I had SUCH a good day out on Tuesday. I had errands to do, so I put Henry in daycare, but the air felt good and there's always a breeze by the river, so we went down and walked the Greenbelt park at Mud Island before I dropped him off. One of the big cruise boats was docked down there, so I tucked Henry's leash around my shoe and did a quick sketch. He's learning to settle in nicely while I work, which is such a blessing.

I'm trying to get back to more quick sketching in my daily life again, and I'm back to the bent nib fountain pen, a Sailor fude, that's satisfying with a lot of line variation. I've got some waterproof De Atramentis fog grey ink in it, which has a blueish cast. I hit an antique mall and the Goodwill as well as doing my more necessary grocery shopping, and I lucked into an awesome polka dot dress that I sketched that evening from the sofa. That one is in an "urban grey" ink with a dip pen. But first I picked up some fish tacos from Soulfish, sketching from the curbside pickup parking spot, and I caught a quick one of Henry on the couch with me as well. On the days I'm really in a groove doing work in the studio I'm not worried about getting something in the sketchbook too, but I am going to try to get back in a better habit of sketching out and about. All of this was fun yesterday.

I've been working the last couple of months on a memoir about a life changing trip to Greece that followed my divorce in 2003. I wrote the first draft while I was out west, knowing I would need to come home to my journals for more detail, but wanting to get an overall framework in place. I dug out various journals from that year and was delighted to discover more sketches and photos from my trip than I had remembered doing. Sometimes your past self leaves a surprise present for the future. Today after doing some prose work I scanned in the drawings and some of my photos as well. This book, if it ever gets that far, won't be a graphic book with every sentence corresponding to a drawing or two, but it will be illustrated. It's fun to play with a whole new kind of project for me, but I'm also enjoying revisiting these super quick pencil sketches I did on the fly around Athens. Mostly ruins (Parthenon and the Temple of Olympian Zeus) but also a quick one of my neighborhood market in the Athens suburb of Aghia Paraskevi.

I wrote in my last post that I like the shape and impact of my bigger summer sketchbook, but I also find it deters me from picking it up sometimes, just because it feels like a big commitment to cover that larger real estate. So I started a new smaller 5.5" sketchbook too. It's by Handbook, and I really like the size, the landscape shape when it's opened out, and the pocket at the back for tickets and other ephemera.

A facebook memory came up of one of my tiny oils on this plate by Melissa Bridgman. It had a dark background and a different feel, but it made me think about cherries and her pottery and what a satisfying combination that is. So a good first sketch for a new sketchbook. Below is the oil that made me want to revisit the subject. Beautifully it now hangs in Melissa's kitchen.

It was a perfect summer morning yesterday. I know the news has been all about how summer is now apocalyptic and not a happy season, which made it feel all the more necessary to get out and enjoy it. I dropped Henry at daycare for the day to be able to go to the sale at the Woodruff Fontaine House museum, and I sketched early, waiting for them to open. In the best possible scenario, I came away with a sketch but no more stuff for my house.

I decided to treat myself to an art day, so I headed on to the Metal Museum from there, since I was already downtown. They have a brand new show up I wanted to see, and I saw an artist friend working in the gift shop and had a wonderful natter about shows, framing, and all the nitty gritty. I sat out in the wrought iron pavilion and sketched the bridge and river. By then I was hungry, and I drove to South Main. The Arcade had tables outside (I'm still not eating indoors with a ton of strangers), so I got some sweet potato pancakes and did one more sketch of their nifty, old school sign.

This summer sketchbook is much bigger than I'm used to, and it takes more time and paint to cover. It's fun, and I'm enjoying the shape more than I thought I would, but I also find myself less excited about picking it up because of the investment once I get going. I'll probably move back to my normal one after, but it's fun to do different things for a season and challenge myself.

Henry wore himself out at daycare as much as I wore myself out running around, so we had a heavy nap on the couch in the later afternoon before dinner and baseball. A pretty perfect summer day.

Memphis Urban Sketchers met inside at Crosstown Concourse to beat the heat on Saturday. It was great to see friends and hang out sketching, and Henry behaved himself beautifully. I did the big overview first and then realized we had another 45 minutes or so and did a quicker sketch of French Truck Coffee toward the end. I get overwhelmed with all the angles and levels every time, and all the planes don't quite match up right, but I was pleased with the overall impression.

I stopped in St. Louis on my way home and spent a couple of days seeing friends, resting up, and doing a little sketching. I started the morning in Tower Grove Park with a field of small sunflowers, painted daisies and a strawberry rhubarb tart, and (of course) Ted Drewes. My favorite stop and such a funky, old time place to draw.

I've been working on two different book projects during my time out west and barely even sketching. Today I went for a walk in my favorite state park out here and took my sketchbook along and enjoyed doing a couple of quirkish sketches. Dip pen with a light green ink and watercolor on top. The line almost disappeared in the paint, but I'm reasonably pleased with both of them, and they were fun to do on a gorgeous day. It's been raining and freezing for a week, so the book projects were perfect for that stretch. Today called for sketching.

The second page is two restaurant patio sketches. The top is in one of my new favorite inks. It's a waterproof fog grey from DeAtramentis. I've had the best time using it for simple sketches with a watercolor marker for some fast tone. I've found that it's dark line that doesn't move at all, though, makes me feel like I'm using a coloring book when I put full paint on top of it. A ton of sketchers do waterproof ink and paint, but I find that I still like an ink that will melt a little and swirl with the paint. The second sketch (as well as the top one) is Diamine's warm, springlike green (either Leaf green or Spring green, I can't remember which), and I'm much happier with that effect.

Vacation is definitely for trying new things, though, so mission accomplished on all fronts!

Heres a small video of that beach and river confluence, just to share the beauty.

I’m in Washington State for a few weeks and away from my scanner. I’m mostly giving myself vacation time, but I’ll post snapshots of my sketches here instead of the cleaner scans I do at home.

First up were the welcome flowers, including some amazing stargazer lilies. (I love that name!) A couple of days later we went to the youth symphony to see Jude’s granddaughter play violin. I always love the juxtaposition of bodies with instruments, so I had fun sketching through the concert. I used my big, fat, water-soluble graphite crayon with a water brush over the top of it for quick, dense shadows. Loose and fun.

Our normal spot in the shade with a view of the band was taken by the time Henry and I got there, so I sat in the way back to give us both shade and had a pretty obstructed view. So no full body sketches of musicians, but I could see bits of them, and I also just did a bunch of rapid sketches of the audience, which has grown each week as word has gotten out. It was an easy, laid back way to enjoy a lovely afternoon.

Eventually both the red dresses and Christian's fancy shirt felt like they deserved a splash of color, so I worked quickly with the water brush in my lap and had a good time. They dedicated "Walk the Dog" to Henry and ended with "Wagon Wheel." All so good.