It is official - Draw Madison is now Urban Sketchers - Madison.  It is going to take me awhile to make our blog look more like other regional chapter blogs but I will need a bit of mentoring help from an Urban Sketcher mentor so stay tuned for that!  Our philosophy is basically the same in that we sketch our own community (or one we are visiting) from life to show our city and our world "One Drawing at a Time".  I will be posting more about how and why being a regional chapter of Urban Sketchers can make our sketching experiences even better.  Happy sketching and thanks to all the folks who have participated in Draw Madison events over the last few years!!

Mission San Xavier del Bac

Today we spent the morning at the mission, just a short drive south of Tucson. The weather was a comfortable 70 degrees.  I set up my folding chair in the middle of the courtyard directly in front  of the entrance and began sketching. It was founded as a Catholic mission in 1692 and construction began in 1783 on this Indian Reservation.

It is referred to as "the White Dove of the South."  Children came by and watched. 

Today was a celebration day for many reasons.....

WW SketchCrawl, April 23, 2016 Both sketched from the third floor of the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, but looking in different directions

Anticipating the WW SketchCrawl, Madison, WI,

More World Wide Sketchcrawl #51 at Capitol Square and Farmer's Market Saturday April 23rd

Gretchen, Tsela and Deborah at Takara Restaurant

Sketches by Gretchen, Elsie and Pat

Seven sketchers in total came out and we had a great time sketching on a very nice spring day.  Our local state Senator, Fred Risser came by with his petition which made it a pretty typical Farmer's Market morning in Madison.  Some of us had a pleasant lunch at a local Japanese restaurant and sketched a bit more before calling it a day.  Thanks to Gretchen, Elsie, Carol, Deborah, Ruth and Tsela for coming out to sketch.

Elsie and State Senator Fred Risser 

Sketchcrawl at the Capitol

A cool morning down on the Capitol Square, although that was simple compared to getting around the construction! But sketchers are a daring lot and we braved the crowds at the farmer's market to record what we saw.
My entry is drawn from the grass looking down the hill of State Street. The square is surrounded by stands at the market and the place was packed, so I tried to get the feel of that.

World Wide Sketchcrawl Saturday April 23rd - Farmer's Market and Capitol Square

After walking around the square today I decided we will have plenty to sketch without walking down State St. this Saturday and our weather forecast so far is excellent.  So let's meet at the Wisconsin Historical Museum at 10 am in their lobby by the gift shop.  I am guessing it will be warm enough by then to sketch outside and there are plenty of places to sit on the capitol grounds with good views of sellers and customers.  Then at noon we will meet in the capitol rotunda on the main floor and we can decide what to do for lunch.  All the restaurants are super busy for lunch but I checked out Graze and they will take your name and phone number and call you when your table is ready.  We could also buy something and eat it outdoors, too.  I had lunch today at Marigold Kitchen and sat outside and it was lovely and quiet but it will be much busier on Saturday.  We will meet one final time at 3pm in the lobby of Overture Center near the main entrance for a group photo of sketches and sketchers.   Hope to see some sketchers come out for the crawl!  

Plane air sketches...

Plane air sketching at 30,000 feet

My pocketbook-size

Pentalic sketch book with #2 pencil.

Temperarure when we land--93 degrees.

Olbrich #2

Draw Madison decided to have a reprise of beautiful Olbrich Gardens after our first snowy date in February, April proved to be full of precip once again (this time rain) so we were back in the cozy conservatory.

I had forgotten what a good idea it is to go back and sketch the same place, I had something to build off. Plus my friend Pam came along and we realized one of the tree trunks looked like a giant zucchini!

Come draw with us, you'll see things much more clearly....

Stillman & Birns Sketchbook, micron pen and watercolor set

Sketchcrawl State St. - April 23rd

April 23rd is World Wide Sketchcrawl #51and we decided it was time for Draw: Madison to have another one.  In our early days we did a couple and it was a lot of fun.  We will start at Farmers Market on the square and "crawl" down State St. sketching as we go.  I will post a map next week of places we can meet up each hour between 10 am and 3pm.  I am happy to be a facilitator and be at each given location.  Come for a sketch or two or the whole day.  We will break at noon for lunch which would give us a chance to chat, something we don't always have time for on Sundays.  

From what I can gather online World Wide Sketchcrawls began around the time Urban Sketchers got going and was started by like minded sketching groups around the globe.  It's nice to know that on a certain day some group of people who like to draw their city from life are out there doing just that.  I will be posting Madison as a site on an online info board for the World Wide Sketchcrawl so anyone checking to see if there is one in Madison on April 23rd will find it and know where we will be.  I noticed that so far several groups in France will be sketching and also UK, South Korea, Germany, Italy,the Netherlands, South Africa and Australia as well as groups in Florida and California so at least in spirit we will have plenty of company!

Sunday Sketching at Olbrich Gardens April 10th

Top to bottom, left to right: Pat, Pam, Ruth, Elsie,Betty, Reba and Gretchen

It was a rather dreary day but the sketching in Bolz Conservatory was anything but.  Orchids and other tropicals were blooming and the little birds were singing.  Welcome to Pam - hope you will come back and sketch with us again.

My sketch above.

Next sketching venue will be at the Wisconsin Veterans Museum on the Capitol Square on May 8th.  It's Mother's Day but we hope some of us still have time for a sketch or two.

feels like spring,
morning sketch at a country cafe

98# mixed media paper, acid free

#2hb pencil, micro-uniball black pen

with watercolor washes

Pheasant Branch Nature Conservancy

March was a good month for birdwatching at the Pheasant Branch prairie parcel in Middleton.  Cranes flying over and landing in the marsh and fields in the spring is always a thrill.  I did these sketches in a 7x7 inch Stillman and Birn Beta sketchbook with a Pentel Pocket Brushpen and gouache.  Later I realized there were alot of joggers and dog walkers and I should have included some figures so that will be my goal for the next time I sketch out there.