Boston Here We Come!

I'm headed to Boston, one of my absolute favorite cities early tomorrow to participate in the national conference of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) there.  Sketching fever has hit ASLA hard this year!  On Friday afternoon fellow landscape architect and urban sketcher Richard Alomar and I will lead 30 participants on a downtown sketchcrawl called Sketch Boston!; the participants' sketchbooks will be on display over the next few days at the Convention Center.  We'll be joined by artist/author/landscape architect Chip Sullivan and Bob Chipman (designer, digital sketching guru and contributor to my book).  Then Richard, Chipman and I will present a lecture and live digital sketching demonstration called Freehand Visions on Saturday, followed by a book signing in the convention Expo Hall.  Finally, I'm honored to be hosting a session on Sunday featuring three of the U.S.'s most prominent landscape architects--Laurie Olin, Warren Byrd and Michael Vergason--as they discuss the role of freehand sketching and drawing in their own creative processes.

The sketch above was done in Boston just a few days after the Barcelona USk Symposium, as Richard and I scouted locations for the sketchcrawl...wish us luck!

Old Natchitoches County Courthouse-Natchitoches, Louisiana

I recently had made a trip to Louisiana just to sketch and paint.  This sketch and partially painted scene was done on location and finished in the studio.

Renewing An Old Acquaintance (Sketching In Oils)

weighing in at just 2 lbs. full, my 6"x8" pochade is actually lighter than my "daily carry" 

bag(the tripod is another story, but only goes along when I want to work standing) 

Like many of us who have been swept up in the sketching renaissance, I've been joyfully preoccupied with pens, pens, watercolors, and sketchbooks of late -- in fact, for quite some time now. But there are other medium that can serve the on-site sketcher quite well. And, of late, I've been thinking of one of them: plein air oils.

the results are a refreshing, painterly alternative to the more linear work in my journals

So, with pochade box in hand (and sometimes in my lap, sometimes on a tripod) I've started venturing out to see what I can see. (For those who might be interested, there are more details, including a step-by-step demo, here.)

Cheers!

Sketching and Painting in Natchitoches, Louisiana...Basillica of the Immaculate Conception(1857)

I spent a few days last week in Natchitoches, LA with a group of twenty painters that I have come to know from around the state.  We had two fun days of sketching, painting, eating and fellowshipping!  A good time was had by all and the critique sessions were honest and very beneficial.

Sundance Square Plaza Opens in Downtown Fort Worth

I attended the long-awaited opening of Sundance Square Plaza in downtown Fort Worth this morning. Kudos to Fort Worth, the Sundance Square team, to Ed Bass, architect David Schwarz, and  to the plaza designer, landscape architect Michael Vergason.  It is a worthy and wonderful addition to the grand plazas of the world...a must see.  The photo of me sketching is by Fort Worth Star Telegram photographer Rodger Mallison.