Oceanside Pier - San Diego Urban Sketchers 2018

I worked with a Rapido Sketch Pen and watercolor when I went sketching a the beach with San Diego Urban Sketchers. The video below is all of the artists, the Oceanside Pier area and finished sketches from the 2-hour event.

annoying people in the waiting room

I tend to look at people. Mostly I am looking at what would be interesting to draw but yesterday I got a little distracted by the annoying people. Many times I wonder if they are just annoying to ME of if they are annoying in general.

San Diego Steam Punk Picnic 2018

I created this watercolor while attending a San Diego Urban Sketching Event at Old Poway Park. We met during the San Diego Steampunk Picnic which gave us many costumed figures to sketch. It was a fun exercise even though it was hard to find one sitting still.  My sketches were done in an 11 x 14 inch Daler Rowney Sketchbook with pencil and watercolor.

View the 3:46-minute Lydeo of the event below.

Quotes from the Minimalists Podcast

"Sometimes we have to say no to things so that we can say yes to others." Remembering to tackle one task at a time is something I am constantly trying to practice because I get distracted so easily!

These are 2 quotes I jotted down while listening to a Minimalists Podcast. I am sure the faces are from my Orly Avineri influence since I took a "Facial Expressions" workshop from her this weekend.

Facial Expressions Workshop with Orly Avineri

This weekend I got to attend a 3-day workshop given by Orly Avineri. The title, Facial Expressions intrigued me because I had taken one from her a few years ago where we made a little book of faces, and I loved it. Orly's workshops are more than "how to" we become an engaged, open group of creators. Each spread has a personal meaning that I cannot put into words. These journal pages are not just pieces of art but bits and pieces of an experience.

My bird nest

I have a friend that has a nest collection, one that has a million bird nests in her horse barn and a teacher that talks about them like they are SO very special (which they are). I have always wanted one. Not just to have one but to find one. To see it in the tree, to think about the life it held and all the amazing work the mother bird did to find all the little elements that go into the nest. Carrying the pieces back and forth and creating a birth home for her babies. THAT is why I was so happy when my husband found one for me and brought it to me in it's branch, then showed me another abandoned nest in our orange tree.

The Draw and Cook

This morning I found out my Chili Bean recipe was accepted on "They Draw and Cook" website. I created all the elements in gouache and compiled them with photoshop.

Current Sketchbook Page

I like to fill the pages of my sketchbooks. If I don't create an urban sketch or draw from a photograph I fill the page with doodles and whatever is going on at the moment.

The menu us from an old favorite pastrami shop from my childhood. Let's keep that memory alive!

The skulls were created while reading the book, "The Urban Sketching Handbook, People and Motion by Gabi Campanario.

Drawing at the Library a San Diego Urban Sketcher Event

I attended an art reception at the library yesterday and sketched the scenery outside of the library entrance. I didn't go inside because I am the official "greeter" for the San Diego Urban Sketchers and this was one of our events.

 I worked with a Stabilo China Marker and watercolor. The sketchbook is a Daler Rowney 11 x 14, 65 lb paper. When I am drawing or painting on location I don't use a full page for each drawing because I don't carry my large brushes for location painting and I work with the sketchbook on my lap. I would probably get paint on my blouse.
It was a bit chilly and many of the sketchers drew parts of the library, the people and even drew from books.

SD Urban Sketchers and SD Plein Air Painters Art Reception

The San Diego Plein Air Painters Meetup Group invited the San Diego Urban Sketchers to participate in an art show at the Rancho Penasquitos Library during the month of March. The San Diego Urban Sketchers sketched in and outside of the library and Tricia De Luna gave a painting demo. This video was compiled from clips taken at the reception on March 17, 2018. There were 2 walls of framed artwork as well as a display case with unframed artwork and sketchbooks.

Gargoyle in a Stamp

I started practicing my gouache with a gargoyle this morning. I then turned to doodling and then stamp carving. Even though I use a small v-gouge I have trouble getting fine carving lines. It was still a fun process for me.

Maira Kalman

Artsy.net has a new Maira Kalman page that provides visitors with up-to-date Kalman exhibition listings, over a dozen of her works, and exclusive articles. The page also includes related artists and categories, allowing viewers to discover art beyond their Kalman page. This is a great resource! 

Day 3 of #OneWeek100People

When I created these 20 drawings I used a Pigma Bold Brush Marker. I sketched from the Internet News. I normally like to do all my drawings from life but doing 20 drawings takes a long time. I would rather sit at home to draw instead of doing 2 hours of staring at people in public.

Day 2 of #OneWeek100People

One Day 2 of #OneWeek100People I used a Kooh-I-Noor Rapido Sketch Pen for these drawings. I sat across from the snack shack at the San Diego Botanic Garden in Encinitas and was able to capture people as they gathered for coffee or ate snacks. I had to sketch quickly because they were constantly moving, especially the children!

Day 1 of #OneWeek100People2018

I have taken on the challenge put out by Mark Taro Holmes and Liz Steel to draw 100 people in one week. #OneWeek100People2018. Today I worked in gouache and pencil, marker and ink pen.I worked small and used photo references because I had to stay indoors. Tomorrow I plan to draw people while urban sketching.

1967 VW Volkswagen Bug Original Watercolor on Ebay

Bid

Original Watercolor Painting of 1967 VW Bus Driving down the road in San Diego. Signed in the lower right side in watercolor: Lydia Velarde Image 4.5 x 6.5 inches Outside mat size 8 x 10 inches Mat is brown with a foam board backing. Shrink wrapped. Volkswagon, VW, Car, Vintage

Sketching at the Opera Rehearsal for Turandot

The San Diego Opera invites artists to their dress rehearsal at the San Diego Civic Theatre in San Diego, California, I was honored to be one of the artists that got to attend the rehearsal for Turandot. There is so much to take in while sketching: the music, the colors, the sets, costumes and of course the beautiful VOICES! These are the pages I worked on during the rehearsal.

Sketches with Pentel Pocket Brush Pen and watercolor.

Derwent Sketching Pencil Medium Wash and Aquarellable Stabilo 8046 Pencil with Watercolor

Graphite Pencil

Gouache Sketch and Contour Line Drawing of Museum of Man

Gouache on left contour line drawing on the right.

Still practicing gouache, I worked on a small part of the Museum of Man in Balboa Park, San Diego, CA. The building was built as part of the 1915-16 Panama-California Exposition. The museum features cultural anthropology exhibits and was one of the first buildings in Balboa Park.

Watercolor with Urban Sketchers at Mission Trails Visitor Center

These sketches were created at the Mission Trails Visitor Center in San Diego while at an event with the San Diego Urban Sketchers.  I used my favorite drawing tools which are the koh-i-noor rapidosketch  pen and a set of Holbein watercolors. The Mission Trails Regional Park encompasses 7,220 acres of both natural and developed recreational land with 60 miles of hiking trails. 

This is a video of the event:

Figure Drawing

These are figure sketches from yesterday at Judy's. 2 fives and a 20.

I tried drawing with a brush on the 5 minute poses after noticing that a lot of the artists at the watercolor society started this way.

The20-minutee pose was done with aRapidoo sketch pen and watercolor. My comfort zone.