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