitely something for me to think about more when I'm trying to sketch outdoors.

Walk-by Sketch

10 minutes

Gabi gave us ten minutes to sketch this whimsical and creative vacuum parts robot sculpture. And here's the throw down of our sketches.

Oyuki and Gabriel

My latest commission is complete of Oyuki and Gabriel  - two happy pups on top of a pile of bark.  They were fun to do because they looked so content. It was an interesting challenge of painting white dogs since much of them don't get any color.  I introduced some of the background colors into the shadow areas. Light reflects the colors around. Contact me if you are interested in an ink and watercolor commission of a pet you know - anyatoomreart@yahoo.com.

The Craft Fair Was a Success!

Last weekend, I participated as a vendor at a craft fair, the Redmond Cat/Craft Revolution hosted by the Whole Cat and Kaboodle and Feral Care Sanctuary. It was a beautiful day - which is not something to take for granted in the Pacific Northwest in June, and while the turnout was slow, it was a great introduction for me into craft and art fairs. I was able to get a sketch of my table from my perspective looking out.  It was interesting to watch people go to specific booths and not others, as well as people being attracted to specific things at my table and not others. I enjoyed being able to talk to so many different people and hear their various stories.  Since it was hosted by cat people to raise money for a new roof at the feral cat care place, having cat themed items seemed appropriate. I was able to go into my fabric stash and pull out all sorts of cat fabric treasures and I made lots of fabric coasters. They turned out to be my biggest seller which is no surprise since they are small, attractive, useful and affordable. It was also fascinating to see people's reactions to different fabrics. So with that gentle introduction, I will be at a couple more events this summer. One of them will be at the Woodinville Art Fair in August. Perhaps I'll see you there!

The June 2018 Newsletter is Here!

The June 2018 newsletter is now available!

Click here to download the PDF.

Chocolate Bar Wrappers!

Some people collect wine labels, but I collect chocolate bar wrappers! I've noticed that over the years, wrappers and packaging for chocolate bars are getting more and more interesting and beautiful. With more smaller, specialty chocolatiers making chocolates, there are even more lovely wrappers out there to admire and collect. I then like to draw them in my sketchbook and have them all in one place. For this chocolate bar from Trader Joe's, I used my Platinum carbon pen and ink, a green Micron Pigma 03 pen, and a Faber Castell Artist Pitt pen in addition to watercolor. It is in a Stillman & Birn Epsilon sketchbook.