I often try to do a very quick sketch on happy occasions just to have something to flip over later in my sketchbook/journal/carnet de voyage (travel book in French, but that phrase has the tang of adventure that I love). I fall back into that day and place when I come across such a sketch. So I did a super fast little pen/wash/marker sketch in the small sketchbook I keep in my purse while I was sitting in the sunshine sharing pastries from Lucy J's bakery with my dad. A good day.

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.

My friend Mandy who works for Novel bookstore in town had a brain wave a few years ago and realized that the Scholastic book fair day was the absolute best day of school and that grown ups should get to have a little of that happiness too. So she invented the Skol-astic book fair at a local brewery. Various bookstores and comic book artists and other book nerds set up tables in the huge indoor space. Burke's Books invited me to join their table for an hour's worth of book signing, and since it was a dog friendly space they said please bring Henry too, since he's part of the family.

At the last minute, my dad asked if he could come too and be there for me, which was lovely of him. It was super low key, but it was sweet to have him there. I did a little sketching while I was sitting there so as not to follow potential buyers around with sad puppy dog eyes (which is why I usually knit through my own shows -- I'm available but not intrusive). I mostly sketched Henry, of course, who was hanging out happily. It was fun to watch people see him and then spot him on the cover of his own small book Portal. He made a couple of sales.

I also sketched Dad. People are hard, and it looks almost nothing like him (except for the bushy eyebrows), but I'll have the record in my sketchbook that he wanted to come down and support my art. That's priceless.

I'd been working on family finances and papers all week, so when my friend Christina suggested a sketching lunch on Friday at Crosstown, I was all in. I mean, ALL in. We ate at Global Cafe, one of the truly unique places in Memphis, and I tried the plaintain soup for the first time (delicious) as well as the Sudanese mint limeade. Bam. I mean. So, so good. With herbs and nubby bits and not crazy sweet. It was delicious as well as fun to draw.

Crosstown has been good to me lately. I did One week, 100 people on Instagram a couple of weeks ago, and Crosstown is an easy place to hang out and sketch people. I'm there a lot anyway, picking up prescriptions, picking up bread, and taking a walk indoors when the air pollution is bad, which it has been a lot of this spring, sadly.

I used a long skinny sketchbook I'd bought several years ago on a whim but never even opened. It feels too long for landscape, so I decided to try it for the people challenge. It easily fit into my small crossbody bag, and I made it to 98 people and two dogs. Since dogs are our better angels, I consider that I actually exceeded the assignment. I rarely do challenges, figuring that I have enough deadlines in my normal work, but I've done this once before. It's short, and it's good to get me out of my landscape rut to draw people. Excellent practice.

What I found this time was that I deeply enjoyed having a tiny sketchbook to whip out whenever I was in public. I've gravitated toward doing full watercolors the last few years, and I love doing them, but I'm less likely to sketch often since it takes time. I decided to buy myself a tiny sketchbook in a more traditional shape and keep it and one pen (maybe with the brush pen added for tone that I used in some of the 100 people sketches) and try to do at least one super quick drawing every time I leave the house. The bottom sketch is my first in the new small book, and I'm excited about the new practice. We'll see how well I can keep up the good intentions.

I've lost a little steam on Inktober because I FINISHED MY BOOK and formatted and submitted all the files and am now waiting on a proof before I order a stack of them. But here are several I did along the way, and I'm trying to get back to it and finish strong now that the book is done.

I've been taking my sketchbook to the dog park, and sometimes I just visit with friends, but sometimes I manage a sketch. One woman brought her supper in and managed (barely) to eat on the picnic table with all the dogs checking in to see what was going on. In a similar portable food vein, I did a small nocturne of a food truck under the moon at a recent outdoor performance of The Tempest. So fun. Both of those are in black ink with my new bent nib fude pen. Below is a dip pen with Diamine spring green ink and lots of watercolor on top.

I'm doing better with Inktober than I can remember. I missed one day so far, but overall I'm sketching daily, and it feels great. Above is black document ink from DeAtramentis with watercolor on top. Below is more traditional Inktober with just black ink and maybe an ink wash.

Today Henry and I delivered new prints to Elmwood ahead of their big do this weekend. Kim nicely wanted to have some on hand to sell. So we celebrated meeting that deadline with a walk through the cemetery and some sketching. These are two different sketches on the facing pages, but they harmonized really nicely into one composite landscape.

Then I was starving, so we went to Casablanca for lunch on their dog friendly deck. Lunch is my favorite there because they have the best black tea in town (lots of spices and honey plus ginger brewed in), but I can't have it at dinnertime that close to bed. I had half a shwarma platter and a lot of celebratory tea, and I'll add some broccoli tomorrow and have another fantastic meal tomorrow. Leftovers are the bomb for a single woman who doesn't much like to cook.

It's Inktober, and I've never been good at those daily challenges and have never done a full month of anything every day. I have enough work that is due for various occasions without making sketching homework. But this morning I went walking at Crosstown, and I decided to take an "Inktober break" in my day. The month gave me that mental nudge to take a break and sketch, and I realized that it I frame Inktober (or any challenge) for myself as permission to sketch (and a reminder that I'm happier when I do it) instead of homework, then that challenge framework is a total plus for me. It helps that I have a fun new pen and am also enjoying rediscovering the joy of line plus wash, using a brush pen with a dark grey ink to add tone.

Henry is turning into a great art dog and settled happily while I sketched from the 5th floor or so (I lose track of which level is which if I'm going up and down the stairs for exercise). Afterwards, and here's the down side of going to walk at Crosstown, I decided to treat myself to an iced chai. The pollution in the air is better than it has been, so I also treated myself to sitting outside without a mask for a while to sketch and drink my chai. It was a perfect fall day with a breeze and no humidity, but still warm enough to bask a little.

I used that same invitation mindset to sketch at 2am the other morning when I couldn't sleep and got back up for mint tea and toast (my pavlovian craving when I'm awake through the dark hours of the night). Henry had come downstairs with me and curled up on the couch looking adorable.

I always am drawn back to Elmwood to sketch. My public art celebration there will be Sunday, November 19 from 3-5 --- band, snacks, fun! I can't show the columbaria carvings yet online, but as I start thinking about a new Memphis alphabet book, you'd better believe that E is for Elmwood, and I was out on a recent, beautiful day doing some sketches. I replaced the Ancient Copper ink in my new pen with a waterproof black ink by DeAtrementis, thinking ahead to the new book. My last two have been done primarily in Diamine Golden Brown. I think the new book will have a wider array of sketching materials, and black may pull all of them together best. Plus I do really love working with line and tone. The grey is a brush pen with warm black ink, and it feels good to get back to this kind of sketching.

Henry and I have been wandering around and doing some sketches and enjoying Inktober. Last night was an outdoor performance of Macbeth by the Tennessee Shakespeare Company. I mostly just enjoyed and watched, but I did do one early sketch as they were getting going. I'm also just sketching Henry a ton. A black and white dog is MADE for Inktober.