Direct painting

I left my Casein paints on my palette and threw it in the freezer. The freezer part was probably not necessary but I wanted to see if I could reuse the paints or if they would dry up. Of course, they weren't as creamer as the first time a squeezed them out of the tube and on to my palette but I was able to revive them by spraying them with water.

This sketch was painted directly on the paper, without making a drawing first. I used an empty spot on my sketchbook page so these railroad volunteers are only 2.25 inches tall.

En Plein Air at Elfin Forest

I am still working with Casein and practicing my technique. I tend to use it like watercolor and create transparency but I would like to train myself to use it more opaque. In this exercise, I used both methods.

 I was with the Inland Painters at Elfin Forest which had a nice stream. We got to paint with sounds of water running through the rock piles.

Using Left Over Paint

I had a lot of casein on my palette after painting on location yesterday so I wiped all of it off on the next page of my sketchbook. Today I decided to paint one of my Seven Gods of Happiness using leftover paint from a studio painting I am working on. 

Benten is the goddess of creativity and the only woman in the group, of course, she is my favorite!

Trout Cove en plein air with Inland Painters

I continue to work in Casein paint to understand the medium. I like the consistency yet get frustrated when I forget what I am using and go back to painting with a technique I use with watercolor. Glazing. Glazing is applying light washes of color over another. Casein is opaque and I am still working out its qualities.

This painting was created in my sketchbook while painting with the Inland Painters at Dixon Lake in Escondido. The book contains watercolor paper.

Mixed media

A sketchbook page filled with leftover palette paint.

TwainFest 2019 - San Diego Urban Sketchers

The San Diego Urban Sketchers attended TwainFest 2019 for 2 hours of sketching and fun. Twainfest was a FREE celebration of Mark Twain and other writers of the 19th century.

Figure Drawing with Casein

I am still working with Casein and getting used to using it thick and creamy. Because I am primarily a watercolor artist, I have a tendency to water it down too much. The more I practice with casein the more I like it. I think that in some cases it is ok to water it down but I like the thicker strokes with bold paint the best.

This page was created in my sketchbook on watercolor paper. The poses were 5 minutes and under. I used pencil and added color when the model was taking her breaks.

Long pose.

Twain Fest 2019

Today I went to Twain Fest with San Diego Urban Sketchers. A celebration of Mark Twain and other writers of the 19th century.

Just hold on a second!

I had a lot of paint on my pallet after Plein air painting so I used the "smush and slide" method. This was introduced to me in an Orly Avineri Workshop. You get the sheet with the paint and smoosh it on another piece and slide it off, leaving the paint on the new paper in an interesting manner.

I found many interesting characters and shapes in this concoction and created this fun piece.

Inland Painters at Felicita Park, Escondido

The Inland Painters met at Felicita Park in Escondido. Kathy shared her challenge when Plein Air Painting and Pat shows us her Tombow Pens.

Practicing Plein Air in Casein

I like casein because it is so creamy and goes on the paper easily. It looks just like gouache when on paper but I like the feel to casein better. I also like the smell.

Last night I prepared an orange rectangle on my sketchbook page because I wanted to see how opaque the paint was and how it would look on an orange background. I am still working at getting a pure clean color so I don't think the orange background was a good idea. The colors look a bit muted. This might be due to the medium or just my way of applying the color.

I will probably keep working in Casein for a little while.

Plaza de Panama - San Diego Urban Sketchers 2019

Rachel shares her favorite pen and Renata shows us her handmade sketchbook and paint pallet. Maria visited from Australia and Serena practiced her guitar during our 2-hour event at Plaza de Panama in Balboa Park. Plaza de Panama is in the middle of Balboa Park and surrounded by beautiful Spanish Colonial Revival Architecture.

Urban Sketching at Balboa Park, San Diego

Sketching at Balboa Park with the San Diego Urban Sketchers. It's such a treat to welcome guests from all over the world and today we had special guests, Maria and Jim from Australia! This is my sketch of the Bell Tower and the top of the Old Globe Theatre.

Life Drawing

I didn't want to fill too many pages with warm-up figures so I chose to work small. This page has 30 second, 1 minute and 2-minute poses. These were created with a rapido sketch pen and filled in with watercolor during the model's break.

 We moved on to 10 minute and 20 minute poses. I worked in a Japanese felt tip pen that has a gray tip and a black tip. My strokes seemed to get more confident as I progressed which resulted in stronger sketches.

Mini Lap Journal

Working in my mini lap journal today using watercolor, white gelly roll pen, china marker.

Balboa Island, Newport Beach

I worked in a small purse-sized sketchbook so I could create a quick memory of our visit to Newport Beach. When I sketch during visits with friends I tend to focus on my sketch rather than conversation so I try to keep sketches small and short term.  There were many historical homes dating back to 1935 and 1936 on Balboa Island and this particular house was across the street from our friends. The car drove up during my sketch process and as soon as I started to add it, the car moved out of the view. 

