The symposium started with opening remarks from Gabi Campanario and the other organizers at the Centro Cultural De Espana.



I was glad to start my Santo Domingo experience with the workshop involving the most walking -- boy is it hot and humid here! The interior of the Mercado Modelo (a market where lots of handicrafts and other items are for sale) might not have been pulsing with energy, but the street life in front and back was just begging to be drawn. We started with some thumbnail sketches and then moved on to larger work, trying to capture the constant movement of vendors and buyers, onlookers and passerby.

















When we broke for lunch, I sketched the man weaving and selling palm frond hats on the side of the square -- he must have made one every 15 minutes he was so fast!

Arrived this afternoon in sunny, hot, humid Santo Domingo! My first impression: it looks a lot like India. So far we've checked in to the (gloriously air-conditioned) hotel, picked up the registration materials, and started to get acquainted with the narrow, picturesque streets of the Zona Colonial. Tonight was an ice-breaker/portrait party at Quintana Bar. We got there a bit late, and most seats were already taken, but I still got to meet some lovely sketchers and do a little bit of drawing, too. For the first time on my travels, I've lugged along an old scanner. Seems to do pretty well -- and certainly beats trying to take pictures of sketches with the camera held at odd angles from one foot above.



And now to bed!

Escaped the soaring temperatures this past weekend in the lovely White Mountains of New Hampshire. Sketched this scene near Franconia Notch while sitting near the water on a little cooler (I'd forgotten to pack my folding stool).



And here's a sketch from the watercolor class a few weeks ago in Bryant Park, New York:



Still on the summer theme (yes, this is a catch-all post today!) here's a painting I did last year of some girls on our beach which somehow escaped the blog before.



Stay cool, everyone, and drink lots of water...

Last Sunday at Fort Tryon Park: the dulcet sounds of the Scandia Symphony, an expansive view across the Hudson, threatening clouds giving way to late afternoon sun. If you're up there in upper Manhattan, don't just scurry to and from the Cloisters. Stop and look around on the way. The Heather Garden is bursting with blooms, a dense patchwork of perennials to revel in on an afternoon.

I finally broke out the Stillman & Birn Delta Series 7"x7" sketchbook for these sketches. I'm still getting used to the paper, but so far I like how it holds up to both ink puddles and watercolor washes.

Just back from my first plein air paint-out, at Blithewood Gardens on the Bard College campus in Annandale-on-Hudson, NY. The event was put on by the Red Hook Community Arts Network as part of the Red Hook Bicentennial celebrations. We were blessed with glorious sunshine, crisp cast shadows, and shady trees and picnic benches. The thought of painting an Italianate formal garden scared me -- there's so much going on that it's tempting to try to paint every leaf and blossom. I settled on the central structure as my focal point, and used artistic license to omit the pergola next to it. While I think my painting could be a bit looser and more spontaneous, I'm fairly happy with how it turned out, especially given the unfamiliar subject and the constraints of the environment.

Watercolor on Arches cold-pressed paper, 8"x8" unframed. Available (framed, square black wood with white mat) through the Red Hook Community Arts Network Gallery's upcoming exhibition, "Gardens and Landscapes of the Hudson Valley," June 15-July 15, 2012. Info at rhcan.com

The clouds were already gathering when I arrived at Madison Square Park for Thursday's class. I needed a bit of comfort after a long day of meetings, so I started off with my trusty Lamy-and-Lex Gray, drawing the line growing in front of Shake Shack (is there ever NOT a line at Shake Shack?) and the heavy tree canopy.

During class I did break out the umbrella at one point as the spitting turned into splashy drips. It was a fitting atmosphere for the 10-minute study in Payne's gray that Anne proposed.



And that was that. One decent line-free attempt, and my focus was gone for the evening -- I felt like a medium vainly trying to connect with the afterworld once a skeptic has broken the spell! :)

Thursday evening, we had glorious -- if slightly breezy -- weather (for once) for our watercolor class. We parked ourselves near Shake Shack in Madison Square Park, as I was attracted to the waving flags strung around it. I vainly attempted to paint the shack itself (bad idea) and then turned my attention to the flags themselves -- slightly better. I'm still struggling with the direct-to-watercolor technique but will persevere!

Yes, we finally roadtripped out there a few weeks ago so M. could experience the gateway to the Midwest for himself. So, naturally, since there was a car involved, bikes came along too, and we spent lots of time during the weekend not actually in Cleveland but in the great network of parks surrounding the city.

