Sketchcrawl May 9, 2017 - Sumter Landing Square

Yesterday we met up again at Sumter Landing Square.  It seems to be a favorite for a lot of people due to all the shops, theme props centered around lake activities (such as fishing, boating, etc.) and just a beautiful place to spend time at.

I was really surprised by how busy it was at 9 a.m. in the morning.  It was difficult finding a parking spot close to the center of the square and people were everywhere.

Our group was to meet under a covered picnic area next to the radio station.  There were eight of us who ended up showing with one new person who didn't know us nor did we know to look for her.  So there were actually nine total.

For me it was an off day.  Was struggling to settle on something to sketch.  Due to the busy activity all around with people walking by, I found myself a little on edge, which I'm sure played a part in my not being able to settle.  I think I spent most of my time walking around trying to find a quiet solitude spot.

There was a tugboat I wanted to sketch but with it being so breezy, it wouldn't sit still long enough for me to really get started.  After a few attempts, I gave up and walked back to where we originally met up.

There were several tables taken up by that time with bike cyclists.  I debated sitting there off to the side but wanted to sketch several of the things hanging under ceiling beams, support posts, and along one outer wall of the radio station.  So I took a deep breath and sat down focusing on capturing some of those items............taking notice now and then some of the cyclists glancing over at me making me feel a bit uneasy.  I'm still not quite there feeling totally comfortable sketching in public but I'm working on that.

Here is the page I managed to do before taking my leave.  I ended up leaving at least 30 minutes early passing up meeting the others for lunch.

S&B Beta / Platinum Carbon desk pen

Sketchcrawl April 22, 2017 Continued

Here is one more I finished late tonight from St Timothy Catholic Church sketch outing.

Hand sewn journal / Pilot Prera / Lexy Gray Ink

Sketchcrawl April 22, 2017 - St Timothy Catholic Church, The Villages

We had yet another beautiful day meeting up in The Villages to sketch.

There were five of us this time......two gentlemen I had not met before.  One is a professional illustrator and talk about gorgeous work!!!  I'd like to be like him when I grow up.........lol.

There was Al, Mike, Gail, Sheridan, and myself.  Gail set up in front of the Church sitting on the grounds.  I was not too far but set up in the parking lot right beside my car.  Al was across the parking lot behind me while the other two gentlemen were over towards the front side of the Church set up next to their golf carts.

For those who are unaware.........The Villages is a very large retirement community where many get around in golf carts rather than regular vehicles.  They share the road ways with regular traffic but have their own designated lanes.  It's an experience for anyone who's not been there before.

Due to the fact I sketched the building my first trip there, I decided to capture the statue outside the front doors.

Hand sewn #2 journal with Fabriano Artistico 140lb watercolor paper, and Micron 005.  Watercolor but also used a little gouache (flowers).  Got the idea from the illustrator who works with both watercolor and gouache.

Pen and Ink Only Personal Challenge

So that I continue to work towards feeling confident with the pen, I like to challenge myself occasionally bypassing the pencil.

Here's a sketch worked with Microns only.

My 005 was misbehaving but there's a good chance it might be running dry.  Then again, it could be the super fine point not doing well on this slick bristol paper.  I'll have to test the pen out on other paper surfaces to know for sure.

This is another section of St Timothy's Catholic Church in The Villages.  This section was in shade the time of day we went.

It was quite a challenge for me to try and capture the variation in shaded areas with hatching and cross hatching but it was fun to see what I could do.

Visual Journal Bristol Smooth journal.

Old Sunken Boat - Smoke Stacks

This is another watercolor sketch done from my outing yesterday in The Villages with Becki.

The lake at Lake Sumter Landing has various boats positioned to include one large that is partially sunken.  Talk about a boat with character.

I chose this for my subject as the smoke stacks stood out to me most at the time.

Worked in the Stillman & Birn Beta Soft Cover Journal
Beaumont Fountain Pen
A little more defining with the Platinum Carbon Pen
WC

Gorgeous Day in The Villages

What a day this has been!!!  And a glorious day at that!!!

Started out early going to the post office to send off some sample sheets of watercolor paper to a friend of mine in NC.  From there stopped at DK Art Supply & Framing to pick up a few things and then drove to downtown Leesburg for a quick stop at the Leesburg Art League Center.  Yesterday I was there and started a sketch only to forget colors of the building.  Duhhhh.  And then once I took pictures, I drove on to meet up with a dear friend who lives in The Villages.

