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.