The Castle of Montemolín, “el castillo” as I’ve called it since I was a kid, is one of more than 300 medieval fortresses embedded in the landscape of Badajoz, the Spanish province where my ancestors hail from. It started as…
Had a lot of fun teaching “urban sketching on foot” today with a fantastic group of students. The class was part of the School of Visual Concepts summer program. It was an honor to follow in the footsteps of previous…
The workshop I just taught at #USkPorto2018 was about using a pocket-size notebook for urban sketching. That format may seem small, but there’s a lot you can fit on every spread if you know how to simplify a scene. To…
I had the privilege of teaching my Pocket Urban Sketching workshop to three groups of international sketchers during the 9th Urban Sketchers Symposium held in Porto a few days ago. The scenic rivertown in North Portugal is known for its wine industry and historic…
June gloom has spilled a bit into July. But I’m OK with that. It still looks beautiful by the Puget Sound.
Here’s a nice souvenir from the workshop I taught in Bothell this past weekend: a video-collage shared by workshop participant Karen Hoelscher, of Bellingham. The historic tree on Main Street, the vacuum robot outside the Vac Master shop, Hillcrest Bakery…
The summer edition of my Cloud 9 Art School urban sketching workshop in charming Bothell, WA., attracted a great group of participants. They came from all over the region and beyond: Seattle, Edmonds, Kirkland, Redmond, Gig Harbor, Bellingham, Whidbey Island,…
Inspired by the #30x30DirectWatercolor2018 online challenge going around. Good weather sure helps when you are painting with watercolors outdoors. DANIEL SMITH: Artists’ Materials watercolors on Stillman & Birn Zeta series pocket sketchbook.
Hey, fans of the Procreate app, did you see the major update to Pocket Procreate that just happened a few days ago? Now the iPhone version of the app is very similar to the iPad app. You can’t use the Apple Pencil…
Hing Hay Park is just a small square. It only takes a half-a-block in the heart of Seattle’s Chinatown/International District. But the colorful place lives up to what its name means: Park of pleasurable gatherings. I recently spent a pleasant…
This bell tower is a landmark in Ballard, a Seattle neighborhood that was its own independent city back in the early 1900s. The bell was salvaged from the town’s city hall building way back when it was demolished. The timing…
Summary: A crash course in urban sketching with a basic tool kit consisting of a pocket sketchbook, pencil, pen and watercolors. If you are interested in becoming a better artist and urban sketcher like I was more than a decade…