360 GraF'Book Review

This book was sent to me to try. I guess you can say it is my first "official" review. 

Ask The Sketcher: What Have You Learned From Urban Sketching with Louisa...

Louisa Schofiels shares some of here sketches and what she has learned from Urban Sketching.

Ask the Sketcher: What have you learned from Urban Sketching with Rachel...

Rachel Kopel shares what she has learned from Urban Sketching.

SDUsk Attends the Rendezvous in Poway 2019

The City of Poway, along with the living history groups the Shadow River Regulators, and the Apache Canyon Gang, presented the annual Rendezvous at Old Poway Park. History came to life as we walked back in time to the 1800’s. Check out the great sketches and some of the living history participants. Video by Lydia Velarde, lydiavelarde.com

Ask the Sketcher - Ann Schwartzwald - What type of sketchbook do you use...

Ann Schwartzwald shares the sketchbook she is using and shows us a few of her sketches with water-soluble pencils and a Tombow.

instagram.com/annschwartzwald

Ann Schwartzwald on Facebook

Kobey's Swap Meet San Diego - Volkswagen Swap-N-Show 2019

Ask the Sketcher - ANNA - What type of sketchbook do you use for Urban S...

San Diego Urban Sketcher, ANNA, shows us some of her pastel drawings while sharing her favorite sketchbook.

Ask the Sketcher - Nikhil - What type of sketchbook do you use for Urban...

Nikhil shares his favorite sketchbook and a few sketches with us.

Little Italy - San Diego Urban Sketchers 2019

Ask the Sketcher - Kathy Aldrich Shows Us What Sketchbook She Uses

What type of sketchbook do you use for urban sketching is the question of the month. In this short video Kathy Aldrich answers the question for urban sketchers.

Poway Lake en plein air

We found some shade at Lake Poway and stayed long enough to get some plein air painting done. This is a small sketchpainting created with casein. 

Ask the Sketcher: What type of sketchbook so you use for Urban Sketching?

The Urban Sketcher Youtube Channel Call Out for September 2019 is
What type of sketchbook so you use for Urban Sketching?

SEPTEMBER 2019 CALL OUT FOR VIDEOS

The Urban Sketchers YouTube Channel would like to feature individual urban sketchers or chapters sharing their answer to What type of sketchbook so you use for Urban Sketching? We are requesting answers submitted in video format for our YouTube Channel. These do not have to be professional videos and can be videos taken with your phone!

Guidelines: Please submit anytime during the month of September 2019. We prefer very short videos (2-3 minutes for a group). By submitting your video you give permission to have it edited and/or combined with other submissions if necessary. MPEG4 OR .mp4 file extension, steady camera, clear, intelligible voice, little to no background noise, no advertisements. To submit your video for consideration please send via We Transfer to Lydia Velarde at video@urbansketchers.org. I am looking forward to viewing and sharing answers on the Urban Sketchers YouTube Channel!

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.