Monday, 18 April 2011

Sketchcrawl 2011

OK, after wimping out on the snow and rain outside we decided to head inside to the National Gallery.  We would have sketched more inside had it not been for the Wanda Koop retrospective.  Definitely a must see exhibition!

Sketchcrawl 2011

Saturday April 16th, Nicola (my daughter) and I participated in our first International Sketchcrawl.  This is the brainchild of San Francisco based artist Enrico Casarosa and now has participating artists in over 60 cities worldwide.  This is an awesome idea!  I plan to participate in future sketchcrawls - I will keep everyone posted when the next one is, just in case you want to participate. Unfortunately for this sketchcrawl the weather was not very cooperative.  We had everything from rain to snow to hail which made it difficult to sketch outside.  I was only able to get 2 sketches done but I have to say it was still a blast!

Thursday, 14 April 2011

Urban Sketch

Montreal

Urban Sketch

Montreal - Rue Ste. Catherine

Urban Sketch

Carleton Place - TownHall

Urban Sketch

Ottawa - Black's Rapids

Urban Sketch

Ottawa - Arboretum

Cancun

Enroute to Cancun - Somewhere over Virginia

Cancun

Urban Sketch - Ottawa

People

People

People

People

Yoga

Yoga

Yoga

Yoga

Yoga

Beats & Artists

Beats & Artists

Beats & Artists

Costa Rica 2011

David at the Jungle Bar

Beats & Artists

Beats & Artists

Beats & Artists

Beats & Artists

Costa Rica 2011

Warrior 1

Costa Rica 2011

Some shells we collected on the beach.

Costa Rica 2011

Our Casa for the week

Costa Rica 2011

Costa Rica 2011

Costa Rica 2011

The routine was amazing. 5am Ibeach & spectacular sunrises: 6am guided meditation: 7am yoga: 9:30am breakfast: 10:30 surfing: 1pm lunch: 2pm hang out, surf, hike, draw: 4pm yoga: 5pm Meditation: 6:30pm dinner: 7:30pm wine & music. 10:30pm drop! 8 days of this makes for one blissed out Dude!

Costa Rica 2011


Costa Rica 2011

The Jungle Bar!

Costa Rica 2011

Costa Rica 2011

David J., Neils and Dave M. jammin the blues.

Costa Rica 2011

This sketch is of the interior of our Casa at the Boca Sombrero.  Our own Casa, private pool, Osa Peninsula Beach, yoga, great food, great freinds. Life is good!

Costa Rica 2011

First night in San Jose. Stayed at the Adventure Inn - great little hotel.  We really enjoyed our time here. The Zip Lining was a blast!

Costa Rica 2011

Waiting for our flight, observing a very intense character

Costa Rica 2011


Welcome!

Welcome to my new sketchbook blog.  This blog is dedicated to everything I keep in my personal sketch journal - my experiments, studies for paintings, travel sketches, urban sketchcrawls etc.My sketchbooks become my repository of ideas.  They are my personal journal of the things I see.  I find that using a camera may create a snapshot record, but you do not actually see.  When I look through my old photos they do not hold the same intense memories that my drawings do.  Drawing forces me to truly observe the world around me and see. Sketching is not easy and not to be taken lightly.  Like yoga and meditation, it is a practice - one that requires patience and perseverance. Frederick Franck summed it up beautifully in his book Zen Seeing, Zen Drawing - "The meaning of life is to see".  I hope you enjoy this new blog.