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...

The Drawing Club

Once a month, The Drawing Club in at Gallery Nucleus in Alhambra hosts a 3 hour "long pose" session on a Sunday morning.  This brings out the painters--who work in all kinds of media.  I like the opportunity to experiment with something that lands somewhere between drawing and painting...working back and forth.  Most all of these are some combination of pencil, water-soluble crayon or litho crayon, watercolor and gouache, and occasionally some acrylic.


I like to start with small thumbnails to explore different compositions or approaches--I often end up liking these more than the "final" drawing!  Always it's an experiment...

Here is elegant Daniella Traub in a Klimt-inspired theme...
drawn and painted here on orange paper.

From another session, Sara Streeter as a flamenco dancer...

Peggy Moore is a wonderful character model...here she recreates "Helga", Andrew Wyeth's favorite model...

Here in Los Angeles, we are so lucky to have so many talented actors who are also great character models!  Another is John Mackey, who brings the era of the Ashcan School vividly to life...an art movement in the early 20th century that depicted the grittier side of city life...

Lauren is elegant, posing here in a sort of Art Deco-style Western Painting theme.  Bob Kato, who runs The Drawing Club, projects an image behind the model--here it's a beautiful Edgar Payne landscape which I couldn't help but try to suggest...

A Night at the Moulin Rouge...

...at the Drawing Club in its new location at Gallery Nucleus in Alhambra...Sara Streeter brings us the era of Toulouse-Lautrec...

Studies in the garden

What a pleasure it's been to teach workshops at Descanso Gardens in La Canada...and a great place to try out different ways of using color...but mostly a lovely, relaxing place to sketch!










Watching people (and crows) at the cafe...

...and a school group entranced by the back hoe in the Rose Garden...







I couldn't resist the way the reds played off the greens in the cafe...

 Saturated colors on a warm day in the Japanese Garden...

...and an experiment with super-saturated QOR colors in the cafe...

 In late fall, the gingkoes are glowing gold...

The Drawing Club Moves On...

Hard to believe that The Drawing Club is pulling up stakes, and moving to a new home...Gallery Nucleus!  I'll miss the old "Club" atmosphere, but looking forward to the tradition carrying on in new surroundings.  Here are some last sketches...

Daniella is elegant in a Mucha-inspired Art Nouveau theme...

Sara brings back the era of Toulouse-Lautrec's Moulin Rouge...

...and Jee Teo is the Hawaiian Dancer...