Leonard Cohen in Milwaukee

This is a quick sketch from my seat at the Milwaukee Theatre on March 15th as I waited for Leonard Cohen and co. to come out on stage for what was a wonderful concert.  At 78 years old he ran out on stage and literally skipped off with every exit.  It was a 3 and 1/2 hour concert and he sang almost non-stop with one intermission.  It was a really great night and the audience loved it.  He had not performed in Milwaukee in 38 years; he said he had not wanted "to make a nuisance of myself".  The image of the woman and the horse is a drawing of his projected on to a screen behind the stage.  Hopefully this little sketch will help me remember what a great time I had that night when I am 78!

At The Stream on Sunday March 24th

Here is Linda's sketch from our trip to The Stream, the Art Dept. building at Edgewood College which we all agreed was a cool place with lots of opportunities for drawing.  Welcome to Terry and Anne Marie!  Hope you enjoyed the sketching and to see you again.  Linda's notes about this drawing say it is an "Interpretative sketch of a  white sculpture of a rabbit by Rebecca Corcoran. Prismacolor fine liner pen, Pitt artist brush pen, and Higgens ink wash."

Great subject for this time of year when the Easter Rabbits are busy hiding eggs and making more bunnies.

Linda's Vilas Zoo Sketch from March 17th

I made the sketch with micron pen and Higgens brown ink wash highlighted with the white
jellyroll, all on the moleskin sketch book paper.   I thought the
Discovery Center was fun, and very interesting.

(Linda's comments posted by Pat)

Sunday at the Zoo March 17th

  I think at least 8 sketchers met up last Sunday March 17th.  We hope Ann will come back and join us for some sketching in the future. Our venue was the Discovery Building and Herpetarium at Vilas Zoo.  On display were various animal skulls ranging in size from a mouse to a whale.  Larry chose the human skull for his sketch and did a masterly job.  I really love the way Larry's lines have so much energy in them. He was cheering on the Badgers but unfortunately to no avail!
  As it was St. Patrick's day I wanted to draw at least one green creature and the iguana posed perfectly for me only occasionally moving his head.  I thought the desert turtle would make a cooperative model but he was pretty active dashing about his habitat.  The Common Leopard Gecko kept still very nicely for long enough to get most of the sketch done, then he got up walked around a bit and came back and got in the exact same position; just like a model taking a break.  A really beautiful little creature.  I was drawing in a Strathmore grey toned sketchbook with a Pentel Brush Pen and White Gelly Roll pen.  I added some color with watersoluble crayons.
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UW Arboretum Sunday March 10th

The Draw:Madison sketchers had a very nice time at the McKay Center on last foggy Sunday afternoon.  There was a nice display of stuffed owls which hold perfectly still unlike the live ones although they hold pretty still sometimes, too compared to many other birds.  The 2 top sketches are Elsie's and the 2 below are mine. Elsie was using Strathmore's grey sketching paper which is really beautiful and nice to sketch on esp with a white gel pen. I was drawing in a Stonehenge white paper sketchbook with Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Pens in a couple shades of grey and used some Neocolor II watersoluble crayons for color.

Gretchen's Sketchbooks

Here are some of Gretchen's sketches (though not in the order I wanted them in - still learning how to post):  the sketch above was from our January Sketchcrawl on State St. which started at HusNus' restaurant for lunch.  Next is Napili Beach from Gretchen's recent trip to Hawaii. The next 3 sketches are from our trip to the Chocolatier Cafe (I esp like the way she captured Larry and Greg!), and last but not least, is another beautiful Hawaiian beach.  Great work Gretchen!!

 

 Draw:  Madison sketched at Victor Allen's on Monroe St. today.  Sun streaming in the windows and coffee and scones; very pleasant place on a Sunday afternoon.  Today's sketches at left:  Top is a sketch of patrons by Larry.  Next are two sketches by Linda: the first a couple patrons and the next  a sketch of a figurine from the trip to the Epic campus a couple weeks ago.  Last but not least are today's pages from Elsie's sketchbook.  Great work guys!!

We decided to give McKay Center at the UW Arboretum a try again next week.  And Wednesday evening we will have our goodbye pot luck for the founder of the group, Dana.  We are all so grateful that she started our blog and got the group off the ground last year.  We've had alot of fun and met some wonderful folks who have a love of art and sketching from life.  Hopefully Dana will post some sketches from her new home in Chicago and maybe check out the Urban Sketchers Chicago some time. 

Last week Elsie brought the great new book by Danny Gregory, "An Illustrated Journey" to the Chocolatier Cafe so the Draw: Madison sketchers could have a look.  And we all agreed it looks worth the $$ with lots of great sketching by many of the Urban Sketchers members.  There are some interesting video interviews by Danny to be seen on his blog or Urban Sketchers blog with artists included in his book. 

 Looking forward to sketching at Victor Allen's coffee shop on Monroe St. today.  Yesterday I painted the barn painting with gouache on a country road south of Paoli.  I painted it on rough 300 lb watercolor paper. It was nice and warm in the front seat of my car.  The page from my sketchbook below was also painted in the car while I was parked at a boat landing south of Sauk City the previous Saturday.  Saw Bald Eagles and various ducks on the river in Sauk City and Prairie du Sac.  Also stopped by the River Arts on Water Gallery in downtown Prairie du Sac and saw beautiful paintings by local artists such as Cynde Quinn and Linda Koenig.  It's a lovely gallery and well worth the drive to Sauk-Prairie.  A great place to see what our local artists are doing.