Sketch book travels, SMA #7

I joined the San Miguel de Allende Urban Sketchers on their weekly sketching outing. We went to the beautiful gardens of the Hotel Posada de la Aldea. I was intrigued with the bell tower and so made that my focus.

There were 11 sketchers spread over the beautiful gardens and you can tell by their sketch books that they were inspired by a real variety of personal interests. I started a 2nd sketch in ink and went back after a group coffee invite to finish it. If you are in SMA and would like to join these lovely artists, look up their Facebook page and ask for the info on the next meeting (Tuesdays at noon). I had a wonderful time.

Sketch book travels SMA #2

 This is a watercolour/pen sketch of the Parroquia in the town centre of San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. We walked around on our first night here and of course the square is where you want to walk to, the sights are amazing.


The second sketch book entry below is of the house right next door and the view from the upstairs balcony (no one was renting it).

The third entry below using both pages is a view of the town square from the upstairs flat balcony. I stood with my sketch book on the edge of the balcony and happily sketched the views before me. I may use water colour to colour it in from a photo. This is a great example of urban sketching.

Travel Sketching - SMA to Mexico City to Calgary

Our next adventure was to travel from San Miguel de Allende (SMA) by bus to Mexico City for our flight back home to Calgary. The bus ride was 3 1/2 hours long. As I get car sick I could only enjoy the view and take a few photos. I tried to sketch the back of the seats ahead but that was all I could do.

We took a cab from the Norte bus terminal to the International Airport then had a few hours wait before our flight. The airport had the wonderful sculptures of Rodrigo De la Sierra. They make you smile looking at them.














On our flight to Calgary, I sketched the views from the bus based on photos. It is quite interesting to sketch from the middle seat in cramped quarters. The entertainment screen did not work so I was happy to have something to pass some of the 4 1/2 hour flight.

Drawn in one continuous line.

Rincon de Guayabitos, Mexico holiday sketches

Happy New Year to you and your loved ones!! Thank you for browsing my blog, hopefully some inspiration is found for your artistic soul and journey. I thought I would start the new year by putting the last of my sketches from our Rincon de Guayabitos last minute holiday. I am hoping it will help inspire me to sketch more often, especially urban sketches.

We met lovely Isabel on our bus ride from Puerto Vallarta to Rincon de Guayabitos and she gave us the name of the restaurant she was working in over the holidays. It took us days to find it but we finally did (we had walked by it many many times on the beach). The large palapa roof obsured the name. I drew this between enjoying cold beers, salsa and body surfing the waves.

This is the last urban sketch I did from a beach side restaurant. It was so fascinating to watch the very busy beach of Mexican vendors and families enjoying their short time ocean side.

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!