Finished Sketch Book

 I finally finished the sketch book that I have been hauling around with me. I just had foot surgery so a lot of the sketches were done while waiting in doctor's offices or labs. I am especially happy to start a new one as the old one was thin paper and if I used water colour it all curled up and I could not blend any of the colours. When I was in Mexico I was shown how to break water colour paper up and put a plastic cover and round bindings on it so I have no excuses now. I made 3 small ones so it would not take me forever to fill one and I could easily carry it with me...my Mexican souveniers.

 These sketches were done while travelling in the car from Sicamous B.C. to Calgary Alberta through the Rocky Mountains. Hard to sketch in the moving car but when you are not worried about the end result, you really look at the quickly passing scenery.

Breakfast beach view and sketching

I sketched this view before and after breakfast from the Stephanie Villa restaurant, beach side. The beach was really filling up and the colourful umbrellas were everywhere. The surf was picking up as well so there was a real feeling of a lot of movement. We have never gone away over Christmas and this is sooooo much fun with all the busyness and people enjoying themselves in Rincon de Guayabitos, Mexico.

Leslie (Gord's sister) and Carl have rented the top
apartment in Calle Gar4denias #9 in Rincon de Guayabitos and they have very generously shared it with us from Dec 25 until Dec 30. It is a few blocks from the beach and is a wonderful reprieve from the celebratory beach busyness. I sat at the end of the pool and sketched then painted the sketch with water colour pencils, what a glorious way to spend some quiet time!

I was sitting on the beach sketching when I looked up and a young vendor was intensely watching me. Gord asked him his name and age and we learned Ricardo was 8. He was so engrossed in what I was doing that I just kept sketching. I showed him my other drawings in my book and he seemed very pleased. Next time I come I will bring pencil crayons and colouring books to share!

Sketching on a bus in Mexico

We had our family Christmas on December 23 as both of our kids and their partners were going to be able to come. Our plan was to head out to Sicamous B.C. until New Years, staying at our cabin there. With the weather cold and snowy, we started to dream of where else we could go. We have the wonderful opportunity to use our "parent benefits" with WestJet to travel inexpensively so we looked at where they flew and thought we might get to London, England. Getting there was no problem but coming home the flights were almost full. We talked to Leslie and Carl in Rincon de Guayabitos, they were happy for company and had an extra bedroom so off we went!! As our flight left at 1am, I did not feel like doing any sketching but decided to pass some time away on the bus from Puerto Vallarta to Rincon de Guayabitos. Couldn't see much forward so decided to draw what I could see (the inside of the bus). I was so excited to be in a warm climate again and on our way to visit with Leslie and Carl!

Sketching on flight #2 home - part 2

I had brought my sketch book, ink pens, water colour paint and pencils to challenge myself to try to do 30 sketches during this holiday to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. I surpassed my goal and drew 44 sketches in part by joining up with the Urban Sketchers San Miguel de Allende and sketching with the group weekly. It inspired me to sketch just about every day and on some days, multiple sketches. I will finish this sketch book then move on to a couple I made in Mexico with water colour paper (thanks for showing me how and where Judy!).

This sketch was challenging in that it was done in one continuous line in ink. We were on our last flight home (Houston to Calgary) after a holiday to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. I was sitting in a middle seat so my physical space was limited. I decided to draw from a photo on my phone of a market place booth. Drawing with the planes vibration was already shaky so it did not matter.

This sketch is of another cute napkin I was given. My views were very limited therefore so was my subject matter. With the lack of elbow room, I did not attempt to colour either of these in.

Sketching on flight #2 home, part 1

Houston, USA to Calgary was our second flight. I found sketching while in a middle seat difficult as I had to keep my elbows in (both people on either side had the arm rest) but I had a lot of time to kill. I sketched the contents on my tray table but wasn't able to colour it due to the lack of elbow room.

The second thing to catch my eye was the cute napkin under my cup. I pulled out one water colour pencil for this one but did not use water. United does have great napkins.