Here’s the tutorial I promised you about how I painted the sketch of the Eiffel Tower that I did on location in Paris… I had sketched the tower lightly with pencil first to give myself a guide to follow. I was careful to use a center line, which helped me to keep it straight and […]
Category: Watercolor
France Sketchbook – Day 2 – Paris (continued)
(Read part I of Day 2 here.) After we left the Tuileries, we hopped on the bus and began to make our way to the Eiffel Tower. I wanted to see it up close and maybe do a little sketching, but the traffic in Paris that day was even worse than usual. There were all […]
Bon Voyage!
Today’s the day! It’s finally here. This afternoon I’m flying to Paris! I’ve been dreaming of this for years. I remember buying a Paris guidebook almost twenty years ago in the hopes that I would somehow find a way to visit that magical, mythical place one day. It all seems unreal, the fact that I’m […]
Going Back to My Roots with a Simple Little Travel Journal
Fred and I celebrated forty happy years of marriage this past winter, and we decided it would be fun to take a little trip down memory lane and go back to where we met, married, and lived as newlyweds. Our celebratory getaway was delayed a few weeks due to our schedules, but the stars finally […]
Step-by-Step Watercolor: The Modern Illuminated Manuscript
I made a decision several months ago to give up the commission side of my art business. As my calendar had filled with teaching engagements and trips to far-flung places, it became more and more difficult to find time to squeeze in the labor-intensive custom artwork. But when my friend Mary approached me a few […]
Painting Lavender at Summerhill
It was a cold, dreary day with occasional rain showers and blustery wind here in western Pennsylvania on Thursday, but that didn’t stop my Summerhill Sketchers from gathering for a class on painting lavender fields. I’ve been working on the lessons for my workshop in Provence in June, and I thought I’d try this one […]
Casa Romantica Step-by-Step
One of the assignments I gave the students during my “Sketching on Location” workshop in San Clemente last month was to look for a view that was framed by something, like an arch, columns, or trees. Dutiful teacher that I am, I decided to set an example by sketching the view through the arches on […]
Sketching on Location at Casa Romantica
The second day of my “Sketching on Location” workshop took us to Casa Romantica in San Clemente. This beautiful place was built in 1927 as the home of the founder of San Clemente, Ole Hanson. It’s now a public garden and cultural center, and we were lucky enough to spend the day there painting together. […]
Sketching on Location at the Casino – Part II
As promised, here’s the last sketch I did during our day of sketching on location at Casino San Clemente… Ink & watercolor, 10×7 Handbook Field Watercolor Journal I used a composite page layout. This is a great way to squeeze in a lot of information about a place on one page, so it’s perfect for […]
Sketching on Location at the Casino – Part 1
After I finished up my “Sketch It Now” workshop in San Clemente, I launched right into “Sketching on Location” the next day. I started out the first morning with a little pep talk in the classroom. Or maybe I should call it a “prep talk” since the idea was to give everyone some practical ways […]
