Kirkwood Amtrak Station

Kirkwood Amtrak Station
©2015 Steve Penberthy
Watercolor in Strathmore Visual Journal (140-lb CP paper)
5" x 7" (13 x 18 cm)

I met up with the St. Louis Drawing & Painting Meetup Group at this month's Urban Sketching outing.  We sketched the historic and picturesque Amtrak train station in Kirkwood, Missouri.  There were so many people out on this beautiful early fall morning; people walking dogs, shopping, and attending a nearby farmer's market across the street.  Several trains (both freight and passenger) moved through the station area while we sketched; the freight trains operated at deafening levels and seemed to take forever to pass by.  But very cool nonetheless.

I had intended to substitute out a few paints in my kit (Quin Gold & Hematite Burnt Scarlet) before heading out to the event, but forgot in my haste to get out the door on time.  Both of these pigments work well on my larger palette, but I feel that I like the weak opacity of a true raw sienna when I'm sketching on location, as I use it a lot for rendering stone, masonry, etc.  I have been experimenting with Quin Gold as a substitute for Raw Sienna, but again, seem to be preferring the Raw Sienna.

Sketching the Sketchers

Sketching the Sketchers
©2015 Steve Penberthy
Watercolor and Micron pen in Moleskine sketchbook
5" x 16.5" (13 x 42 cm)

I attend life-drawing sessions every so often to work on my observational and figure-drawing skills, but I've always drawn the model--never considering that I could draw the people who are drawing the model. So, my goal was to do just one drawing during the evening and try to sketch the sketchers--to capture those who were intent on drawing the model.  At the beginning, I was unsure what sketchbook/format would work best; I finally decided on my watercolor Moleskine since I felt a panoramic format would be best.  I first roughed in the figures in pencil, then followed up with a Pigma Micron 03 pen; watercolor washes followed.

Olive Garden

Olive Garden
©2015 Steve Penberthy
Watercolor and pencil on
Strathmore 140-lb cold-press watercolor paper
in Strathmore Visual Journal sketchbook
9" x 12" (23 x 30 cm) Sketched on location in Richmond Heights, Missouri.  I sketched this scene during lunch while sitting in my car in a parking lot across the street from the restaurant.  The weather was warm but, with the windows down, there was enough of a breeze to keep things comfortable.   

West Port Plaza, St. Louis

West Port Plaza

©2015 Steve Penberthy

Watercolor and Micron pen on 

Strathmore Gemini 140-lb cold-press watercolor paper

in handmade sketchbook

6.75" x 10.25" (17 x 26 cm)

West Port Plaza is a mixed-use retail, entertainment, and office development in Maryland Heights, Missouri.  Lots of great restaurants here.  Normally, the Plaza is a busy, bustling place; however, during the hot & humid afternoon while I sketched this, the plaza was nearly empty.  Too early for evening dining, I suppose people were either out doing their back-to-school shopping or staying in where it was cool; not sitting on a park bench sweating and sloshing paint around as I was...  :)