Drawing in Trempealeau, WI

While many USK folks convened in Chicago, my daughter and I held our own symposium of sorts in nearby Trempealeau along the Mississippi River. It was my first time seeing this amazing river and the weather was amazing.

View from Little Bluff Mound, the Mississippi

Lots of sketches to share when we meet again. 

The river and the locks from Little Bluff Mound, micron pen and watercolor

and from my daughter, view of the dock at lunch

Look forward to hearing all the details of the USK Symposium, I bet it was fantastic!

The Group at the Chazen

A lot of great work was done by our sketchers at the Chazen Saturday:

Samurai at Chazen July 22nd

We had a good session at the Chazen starting with sketching in the current Samurai exhibition.  Ten sketchers showed up did a bunch of great sketches.  Mike and his wife had recently returned from a trip to Colombia and we  really enjoyed seeing his beautiful ink line drawings from there.  I sketched with watersoluble graphite and added some color with Derwent Inktense pencils later.

8 x 10 Soft Cover Stillman & Birn Alpha sketchbook

Early morning ferrying to Stockton and Michigan Islands on Lake Superior.

These are two of the Apostle Islands.  I used a stub of a #2 pencil and my sketch pad. ... while sitting on the upper deck with the chilly winds at my face..

USK Symposium 2017 Chicago!

  You can follow events in Chicago live via You Tube.   www.youtube.com/c/urbansketchersofficial  Several Madison sketchers will be attending the symposium.  I am pretty thrilled to be meeting some of my favorite USK correspondents and taking workshops with them.  There will be one open sketching event from 2:30 to 5:30 PM on Saturday July 29th at George Solti Park in Grant Park just south of the Art Institute.  All other events are ticketed and have been sold out for several weeks now.
  USK Madison will have a special meeting on Sept. 17th at the downtown library so those of us who attended can share our experiences and sketches.  That meeting is open to the public.  It will be in the first floor conference room from 2 to 4 pm.  

Saturday July 22 - Zoo Cancelled due to weather - Chazen Art Museum sketching from 11 am to 1 pm

Sorry for the short notice but due to these last torrential rains I changed the zoo tomorrow morning for the Chazen instead.  Please note the Chazen does not open until 11am so we will meet in the lobby then.  They allow us to bring our own sketching stools but they only allow graphite for drawing inside the museum.  I sometimes use watersoluble pencils and add the water to the drawing later on.  I will reschedule the zoo when it is dryer and less humid.  

Concert on the Square Evening --

With the crowd, the capital and an ever changing sky above; I had silently wished I had brought my plein air supplies.   So I borrowed some blank copy paper and a #2 graphite pencil ...  and here it is

Unpacking some things from the most recent move I found this sketch from almost 10 years ago - one I discussed at the recent Brittingham Beach outing.  Most memorable aspect - the criticism of a builder who pointed out the central tower as 'crooked' - and here I was so proud of the effort previously.

Art Fair on the Square

And while you folks were over enjoying the breeze at Brittingham my daughter and I were doing the rounds at Art Fair on the Square around the Capitol. Sunday was a smart day for sketchers to go, with plenty of people but not jammed packed.

AFOS, 6 x 12 inches, watercolor paper

Each summer for the past 4 years I have made a small sketchbook out of a 20 x 30 inch piece of Fabriano watercolor paper and make one small sketch about the day. It's a nice way to document my daughter's visit. This 6 x 6 book was folded "maze" style and I used watercolor and a micron ink pen for this sketch. I'll bring it to our September library gathering to share.

Brittingham Boats July 9th

It was very breezy but pleasant at Brittingham Boats yesterday and everyone had a good time.  We enjoyed meeting Teddy!  This is a good place for sketching and the boathouse had plenty of chairs and picnic tables available. And some really good strawberry ice cream bars.

Reba sketching

Plenty of shade

James and Teddy

The group and Teddy

My sketch

Period Park - July 1st

This little park was a perfect place for sketching on a warm sunny morning.  We were joined by one new sketcher today - welcome, Cindy!!  We had lots of discussion about sketching materials.  I used Uni-Posca paint pens for the first time this week.  They are fun and the colors really pop on black paper.   I got a set of 15 basic colors online but later today discovered that Artist and Craftsman has them even cheaper in their downtown store. The paint has no odor and is sort of like gouache in a marker pen.  Thanks to everyone who came out today and did some excellent sketching.

Reba, Pam, Pat, Cindy and Louise with our sketches

Beautiful well-tended garden

My paint pen sketch in a Derwent black paper sketchbook