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I'm posting 4 of the 19 sketches done last night at the Society of Illustrators Sketch Night - two 5 minute sketches and two 20 minute sketches. The long poses were drawn with a watercolor pencil and then shaded with my Niji waterbrush. And they are on watercolor paper which is too big for my scanner and were thus photographed.
Yesterday was our 44th wedding anniversary. This is a quick painting that I did of my husband when we were at the beach last week. And the second page is the bottle of champagne that we consumed with friends on our anniversary yesterday. There were 3 couples at the beach last week and a total of 144 years of marriage among us!
This is the 3rd annual beach visit we made with friends we've known since 1965. We take a long walk on the beach every morning and then relax and "play" the rest of the day. I love to walk and collect shells and take photos of sea gulls. Here are 3 journal pages that I made on the first 2 days of the week - more to follow.
Several of the shells I collected on the first morning:
Drawings of a Spider Crab: We found a few more of my mystery crabs on the beach and our friend identified it as a spider crab. I sketched both sides of an empty crab body and then did a quick sketch of the whole crab we saw yesterday.
More Flying Sea Gulls: All drawn from photos I took on the beach
I sketched and painted the sea gulls from two of the reference photos I posted here last week. Over the summer I become obsessed with getting photos of them as they start moving away from me and then take off and fly. Their wings are soooooo long. Stay tuned for more photos and drawings next week as we return to the beach.
I found my next book to recycle as a Summer sketchbook. This Summer I recycled a book called Watercolor Painting is Fun with 140 lb. Fabriano soft press watercolor paper. My next book, purchased for $1.00 is called Gift from the Sea, by Anne Morrow Lindbergh (pub. 1955). I scanned the cover and Table of Contents below. Isn't it perfect for the type of journal pages that I love to create at the beach? But before I recycle it, I need to read it!
I am still working on my Carla Sonheim 100 Faces Drawing Lab project - and several weeks ago sketched 3 third graders during a brief, 10 minute, orientation to their local Barnes and Noble Children's Dept. I was with different classes each morning for 3 sessions, so these 3 were sketched on sequential days and then painted at home.
My Own Book Fund is a volunteer activity of mine, and we visit 3rd graders to discuss reading and books, then meet them at a local Barnes and Noble where they each purchase books totaling $50, and end by visiting their class one-two weeks later for presentations about their favorite new book. They are so excited and so cute, and this year I think I was attracted to girls with great hair and bows and/or head bands.
My favorite report this year (not one of these 3 girls) was the student who stood up and told me that she was going to compare and contrast the Dork Diaries with the Diary of a Wimpy Kid - both very popular series with this age group. And then she presented a number of conclusions. Impressive!
