Free Sketching Workshops

discussing a shot during location filming for Lesson 3

Urban Sketchers - Texas is a relatively new group and we regularly extend invitations for other Lone Star sketchers to join our growing ranks. There are also a lot of folks out there who are intrigued by sketching but lack the skills (or the confidence) to draw in such a public way. But USK-TX hasn't reached a point where it can offer its own workshops (yet). Fortunately, the folks at the Strathmore Artist Paper company are offering a series of FREE online workshops that focus expressly on developing and sharpening basic drawing skills!

in one of the "bonus" videos we'll be adding watercolor to this pen & ink piece from Lesson 3 

I'll be teaching the first four lessons (beginning March 10 and running through the next three weeks). And we'll be covering everything from line and shape drawing, to tone and volume, to perspective, to portraiture -- with a look at a variety of media and technique options, and a variety of papers, along the way.

testing out one of the papers for Lesson 1

So, if you or someone you know has been intrigued by urban sketching but has held back because of weak skills, I'd like to invite you to join the free workshop (we already have over 600 participants from 6 continents signed up, so you'll have plenty of company)... and then consider joining USK-Texas for an upcoming sketch crawls.

discussing composition in Lesson 1

For more information about the free workshops please visit http://www.strathmoreartist.com/artist-studio/about/ or visit my blog for a behind-the-scenes look at what we'll be covering.

a Line & Shape demonstration for the Lesson 1 Instruction Sheet

Plumbago

The "common" pencil. Common as -- well, perhaps not common as dirt. But certainly common as a No. 2 yellow school pencil, right?

Pen and ink are experiencing a well-deserved resurgence among sketchers and visual journalists, and the lowly pencil has taken a back seat. But it certainly wasn't always that way.

In the latest article in my "Tools of the Trade" series, I explore the history (and adventures) of the unpretentious pencil. And, if you'd like to know more about it's connection to Napoleon, or it's role in exploring the American West please feel free to give it a read. Tools of the Trade #2 - Plumbago, Napoleon and a No. 2 Pencil

Fordson Tractor, Stehekin, WA, USA

Oh, and as to where the "common" No. 2 yellow school pencil originated -- it was originated in the late 19th century by the Koh-I-Noor Hardtmuth company of Czechoslovakia to distinguish their use of the finest premium grade of graphite in the world, which was imported at great expense from China. (Yellow was an imperial color in Mandarin China.)

So, is the pencil "under-appreciated"? Yes. "Unassuming"? I'll go along with that. "Common"? I don't think so. How about you?

Street Scene, Bellagio, Italy

First sketch of the new year!

Spent a few hours today in the northwest part of the Texas panhandle.  This is the first of a couple of sketches that I did on location at the Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge.  The area is home to migrating sandhill cranes.  They begin arriving in december and will remain until March....then they begin their migration to their summer breeding grounds 2500 miles away in northern Canada.  Amazing and beautiful bird...not bad eatin' either!