Chicago sketches on black paper

Here's the sketches in the black paper sketchbook.  Colors really pop on this, although it doesn't always scan well.

The conservatory, which was nice and warm on a freezing cold day:

Then there was a meetup with urban sketchers at the mall, and I started by sketching dinner, then moved on to the view out the window:

And then there were other sketches around town:

An excellent sunset:

And then the flight home:

Chicago sketches in gray

 Three sketchbooks got used on my recent trip to Chicago, and I'm scanning them one at a time.  These sketches are from the gray book, which gives you a nice midtone as a starting point.

The view from the 14th floor:

And the view after the fog rolled in:

View from a cafe at brunch, looking up to the condos across the street:

Standing the balcony during intermission at the ballet, capturing the musicians and the crowd below:

Scene from a park on a windy day:

A few sunsets from indoors since it was cold outdoors!

Sketches from Chicago

Here's the sketches from my recent trip to Chicago.  First, the view from the air:

Some urban sketching, outside and inside!  

The view from Cafe Brauer in Lincoln Park:

Memorial Day Kite flying and kazoo band:

And lemonade and cookies:

The view from the 14th floor; fabulous, if vertigo-inducing:

The view from Gibson's Steakhouse.  Not shown, the private security guy having coffee with a cop about training, and the best eavesdropping of the trip: "Preoccupy the knucklehead."  Also, a fine example of how easy it is to lose track of what's horizontal and what's not when you have your sketchbook in your lap.

The sunset from Anna's patio:

The next morning we camped out like groupies in front of the art museum to see the Cezanne exhibit when it opened:

The view from what was once the Park Cafe.  Now it's not quite the Park Cafe:

And the museum garden after lunch and meeting up with other sketchers:

Sketching from breakfast the next morning:

The plants on Anna's patio after a long day that involved an Indiana Jones adventure at a Lily Pond, ice cream sandwiches for lunch, and a very hot Conservatory:

Then it's back to the airport and the flight home:

All in all, a good trip despite the occasional extreme temperatures.

O's big adventure

I'm back from Chicago but still need to scan my sketches. Hers a few pictures for now. 

Chicago sketches

I took a trip to Chicago last week.  No, I'm not crazy, it was a business trip.  During the day it was quite nice out, but once the sun went down - Brrr!  Here's some pages from my sketchbook.  I had a good view on the way over, and the way back was one long sunset.  I was in a middle seat on that trip - but quite happy to have gotten on standby on the earlier flight since I was getting in late after three long days!

Sketches from Chicago, part 2

The Symposium!  There was a kick-off and welcome meeting with Gabi telling the story of how Urban Sketchers came to be (he found a button labeled "Create Group" and pushed it).

They had a bunch of stamps there that folks had designed so you could give your sketches that official USK stamp.

First workshop involved eating a hot dog.  But first, draw the dog.  It's a Chicago-style hot dog, with a pickle, tomato, and mustard, but no ketchup, and then you draw the Chicago skyline behind it.  This was using a brush pen and then watercolor.  I decided to make it look like my dog was really there by adding a drop shadow.  Lots of fun and a good dog.

After the hot dog, since we were right in front of the Field Museum, I just had to go in and do a quick sketch of Sue along with a very cool Devonian fish that you don't want to meet.

I wandered through the millennia, and found a bench behind a sauropod that had an outlet nearby so I could charge my phone while I sketched.

Then it was time for a cup of tea and a cookie.

We were scheduled to have a demo in the afternoon, but due to a scheduling mix-up we couldn't find the demo-er, so we drew the giant Calder instead, and I squished it since I put it on half the page.

Friday we had two watercolor workshops and it was interesting to see how the different instructors viewed colors: One was very specific about the pigments (since she knows how they mix) and the other was more relaxed ("I actually don't know what blue that is.").  Always good to have a variety of perspectives.  Those paintings are on their way to me - I picked up so much stuff in Chicago and was going directly to my conference after than I asked my aunt to ship it all to me so I wouldn't have to pack it!  I should get them in a few days.  In between the two workshops we got our make-up demo under the train tracks.  Don't worry, it's an elevated train, which provided great shadows and distance markers for the demo.

That evening we went to the symphony in the park.  The Chicago Symphony gives free outdoor concerts in a beautiful concert hall and it was a gorgeous evening for Mozart and more sketching.

The next morning was one more workshop - but this one on the iPad getting some great tricks on Procreate, and a taste of using the iPad pro with the Apple Pencil - feels real close to drawing with a real pencil!

Before leaving, I had just enough time for a few sketches of the very cool fountains.

Next stop - SIGGRAPH!