Sketching People in Singapore...

Last year I was honored to teach a workshop at the Urban Sketchers Symposium in Singapore, "Light and Dark with a Punch of Color"...exploring Notan (Japanese word for the harmony of light and dark) in composition.  So, of course there was lots of sketching en route and in Singapore with the wonderfully generous and welcoming community of sketchers there.  Here are some of the sketches focusing on people...

Layover in Hong Kong...in the airport lounge, and getting ready to depart for Singapore...

My workshop location in Singapore was the Singapore Art Museum, a beautiful building formerly a mission school.  I sketched in an Italian-style coffee bar, and watched as a wedding photo shoot happened out the window...

After the Symposium, I was treated by my friend Don Low and his wife Kat to a wonderful afternoon at the zoo and evening at Long Beach Seafood, famous for the chili crab--a fabulous treat!  Don and I sketching here...

Next day, great fun sketching with Don, James Tan, Tony Chua and Teoh Yi Chie (aka Parka, known for parkablogs)...Marina Bay, spectacular Gardens by the Bay, and Chinatown...

Dinner at the Hawker Center in Chinatown...food in Singapore is so often a celebration...infinite variety and always delicious!

Next day, more sketching with more great Singapore sketchers in Kampong Glam...Somali Dasgupta, Francis Theo, Grace Liau and Dawn Lo...

My last night in Singapore...a late dinner at The Better Field, a little neighborhood bistro...

Catching Up!

With the beginning of the new year, it's time to start catching up here!

So, I'll start by sharing sketches of people out and about from last year...
Some quick sketching...

A meeting at Otis College...




and sketching in downtown Los Angeles near the Central Library, where Robert Graham's "Source Figure" graces the top of the Bunker Hill Steps...

I began studying Notan (the harmony of light and dark) in preparation for my workshop for the Singapore Urban Sketchers workshop, so I did lots of monochromatic studies, including people in urban environments...

At Mission San Juan Capistrano...

...and at one of my favorite places to visit and sketch, Olvera Street, sometimes adding a punch of color for emphasis...

A pencil and watercolor sketch at Heritage Square on "Museums of the Arroyo Day"...

...on a Pasadena street corner...

Sketching at another favorite downtown Los Angeles location, the Grand Central Market...

...And then back to Olvera Street, sketching the Aztec dancers who perform in the plaza...









And a surprise appearance of a tour bus and a news crew from Telemundo, interviewing the group La Adictiva from Mexico, in their elegant, shiny gray suits...I was caught sketching and was interviewed in Spanish...sorry to say I wasn't at all sure exactly what was said there!

 More practice with Notan with some color added...

 

Spending a bit more time pencil, watercolor and gouache on tan paper to try to catch the flavor of this wonderful place.  Olvera Street is the oldest street in Los Angeles, and in spite of all the tourists who come and go, there is a feeling of community here.  

And finally, my favorite Olvera Street moment...late afternoon on Friday in the Plaza, and wonderful cumbia music begins to play.  Couples start dancing in the shade of the huge fig tree...