Via golf cart (which is fascinating to me where many people drive carts rather than cars to get around) we drove a good distance to St Timothy's Catholic Church to sit on location and sketch the building.  What a beautiful site!!!  The architecture is unbelievable.  We stayed there until the parking lot started to fill up with cars for an evening service.

From there we ended up at Lake Sumter Landing and did some more sketching before calling it a day.

Returned home and tonight I've managed to finish off two of four sketches I have worked (three from today and one from yesterday).

Hand Sewn Journal with Fabriano Artistico 140lb CP watercolor
Beaumont Fountain Pen with Lexington Gray Ink

This first one was done while sitting in the car waiting for my friend to return from DKs.(inked and painted at home)

 Sitting in the parking lot of the Church (same deal......pencil sketch on location and finished at home)

Quick Pencil Sketch - Instructor Helping Student

This is from Monday's class in The Villages from one of several photos taken so I could continue working at home about that day's experience.

Working the sketch as I wait for 11 a.m. appointment with one of the gals from the sketching group.

I'm getting a bit braver trying to capture some facial features on these small sketches.  Before I would mainly sketch the back of people or leave the faces featureless.  I still have a ways to go though with lots of practice.


Stonehenge Aqua sampler watercolor paper
Staedtler Mars mechanical pencil with 0.3 mm lead

Sketch Crawl Event December 19, 2016

Right before Christmas our group met up at the Spanish Springs Square at The Villages for an afternoon of sketching.  Unfortunately, I didn't make it.

Spanish Springs is one area of The Villages I had been to before taking a few pictures but really wanted to go back and take more so I could sketch about the event I would have liked to have participated in.  Terry and I drove out on Christmas Day, which was wonderful because there was very little traffic and businesses were closed.  We walked around taking lots of pictures.  We actually made an afternoon of it driving to various locations taking lots of photos for sketching ideas.

The first subject I chose to sketch was the statue of Harold Swartz........founding father of The Villages.  And with this statue I decided to try working a different way than I'm used to as if I were on location and wanting to speed up a bit (eliminating the pencil sketching to save time).  The idea is to use brush and paint first capturing the shape or blocking in and then fine-tuning and detailing with pen and ink.  Not sure this method is for me but it's early yet to really know for sure.  It takes me just as long if not longer to work this way but probably because it's a new concept.

For my example, I chose not to use pen and ink but instead dry watercolor pencils for line detail (until later when I went back in with a few light ink lines).

To complete the 2 page spread, I chose what stood out the most in my photos.  I used my normal method of quick pencil sketch, followed by pen and ink, and then dry watercolor pencils as the ink I was using is water soluble (as seen with a little shading taking a damp brush to the ink).  I would have preferred to use watercolor but wasn't thinking when I grabbed the pen to start inking.

Hand sewn journal with Fabriano Artistico WC paper, Albrecht Durer watercolor pencils, and the Sailor Fude 40 degree bent nib fountain pen.  Ink is what came with it in cartridges.

Sketch Crawl Work in Color - Lake Sumter, The Villages

OK........so I ended up taking color to the two pages I originally worked in graphite and sprayed with a workable fixative.

Added the color using a dagger brush and after that was dry, I used my Lamy Safari with Lexington gray ink for inking.  I even tried wet in wet over the fixative and had no problems.

Sketch Crawl - Lake Sumter Landing, The Villages

Ohhhhhhhhh what a wonderful day this has been!!  Couldn't have asked for better weather too!

The group of about 12 today met up at Lake Sumter Landing at 9 a.m. this morning.  Had a little meeting and then everyone disbursed heading in various directions.  There is soooooo much in this area one could spend hours or days or even months capturing on paper.

Before the majority showed up, Alice came to sit with me and I shared with her one of my hand made spiral journals made several months ago as well as an accordion fold journal I had made.  She's new to working in sketchbooks and journals and thought she might like having a couple different type journals to try out.

