A day of sketching in Santa Cruz, California.
Sketching the boats from the moving dock was a strange experience: the boats rock, the moving dock I was sitting on rocked, and then there were the waves…. Together it all made me feel a little seasick.
Quick sketch of the lighthouse and rocks.

Loads of boats. It was challenging to capture the sense of all those boats without being overwhelmed by the crisscross of lines and masts all around.

Downtown Santa Crua, and my favorite Del Mar Theater. I’ve drawn this one a few times before. Love the colors and the lettering






Great work! California has so much great coastline to sketch.
These are great! I love how loose everything feels. What do you use to colour your sketches? I was in Santa Cruz just a few weeks ago, I guess I should have brought a sketch book too.
- Andi (http://www.thelongridge.com)
I use pen to draw and watercolor. I carry around a little windsor and newton travel kit
WOW! these are all terrific
A lovely memento
beautiful, love santa cruz come summer we are a regulars at boardwalk .
Beautiful drawings… Love your work!
The reds on the fishing boat are superb!
Fantastic sketches, especially the fishing boats!
Great sketches! You have a masterful touch!
I’ve never sketched at the harbor in Santa Cruz, only taken (a lot of) photos. Twin Lakes is our favorite beach to go to, though, so I’ll have to bring some supplies to draw when we go again.
I think you did a fabulous job not getting lost in all those lines on the boats. It’s hard when I’m faced with complicated things like that and I tend to just settle for vague scribbles in the background. It looks like you simplified them in a way that made sense.
I miss the old theaters – good that the Del Mar has hung on.
Ursula, I’ll have to check out Twin Lakes. I have a tiny watercolor kit, a couple of brushes, a bottle of water and a sketchbook ALL the time: you never know when you’ll encounter a sketch! of course it means I NEVER carry around one of those tiny, elegant bags…
Wow! Great sketches. I like how you got the busyness, the crammed in feeling of the boats without drawing every one of them.
I think the red boat is my favorite but I really like the downtown sketch as well. Great people!
These are gorgeous! I love the third one down – just perfect!
A beautiful set of sketches. Santa Cruz is a wonderful place and you made it look so inviting!
Great work
These are BEAUTIFUL! I was at the beach for 3 days but I didn’t get a chance to draw…having too much fun with the kids and family.
Alex, I did this set in santa cruz WITHOUT my kids:) Quick sketches with the kids works, longer studies ( the 2 boat studies were a little over an hour each) need no-kid time!
Suhita, your sketches are just amazing! The boats in the harbor is my favorite.. feels like I’m there.
lynn
Simply beautiful!
I just love your loose style! I admire anyone that can make something wonderful from the least amount of strokes!
love.love.love.
Great review! You actually touched some nice things on your blog. I came across it by using Yahoo and I’ve got to admit that I already subscribed to the RSS, it’s very great
woooow. really. amazing sketches. love your work, found your blog via mattias inks site, i like it when i randomly find blogs from such good artists like yourself
keep up the good work!!!
Thanks so much. Yes, it’s fun to randomly follow a link down a path and find something new. I’m glad you commented because I found your blog that way!
Lovely loose style and wonderful color!