Spring break in the UK

Train ride to Stirling outside of Edinburgh, to visit Stirling Castle. Spring break coincided with a business trip my husband had to make to Aberdeen. So my son and I went to the UK to visit my Urban Sketcher friend Isabelle, in London and then meet my hubby in Scotland for a little exploring - and of course sketching.

My sketch shows just a part of the gallery at Holyrood House Palace in Edinburgh, Scotland. 

The Great Gallery at the Palace at Holyrood House, the largest room in the palace, links the King's Closet with the former Queen's apartments in the west range. The gallery is decorated with 110 portraits of the Scottish monarchs, beginning with the legendary Fergus I, who supposedly ruled from 330 BC. The portraits were all completed between 1684 and 1686 by Jacob de Wet.  The palace as it stands today was built between 1671-1678 in a quadrangle layout, approximately 230 feet (70 m) from north to south and 230 feet (70 m) from east to west, with the exception of the 16th-century north-west tower built by James V. Sir William Bruce designed the 3-storey plus attic Baroque palace for Charles II upon the restoration of the monarchy. 

Back to the Rodeo

Yesterday was the official sketch out for urban sketchers in Houston. Carolyn and I wandered around the Reliant Hall livestock exhibit first. Then we wandered out into the carnival, which had not only amazing rides, but equally amazing foods. Deep-fried Nutella, anyone?

I have never been over to the Reliant Arena where the horse competitions are held. Carolyn was interested in the llama and alpaca exhibit. The center animal, who looks like a dissipated rock star, is an alpaca. He barely registered my presence. The animal on the lower left is a llama. These animals are very alert, curious and responsive. Most exhibit animals ignore the viewers. This one followed every move I made. Llamas aren't know to be particularly friendly, but they are apparently pretty smart. One of the events is an obstacle course for llamas. Think a combination of the horse jumping and the dog agility trials. The young people showing the animals take this very seriously.

This is the last weekend of the rodeo, so that's it for another year.

DFW Sketch Outing March 19th!

Our next Fort Worth-Dallas sketch outing will be 2:30 pm Saturday, March 19^th at Continental Bridge in Dallas!  Plan to meet at Gateway Plaza West on the west side of the bridge. Parking lot can be accessed just off of Canada Drive. Do not park at Trinity Grove. Continental Bridge has some stunning views of downtown Dallas and the Margaret Hill Hunt bridge designed by Santiago Calatrava.  The weather should be cool enough to enjoy a great afternoon of sketching. 

This month’s outing will be hosted by Lisa Horne, a long-time USk Texas regular who hosted last year’s very successful outing in West Village.  We will meet to the west side of the Continental Bridge for introductions and an overview of the afternoon (15 min), then disperse to sketch singly, in pairs or in groups as you wish.  We’ll reconvene at a couple of hours later to share sketchbooks and for a group photo.  Bring a friend, and if this is your first outing with us, welcome!  A SketchCrawl isn’t a class, workshop or competition.  It's an opportunity for creative people to meet each other, draw together, and share their sketches with each other and online. 

Questions? Contact Jim Richards at jim@townscape.com

Let's Rodeo!

Today was my trip to the livestock show to get in some sketching time. Of course, I had to go over and  watch the very patient ponies hauling little kids round and round.

Some were curious about the very large sleeping pig. Some, not so much.

This Brahmin and his kin were as patient as large dogs waiting for their turn for judging in the show ring. The drawing doesn't begin to convey the size of these beasts up close.

The sheep don't like the noise, the crowds, the kids. They most kept a wary distance at the far side of the pen. This was in the birthing area and there were several wobbly little lambs among them. The large female in the foreground watched me intently as I drew.

The little goat was just sprouting the buds of his adult horns. He slept peacefully and ignored everyone.

All in all it was a very fun day.