Urban Sketchers at the library

6/3/2012

Saturday was our meeting of the Memphis Urban Sketchers, and we rendezvous-ed at the central library. It's a great building (except for the escalator in the center of the main floor, which I still hate) with public art and great views. I always love the chance to go out and work with other artists, get inspiration from what they do, and just squeeze in a little socializing to my normally solitary work time.

I took my time over the first one and then realized I had only 45 minutes left (the watercolors usually take a bit more than an hour), so I intentionally loosened up a bit and did the second one in time to meet up with everyone. It's good practice for me to sometimes break out of my normal work habits and try something new. And I'm always drawn to that fabulous hanging glass sculpture in the atrium.

3 Comments

benjamin j. link

6/4/2012 10:16:21 am

Looks great, I have yet to go on a sketchcrawl let alone meet up with another urban sketcher. Thatll all change once I get to santo domingo.

Love the watercolors, any tips or suggestions?

Ben

Kathy

6/5/2012 01:59:57 am

What a wonderful idea to paint at the public library! Of course, as you know, I'm partial to libraries.

Breaking out of one's normal routine and habits is liberating. I have really appreciated this summer's sketchbook challenge. While I sometimes don't like the topics and feel like it is too difficult, I give each day's sketch a try. Sometimes I surprise myself and other days are just plain learning experiences. Piles of dirty laundry might work better from a more distant view rather than as a close up when one is a beginner. :-)

Hope the weather in Memphis is a beautiful as it is in middle TN.

--Kathy

Martha

6/6/2012 12:34:46 am

Thanks, y'all!

Benjamin, I only started using watercolors a year ago and still can't get some areas as smooth as I'd like. I use them in a more sketchy way -- you'll notice white spaces between a lot of the color areas, which keeps things from running. I don't do a lot of bleeding with them (letting areas dry before doing another color nearby). The best advice I got was to use four water cups (I have two of those double metal palette cups) and wash, wash, wash, and then have a clean one for dipping. stay in the same order, so you have a really dirty one, a middling dirty one, and a pretty clean one for a rinse. That keeps your colors from getting muddy.

I keep meaning to read some watercolor books and learn what else I can do with them, but I just haven't gotten around to it yet.

Kathy, I love your summer challenge. It's a great discipline to just draw every day, and I feel lucky to have the outlet. Good for you!

Urban Sketchers at the library

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