San Clemente Life Guard Station Jeep

I had some time before my friends arrived for a visit to San Clemente so I sat on a bench facing the lifeguard station and jeep.

This sketch was completed fast and small because I didn't know when they would arrive. Always a pleasure to relax and let time slip away with a sketch.

What is your favorite subject when Urban Sketching?

Patricia Chow,  PJ,  Rachel, and Zhen share their favorite subject when Urban Sketching.

Life Drawing inwatercolor

Long pose

1 minute poses

What is your favorite subject when Urbans Sketching? with Linda, Mark an...

Linda Counts, Mark Mark Nakanishi, and Melissa McCracken share about their favorite subject when Urban Sketching.

The Spanish Village Art Center is home to over 200 working artists and a beautiful place to sketch and paint. I tried this piece in a large (10 x 11 inch) watercolor sketchbook a fellow urban sketcher made for me. (Thank you Alicia Hallett!)

Most of the building was in shadow and it was a bit of a challenge for me to keep the other parts of the building and plants pure.

Jamie Utter and Bianca Romani Share Their Favorite Subject When Urban Sk...

Drawing Attention

https://issuu.com/drawingattention/docs/da_august_2019
I am honored to be a part of the Urban Sketchers Volunteer crew as YouTube Manager. Thank you to Patricia Chow for the recognition in this article. The San Diego Chapter of Urban Sketchers was also featured in an article by Meagan Burns.

Desert Garden - Water Containers and Multiple Palettes - San Diego Urban...

Joanne shows us her combo water container/water sprayer. Barb shares her portable water bottle and 2 Urban Sketchers tell us why they use multiple palettes. You can also see the artists sketches of the Desert Garden in Balboa Park, San Diego, in this 4:42-minute Lydeo.

Lori Mitchell's favorite urban sketching tool.

Lori Mitchell shares her favorite sketch tool and gives up a little flip of her sketchbook in this 1 minute video.

Shiho Nakaza's Favorite Urban Sketching Tool

Shiho explains why this brush from Rosemary & Co Artists Brushes is her favorite Urban Sketching Tool.

Joanne Geroe's Favorite sketch tool

Joanne shares her favorite sketch tool and her new homemade, portable sketch table.

Brothers Provisions in San Diego

I have been drawing big and bold since my eyesight is "impaired". This sketchbook (9 x 12 inches) has 60 lb. sketch paper which wrinkles up with watercolor so this morning I used a Stabilo Aquarelle Pencil and a water brush. I didn't have to apply much water to get the shading or dark areas. On the bottom right I applied a photo of the other artists I was with.

San Diego Urban Sketchers at the San Luis Rey Mission Cemetary

In this video, Kathy Lark shares her liquid graphite drawing while sketching with 32 other Urban Sketchers. We had 2 visitors from Los Angeles, 2 from New Mexico and one from Mexico, ALL of them a part of the global community of UrbanSketchers.org

Lydia's Mini Museum Adventure - 2019

A 1:30 minute video to show parts of the skull exhibit and a few sketches.

Sketchbook Flip - Lydia Velarde - Strathmore Watercolor Paper

Sketchbook Flip
Strathmore Watercolor Sketchbook
19 pages
9 x 12 inches

December 2018 to February 2019

Inland Painters at Felicita County Park, Escondido CA

4 painters at Felicita County Park in Escondido. Oil paints, watercolor, and gouache. Plein air works in progress.

Why Do You Like to Sketch?

Thank you, Patricia Chow, Trixxie Land, Meg Leslie and Meagan Burns for sharing why they like to sketch in this video by Lydia Velarde.

What Sketchbook Are You Using? - USKSan Diego at Oceanside Harbor

7 Urban Sketchers share what type of sketchbook they were using and also open up their books to show us a few of their sketches. This video was taken at a San Diego Urban Sketchers event at Oceanside Harbor, San Diego, California.

Oceanside Harbor

Sketching with the San Diego Urban Sketchers at Oceanside Harbor. My eyesight is still bad, that's probably why I painted in large shapes. Details don't show up very good. I painted this with watercolor then added lines with a Rapido Sketch Pen.

WHY DO YOU SKETCH?

Today I asked 6 Urban Sketchers the question, "Why do you sketch?" This is a 2-minute video of their answers.

Urban Sketching in Chula Vista

Today the San Diego Urban Sketchers met on a street corner in Chula Vista. We had views of the village, Fuddruckers, Memorial Park and the Third Avenue street sign. 

I chose to work in gouache because the next page of my sketchbook had toned paper and I wanted the paint to show up.