Here at Cuyahoga Valley National Park, I was waiting for a group of kayakers to get into the water already, in the town of Peninsula. I spent a good 20 minutes waiting and then had to rush to get this little charcoal sketch done as they paddled off.



The next day, while M. went biking in Rocky River Reservation with my boss, I parked myself at the overlook and struggled with this mostly unsuccessful, overworked vista of the train bridge at Berea Falls.



Later, after brunch at Treehuggers Cafe, M. and I returned to find the path that leads down to the rocks. I sketched the rocks and water and then sketched M. drawing the train bridge.

Spritzy inclement weather made us convene at the Rubin Museum this week for the Wednesday class. We sipped tea (or wine!) at Serai, the museum's cafe, and enjoyed live music. I was trying out a new Loxley enameled metal half-pan watercolor box from Atlantis Art Materials. Of course I started off on slippery-difficult Arches hot pressed paper, just because.



And then I switched to the cold pressed. Not that it was really any easier -- just more familiar. These straight-to-watercolor sketches make my left brain hurt!

I almost didn't go to the class on Wednesday, as I was so frustrated by the hour-long bus ride from Secaucus to New York for the second day in a row (Bin Laden death anniversary = massive security at the tunnel). Not to mention the lingering jet lag, wooziness, etc. from the trip. And the chilly gloom that was the weather. But I went for a little while, and managed one semi-decent sketch. The exercise Anne gave us was to do a value study in 10 minutes, one brush for paint plus one damp brush. Go.

Just back from a whirlwind two-week trip to London, Rotterdam, Delhi and Gurgaon for work -- and managed to cram lots of sketching into the mix! Started the night before we left, by sketching the twilight view from the Element New York Times Square West hotel.



On the Sunday after we landed in London, I was lucky enough to be able to take the daylong workshop "Giving Life to Painting: Colour and Line" at Bankside Gallery with artist Salliann Putman. She gave us a few exercises to help us push our abstractions to the next level and then encouraged us to apply those techniques to subjects we often painted.

I'd never used charcoal pencils with watercolors before -- wow, what a revelation! I ran outside for a few minutes to look across the Thames and down the South Bank for urban landscape inspiration, and here are the results.





I think I'll have to add charcoal pencils and spontaneity to my usual kit -- what do you think?

Tuesday the 17th I went on a quick daytrip to Rotterdam to meet with my team there, and when I got back we had dinner at The Grazing Goat, near the Marble Arch station, in London. It has a cozy pub atmosphere -- with lots of goat-themed decor.



Then we were off to India! Saturday the 21st was the 35th Worldwide Sketchcrawl. I didn't hear back from anyone else in 95-degree Delhi so decided to crawl solo (why is it that this happens just about every time I am abroad for Sketchcrawl)?

Anyhow, started in the morning at Red Fort, the 17th century complex in Old Delhi built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan of Taj Mahal fame.





Next up was Jama Masjid, the mosque also built by the same ruler. As the courtyard gets quite hot, there are long strips of cloth crisscrossing it for those who don't shell out a few rupees for socks or slippers. I thought the cloth runners made an interesting contrast with the pink floor.



Lunch was at the famed tourist trap Karim's in Old Delhi. Not sure I want to know exactly what was cooking in the large vats...



To get around the narrow bazaars of Old Delhi, a cycle rickshaw can't be beat. We hired one to explore the ancient winding market lanes, crammed with all kinds of goods for sale. Every street specializes in something -- stationery, hardware, bangles, etc. I clutched camera, pen and sketchbook as we hurtled through the streets, managing to draw whenever we stopped to let other rickshaws or carts pass.





We got off briefly in the spice market so I could sketch the heaping piles of nuts and spices. I attracted a crowd of onlookers, M. told me, but I was largely oblivious -- I just pulled my hat brim down and kept going.



Sunday we went to Qutb Minar, where I sketched some of the details of the ruins in the complex. Again, there were many curious children peering over my shoulder as I drew, but I wasn't uncomfortable -- no one got too close or asked any questions.



I was proud of myself for not letting the weather be an excuse not to sketch on this trip -- it's easy for me to find excuses (too hot, too cold, too damp etc.) Hopefully our next trip to India will let us venture beyond Delhi -- perhaps to the desert so I can draw camels!