Last week I discovered, via Flickr, the spontaneous, energy-filled watercolors of New York City artist Anne Watkins. When I saw that she was starting a weekly plein air class, I jumped at the chance to join. After all, I've long been a fan of artists like her and Lucy Willis who are of the Who-Needs-Pencil-Drawings-When-You-Can-Go-Straight-To-Paint school. My own past attempts at it have been, shall we say, not ready for prime time.

As the sun slowly set in the Flatiron district, the building-tops glowed with an ethereal light. After a quick demo by Anne, it was time for us to take the plunge. I think I got more comfortable as the evening wore on -- do you agree?







As I painted, I realized I was doing three things outside my comfort zone -- all at once!

(1) Working with flat brushes. Anne encouraged us to use 3/4-inch and other flats to their advantage, allowing their shape and edges to define areas of light and dark in the urban environment.

(2) Sketching on Arches paper. I'd used it only for more studied plein air work and studio watercolor paintings. It sucks paint up quickly, so I found that it's very important to use lots of saturated color and keep lights light and darks dark.

(3) Omitting the initial ink or pencil drawing. Boy, was this hard! In my usual work, I obviously rely a great deal on defining edges with line instead of shapes. Whether or not I work in the direct-to-watercolor style going forward, it's certainly extremely valuable to do this exercise, as it's a reinforcement of how much painting is about value contrasts and the juxtaposition of shapes.

Can't wait to try this again!

The weather in Cleveland kept yo-yoing from balmy to bitterly cold this past week. Monday, as the sun lingered in the late afternoon, I sketched the views from the 19th floor of the Marriott Key Center where I was staying.


Later in the week I spent a half-hour at Erie Island Coffee Company sipping iced tea and drawing what I saw out the window on E. 4th Street.

Snagged reservations at Red Rooster a few days ago -- could not have been better weather to have an early dinner there. Sat at a bar table by choice to see all the action, inside and out. Marcus Samuelsson himself was there, looking sharp in his hat. Savored the cornbread, peanut soup, yard bird, rice and peas. Divine comfort food all -- we'll be back for more. Didn't have a sketchbook with me, but the restaurant obliged with a stack of postcards.

Went to the Bartlett Arboretum & Gardens in North Stamford yesterday and found these lovely white hellebores blooming amidst the barrenness.

The first day we met in person, M. and I had a business lunch at the sadly now defunct Tabla Bread Bar -- and then a romantic dinner at Giorgione. Thankfully, Giorgione is still around, and the driving rain didn't stop us from having a lovely time last night.

Drawn on the back of yesterday's dinner specials menu with a Pilot Petit1 fountain pen. The ink in it is not waterproof, so I colored it digitally with my pen tablet.

Good friends, good weather, good things to draw = great weekend in Boston. After I finally put away the BlackBerry and laptop, M. and I wandered across the street from our room at the Beacon Hill Hotel & Bistro to Caffe Bella Vita so I could draw while sipping hot lemon-ginger tea.




Later that evening we T'd over to Harvard Square for dinner. M. got a haircut at the old-school La Flamme barber shop, so I took the opportunity to sketch the patrons.



Saturday morning, we enjoyed breakfast at the hotel. I was going to get the newspaper but realized the older gentleman across the way was reading the headlines aloud to his companion, so we happily eavesdropped and were soon caught up with everything that was going on in the world.



After a jaunt through the North End, we hopped on the T to the Museum of Science and spent an hour and a half learning the pros and cons of fracking, why it's safe to be in a car during lightning, and all kinds of things about geckos. Oh, and we watched cotton-top tamarins running around. They move FAST.

Last time we'd been to the Brooklyn Flea, it was in DUMBO and crazy crowded. This time we came early, by car, and had lots of room to wander about. Its current winter home is a beautiful former bank building in Fort Greene -- a lovely, vaulting setting for slightly overpriced vintage wares. Didn't buy a lot, but didn't expect to. Brunched at No. 7 afterward (broccoli tacos! love!), a few blocks away. The frigid temps drove us back early; next time, we'll stay and explore a bit more.

