Chicago!

Had the opportunity to attend Urban Sketchers Chicago sketch workshops this past weekend.  Had an amazing time.  Met quite a few fellow Urban Sketchers which was terrific.  Very talented and dedicated folks.  Learned a lot and tried several new techniques and materials that pushed my comfort zone.  Refreshing, energizing and eye-opening all at the same time.  Stopped in Springfield, IL on the way home to see some of the Lincoln sites.  Got in a bit of sketching there too.  All of these sketches are in a Stillman and Birn beta series book. My sketch materials range from pitt pens to pitt big brush markers to a pentel brush pen and koi watercolors.  Quite a variety for me.

Yo Yo Ma -Chicago Symphony Orchestra open rehearsal

What a way to beat the cold! Yesterday Bob and I braved the cold and walked over to Symphony Hall to hear Muti conduct a rehearsal of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (they have a great logo BTW). YoYo Ma and Giovanni Sollima were the featured cellists. What a treat!

I scribbled this sketch on the back of my program before I got totally lost in the music. I dropped in the color at home. I'm not sure about the color but nothing could spoil my day!

Surfs Up Chicago!

There are beach hazard warnings today in the Windy City. This is a quick 4 inch square sketch I did this morning at Oak St. Beach, just one block off the Mag Mile, the shoppers' paradise. "My Kinda Town Chicago is"!

For the Birds

On Monday I was up at the Peggy Notebaret Nature Museum in Chicago. It was a delightful day. Shade, a cool breeze, geese and a duck for entertainment. The city, despite its many problems, has done a wonderful job reclaiming some of the wetlands and replanting native flora. It's great to see so many of the native animals return too. There were several beautiful birds, whose names I don't know,  around the pond outside the museum. Their camouflage made them difficult to see let alone draw!

What can I say? I'm a sketcher not a photographer!

The Final Palmer House

This is a quick sketch of Potter Palmer's final resting place.  The Palmer House Hotel in Chicago was originally built as a wedding gift for his wife, Berthe. She's buried here too. I did most of this onsite but had to finish it up at home. It seems the ground crew wasn't informed that our Monday group had received permission to sketch in the cemetery and told us to pack up and leave. I hate when that happens. Being a peaceful group we complied but not before registering our disappointment with the manager. 

All in all, though, it was a delightful time touring the cemetery and getting a little sketching in while enjoying a beautiful day.

Shhh–It's a Secret!

Lincoln Park, Chicago: The Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool is one of Chicago's best kept secrets. It's a beautiful little pond filled with wonderful surprises depending on the season. Monday there were geese and goslings, ducks and ducklings, water lilies and irises, and urban sketchers. We had a great time!

Date Night–Dance to the Music!

There are so many fun night spots and music venues in Chicago. Each neighborhood has its own flavor and favorites. This is a sketch done at one of ours, 12 West. The band was Rhythm City. They play mostly Motown and Soul. Great for dancing, great for listening!

Spring? Maybe!

Our Monday sketch group met in Old Town today. It's was pretty chilly but the sun was glorious! I finally exerted some discipline and made myself sketch something a little different for me - buildings (well, building). The name of this florist is Green and its window expresses my delight that spring is finally getting to Chicago. I'm still loving working in my Stillman & Birn Beta series sketchbook.

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!

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!

Good News and…

Chicago, IL: It seems you can't go three blocks in Chicago without seeing a Starbucks but we all have our favorites. Recently "mine" closed. Shock! The good news is it didn't really close. It just moved two blocks north. The better news is they serve wine in the evening!

Eureka!

I really had to hunt to find this to join the scavenger hunt!

This is a sketch of St. Lad's in Chicago. I did it several years ago while waiting in the parking lot. It was a chilly late-fall afternoon.

Midway Plaisance

This is a long overdue post from December USk Chicago meet. There were only four of us at the Logan Art Center - a new addition to U Chicago campus on Chicago South Side. The Center is located on a boulevard called Midway Plaisance that looked like this on a gray December afternoon.

