Studio Night Last Night: Watercolor Graphite

I spent Studio Night experimenting, trying to get the images that are living in my head onto paper. After trying s e v e r a l materials, I went back to the watercolor graphite I was playing with recently. It's really neat. It's graphite that you paint with. Ca-razy. I think this might work.

Testing. Testing.

Testing a new product: Viarco watercolor graphite. So far so good.

Memphis Monday: Eastgate Shopping Center

Sitting in my car outside of the Easy Way listening to NPR.

Supply Sunday: Dr. Ph. Martin's Hydrus Fine Art Watercolor

You know what I like to do? I like to put Dr. Ph. Martin's Hydrus Fine Art Watercolor in a Pentel Aquash water brush pen and sketch with it. See the results below.

Minneapolis Trip Part 2

After taking care of some business at the NAMTA conference, I wandered around downtown Minneapolis in the freezing rain. First, I went to Eddington's because my friend Andria Insisted that I do so, and that I get wild rice soup, breadsticks and a homemade Rice Krispie treat. I did as I was told, and it was good - especially the breadsticks. The girl working there was so sweet - she asked me a lot of questions and gave me the RK treat for free.

I drew this building out the window, but I don't know what it is.

Then I tried to navigate the habitrail that is the Minneapolis skyway, but ended up back out in the freezing rain to find the right bus stop to the Walker Art Center.

Found it! What a great museum.

Sketched this in the cafe while my phone charged, and I listened to a conversation at the next table about art in Minneapolis.

After that I walked in the freezing rain Again, braved the skyway again but felt trapped, and ate dinner by myself at a Mexican restaurant. I think I disturbed the date of the guys at the next table, as one of them paid more attention to what I was drawing than to his date.

Last day - headed home.

Follow Friday: Melissa Dunn

Check out Melissa Dunn. She is a really good painter, and she's funny! "You Are Corn" is her piece from the recent Unicorn show at Marshall Arts.

Sometimes she comes out and sketches with Memphis Urban Sketchers, and she and I end up talking more than sketching.

Minneapolis Trip Part 1

Last week I went to Minneapolis for a couple of days and I had the opportunity to hang out with some sketchers! First, Ken Avidor and Don Colley and I took the bus to the Bell Museum on the campus of the University of Minnesota.

At the museum we looked at gorgeous dioramas with murals by the great Francis Lee Jaques, who also did a lot of the diorama murals for the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. I will look at the more closely the next time I go there.

We were joined by two more sketchers, Amber Sausen and Daniel Green, and we just sketched and sketched nests and skeletons and coral and each other.

Then we went to dinner and tested a number of Don's pens. We loved the Pelikano Jr. - see the exclamation point!