Had to fly to London for work a few weeks ago, so I got to hang out in the Virgin Upper Class lounge at Newark Liberty International Airport. Outside the snow was falling; inside it was a mod, mod world. It's a retro-cool living room, with color-categorized book spines and lipstick-red seats. As I noshed on the complimentary breakfast fare, I looked up and did a double take -- Gordon Ramsay was sitting just over there. He chatted with fellow passengers, gamely posed for a camera-clutching fan -- and ate toast and jam, just like the rest of us. I sketched him as he took a cell-phone call.

The Salty Pig. Right across from the entrance to Back Bay Station in Boston (the Dartmouth Street side). Lunchtime Friday, between work meetings and the afternoon train to Stamford. Mushroom pizza with a farm egg. Thin crust, gooey deliciousness. Between sips of herbal tea, a few sketches.

Was sitting in my borrowed office at 5 Times Square yesterday evening, wondering where to go to dinner before seeing "Stephen Merchant Live: Hello, Ladies..." at Town Hall.

It had to be nearby. And had to be a bit touristy, a bit dramatic, to get us properly in the mood for slightly off-kilter stand-up. I scrolled the New York mag online restaurant listings and hit upon Inakaya.

It's a robata-yaki restaurant, featuring vegetables and seafood/meat grilled while you watch. Yes, it's a bit over-the-top, but the minute we walked in and heard the host and chefs singing out greetings, I wished I'd brought my sketchbook along.

Fortunately I happened to have a sheet of plain Levenger heavyweight paper in my day planner and a Platinum Preppy fountain pen, so I dashed this off while waiting for our various courses to arrive (on long wooden paddles, accompanied by more theatrics). Sadly the ink in the pen isn't waterproof, so I had to be careful when I added color.

Enjoyed the food and fun, and laughed our heads off at Stephen Merchant later on. Totally worth it!

It's cold up here in Connecticut, but this past Monday, I was eating lunch outdoors at the Ritz-Carlton Grande Lakes in Orlando, Florida, and soaking up some sun.

On Sunday, biked a few miles along the Norwottuck Rail Trail going east from Northampton, Mass., and then stopped to do a quick watercolor sketch of the dying light on the hills and fields somewhere in Hadley. Started rushing at the end because it got quite cold! Added a bit of ink later, to provide some contrast.

Was glad to be in Vermont, truly -- after it was ravaged by Tropical Storm Irene, I really wanted to support the state, spend money in its restaurants, eat maple candy and gawk at the glorious foliage. How fortuitous that I'd signed up for Susan Abbott's fall Vermont landscape workshop, I thought.

Well, we did the first three. The foliage (what there was of it) hid behind mists and drizzles and on-and-off downpours. Not the most auspicious weather for plein air landscapes. Despite my moodiness, and the bugs, and the mud, there was sketching. And painting. (Some outdoors, even.)

We stayed at Pie in the Sky B&B in Marshfield for the first two nights. They have sheep. (And a guard llama, which didn't stay in one spot long enough to make it into my sketchbook.)



Later in the week we stayed at Emergo Farms B&B, in Danville -- it's a dairy farm that supplies Cabot.



While it rained, we did exercises in the studio:







And when the clouds parted, we rushed outside hoping to avoid the ambush of sudden showers.





The rain helped paint this one:



It's hard to be spontaneous when faced with a sheet of Arches paper. I like this color sketch better than the actual painting I did right after.





We sketched and painted on lands private and public. People have a lot of land up there.







So? Go! Go wander Montpelier and buy art supplies at The Drawing Board, eat at Tip Top Cafe in White River Junction and Elements in St. Johnsbury. Bike the Kingdom Trails rain or shine. And at the end of the day, savor a maple creamy at Bragg Farm. Yum.