Art In Bloom, St. Louis

Over thirty works of art including paintings by Monet and Picasso are reimagined by individual florists and garden clubs as floral arrangements in the Saint Louis Art Museum's Art In Bloom festival. The annual event resumes this weekend after a five year hiatus during the construction of the new East wing, Massive sprays of forsythia topped off multi-level flower boxes placed in the grand hall in the main building. This sketch was completed during the member preview on Friday morning prior to opening to the public.

Art In Bloom, St. Louis Art Museum, 02/28/2014, Michael Anderson, Brushes 3 for iPad with Sensu Solo Brush.

 

Precious metal: St. Louis Auto Show 2014

There were hundreds of new cars on the floor of the auto show but this 1934 Auburn convertible at the Horseless Carriage Club booth attracted lots of visitors. A HCC member told me that it is valued at $175K.

This Lamborghini, a study in lime green, was displayed in the Million Dollar Mile portion of the show. Other models shown included the usual suspects: Bentley, Maserati, Lotus and a Rolls Royce convertible with suicide doors and a stainless steel hood or bonnet as it is called by the British. The cars were spectacular but their presentation was underwhelming. All were simply placed on the floor behind rope and drape.

Other car makers such as VW, Chevrolet, Ford, Lincoln and Toyota surrounded theirs cars with dramatic architectural elements.

The Chevrolet and Ford exhibits featured jumbotron screens that played loops of product and lifestyle video. Although the attendance was large and finding a comfortable place to work somewhat determined my views there was no shortage of interesting subjects for urban sketching. At the end of the day I just ran out of gas, pun intended. m
All images were sketched with Brushes for iPad, Michael Anderson, 2014.

Snowbound, St. Louis

One good thing about the weekend's paralyzing blizzard, 14" of snow and zero degree for high temp, is the opportunity to sketch at home without any distractions. In fact while gusty winds twirl the snow around outside the dining room window just sketching the furniture is a great way to pass the time and an antidote to "cabin fever."

Red Chairs, 01/05/2014, created with Sketchbook Pro app for iPad.

Free concert in Forest Park, St. Louis

Hundreds attended the St. Louis Symphony's free concert in Forest Park on Tuesday evening as it kicked off its 135th season with a bang, literally. The setting was on Art Hill, a natural amphiteater that over looks the Grand Basin. The program was a mix of a few familiar classical pieces, a selection of movie themes and a John Phillips Sousa march played as the concert finale followed by a spectacular fireworks display. I made this sketch on an iPad under an umbrella to block the glare from distracting the people around me.

St. Louis Symphony Orchestra Outdoor Concert, 9/17/2013, Michael Anderson, Brushes 3 for iPad, Sensu brush

Grand Basin, Forest Park, St. Louis

 

Part of the restoration of  Forest Park included stone balustrades, overlooks and bridges over the Grand Basin. I have painted each them several times in oils and watercolors. This sketch was made with Brushes for iPad using a Jot Mini stylus which is very precise allowing for small detail. Like most sketchers I obsess over my pens and brushes. Same feelings go for the stylus!

Grand Basin Bridge, Forest Park, St. Louis, 07/14/2013. Michael Anderson, sketch with Brushes for iPad.

Urban Landscapes, St. Louis

Grand Basin, Forest Park, 07/07/2013. Sketched with Brushes3 for iPad. ...a favorite place to sketch on a summer morning before the heat and glare takeover.

 

After finishing the digital sketch I joined up with fellow Missouri Plein Air Painters Assoc members and sketched some trees in Forest Park, truly an urban oasis.  Urban Oasis, Forest Park, St. Louis,  07/07/2013, watercolor on Canson 140lb cold pressed. 9" x 7".

The Fabulous Fox, St. Louis

Although the city block on Grand Avenue is anchored on either end by the spectacular Craft Alliance gallery and the excellent City Diner, the Fox pretty dominates the street with its grand marquee and elaborate facade. Impossibly ornate both inside and out, the theatre is a venue for top name musical acts and touring Broadway shows. While in City Diner for coffee to go I heard the server manning the counter ask the couple next to me if they were from the show. The gentleman said "Yes we 're rehearsing the music for Priscilla and we are sounding good!" I walked across the street to take advantage of the very unusual 65 degree morning temps for some urban sketching in the nearby vest-pocket sized park. Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert opens it St. Louis run tonight. Next up, The Book Of Mormon which according to posters along side the box office is "the greatest musical of the century!" No matter how good the show is that seems to be overstatement until I remember that Oh yea, we are still at beginning the 21st century.

Fabulous Fox, 01/29/2013, Pogo stylus, Brushes3 for iPad. Drawn on location with slight modifications, signature and date added later.

A Christmas Eve Eve-Eve sketch, St. Louis

Despite the holiday rush I knew I just had to make some time to do some sketching when I saw that the St. Louis Drawing & Painting Meetup group was headed to the Temperate House at the Missouri Botanical Garden this past Saturday afternoon. It was chilly outdoors but very comfortable inside the glass covered space that is filled with fountains, climbing green vines, palmettos, giant jade trees, ripe oranges hanging from tree branches and flowering plants of all types set within a classical garden that could easily be a set for a Shakesperean play. Fellow sketcher Brian Anderson organized the event and was on hand to snap photos of the happy artists having a great time. He was kind enough to post this one of me drawing with a Nomad brush on iPad. Happy holidays and best wishes to all my USK Midwest friends!

 

Classical Garden, Temperate House, 12/22/2012, Michael Anderson, Brushes3 for iPad.

Photo: Brian Anderson

Bases Loaded! St. Louis

What a way to watch a ball game! I sketched this view from the suite level at Busch Stadium at the Sunday game between the Cardinals & Cleveland Indians. Painted with Brushes for iPad this sketch took about 6 innings or approximately an hour and half. The hitting machine known as Carlos Beltran got his 18th home run of the season in the early innings. With scored tied at 2 each the Cards loaded the bases in the bottom of the 8th but failed to get a run home. Although Cleveland drove in two in the top of the ninth to win the game it was still a great afternoon of sketching and baseball.