Plein air sketching in Minnesota

While in Minnesota I took a walk to a favorite marsh and painted it. Last time I was here it was frozen solid. There was a family of wood ducks in the middle and they would not venture very close to where I was. They are so skittish but can actually die of fright in captivity. Poor things.


This is an ink drawing of the same marsh but from a different angle. I wanted to see if I could describe all the different foliage and textures with just line. It was exhausting and invigorating at the same time.

Another photo sketchcrawl...Italy

More sketches from photos, taken in Italy in 2003. It's really fun to go thru the trip album and sketch. I hope it's good practice for future travel sketching.

sketchcrawl from photos

I've gone back through some photo albums of memorable trips we've taken and sketched various things, kind of like doing a sketchcrawl via photos. It also does not aggravate members of the group who do not want to stop and sketch. So here are some sketches from Grand Tetons and Yellowstone National Parks.

Ink, watercolor, colored pencil.

challenges 173 and 174

173 was to draw something from memory. I drew the dirt road by the meadow in Vermont where we would vacation. When we were kids, we'd ride the trailer the tractor pulled with the garbage cans and help dump them in the various sites in the woods. One site was for biodegradables and another was for glass and cans. Those sites have been cleaned up now that the property is part of the land trust. But for kids, it was a fun job.












174 is draw a bridge. This is Ponte Vecchio in Florence, Italy. I drew it from the window of the Uffizi Museum, then later painted it. I should redo the painting sometime.

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challenge 165

Draw the front of your house. I ran out of room in the landscape format book I use for these challenges, but I captured the essence. It's humbling how askew parts can get if one is not careful. Oh well.

challenge 59

Challenge 59 is draw a sign of spring. I love irises and went on a walk to places in the neighborhood where others have them in their gardens.