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| An enthusiastic, open-minded group of students! |
While the pet portrait workshops I taught last spring
were more about developing drawing skills and learning brush pen or colored
pencil techniques, the one I taught on Saturday was about a process that’s near
and dear to my heart: Keeping a daily sketch journal.
Regular blog readers know that it’s a process I’ve been
developing for myself for many years, but it’s only been the last three years
that my practice finally “stuck.” Eager to share that process in person, I was rewarded by enthusiastic,
open-minded students who were willing to try things that may have been outside
their comfort zone. Some were sheer beginners, and many had not sketched on location before.
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| 8/1/26 Here's my own sketch journal page from our first exercise, which turned out to be a spontaneous demo when a student asked how I sketch people. |
We started the workshop at the ArtSpot store (the workshop’s sponsor), where I
passed around several of my own sketch journals and talked about my many failed
tries – and the one successful one. After explaining my plan for the morning
and discussing recommended art supplies (of course), we headed out for the first
sketch location. Our first stop, though, was to get a beverage or (you guessed
it) a pastry to start our sketching out right!
Lacking a café where 14 people (including myself and one
class assistant) could sit together, I chose a location I was familiar with
from the sketch walk I had led during Sketcher Fest. Using the plentiful
benches of the Veterans’ Plaza, we stayed together to try the process I had
described: Sketch our food or beverage first as an easy “entry” to the page
spread, then sketch whatever grabbed our attention around us.
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| Students hard at work at Edmonds' Veterans' Plaza. |
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| I was happy to observe relaxed conversations among students. This plaza is better than any classroom... plenty of benches for all. |
After giving individual feedback, I knew they were ready for
the next step. This time we all scattered out to the Edmonds Summer Market,
which was in full swing by then. Their assignment was to make a series of
sketches with written comments that would tell a story in answer to the
question: What did you experience at the market? I encouraged everyone to observe with all their senses, not just sight. The market is full of sounds, scents and weather to feel!
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| After we all scattered through the market, I lost sight of most students, so I didn't get more photos. But I caught these two sketching from one of my own favorite spots at this market: It's a great view from behind a flower vendor's booth. |
About an hour later, we regrouped at Veterans’ Plaza to
share our sketches and takeaways from the process. It was gratifying and
rewarding to hear that students had been encouraged and excited by their first
try at a daily sketch journaling practice. |
| Check out our colorful throwdown! ArtSpot carries Uglybooks. It's possible I may be an "influencer." Ha-ha!! |
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| Here's my own answer to the question: "What did you experience at the market?" |
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| Photo courtesy of ArtSpot |
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| Photo courtesy of ArtSpot |
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