Sketching December 1st

Sketch at Sequoia Library

Several sketchers came and sketched at the library and then stopped in at the local coffee house.  Afterwards I went to the UW Arboretum and did a few quick sketches and later colored them in with watersoluble crayons.

U W Arboretum 12/1

Curtis Prairie 11/25

Monthly Drawing Challenge

Draw Madison sketchers can take on a new (and totally optional) challenge and do one drawing assignment from this book monthly.  The assignment will be announced on the first Sunday of the month and can be brought for "show and tell" on the sketching date for the first Sunday in the following month (if you can't come that Sunday just bring it when you can come.)  This is completely voluntary and drawings will not be critiqued unless a sketcher requests it.  We just thought it could be a good way to push our drawing skills and imagination a bit and have some fun.
  This month the assignment is "Domestic Rituals" on page 109.  The book costs around $15 or less on Amazon and the public library has some copies also.  We will plan on sharing our efforts with the group at the January 5th meeting at the downtown Madison Public Library.
  (Sketchers can bring as many drawings of this assignment as they like and the drawings can be any size and in any medium.)

December 1st at the Sequoya Library

Wendy's view of the shelves.

Peppers from Farmer's Market--Linda

It is about the last weekend of the season for the outdoor Farmer's Market. 

Allen Gardens--LINDA

Hard to believe that this sketch as done in September, as it has now turned chilly!

Happy Anniversary: Urban Sketchers and Draw: Madison

Today I read that the Urban Sketchers blog just celebrated its 5th anniversary.  That blog and group was the inspiration for Draw: Madison which is coming up on it's 2nd anniversary next month. Dana Petit founded the group in December 2011 and put up flyers about it.  I first saw one in  January 2012 and eventually found Dana sketching at the zoo that month.  I encourage anyone interested in drawing to check out Urban Sketchers blog.  Other art blogs I find interesting are:  Lines and Colors,  Making a Mark and Roz Wound Up (Roz Stendahl is in the Twin Cities and is passionate about drawing and often has detailed information about drawing materials new and old on her blog.)  Happy sketching everyone!

At the Chocolaterian Sunday November 3rd

Pat's drawing  of  Wendy drawing.

Larry's  sketch  above and Grechen's  below

November 3rd at the Chocolaterian

November 3rd at the Chocolaterian

  Wendy's pastel of sketchers Pat, Larry and Gretchen.

Union South on October 24th

 Gretchen, Larry & Elsie above and  Linda, Deborah and Louise below enjoying sketching at Union South.

Madison Public Library by Deborah Kades

Sketches by Elsie Hickey-Wilson at Union South

Larry LaMar's Union South Sketch

Sketching at Union South by Elsie Hickey-Wilson

Horicon Marsh by Elsie Hickey-Wilson

Sketching at the new Madison Public Library

Louisa Waller joined Draw Madison Sketcher's Group

Waterfront at Memorial Union, UW Madison

DURANGO MOUNTAIN WILDFLOWERS-- 
LINDA

The wildflowers in Durango were beautiful.  Here is a sample.

Sketches done in micron pen &watercolor.

PAOLI--LINDA

 It was a beautiful afternoon behind the mill in Paoli on Sunday, August 18.  This doorway was inviting.

QUARTER HORSE--LINDA

This sketch is of a chestnut quarter horse on a ranch in Durango, CO.  He was very curious and friendly--nudging around for treats.  Fortunately, I had some carrots left over from lunch to give him!

Sketch done in markers and white gelly roll pen.

ANIMAS RIVER TRAIL, DURANGO, CO--LINDA

I was recently in Durango, CO and did many sketches.
Here is one from the Animas River that flows through the town. Durango sits in a "bowl" surrounded on all sides by high mountains, and has a high desert climate.

Sketch done in micron pen and markers.

Whitefish Lake

Whitefish Lake, Gordon, Wi

Last week I visted friends outside Gordon, Wi. on Whitefish Lake and did a few pastel sketches that I hope to work up into paintings later in the studio.  It was perfect weather and great to listen to the loons and Barred Owls calling at night.

The Lake is Boss

Lake Superior shoreline at Listening Point north of Bayfield. Another overcast day with powerful waves.

Lake Wingra Boathouse

Lake Wingra Boathouse

 

It was a busy and beautiful afternoon at Lake Wingra this past Sunday! Wendy

Lake Wingra Boathouse

  









It was a busy Sunday afternoon for boat rentals at Wingra. Just before the clouds turned grey and dark,  I did a quick graphite sketch then followed with watercolors.
Wendy and I met for Draw Madison today...