After the meeting when everyone showed up, three of us (Tina, Kathy, and myself) headed for Starbucks (I believe that was the place) to get coffee and while the other two were in line, I waited at a table.  Grabbed my sketchbook and thought.......I only have a few minutes, what can I quickly sketch in that time.  I chose this guy half sitting in his chair at another table.  I was actually surprised I did as much as you see on the page as I'm normally slow.  (Working on that)

After they bought their drinks, Tina headed one way and Kathy and I headed in the opposite direction to sketch the restrooms that looks like beach bath houses.

At that point Carol arrived and the three of us headed back towards where we started along the boardwalk and water.

Kathy wanted to sketch a partially sunken rusty boat and I decided I wanted to sketch the tower in the opposite direction.

About an hour before it was time to meet up for lunch, I decided to walk around a bit.  Took a few pictures and then headed back towards the water and sat down sketching the lamp on the post and the no fishing sign.

At lunch we all sat and shared what we had done.  Ate and then everyone went their separate ways.

I still don't feel comfortable painting out in public.  I'm normally an introvert not feeling real at ease out in public anyways.  But that's something I'm working on using art as a means to help me through this.  I'm finally meeting people I can see face to face and spend time with who enjoy doing the same things I like to do.  I love my internet friends who share the same passion but it's really nice to have bodies to sit next to.....sketch....and have a conversation as well.

Ohhhh, and my art kit on wheels worked out beautifully too!!!

I chose my hand sewn journal of Fabriano Artistico 140lb cold press watercolor paper to work in.  Using a mechanical pencil, I worked these sketches in the numerical order shown on the pages.  My plan was to use pencil first, go back over with pen and ink later, and then take watercolor to the pages.  However, after I got home, I decided to go back over with darker pencil and leave as graphite sketches.  I may spray the pages and then at a later time use ink and watercolors but I'm happy with just the pencil sketches.

When Things Don't Go Your Way

With 28 days now behind me using pen and ink only, I was in need of some color and decided to do this ink and watercolor painting in my Hand Sewn watercolor journal using Fabriano Artistico paper.

Our group is meeting up next Friday for another Sketch Walk at Lake Sumter Landing at The Villages.  Terry and I have been there once......last year.......which I took lots of photos while walking around. For my painting subject today, I chose to go looking through those photos and decided on this building to sketch/paint.  I thought it would be a fairly easy subject to work..........ha ha.........WRONG

All was going ehhhh, OK, until near the end when I was working the pavement below the building.  My initial sketch was to add lines in the pavement as the photo shows.  It's not a smooth pavement but looks like a whitish gray to very light tan color brick, block, or rectangular stone pattern.  I thought I'd just suggest a few rather than add them all in with pen and ink.  The initial pencil sketch seemed OK with my idea.

I found as I took ink to the sketch that even the suggested few lines I put in didn't look right.........ink was just too stark and the direction of the marks were way off.  And of course once ink goes down.........it's down to stay if not water soluble.  And of course I was using permanent ink :-)

On top of that, I tried a light wash of Raw Sienna.  Didn't like it..........too yellowish or gold.  So I added some areas of light Bt Sienna.  It was looking OK but nothing like pavement.  And then there were those ink lines jumping off the page :-(

Besides those ink lines bothering me, the perspective was off and with all the variation of lines going this way and that between building, the wood plank walkway and stone walkway...........I just couldn't get it right......not trying to eyeball everything as I prefer to do.

Feeling rather frustrated but determined to complete it, I did something I've never done before.  I used acrylic titanium white and painted over the lines and a good part of that area with the plans to take watercolor back over it once that dried.

For me, this trick worked OK but definitely not something I'd want to fall back on as a fix.  I had thought to cut out a piece of watercolor paper the shape of that area and glue in place but thought that would be more trouble than it was worth.

Technically I should have just stopped and called it lesson learned but I continued on figuring why not just see what I can do.  I can't make it any worse than I felt it already was.

Ending results.....it only passes in my opinion..........definitely not what I was hoping to achieve.  The area looks nothing like it should as it looks more like dirt than a walkway.  What to do????  Use that area to write about the sketch.  :-)

My initial pencil sketch.

Pen and ink making corrections with some of the line directions that were way off (perspective.....one of those 4 letter words in my vocabulary).  Even though I came close with the planking.....compared to the building, my perspective is off.

And see what I mean about the suggested pavement stones???  NOPE didn't like.  Didn't look so bad in light pencil but ink........no way (at least to my eyes).

Persevering and trying to finish this one way or the other, this is what I ended up with.

