The late fall days were short in Stockholm. By the time we got over to the Milles Garden it was quite dark, but the glow of the city in the distance gave a silhouetted view of Carl Milles’s outdoor sculptures—a dramatic scene that we wouldn’t have seen in the daytime.
Continuing the travel sketchbook right here at home…this ink and wash drawing with notes from my shelter in place sketch diary was on the cover of the April 8. 2020 Berkeley Times Newspaper.
It’s been a long time coming and finally here it is. The collection of art on the website was made over the last 30 years. The landscapes are more recent and some of the sketchbook images go back to 1983, from an extended visit to Europe. The Blog will be a way to keep an eye on the process of my making (and observing others’) art from time to time, as well as letting you know about upcoming classes and exhibits.
Keeping a Sketchbook:
As an artist and architect, I’ve always loved to draw and paint and have found the sketchbook to be a great way to remember favorite places and images from travels both far and near. Sketchbooks also provide a record of impressions that may eventually grow into paintings that can continue my travels into someone else’s home when they are sold.
One spring morning in 1997 during a trip to northern Italy, I took the ferry to Varenna, a small village on Lake Como. Picturesque images were coming up everywhere; colorful old buildings, street scenes with local characters in animated discussions, even a café where I ran into three Americans that had also found out about this place in the ‘Rick Steves’ Italy’ guidebook– there were so many great images in fact, that it was taking forever to come up with a favorite image to paint into my sketchbook. That’s when I felt the first raindrop…nature’s reminder that it was time to get serious about making art and soon I caught a glimpse of a view of the lake and mountains between some tall trees and briskly walked between them and down next to the water – ‘Someone upstairs’ had opened the curtains on a gorgeous hidden private view! …then two more raindrops. (speaking of upstairs)
An advantage to watercolor as a medium is that a small sketchbook painting can happen pretty quickly. One disadvantage is that it’s watercolor and can dissolve in the rain. As I painted quickly, the sun peeked from behind the clouds, giving a short respite. As I was almost finished, the real rain came. With the Naples yellow still drying and the scent of the rose madder color still lingering in the air, I hid the sketchbook under my backpack and ran for cover. That evening I added a few more touches and the memory was complete.
Within the last few years, I’ve spent a couple of lunch hours each month doing color sketches at several places including the Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland, near where I work. Each trip there is a like a mini vacation – I’ve found this a great way to keep fresh with color and picture making while continuing the travel sketchbook into life at home.
