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 - San Miguel de Allende (2)

I was lucky enough to join Colleen in her studio class with Ernesto Folch. Everyone was working on their own individual pieces (mostly abstract) in acrylic. It was a real treat to be a "fly on the wall" and hear the teaching and watch everyone work. One artist even stood on a stool to paint. I brought my water colours and worked on my journal.

A place not to be missed in SMA is the Aurora Fabrica, an old textile mill that is now a very large art gallery with a lot of studios, in fact to much to see in one day. The work is varied with textile, paintings, sculpture etc. Some are galleries as well as working studios. Two of my favorite Mexican artists are Juan Diaz Durian and Juan Zaragoza.

The trouble with sketching people is that they move to much or leave altogether! This was the case while we were waiting for our breakfast in this tiny restaurant. Unfortunately pencil sketches do not show up well on this cream coloured paper when photographed.

Travel Sketching - San Miguel de Allende (1)

We traveled by bus from Rincon de Guayabitos to Puerto Vallarta. We then took an Interjet flight to Leon and finally a shuttle (cab) to our friend Colleen's in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico on Christmas Eve. We arrived to find Colleen busy making a late pasta supper complete with wine! Fireworks randomly going off kept us on our toes while we happily caught up.

We enjoyed walking around the city on Christmas Day and marveled at the huge number of people around the main square compared to a holiday we had there last November. The second sketch is of the view on our way to the main square. I found it inspiring every time I came around the corner.