Currently Browsing: Urban Sketching
Packing for a Trip or Class
Recently a blog reader who is going to SketchKon (see the note later in this post) wrote to me and asked for tips on packing for such a trip. She wanted to know which supplies to bring and what the perfect pack for carrying supplies might be. Very simply keep the following in mind: • […]
John Ruskin: The Father of Modern Sketchbook Practice
Tuesday in a Facebook group I belong to someone asked: “Which country originated the practice of the sketchbook?” Group members, myself included, got sidestepped into discussionsof what was a sketchbook, and the history of bookmaking, and I even looked into the Oxford English Dictionary and an online dictionary to see when the word “sketchbook” went […]
Making a Simple Brush Holder for Your Travel Brushes
This year at the Fair I wanted to use real brushes with water, not water brushes, when painting. Since I stand when I sketch it meant I had to have a way to put all my supplies and journal on one work surface. Dick and I made up a prototype “travel table” using plastic corrugated […]
Saying Good-bye To The Bell Museum
Above: Pen and watercolor sketch at the Bell Museum on 9 x 12 inch white Stonehenge paper. And yes Stonehenge is not a watercolor paper, but sometimes you just want to paint on what you want to paint on. Sunday was the Urban Sketchers Twin Cities sketch out at the Bell Museum. I added the […]
Sketching with Twin Cities Urban Sketchers in October 2016
Above: Working in my 8 x 8 inch Seawhite of Brighton Sketchbook I sketched the top of one of the old Brewery buildings in Indanthrone blue watercolor pencil (Faber-Castell) which I left dry. I blocked out the sky with a light blue 15 mm Montana Marker. Last Saturday Twin Cities Urban Sketchers met at the […]
Artist’s Sketchbook—A New Book on Sketching from Cathy Johnson
Left: Cover of the Artist's Sketchbook. Click on the image to view an enlargement. The publication of a new painting or sketching book from Cathy Johnson is always an happy and exciting event for me. Johnson is one of my art heroes. Like many other artists I was first aware of her work through her how-to-articles […]
Join Us for the Eighth Great Minnesota State Fair Sketchout
Above: The button for this year's sketchout. Artwork copyright 2016 by event organizer Marty Harris. Participants in the sketchout will receive a fabulous rectangular pin-backed button with Marty's great artwork. Wear it proudly at the Fair as you sketch, save it as a memento—along with the great sketches you put in your sketchbook! It's time […]
Urban Sketchers Twin Cities on the University of Minnesota East Bank
Above: Pen and watercolor sketch looking upriver from the Weisman Museum, I've already forgotten the name of the building, as it was built way after my time. I'm looking across Washington Ave. The bridge is just to my left. (A new pen from Tombow that they call a "calligraphy" pen. It has a small, fine, […]
Paris, Je t’aime—A New Sketchbook Facsimile from Lapin
If you’ve viewed the art on UrbanSketchers.org chances are you will have seen the lovely sketches of Lapin. He works in ledger books so column lines in red and blue printed ink show through the delicate colors of his ink and watercolor sketches. Periodically he has compiled these into journal facsimiles so that the reader […]