City Cantabile Choir

12/15/12 Platinum Carbon Black ink, Hand Book sketchbook

In the mood for holiday music, we attended the City Cantabile Choir’s Celtic Christmas Concert at the Green Lake United Methodist Church (which, despite being in my neighborhood, I was not familiar with. I made a mental note to come back in warmer weather to sketch the church itself, which looks like it’s made of stone). I had not yet attempted sketching during a musical concert (unless you count bluegrass bands and buskers at farmer’s markets), which undoubtedly would be semi-dark, so I wanted to give that challenge a try.

 

Sketching the choir was manageable as long as I didn’t try to include individual faces or other details. More in my comfort zone was sketching Tom Creegan playing the uilleann pipes. Similar to bagpipes in sound, the instrument is played by pumping bellows held under his arms.

 

12/15/12 Diamine Eclipse ink, Hand Book sketchbook

Now that I’ve sketched my first concert, I’m happy to report that sketching does not in any way detract from the experience of enjoying the music, which was a lively, festive arrangement of traditional Celtic tunes. I’ll be bringing my sketchbook along to future concerts!