Urban Sketchers

The USk/DFW group is not meeting in person right now so our group leaders decided to challenge us to draw an interior area of our homes that included Christmas decorations.  This is my drawing of part of our living room and entry hall, showing off our Christmas tree.  

Urban Sketchers/DFW

The Dallas/Fort Worth Urban Sketchers group met, for the first time since March, for a face to face sketch outing in Historic Downtown Carrollton, TX.  It was so good to see each other's eyes, at least, and to sketch together! It was a beautiful day when we arrived, then a cold front moved in and cast a shadow and brought a cool breeze with it.  But it was still a wonderful outing!  As we were getting ready to leave, the sun came back out in all its glory!

Here are my sketches from the day.....

What's Bugging You?

Recently a friend of ours, Cynthia Brady Speece, took some close-up pictures of some cool looking grasshoppers that just had to be sketched! I usually don't like bugs much, but when you look closely, they are pretty amazing! 

Pumpkin

This seems like the wrong time of year to be painting a pumpkin, but really, who knows what day or month is is any more?  I am so glad to have these classes to keep me occupied during these days of  "sheltering in place", quarantine.  This week's tutorial was the mighty pumpkin.....

 I like all the texture I was able to get.  I hope you will enjoy seeing my homework for awhile. I am enjoying these classes so much!

Christmas Shoes

          Wayne bought me the cutest shoes for Christmas and they just begged to be sketched!

Days 3 and 4

Here are my sketches of days 3 and 4 of the Pioneer Woman's  boot giveaway!

A New Face!

Doing silly faces has made portrait practice so much fun.  I will have more to show soon.

Fall Leaves?

Gus and I went looking for Fall leaves yesterday.  I really wanted to add some colorful leaves to my sketchbook.  But in this area of the country, they haven't turned yet.  We did find this tiny branch that had a few golden leaves and a few acorns that still had tops.  

Sketchbook

I have had some time to work in my sketchbook this week, finishing sketches I started on our cruise last month.  One of our favorite things to do on the ship is watch for flying fish.  They look like birds hovering over the water.  The ship stirs up schools of them and they fly out away from the ship.  They are way too fast for me to catch with my camera, so I have to admit, I googled several views of this elusive fish for my sketch. 

Also, I sketched the tiny cake we received at dinner one night in observance of Royal Caribbean Cruise line's 50th Anniversary.  It was very festive with a colorful sucker stuck in the middle instead of a candle. 

And last, I loved the decorations hanging in the Promenade the first night...colorful floats hanging by ropes.  I started randomly painting the floats before the thought occurred to me that the colors may have some significance.  If that be the case, I will chalk it up to artistic license! 

Flatiron Building Fort Worth

Last month while I was downtown Fort Worth for the DFW Urban Sketchers outing,  I took a photo of this building.   I started an ink drawing several days ago.

                   Today I added color.

Spring Brunch

Yesterday, we had our Ladies Spring Brunch at church.  We had 20 tables and each table was decorated by a different lady.  It was great fun and the tables were all beautifully done! I took a photo of the centerpiece at the table I sat at and, of course, sketched it later at home.

Practice

Last week, I sat looking out of our guest room window with my telephoto lens and took pictures of birds that stopped by our bird feeder and bird bath.  Since then, I have been drawing them in my sketchbook.  I still have so much to learn about watercolor but I am enjoying the practice!

It wasn't until later that I thought about what our neighbors across the street may have thought, seeing me sitting at our window....with my telephoto lens....pointed toward their house.  Haha!

Jury Duty

I did my Civic duty today.  I got to do a lot of waiting, which gave me plenty  time to sketch!

This is the Central Jury Room at the George Allen Courts Building in Dallas:

I did my ink drawing  at the courthouse,  but I didn't add the watercolor until I got home.... with a cup of coffee on the back porch in my beautiful Adirondack chair that Wayne made for me.

I wasn't picked to serve on the jury.  I had mixed emotions about it.  I think it would be interesting.  But on the other hand,  catching a train to Dallas before the sun was even up was a bit too early for me.

Waiting Rooms

I have been doing a lot of waiting lately,  but I have been putting my time to good use by sketching random things I see in or around the waiting room.  Wayne had a routine dermatologist appointment on Monday, so I rode along so we could run errands afterward.
                       This was random sketch #1

Today,  Wayne had cataract surgery.   I found myself with plenty of time to draw what I could see from the window.

                                                   Random sketch #2

I also sketched a bowl of faux pomegranates that I spotted on a shelf.  This sketch ended up giving a little relief  to some of my fellow "waiters".  There was a young boy who was very bored to be there, understandably so,  and I suspect he was pumped up on a bit of sugar the way he was bouncing off the walls.  When he spotted my drawing,  he came to a screeching halt and stood transfixed while I painted.  It was short lived,  but the break was very much appreciated!  

Random sketch  #3

The BEST thing to come from all the waiting is that Wayne is healthy and his eye surgery went very well.   

Urban Sketchers Outing

Today Wayne and I met the Urban Sketchers DFW at Northpark Center in Dallas.  It was a great place for sketching!  The mall is filled with art,  interesting shops and is a great place for people watching!   I have been wanting to sketch a window display with mannequins!  I scouted out a place to sit comfortably that was a little less traveled so there wouldn't be crowds blocking my view.  The mall was very busy!   I sat on a wall across from Zara and had a great view. 

We met again at 4pm for the throw down where we all got to see each others work.   I am always amazed at the wonderful sketches displayed.

We also had passersby stop and ask about our art.

Then of course trying to get everyone in the group photo....

We didn't stay to eat with the group because we needed to get home.  But on the way out of the mall we were drawn like moths to a light to a candy shop right by the entrance.  Neither of us had ever seen candy like this and they were giving away free samples.   That was it,  we had to buy one for each of us.

The candy looks like marble!  It was delicious!! It was worth every penny.  Wayne had Key Lime Pie.   Mine,  the one pictured below, was Peanut Brittle.  

I'm already looking forward to our outing next month!

Sketching at DBU

The weather was gorgeous today, so I went on an adventure.  I drove over to Dallas Baptist University.  It is a beautiful campus built on top of a hill overlooking Mountain Creek Lake.  It was a perfect, sunny day with a light breeze.....something we haven't had in awhile.  I walked around the campus a bit and found a great place to sit and sketch the steeple of the Pilgrim Chapel.

Then I just walked around and took pictures of things I would like to sketch.

I'd like to go back and spend more time there!

Tweaking

As usual, being a perfectionist, I can't leave my drawings alone.  So I tweaked my sketch of Klyde Warren Park, and reworked the shadows on my sketch of the Dallas - Fort Worth National Cemetery.  I am finally declaring these two sketches done.

I was challenged by a friend to do a sketch a day for a month.  I'm not sure I can keep up that pace, but I am really going to work on sketching more in the coming months.  I have several sketchbooks started that I need to fill up.

San Antonio

Last year we spent a few days in San Antonio, TX.  Our hotel was right on the River Walk and it was beautiful!   I had drawn this in ink and just got around to adding color to it. 

 

Sketching Over Lunch

I met two friends at El Arroyo's restaurant last Thursday in Arlington. The weather was perfect!  The sky was clear, it was about 73°, with a very light wind.  We were able to sit on the patio and sketch the unusual architecture of the shopping center across the street. I chose to zero in on the roof line.

Grapevine Sketch Crawl

My finished drawing from the Grapevine gathering of DFW Urban Sketchers....