Sketching Like Crazy in Boonville, MO!

Loved the grain elevators between our hotel and the river...

Me, sketching!

My windowsill studio

Inspiration!  I had to cut quite a bit of growth...

Thespian Hall, the oldest theatre continuously in use this side of the Alleghenies

Another view of the industrial grain elevators by the tracks...sketched with a couple of leisurely cups of coffee.  Vintage Sheaffer pen and Lexington Gray ink.

Our hotel, the Hotel Frederick--delightfully restored!

And my quick sketch, the next morning...Hero M-86 pen and watercolor, with finishing touches with the vintage Sheaffer.

http://www.hotelfrederick.com/

Vignetts around town...Hannah Cole was considered one of the courageous mothers of the frontier, building a fort for herself, her 9 children, and her neighbors. 

And yes, it IS that Boone family, just spelled differently...

Let the Sunshine!

Yesterday our Monday group met at the Lincoln Park Conservatory. We hoped the sun would be shinning and it would be warm enough to sketch outside. If not the spring flower show was going on inside. Some opted to sketch inside but I stayed outside in the glorious sunshine. I probably did more looking up at the sky and smiling than sketching. Today it's back to rain and gray. Ah, but yesterday there was sun!

This is done in a Stillman & Birn Beta series, 5x8 book. I love how the pencil feels on it and how it handles the watercolor!

Sketchcrawl in Kansas City

Saturday's sketchcrawl, a photo by vickylw on Flickr.

On Saturday we drove to Kansas City, meeting friends for a sketchcrawl at the Anita B. Gorman Conservation Discovery Center. Lots of areas to sketch, inside and out, but the wind still has a cold nip to it. (Goodness! They are predicting snow again in parts of Kansas this week! Will Spring ever get here?) This tableau was set up inside.

After doing very little sketching for over three weeks, I played a bit with my newest palette to get back into it. At first, I had filled this palette with as many colors as would fit --- now I've reduced them to some essential pigments, leaving room for some brushes. Surprisingly, my fat # 12 travel brush fits!

If you're going to San Francisco...

Never mind the flowers in your hair!  (Yes, I'm dating myself...)

I just added info on the 1st West Coast Urban Sketchers Sketchcrawl to our sidebar--if you can't go to Barcelona this summer, you might want to thing about going to SF instead!  Lots of good people involved...

(and NO idea why it's highlighted white)

This from Jim Bumgarner, event organizer:

July 12 - 14, 2013, this event will offer any and all urban sketchers throughout the world, who for whatever reasons, were not able to attend the Barcelona Symposium, a chance to meet new people, and to enjoy group sketching and socializing in the fabulous San Francisco Bay Area, located on the West Coast of the United States.

No fees or workshops, the event is designed for meeting with new people and friends, and sketching all day on Saturday, the "40th World Wide Sketchcrawl," in the city where Enrico Casarosa gave birth to the "World Wide Sketchcrawl," San Francisco.

Food Glorious Food!

For many years I was the art director for Food Product Design and Culinology, two business-to-business magazines that are concerned with bringing good tasting and healthful food to our tables. As a city folk, my husband and I frequent the Green City Market and belong to a CSA.  He shops. I sketch. So… needless to say, I was delighted when one of my sketches from these outings was chosen for farmer ID button for the Good Food Festival in Chicago. Bob and I attended the Festival in March–he shopped, I sketched.

I really enjoyed hearing Chef Rick Bayless talk about his involvement with local farmers to use fresh and local ingredients at his restaurants. We all win in that scenario–the farmer, the restaurant and the consumer!

I'm looking forward to more involvement as Urban Sketcher meets Urban Farmer!

Waiting on Nicollet Ave in Minneapolis

I haven't gotten the chance to do as much Urban Sketching lately. Today I had to wait to get an appointment and used some of the time (in between work phone calls and emails) to sketch from the great window of the Minneapolis downtown Barnes and Noble café.

 

This is an iPad sketch using the ArtStudio app.

 

 

 

As you can see, while springtime is here, so are the jackets, hoods and hats!

 

James Nutt, AIA

Cirrus SR-20

Another rainy afternoon here in Michigan. So...I headed over to Battle Creek's WK Kellogg Regional Airport and parked next to the old control tower to do this sketch. This is a Cirrus SR-20, one of a fleet of 26 that belongs to Western Michigan University's School of Aviation that's located here in Battle Creek. Western's aviation school has done very well and it's a program that I wish had been in place when I graduated from high school. Learning to fly still hangs in there on my bucket list!

Busch Stadium, St. Louis

Great seats, a beautiful day and extra inning baseball at Busch Stadium, 04/14/2013. The number 6 under the arch pattern in the grass is a tribute to StL Cardinal great Stan Musial who passed away in January. On this day Cardinal first baseman Matt Adams hit a home run into the bleachers in the 5th inning. Unfortunately the proverbial wheels fell off in the ninth when the Milwaukee Brewers tied the game and then went on to win the game in the tenth.5-4.

Busch Stadium, 04/14/2013; Michael Anderson, watercolor on Canson 140lb cold press, 7" x 9".

Missouri Town 1855

I've not posted in a while as I have not been drawing or painting much lately.  I hope with Spring coming I can change that.

About a week ago we went to Missouri Town 1855 with our Grandson.  I told him we would see chickens and we did when we first arrived.  I came back around to do this sketch of the coop and they had all gone inside.  I still had to sketch this as I thought it was an interesting structure.  It was a great day and I enjoyed the few minutes I had to complete this drawing.

Below are a couple of sketches I did back in January with Kate's sketch group at Union Station in Kansas City.

Bike Show, Michael's Motorcycles, St. Louis

Michael's Motorcycles is not your typical motorcycle shop. More like a museum/art gallery, it is hard to take it all in when you walk through the front door. A bi-plane hangs over a collection of vintage bikes stacked on white steel racks. A large arrangement of fresh flowers is placed in front of a white sofa that is surrounded by toys and a chess set. A barrista is brewing espressos under a striking art-deco motorcycle ad. The coffee shop is called Kickstarter Cafe.

Saturday was their annual Bike Show and open house.  Michael and his staff specialize in rare motorcycles which they collect, repair and sell to collectors all over the world.  I joined several members of the St. Louis Drawing & Painting Meetup to sketch our impressions of the event that included a live band, a food truck and about 80 guests many of which parked their own vintage motorcycles along the street in front of the building in an industrial area on Chouteau Avenue.

 

 I cound not resist sketching the early '20's Indian, a beautifully restored museum-quality object. Check out the white tires.

There is a cool video of their 2010 Bike Show on Michael's Motorcycles web site http://www.michaelsmotorcycles.com/

Bike Show sketches, Michael Anderson, watercolor on Canson 140lb cold press. 7" x 9".

 

Neighborhood Improvements!

I forgot to add this last month!  Our neighbors got a new roof right between snows and rain storms, and they needed it!  A year or two ago they had a tree growing in the gutter...

Then they painted the place and got new steps--stylin'!  I love seeing our old neighborhood getting a facelift...

No Gas Today

It's nice day today in Michigan...not warm but the sun's out. So I decided to escape from packing moving boxes and head down to Scotts, Michigan to sketch this old gas station. I'd seen the place before but was doing other sketches. So today was the day for the gas station. The station is long shut down and is pretty much in a state of free fall decay. The roof is broken and I'd guess it wouldn't take much encouragement to fall the rest of the way. Not today though.