I'm lucky enough to have sketching friends to meet up with and share a meal and sketch. They are important to my happiness and quality of life. We met at Dixon, hoping for food truck Friday but driven indoors by rain. I did four quickish sketches inside the cafe. My favorite is that top one with a limited palette but more depth and shadow than the others. My brown pen got cleaned recently and is too anemic with the water. I need to do a little more work on it, so I switched to a water soluble blue/black ink and then used my super tiny watercolor kit that rides in my purse instead of getting out my full one. It was a great catch up, and I love having happy occasions in my sketchbook to remember later.

I've been quiet here partly because I'm working on two illustration projects for Memphis Magazine that I can't show yet and partly because I was having some serious internet problems and couldn't share my scans. So I don't have a lot of new material I can share, but here are a couple of recent(ish) sketches that didn't make the blog. The first was an art lunch with friends, which is one of my favorite things to do, and I clearly had tea.

The second was a really neat lecture at Dixon a couple of weeks ago. I got to a number of those and usually sketch, so I'm trying to figure out different media and styles to vary the sketches from lecture to lecture. This was local artist Carl E. Moore, whose work I admire a lot, talking about his practice and his art. Instead of diving into paint I kept it just fountain pen and brush pen. I also used a higher vanishing line than I usually do. Often I'm drawing what's on the wall behind the speaker, but here I left more space for audience and kept his figure central to the sketch. I was pleased with how it turned out, which is not something I say a ton about my sketches. I love doing them, but they don't usually measure up to the image I had in my head before starting. This one was different than I meant it to be, but I was pleased with the result.

I gave myself an art day out today after turning in the cover art for Memphis Magazine's February issue a couple of days ago. I know artists who are disciplined in their work hours and days, but I am not one of them. I work through a lot of weekend time but give myself days off while everyone else is at work (which is the nicest time to take them except for seeing friends who are off work on weekends). Also my time off is muddy anyway, as non artist friends have pointed out to me, since sketching is often part of a day out for me.

Elizabeth Alley was talking at Dixon on her art residency in the arctic circle, which was fascinating. I love the noon Wednesday lecture series because it gets it on my calendar to take a museum day. And I love vicarious travel and artists talking about their craft. A perfect excuse to get out. And it was great. I chose paradise blue ink to do some of the sketching in because it felt as appropriate for the chill of the subject matter as it does for the blue of the Caribbean. That was the one I spent the most time on, but then she got to her slide of a polar bear track, and I grabbed my tiny purse sketchbook to record that.

It's 70 degrees today and gorgeous, so after walking through the printmaking exhibit again I ordered a peach tea latte and a blueberry muffin to take out into the gardens. Day out indeed. The drink making is delicious but a little slow, so I sat down to wait and sketched the croissant in the case while I waited. That's my gamboge Windsor and Newton watercolor marker as color. I love their juicy, saturated markers.

Sitting outside at Dixon feels a tiny bit like Paris. There are tables behind rows of  pruned trees and boxwood hedges with a view through to a Rodin statue. It always makes me think of the sculpture garden at the Rodin museum just a little, and it's a happy place for me. Sometime I'll sketch that view, but Elizabeth's talk about drawing patterns on her trip stuck with me, and when I looked down at the table base, I drew that instead. I did a whole series of sketches of my black boots when I was traveling in Paris, so again it felt like a small flashback to good times. It was a truly excellent day out.

It had been a kind of crazy week, so I was looking forward to seeing friends and hanging out with the Memphis Urban Sketchers. The day did not disappoint. We had a good crew there at Dixon (two visits in a week!) painting the gardens. It was chilly but with sunshine, and I've broken out my favorite tweed jacket and knitted hand warmers, just in time for November. I was drawn to these enormous leaves and the bright red chairs in front of them. I started with Diamine leaf green ink and a dip pen, moved to watercolor, used a little bit of red watercolor marker along with paint on the chairs (and regretted using that bold marker for my label and date, but there you go), and finished with a little Derwent inktense pencil on the bottom pavement. That whole section got a little muddy on me and I needed to lighten it up a little. Overall I was pleased, even if the bottom bothers me a little. I always seem to see the choices I regret when I look at a piece, but I like a lot of this one.

And then, once in a great while, I do something I'm really happy with. That night I sketched Henry on the "banjo chair" (that he, of course, thinks of as "Henry's chair" instead). I started with a simple line outline in inktense charcoal pencil and added water soluble graphite with a brush after. It's a little bit sparkly in person even. I've been greatly enjoying rediscovering that small tin for evening sketches. I had meant to add watercolor to the chair around him, but I managed a little uncharacteristic restraint when I got this far and stopped. I ended up really loving the composition. There was one line under the window and above his ear that got too dark with water on top. I was sorry I'd gone there, and also uncharacteristically, I got out the super fine sandpaper I use to take out margin ink spots on my prints and took it out again. I don't usually bother in my sketchbook, but I was so pleased with this overall that I wanted it to be really right. I tend to cover the full page, full on in paint, and when I can stop myself before that point, I often really like the results. Life goals...

Mary K VanGieson, a fellow urban sketcher and longtime, hugely active participant in the Memphis art community (she gets out to ALL the shows I miss), gave a talk at Dixon today about eco prints and her current exhibition in the museum. She was funny, informative, wise, and inspiring. I love this free lecture series at Dixon, and I was thrilled to see a packed house show up to learn from her. I saw so many friends. It felt great to catch up with art friends, learn about a new printmaking technique, and see the trio of printmaking shows currently hanging at Dixon. What a happy day. I didn't take in my bigger sketchbook, but I used my tiny purse one to both sketch and take notes.