2016 Inktober Day 15 Plus Bonus Experience

Yesterday was a fantastic day for me.  I was invited to be a part of a sketchcrawl in The Villages here in Florida.  My first experience too and it was a blast!!!!

Two people I knew but hadn't seen in awhile plus I met some of the nicest people in the remaining group.  I'm not exactly sure just how many were there but I'm thinking maybe around 18 trying to remember the two tables we took up when meeting up for lunch.

We met up at 8:30 in the morning walking around sketching what ever grabbed our attention.  The area of The Villages we met up at is of a Western theme which I thought was really cool.  On top of that, there was a farmers' market going on with all these canopies set up around the plaza area.

At 11:30 we met at one of the restaurants for lunch and to share our sketches and discuss future get togethers.  I was having such a great time, I hated to see it end.  BUT, we will be doing this again and I so look forward to it.

One thing I learned very quickly, I am S-U-P-E-R slow at sketching.  When at home I really don't think much about how fast or slow I'm working in my sketchbook.  Although now and then I'll challenge myself to quick sketches.  Anyways.....I took notice how several had two or three ink and watercolor sketches to my initial pencil sketch I still needed to ink and add color to.  I made it part way through the inking process but decided to stop and finish at home.  I also wanted to work in my ink only sketch for the Inktober challenge.

Here is the Inktober Day 15 Sketch: - These were two of the ladies I met who were sketching across from where I was sitting.

I was so tired when I got home from all the walking and excitement but determined to finish the page I had started while on site.  I only wish I had scanned the page after I went over in pen and ink before adding color to compare with the color version.  Oh well.....next time.

It was a goooooooooood day!!!  :-)

Old Time Relics - Lakeshore Dr The Villages

Back in July, Terry and I drove to Lakeshore Drive at the Villages.  What really grabbed my attention as we walked around were the various relics outside shops and restaurants.

Here's a sketch of what drew my attention at Cody's Roadhouse.

Steps as I worked the page:

August 15, 2015 Virtual Sketch Crawl

There are groups of people across the globe who physically get together in what are called sketchcrawls.  They meet up somewhere walking around and sketching what they see and experience.  For many people, they don't have this luxury often because of where they live and/or not knowing others who enjoy this type of get together.

Cathy Johnson holds an event each third Saturday of the month pulling people together in what's called a Virtual Sketchcrawl.  Individuals, small groups, and even larger groups from all over, utilize this third Saturday to go out sketching and then come together to share their day out in Cathy's Artists Journal Workshop group under Facebook.  A way for all of us to come together as if we actually met up in one huge group.

This is what I did for yesterday's sketchcrawl.  I've missed out on the last couple of months but managed to participate this month.  This little building stands at the entrance to a shopping mall area in The Villages / Lady Lake area in Florida.  I left the lettering off the building as I just wanted to keep the sketch simple.

Meeting Place - The Villages

This page is also from yesterday's outing.  As soon as I parked, I took a picture with my cell phone just in case I wanted to do something with it later.  I arrived early thinking I might work a sketch but Kathy was already there sitting at an outside table.  So I took the photo instead.

Although I have worked all the front pages of the Strathmore Soft Cover sketchbook, I'm going back through and filling in a few of the back pages I had left untouched.

Used a Micron 01 pen except for the notes which I believe was an 03 point.

Watercolors from my grab and go palette made from a Neocolors II tin with mixed brands of my favorite colors.  Brush was my waterbrush.

The Villages with Kathy Kreidler

I'm on another high today following my second day meeting "live" someone I've come to know and interact with through Cathy Johnson's Artists Journal Workshop group on Facebook........Kathy Kreidler.

Moving to Florida is proving to be such a positive for me.  FINALLY meeting and getting to spend time with people who enjoy doing what I love to do and getting me out of the house!

This morning Kathy and I met at a place called The Villages.  It was like visiting another world.  I was in awe over the architecture of this particular part of The Villages as well as all the golf carts coming and going.  So much to see and experience ........... to sketch and paint.  A place I plan to revisit many times :-)

For our first time together, we sat where I think was like a central park area surrounded by shops.  Music was playing and Kathy and I chatted as we sketched one of the buildings.  We met early before it became too hot to enjoy being out.  We spent close to two hours together.

Pen and ink plus watercolor in the Strathmore Visual Journal.