February 28, 2014

Follow Friday: Kip and Lisa Bradley

Kip Bradley is an artist and sketcher, a museum educator, and an excellent host. Lisa makes sophisticated pottery, owns a ceramics studio, and is an excellent hostess. Kip helped out the Urban Sketchers board when we were in Savannah, and he and Lisa even fed us dinner. Check out his small, atmospheric watercolor sketches here, and her ceramics studio here.

Sketch by Kip Bradley

February 27, 2014

Memphis Urban Sketchers Sketching at Clark Tower This Saturday

Come sketch with us this Saturday, March 1 at the Clark Tower area. We'll meet in front of the Poplar-White Station area at 10:00 AM. There's plenty to sketch outside, and if the weather doesn't cooperate we can sketch inside the library, where I made the sketch in the lower left.

Hope to see you there!

(click image for more detail)

February 26, 2014

Studio Night Last Night: Collecting My Thoughts

I spent this past weekend in Savannah, GA, with the other members of the Urban Sketchers executive board, doing a lot of work and a little sketching. It was some of the most fun I've ever had while working. Spending that much time thinking and talking about urban sketching made it a little hard to get back to oil painting tonight, so I spent most of this evening gathering my thoughts and scanning sketches from my trip. Here's one I did of all of us.


February 24, 2014

Memphis Monday: Pilates House

This is the back of Push Pilates, where I have been spending my Monday nights. It's in what was a big house on Union.

February 21, 2014

Sketching and Working in Savannah with Urban Sketchers

Georgia pine trees - pencil sketch from 2011
I'm on my way to Savannah, GA, (literally - I'm posting this from the Atlanta airport) to meet up with the rest of the executive board of Urban Sketchers. We'll be working on the serious business of sketching, and we'll be doing some sketching, of course. Kip Bradley at the Telfair Museum organized a sketchcrawl for us and any interested locals.

I don't know if I've ever been as excited about working over a weekend!

February 20, 2014

Memphis Cars and Memphis Trees



February 19, 2014

Studio Night Last Night: Ridiculously Flattering Self-Portrait Sketch

Studio Night! I figured it was time for a new self-portrait sketch since my hair has grown since I did the last one. Fortunately for me, I do not know how to draw wrinkles or make face shadows! (I actually went back in and added some shadows and reposted the scan!) We're all 20 in my sketches.

After this I did some actual painting on a piece I started quite a while ago, and painting is always good.

February 17, 2014

Memphis Monday: Stax Museum

Oh my goodness, it really doesn't get any more Memphis than this. The Stax Museum of American Soul Music is on the spot where the original Stax Records was located. Think you don't know what that means? You do - here are just a few artists who recorded there: Otis Redding, Booker T and the MGs, Isaac Hayes, Sam & Dave, The Staple Singers, just to name a few.

The tour begins with a touching film about the history of Stax, before you wander through the museum to see artifacts and to hear some of the greatest music - The. Greatest. Music. - to come out of the U.S.

The folks at the museum were very welcoming to the Memphis Urban Sketchers. We had a great time and stayed even longer than we had planned because there was so much to see and so much to sketch. I can't wait to go back!

(click on images for more detail)







February 16, 2014

Supply Sunday: Currently in my Bag

I am all the time refining the materials I carry with me. Do I want watercolors or marker? Pens or colored pencils? The answer is always yes, and I end up lugging around too much and basically having too much to choose from.

A couple of weeks ago I decided on a different approach. I limited myself to warm and cool colors, and decided that while I love pen and markers, the flexibility of colored pencils can't be beat. The idea for warm and cool colors came to me after being at the Stax Museum and not having a cool yellow with which to sketch a pair of Isaac Hayes' stacked boots that were a sort of yellow-green.

So I made a chart (of course): on the top are watercolors; then watercolor pencils; below that are my Dr. PH Marten's watercolor in brush pens - I can't seem to do without this yellow and this dark green-blue. On the bottom from left: mechanical pencil, Uni-ball Signo in white, Faber-Castell Pitt artist pen (B) in warm grey, Pentel ink brush, Pilot Hi-Tec-C 0.25 in black, Faber-Castell Pitt artist pen (F) in black, and a black Pentel brush pen.

Oh, and the watercolors don't fit in my bag, so I need to figure something out there.


This is my new favorite pen - it's so good it just has a special place in my purse and doesn't go in my sketch bag. It's a Pilot Kaküno from jetpens.com. I think Toby bought it for me because the top is orange, but it just happens to be a FANTASTIC fountain pen for writing and drawing. This is the fine point, and I've since purchased a medium point, too.


February 15, 2014

Practicing Faces

Practicing faces while watching CBS Sunday Morning and The Bletchley Circle with my favorite fountain pen.

(click image for more detail)

February 13, 2014

Random Scenes

Gray day at the coffee shop

(click image for more detail)

February 12, 2014

Studio Night Last Night: Not Class Prep
























As much as I love teaching, I also love having my Studio Nights back for just making art and making lists about art and playing around in my studio.

I made this sketch at my last oil painting class, which was last Thursday. It was a great class with great students - I've posted some of their work below. Find out about more classes at Flicker Street Studio.








February 03, 2014

Memphis Monday: East Memphis at Night


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