UW Arboretum

 sketch with watercolors of wild purple phlox

View of  bay area at Brittingham Boat House. Graphite sketch with watercolors

Schumacher Homestead Farm House

July 14, 2013  Sketched with graphite pencil by Louise

Arboretum drainage pond

This is a small (8x9) pastel I started as a plein air sketch one morning in June of last year and finally got around to finishing today.  The new drainage pond the UW Arboretum installed last year is good place for painting tall trees and reflections.  The paper is Pastelmat  which I really like; it can hold alot of layers.  I especially like the paper color "Maize" for summer landscapes and for the underpainting I used shades of hot pinks and purples which I thought worked out pretty well.

Marshall Park, June 9

Linda's Sketch of the Boat Launch

Done in Ink, Graphite, and Colored Pencil

Paoli, June 2

Linda's Sketch 

This is a small patch near the Sugar River.
Ink, markers, and colored pencil.

Brittingham Boathouse June 16th

Wendy's view across Monona Bay

This is a small pastel study I painted at Holy Wisdom Monastery last month when their apple trees were in bloom.

This is a picture of a pastel I painted last week during the Beloit Plein Air Event for Friends of the Riverfront. It needed a few

corrections  before I framed it but this was what I was able to paint in the riverfront park en plein air.  I painted on Pastelmat which is a French paper made especially for pastels; it has a smooth surface that has a surprising amount of tooth and allows underpainting with water or solvents or alcohol. I often do an underpainting with hard pastels and then use alcohol to wash it in because it dries quickly.

 It was a very well organized event with 40 participants; mostly regional artists but one came from as far as Ontario.  Each participant can enter 2 paintings and they will be on display and for sale from 5 -  8 pm Friday June 14 and 9 - noon on Saturday June 15 at the Hendricks Center for the Arts, 409 Pleasant St. in Beloit.. The event also offered 2 workshops and I took the one in watercolor with Gordon France a Chicago artist and it was excellent.  It was a pretty exhausting week but fun and certainly challenging artistically and physically.  Looking forward now to sketching Sunday at the new Brittingham Boat Rental & Concession stand at Brittingham Park.

Sunday May 26th: Lake Wingra Park & Boathouse

Here' s Linda's sketch on toned paper of one of the trees with very interesting bark.

It was a bit cool and eventually sprinkled on us but it was good to get out out and sketch there.

UW Arboretum May 19th

      The group went to the UW Arboretum with lots of blooming things to sketch and this is Linda's sketch.                                                                                                                  

First Unitarian May 5th

                                                                                  

                           Louise's watercolor sketch of First Unitarian on University Bay Drive

Sketching at Edgewood College May 12th

Louise's watercolor sketch of the Edgewood College campus.






 Wendy's pastel of Lake Wingra through the trees below.                                                                                    

Linda's sketch of local flora.

Sketching at Olbrich Gardens

A good size group (9 of us I think) showed up for sketching at Olbrich Gardens on Sunday April 21st.

Left is Wendy's pastel which looks great and announces Spring is finally here!

Janet's sketch (right) :  Love what she does with the Tuscan Red pencil.




"Here is my Olbrich Garden sketch of strange Botanica in the Green House."















Says Linda of her drawing:

"Attached is the sketch from yesterday.  It was really a rush job; when I came inside, I only realized then how chilly I'd gotten.  I wonder when warmer and sunnier weather will arrive.
Sketch is done with Prismacolor pens and watercolor in Moleskin notebook."

Louise's sketch: Monona Terrace

'This is my first sketch with Draw Madison.  It was most appropriate to sketch at Monona Terrace since I have been a fan of Frank Lloyd Wright my entire adult life. It was fun to follow the lines of the walls and windows and then soften the geometric shapes with a large potted plant.  I even started to daydream about something called spring..'     Louise   4/14/13

Linda's Sketches: Monona Terrace and Beyond

Linda says:  "Monona Terrace:  It is always a challenge sketching people on location, as they may or may not stay still for a few minutes.  This pair (father and son?) were up and down and all around, so this is a quick sketch.
Prismacolor fine liner pen and Pitt artist brush pens, Moleskin notebook

The other two sketches present a contrast that I've been thinking about during these rain-filled months.  The tree in rain and fog was done at the Arboretum, and is an experiment with Pitt artist brush pens;  the tropical flowers, on a recent trip to Mexico, were done in Prismacolor fine liner pen and watercolor, both in a Moleskin notebook."