My favorite Airbnb in St. Louis is the Rabbit Hole, right across the street from Tower Grove Park, my favorite place to walk and paint. It's a converted 1918 garage and run by the hosts in the main house who have also turned into friends. I've sketched it several times over the years from different angles, and this trip I sketched it again.

The first one, in my biggest sketchbook, is a dip pen in Diamine golden brown ink. I had meant to do watercolor on top, but a friend dropped by just as I was laying out the main sketch. By the time the visit was over, it was darker than I had hoped, and by the next day, I decided I really liked the loose line drawing as it is, with its big white open bed at the center, so I left it.

I did do a second version, smaller and in gouache. I keep seeing artists I admire so much do amazing things with gouache, and I've been wanting to try it again. A trip felt like a good time to dive into an experiment, and I had a good time. Last time I tried, my papers all curved and cracked, but I've learned in the meantime to let it dry either taped down or on the watercolor block I used (as in this case – a 6x8” block, and I just travelled home with it still tight and flat). That seemed to work, so I'll look forward to doing some more when I come up for air from my memoir, which is still taking up most of my creative space at the moment.