The second sketch I drew looking down from the Penthouse on the 8th floor of the Art Center. This brick building that looks old enough have an interesting history (although I don't know it) is located on the south side of Midway Plaisance. Currently it houses School of Social Services Administration - how prosaic for such a fairytale architecture.

Tell Me a Story

So many Urban Sketchers capture their cities in the architecture but for me it's the people. There's nothing like people-watching in the city. It gets my creative juices flowing! So many stories, each unique and yet somehow universal.

It was a cold, cold day in Chicago today but the rink at Millennium Park was filled with skaters. There were tourists and locals, novices and pros, kids and the forever youngs and of course the speedsters. HA! When you're trying to sketch them they're all speedsters! Some told their stories in their skating style and some made fashion statements.

I used my Stillman & Birn Beta prefect-bound sketchbook for the first time. Love, love, love the fresh white heavy-weight paper that takes watercolor beautifully and it lays flat when open!

Baby It's Cold Outside!

We went to see The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey at Navy Pier, Chicago, yesterday. This thumbnail records a Wow moment for me. The color, the light and the shadows looked just like the temperature felt…Brrr.

Thursday at the Theater with Bob

A long, long, long time ago I saw Sunday in the Park with George in New York, starring Mandy Patinkin and Bernadette Peters. It was fabulous. When we headed out to Chicago Shakespeare Theater on Halloween night to see CST's latest version of the show I must admit I was afraid. I couldn't imagine how it could live up to a show I loved and that had been further polished by fond memories. SURPRISE! Jason Daneley, as George Seurat, and Carmen Cusack, as Dot, did not disappoint - they were fabulous! The show was great. It was a night for treats.

The scribbled sketches were boxed and colored later at home. The CST logo is from the program.

When you're in Chicago be sure to stop at the Art Institute and see George Seurat's masterpiece, A Sunday on La Grande Jotte. It won't disappoint either.

The Hazards and Joys of Urban Sketching

Monday a small group of us went to Navy Pier in Chicago to sketch. It's a great venue with indoor and outdoor sketching opportunities. Since the outdoor sketching season in Chicago is drawing to a close (oh dear, no pun intended) we decided to brave the wind and sketch outside. I found a great place with a table in the sun until…

Before the boat docked my view to the south.

After the boat docked I turned to the west and sketched the landscaping.

Meeting Mr. Wright

These are little sketches done at our recent USk Chicago meet. So much to see and so much to take in, I opted to sketch some of the details on the Chicago Avenue side of his home and studio. The first is one of the sculptures above the walkway to the hidden door. The second is of the tourists and the reliefs that line the walkway.  I walked across the street for a closer view for  third sketch. It's a detail of the reliefs – the repeated stork motif and lastly a rough rendition of the logo.

Now I must go back to Oak Park and actually sketch Wright's glorious buildings! There was so much to take in at once.  In a five block area there are about seven houses designed or remodeled by Wright. What a feast for the eyes and imagination. The overall feeling of his work is monumental but his attention to detail is what really amazed me. It was a quite a day!

Back to the Bean!

Our Chicago Monday sketch group met at the Bean in Millennium Park this week. I've sketched there several times this summer. This time I chose a different point of view. I did this sketch with my back to the sculpture so in more ways than one it was "back to the Bean".

The day was a beautiful preview of fall, cool, sunny and delightful.

More from the Bean

Cloud Gate, a.k.a.  the Bean, in Millennium Park in Chicago is a go-to-place for tourists and artists alike. Watching as people experience the Bean for the first time is great. It brings out "the kid in the funhouse" in everyone. Last week I was there with the Chicago contingent of Urban Sketches and Miriam Ben from Munich. It was a great time. Thanks to Alex and Miriam for setting it up!

Our Monday sketch group was there yesterday but sadly, I couldn't make it. (Um - maybe not so sadly since it was raining all day.) I've sketched many of the features of Millennium Park but I figured I'd post sketches from a few past outings to the Bean, different size sketchbooks, different types of paper, different levels of success but always worth the trip!