Rudy's Crowd, Revisited

Do you remember this sketch from last year, here. Well, I thought I had destroyed it when I went to add watercolor. I stopped before getting very far at all. Sometime during the last year, I realized that sometimes paintings go through ugly stages. I would probably have approached it differently than I did in this particular case, because of all I've learned, but I think I managed a save here. I know there are spots still not painted...but I liked them so they stayed. This has ended up in a frame on my wall. So, yes, it's a good night! (I should mention that the woman on the left was my Sketchcrawl partner, Cecelia. )

Also, I just received an order from DickBlick. I bought a da Vinci maestro travel brush, one piece of Fabriano Artistico 140lb cp paper to try, and a hand.book watercolor sketchbook, which I wouldn't have bought if it didn't come with a #2 escoda travel brush. (My first two pure Kolinsky sable brushes!) I'm WAY excited and I can't believe it got here SO fast! I have to give my kudos for DickBlick. There was a mistake in the address during my paypal processing, so it was shipped all the way to Idaho. Where I no longer live. They were so great about resending the order. They were pleasant to deal with, and I received it two days later!! Great customer service!! (Oh, and I've done a little playing with the brushes....LOVE!!)

My Sketch(non)crawl 25

I had intended on going out on Saturday to have my own Sketchcrawl 25. I just didn't feel like the one hour drive to Houston, or the two hour drive to College Station to participate.




The weatherman had said we would have a wonderful day with cool temps and sunshine. My favorite weather! But, I woke up to rain, gray skies, and wind. So I wimped out, stayed home and sketched the cat. I suppose a more dedicated person would have braved the weather. I could have gone to a mall or something.

Anyway, Ollie was a great model for me and remained relatively still as he too moped around the house. These are small sketches scattered about two pages of my sketchbook. The originals are in pencil; color added in Corel Painter that evening. I did them over several hours of watching television. Putting down the sketchbook, picking it back up to sketch some more.







It seems like everyone is doing cats lately! Alex just made a post of a kitten that looked very similar to Ollie. Kate Johnson posted one of her cat going to the vet. Wendy has one up. Her cat has a GPS collar! And of course, Janey can always be relied on for cat sketches.


PS Hats off to those who compose their posts like this all the time! This was a booger!

PSS HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAN!

More people at Rudy's

I don't normally eat out a restaurants because there aren't many that serve organic food (yes, I'm a little uptight about that). So, when I do, I am overwhelmed by the number of people there are to sketch! Don't get me wrong, I will eat out at one if we are meeting people, etc., I just don't go as a general rule. When we were on vacation, we took a grill and a cooler full of food, and for the most part cooked all of our own meals!

For my birthday, my parents are going to take me to the zoo, and my husband is going to take me to the food court at the mall to sketch. They know me too well as these are the best presents they could possibly give me. More opportunities to sketch is all that I want! I don't need clothes or gadgets.

I am going to add watercolor to this sketch, so I wanted to have a record of the before, just in case disaster strikes! The lady at the far left is my sketchcrawl partner, Cecelia, added from photo.

Sketchcrawl 24...Bryan, College Station TX

Well, I had a fabulous time, but I must admit I was a little disappointed that there were only two of us at my first sketchcrawl. It might have something to do with the home football game for the Texas Aggies. I met Cecelia and we had a wonderful day sketching. And luckily the weather cooperated. The first sketch was done on Main Street in Downtown Bryan. It is the Queen's Theater. Who could resist drawing a building with a giant crown on top. And something I hadn't noticed until I started drawing was that the facade was slightly scalloped. I've emphasized it in my sketch, but when looking at the building, which is badly in need of restoration, it appears flat. It only became apparent when I noticed the shadow at the top wasn't straight across!



This second sketch was done at Rudy's Bar-B-Q in College Station. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to complete it on site because we had a couple of errands which came up unexpectedly. I took a picture of the area for color reference, though the girl had left already.

It was great to meet a fellow blogger/sketcher and I do look forward to the next. I hope this isn't something that is losing its popularity!

Sorry, I'm not very chatty at the moment, I am still recovering from yesterday. In total, I think I spent about seven hours in the car. And I had to get up at 5:30! I might have to attend one closer to home next time.