Centre Square (Jardin) sketch

I was sitting behind this young woman deciding what to sketch. Her braided hair caught my eye and the rest was built after that. The upper part of the Parroquia was out of my view sitting under the "marshmallow" shaped trees of the Jardin (main center). I was happy she sat long enough to get her likeness. I am getting braver using an ink pen (thanks Rylla and Brian) instead of pencil.

Sketching - Back yard thoughts

This urban sketch included thoughts of my time here in San Miguel de Allende, particularly with the view from the ground floor patio of the house we are renting. We have thoroughly enjoyed fresh limes from the tree in the backyard, thankfully the umbrella stops them from landing on us. The amount of stairs inside this house and to get to the roof top terrace. The vast amount of potted plants surrounding the patio and terrace are lovely.

Water colour and ink in my regular 80lb sketch book.

Roof top patio view of San Miguel de Allende, Mexico

We finally had a nice day so I went up to the roof top patio and sketched the view behind us of the buildings. There is such a variety of shapes and building materials that made it really interesting. I am getting bolder using a black ink pen without any pencil.

The second sketch was done of the view to the front of the house of San Miguel de Allende while Brian read the book he wrote "How Hammershod Got His Name" aloud to us. I found it alot easier to sketch this urban scene while Brian read and kept that side of my brain occupied. Brian and Rylla left San Miguel de Allende and are now home in Portland Oregon. I enjoyed every chapter of his book and was happy we were able to finish it before they left. I do hope he looks into publishing it!

Outing with San Miguel de Allende Urban Sketchers

I was lucky enough to join this group for another afternoon of urban sketchiing. We met at Calle San Grabriel #1, Calonia El Obraje Azotea for lunch on the second floor and then sketching. I went up to the roof top patio and didn't leave to go down for lunch. I enjoyed a cold beer and the view. I sketched in ink (no pencil) and then used my water colour pencils on regular 80 lb sketch book paper. The colours did not blend and the paper wrinkled but I was happy with the end result and a wonderful afternoon!!

This is the second sketch I did through a corner opening of the azotea. I did not have time to paint this but did have time to have another cold cervesa!

Sketching while being read aloud to

The first sketch is of our rented outdoor ground level patio. It is a view of the wall with the wide variety of planted pots and vines, While Brian was reading aloud "How Hammershod Got His Name" I sketched and Rylla coloured in her bird colouring book. It is amazing how well you can pay attention when your hands are busy.

The next morning Gord and I went to pickleball. In between games I sketched some of the moving players. It was interested as they were continuously moving. I don't think any of them would recognize themselves.

Sketching in San Miguel de Allende

I was on my way to meet Colleen for our afternoon of pottery when I spotted the beautiful grounds of St. Pauls Anglican Church. I was early so enjoyed sitting in the church yard and sketching the church walkway and entrance. This sketch was done in pencil.

This sketch was done in Cafe Rama while Gord had a late lunch of Tortilla soup and I enjoyed a Victoria cervesa while sketching. We walked back home and then Gord headed off to his Spanish lesson. This sketch was done in ink in a regular 60 lb sketching pad.

Holiday sketches

I did not realize that I had not posted this one, it went into the "Draft", so I am going a little back in time with this one.

We are now in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico and enjoying all the art and culture as well as a very physical walking holiday. Our friends from Portland Oregon (Rylla and Brian) have joined us. Brian has written and wonderful book called "How Hammershod Got His Name" and is orally reading 3 chapters a day (more if we can convince him to). I am really enjoying this story that he wrote for his nephews and nieces. It reminds me of reading the Harry Potter series to my kids.

While Brian is reading, I have been sketching in my book of what is in front of me (no thinking required while I am listening). The very bottom sketch was done of the glass coffee table in front of me while Brian read aloud. The top two sketches were done on site (1. Guanajuato and 2. my suitcase while we waiting to board the bus from Guanajuato to San Miguel de Allende).

Patio views of San Miguel de Allende

These two sketches were done on different days from our rooftop patio in our rental home. It is a new patio that the owners have just had built and it has a wonderful views of the city. The top sketch is water colour and ink on sketch book paper and the bottom is in ink.

San Miguel de Allende Urban Sketchers - second outing

 These two sketches were done in a little park out of the main area in San Miguel de Allende. There were about a dozen sketchers that arrived and sketched a wide variety of buildings, plant life, the street scene and each other. It was my second weekly outing with the group. San Miguel de Allende Urban Sketchers are a very generous and inclusive group, I had a wonderful afternoon.

Judy had a little sketch book she had made up with water colour paper and a front and back cover.  Colleen and I hustled over after and bought and folded water colour paper then went to another little store and picked out plastic covers and binding. Now I have 2 little books to take sketching. The sketch book I have used so far is just with regular sketching paper so I can't use to much water or blend my colours. I will continue in this book until it is finished but look forward to my new creative purchase!

More holiday sketches in San Miguel de Allende

On November 11 I sat on a park bench sketching and thinking about what November 11 means to me...the pictures, documentaries and movies about the real people that have and are fighting in wars. Every family has been touched by war. I used water colour pencils and ink in this one.

These two sketches above were done after a hike through a small Mexican village. The goats were in a brick barn and were extending their necks to get a good look at us as we went by. One fellow hiker made a "baaa" sound and the goats all answered back. The second sketch is of a plant that was growing on the power lines and on trees all over the place. They looked like Christmas ornaments to me but by the shear numbers of them they must be very invasive.

We saw these two types of cactus after hiking around the "de un jardin botanico" called El Charco del Ingenio on the outskirts of San Miguel de Allende. The gardens and multiple paths were beautiful as was the view of the city below.

Sketch book holiday

This sketch is of a poster in the front room of the house we are renting in San Miguel de Allende of the botanical gardens we are planning to go to.

I did this sketch from a photo after a day of hiking near San Miguel with a group that meets and hikes weekly.

Sketch from a Mexican magazine advertisement

Urban Sketchers of San Miguel de Allende

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 I had the wonderful experience of joining the Urban Sketchers of San Miguel de Allende for an afternoon of sketching on November 8, 2016. Colleen met me there and we sketched from the Azotea roof top terrace restaurant. There was a wonderful group of about 15 artists all sketching and painting the views, the restaurant/bar and each other, what ever struck their fancy. I was so happy to be included for this week's event and look forward to next week. These are the two sketches I did on regular sketch paper. I wish I had done it on water colour paper so I could have enjoyed some of the paint effects but was more than happy with the afternoon. Many thanks to the wonderful group of Urban Sketches for being so inclusive and welcoming!

Sketching people is not something I usually do because they always move. Jane was so absorbed in her own sketching that she ended up being a great model without knowing it.

Holiday sketches 2

These sketches were done while sitting and looking down below off the deck, from the front room into the kitchen and of flowers found around town (idea wise, not visually). I am trying to do a sketch a day (or zentangle) while we are on holidays. This sketch book is just regular paper so I can't mix, blend or bleed out my water colours on the paper. The coloured areas feel more like a colouring book than actually painting. The bottom two were done while Brian was reading aloud 3 more chapters of the children's book "How Hammershod Got His Name" that he wrote.

Travelling with a sketch book

We are on a holiday and instead of filling my suitcase with oil paints, palette, easel etc. I decided I would just take two sketch books, water colour paper, water colour paint and pencils and a couple sketching pens. I really enjoyed passing the time doing designs (zentangle) on the flight tray and while waiting in the airports and bus terminal. My plan was to do one page per day on my holiday. Below are some of the pages on the flights and first couple of days of travelling.