Hold on to Your Dreams

New addition to my new series

Sketching in Barnes and Noble

Today I had a very productive day. Sketching in my favorite spot in our local Barnes and Noble bookstore. Many magazines to draw inspiration from, so I decided to record my experience by doing quick sketches of what I saw and liked. Here are collages of my visual journey. Each page spread is a different magazine. Unfortunately for us artists magazines are dying trade. So maybe this is a recording of my own nostalgia.
You can see there was a little "accident" on the right where I went over my new calligraphy marker and it turned out it was not water resistant. I will have a post about that soon. Some accidents are welcomed... but it's best to know how to control your medium.

"Where Woman Create" is as always full of stories of wonderful women who dedicate their lives to their bliss.

"Nordic Living" offered a different palette and aesthetics. The sketch on the right of this spread is of my window view of the corner of The Shoppes at Web Gin House Rd.

Daniel Smith Dots

Best way to know if a new art material works for you is to try it, the next best is to hear it from someone who did. Urban Sketchers Symposium provided sketchers with the opportunity to try our sponsors products. Daniel Smith's watercolors are a great investment for all of you who do sketching with watercolors. The best way to try how they really feel on paper is to obtain their "dots". The link here is for all 238 colors they produce but some retailers offer smaller lists which could help you tremendously in your decision. Needles to say these colors are so highly pigmented you might even paint for a minute just with dots so your sample can pay for itself. Some field artists even dedicate first or last page of their journals to create palette and carry it with them instead of boxes. Daniel Smith also offers palettes of certain artists and the one on my sketch is by Liz Steel my favorite Urban Sketcher.

Back From Urban Sketchers Chicago Symposium and already missing good bites (among other things). Going through my sketchbook this quick sketch of our Pret's breakfast caught my eye. Great food simple concept... I miss you Chicago!