Spring in Bloom in Madison

Redbud trees in UW Arboretum

Crab apple tree next to Gates of Heaven in James Madison Park

 This week I had an urban sketching assignment from the online class I am taking in Sketchbook Skool.  The teacher this week is Nina Johansson www.ninajohansson.se/ from Stockholm who does wonderful ink line drawing and watercolor sketches in her sketchbooks.  She likes to draw the ordinary every day things around her city and that was our assignment.  It was raining Thurs. afternoon so I sketched in my car parked at James Madison park behind Gates of Heaven.  Later I looked up the building in Wikipedia and found out that it is the 8th oldest synagogue building still standing in the US and was originally built in 1863!  Today I painted in the car again at the UW Arboretum where the blooming redbud trees were right in front of the car.  I find rendering blooming trees challenging to say the least.  There really are so many ways to approach them but realism would take years so I go for loose impressions.  Both of these sketches were done in my 8 x 10 softcover Stillman & Birn Beta sketchbook which has fairly thick watercolor paper in it.  The paint lifts off that paper easily which is helpful sometimes when I want to change something a bit.  I hope more sketchers will post some blooming tree sketches, too!!!