The week that was: everyday sketches from last week.

You’ve seen some of my little everyday sketches from last week already as I warmed up for my weekend workshops in Berkeley and San Francisco.

You might have noticed that these pastels are showing up a lot in my work. I’ve had them for a while and used them on and off but am only really starting to play with them and it is fun. I’m still only using them as dry pastels but they’re water soluble and make really rich colors when applied on a wet surface so there’s lots more to explore with them.

Here they are again, showing up in my little sketches done outside my local Whole Foods. People arriving and leaving with their groceries, catching a quick lunch in the sun…I don’t carry a whole set with me when I’m out and about, just a few broken bits in a ziplock bag.

Here’s one of the checkout line, sketched while I ate lunch. Bent Nib Sailor pen and watercolor this time.

The pear studies continue… there are so many little pear paintings lying around my studio now. I’m going to have to figure what to do with them!

From my two workshops this weekend ( what fun it was to sketch on superbly sunny days in Berkeley and San Francisco), here are some little studies made to demonstrate stuff we were discussed.
People enjoying their Friday afternoon on campus at UC Berkeley.

And a page from my sketchbook in San Francisco, where we observed and sketched moving people. These sketches compare shapes and details that you can observe and record to add dynamism to your sketches and the often-tiny differences that separate a standing and walking figure.

My kids show up in my sketches every week. Here is my daughter.

Until next week, keep sketching!