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!

Visiting sketcher

The Bean - Millennium Park, Chicago

USK Chicago have hosted our first visiting Urban Sketcher! Miriam Ben from Munich Germany was in Chicago for work and went sketching with us.

We took her to sketch to Millennium Park, to The Bean. Officially it is Cloud Gate sculpture, but I don't know any Chicagoan who uses this official name.

Miriam, it was wonderful meeting you!

Here we are sketching.

Alex, Miriam, LuEllen, Martha and Barbara

And here we seem to have doubled in number!

USK Next Generation: Giola, Lucia, Robin and Pablo

A group of kids got very interested in what we were doing. Pablo discovered us first, but wanted to keep this discovery to himself. He kept sending the rest of the kids back their parents. But Giola, Lucia and Robin would not be deterred and milled around. Then they wanted to draw with us. Sheets of paper and pencils were produced and shared, and we were in business! Then Lucia wanted to paint! Then the others wanted to paint! No problem! Paint we all did.

Miriam was fast and made a delightful sketch of the young artists.

Our sketchbooks

Tourists photographed us several times as a local curiosity: "Look, Mike! Chicago artists! Quick, take my photo with them!" :)