While creating the video for this event I asked the San Diego Urban Sketchers how they choose their subject when sketching outdoors. You can hear their answers and see their artwork in this video:

Taking Flight - an Origami Stab Bound Book

On the left is a "practice" crane we made to get used to making the cranes for the book structure taught by Gina Pisello. On the right is the finished book made of 6 pages of cranes and bound by a Japanese Stab Binding. #100daysofsketchbookentries #The100dayproject

Spanish Village with the San Diego Sketch Crawlers

Once a month the San Diego Sketch Crawlers meet in Spanish Village to draw whatever strikes our interest. Today I noticed a little black chair so I decided to paint it and include everything around it. This is part of my effort to participate in #100daysofsketchbookentries and #the100dayproject. I use Holbein Watercolor and a Rapidosketch pen.

#100daysofsketchbookentries

#the100dayproject This gouache was done from a reference photo taken yesterday at Lake Hodges. I painted it in my homemade sketchbook.

At Lake Hodges with my Gouache Palette

I decided to work in gouache when I went painting with the Inland Painters at Lake Hodges this morning. It rained today and has been raining at least once a week for a month or so, which has made everything very green. I only have one green in my palette so I get to try mixing with black, yellow and blues for a variety of greens. I'm glad I worked small (4x6) because it got pretty cold and I was ready to pack it up after a few hours.

Sketching in the Waiting Room

I was very active with my sketching habit for many years. I still carry my sketchbook with me but most days it stays in my purse. In an effort to get back to the sketching habit, I am participating in #The100DayProject by doing #100DaysofSketchbookEntries.

I started my first day by drawing people in the waiting room of my doctor's office. I used a Uniball Signo.

Watercolor with Inland Painters in Escondido

Painting with the Inland Painters at the head of an Escondido Trail.

I have poor eyesight

Healing from retinal detachment surgery and looking forward to cataract surgery I am facing many challenges with my poor eyesight.

Urban Sketching at Farmers Market at Old Poway Park

I went to Old Poway Park with the intent of sketching. Having music while I was Urban Sketching was a treat. I drew the musician with the saxophone first and was going to stop after drawing him but then I decided to fill my page. If I had done more planning I would have put them in their correct positions and scale. I use Winsor and Newton Watercolors with a Paper Mate Flair Pen. I did the drawing first, then filled with paint.

Some people just don't like vegetables

My husband is a meat and potatoes man. 

Main Street, Vista Village with San Diego Urban Sketchers

This sketch was created on location on Main Street in Vista, CA. The location of the San Diego Urban Sketchers event on Sunday. The area has many outside sculptures and murals to enjoy. The first minute of this video shows the artists and their work and the second minute shows the street art. Enjoy!

Los Rios Street with Urban Sketchers

This sketch was created on Los Rios Street this weekend while attending an event with Los Angeles Urban Sketchers, San Diego Urban Sketchers, San Clemente Urban Sketchers and Long Beach Sketch Meet Up. I normally sketch for 2 hours but this event was 4 hours which included coffee, visiting, taking photos and sketching. This extra time allowed me to tackle a full spread in this handmade sketchbook.

This is the video I created for the event: 

Urban Sketching in Old Town San Diego

The San Diego Urban Sketchers met on the corner of Twiggs Avenue and San Diego Avenue in Old Town to sketch and welcome 2 out of town sketchers. We had Urban Sketchers from France and New York join us for the morning. Making friends around the world is one of the benefits of urban sketching.

Lydia Velarde Sketchbook Flip - Homemade Book Sept. - Nov. 2018

This book was made in a workshop at the Mingei Art Museum in San Diego. I used the papers they gave us which was from various promotional material and stationery. It created a challenge with watercolor. I gessoed some of the pages and used various media in this book.

Drawing from Life - "Chess Retreat"

Every year our friend drives down from Los Angeles for a Chess Retreat. He stays at our house and we play marathon chess. I am the one that warms him up because I am not as skilled as Ray and my husband, Gary. This time I won one game and he won 4 or 5. After he is warmed up he plays with Gary and Gary wins most of the time. It doesn't really matter who wins, we have a good time playing chess, reminiscing about our younger days and listening to classic rock music.

The best part is they are mostly still while I practice my life drawing.

Chess game

Playing chess with an old buddy of ours.

Life Drawing at the San Diego Watercolor Society

Left: Five 2-minute sketches with a Japanese Brush Pen
Right: Two 10-minute Sketches. Pendil Contour Line Drawing and Watercolor

Two 20-Minute sketches with Watercolor

20 minute with interruptions. Watercolor pencil.

a time filler, pencil with watercolor

A MIni Book Made With Scraps

This is a #littlebook I made with #scraps during the #commonthreads#workshop with #orlyavineri and #beatrizheaton #leather #bookarts#bookbinding #minibook 2x3 inches

Flowers in Gouache

In the past, I have not been too fond of painting flowers but I have this lovely still life on my kitchen table and have taken on the challenge. This time I focused in on a section that had high contrast. Using its' negative shapes to create the little flowers. Painted in Gouache.