I gave myself the day off work on Saturday, which for me meant getting out and sketching. There is no bright line between life and work because art is always what I wake up wanting to do. I went to a fun estate sale where I bought a couple of plates that remind me of Paris, and it was right near Dixon. Ceres had magnificent plantings around her when I was there last, but I hadn't had my bigger sketchbook or watercolors with me. I walked through my favorite parts of the current exhibit again (hint, Paris!) and then headed for the garden. I've been trying to mix things up and draw in Inktense pencils for a change of texture lately instead of reflexively reaching for my fountain pen. I was happy with the plantings, a bit less happy with the statue, but there it is.

The day was glorious, and I was starving, and Christina was happily free to meet me for a patio lunch at Cafe Eclectic, a favorite spot. I drew a wonky green umbrella and had a wonderful lunch with London fog tea latte and a biscuit on the side. I also drew the charming dove who made a nest right on top of one of the patio tables in a redbud tree. That one is in my small sketchbook, just a few minutes of standing and sketching with paint added sitting down afterwards. She has been remarkably unconcerned with the hubbub around her. It's such a treat to see a bird's nest up close.

It was a great day out. I came home happy, opened the windows and watched a little British mystery. Pretty perfect.

I've posted about it before, but a few months ago I got a smaller sketchbook (3.5x5.5" I think) to easily fit into my small purse. I'm trying to make it easy for myself to sketch out in the world when I have pockets of time instead of automatically reaching for my phone. I've got a selection of pens and markers in a pocket of that same small purse. Then, of course, I ended up needing a non-black purse the other day for errands and grabbed only a couple of fountain pens. I recently got myself a new mint green Lamy All-star with a converter for using bottled ink. I also got some nicely complimentary Diamine Aurora Borealis ink to go with it. So that and my regular black one were the two I grabbed. Of course, that's the day I ended up on a perfect cloud day sitting and waiting for some paperwork in an office with a stunning view. I was kicking myself for not having watercolors with me. But it was fun to draw the way above the treeline view anyway, and I told them I may go back and camp out in their conference room for 45 minutes or so sometime with my full paint set.

From there I went to Dixon to see the new show and for a bit of something for myself after all the family business. Ceres is my favorite to draw, and she had some lovely tall plantings around her. I need to get back there with my paints as well.

The last sketch is some new brown De Atramentis waterproof ink I've been testing out. I added yellow watercolor marker to a line drawing I was happy with and then wished I hadn't, but that's sketching for you.

Two weeks in a row I've managed to make it to the midweek lecture at Dixon. This week it was their membership person Dorothy Svgdik talking about why she loves museum. So fun, and I did three quickish sketches while I was listening. I'm still really enjoying having the small sketchbook in my purse with a handful of pens for easy access. I'm so much more likely to sketch instead of looking at my phone if I make it super easy and accessible for myself. And I'm invariably happier afterwards if I do make that choice.

Afterwards I took a walk with friends around the garden and then went back inside to sketch in the gallery. I love the spaces in museums and have been seeing a lot of online sketches lately inside museums. Not exclusively copies of the art, but drawings of the space. I would love to do more of those myself, though I so miss being able to sketch in pen and watercolor. American museums tend to be really restrictive about materials in a way most European museums aren't. So it didn't come out as hoped, but here was my bigger sketchbook gallery landscape in pencil and watercolor crayon. I had fun sitting and looking at the space and light even if it didn't turn out the way I'd hoped. Honestly no sketch ever matches the vision in my brain that I have when I start, but some get closer than others. This one wasn't close, but that's how it goes. On the other hand, I was really happy with my sketch of pewter and people above, a couple of audience members off to my left.

Colleen Couch gave a lecture at Dixon today on her joint show with mentor Dolph Smith, and it was great. I listened and enjoyed slides of Dolph's methodical sketchbooks/studio journals where he worked out his ideas (or sometimes not, as the last page here shows). I did sketches in my tiny purse sketchbook with a fountain pen, a brush pen with black ink, and a couple of watercolor markers for the last two. I sat with friends and had a great talk about art careers, making your own goals, and the ongoing need for discernment. I have several friends trying to figure out the next chapter or streamline the current chapter to make it work more smoothly.

It was a timely talk, and it's always good to hear that sometimes even art heroes like Dolph end up with "shit!" on occasion.

I started a tiny sketchbook on Friday since I often carry a pretty tiny purse. I'd like to do more sketching my daily life. I've been using the Handbook watercolor books, but this was my first not w/c paper since they got bought out by Strathmore. The paper quality is definitely down, but I liked my first sketch once I added more paint. It bled through a little with the pen work, but not too much. The second sketch I did with a felt tip instead of a fountain pen, and I I had no bleed through. For this tiny size I might try one of the softcover Stillman and Birn, but for my bigger sketchbooks I still like the hardback nature of the Handbook watercolor, and I love having the pocket in the back.

Because the sketchbook was in my purse this morning, I did a second quick forest sketch, the one with the Pigma Graphic 1 felt tip, and it was fun to pause for not too long on my forest walk and do a quick sketch. Hopefully this will get me back in the habit.

On Friday I met my sketching friend Libby at Dixon for Food Truck Friday My favorite food truck Flipside Asia was there, so I made a point of getting to it. I did the superfast sketch of the small girl statue as a warm up and then moved to. my bigger book. Of course I liked the fast, looser sketch of the girl herself better, but I ended up liking the conservatory and the deep shadows of the full page version too. I started both with a fountain pen using KawekoParadise Blue ink, which is my favorite funky color lately. It's water soluble and melts into the paint, which is fun and loose. Then I went and got meatballs in an Indian marsala sauce to eat in the gardens with Libby. A lovely day.