Embracing My Inner Colored Pencil

9/3/16 Luminance colored pencils, S&B Epsilon paper

I’ve had a long (going back to my childhood) but sometimes rocky relationship with colored pencils. More than any other medium, I love them esthetically – how they look straight out of the box or standing upright in vases; how cleanly they apply to paper; how they feel in my hand.

I’ve long admired urban sketchers like Alissa Duke, who uses colored pencils almost exclusively, but I haven’t been able to find my own way of using them on location. The way I use them now – very slowly applied in layers – colored pencils aren’t conducive to urban sketching the way watercolors or other liquid media are, so I’ve mostly kept them at home. I keep telling myself I should stop buying them if I can’t use them in the field, since that’s where I do the vast majority of my sketching. And yet, colored pencils keep sneaking into my bag, and on recent trips, I reached for them way more often than other colored media.

What gives?

8/31/16 Pablo colored pencils, Epsilon paper

I don’t know. But clearly colored pencils call to me in a way that other colored media do not. So I’ve decided to embrace my inner colored pencil. I’ve been using them on rainy days a lot the past few months, and in a couple weeks I’m starting a class at Gage in the medium. I am determined to try to find a way to use them on location, but in the meantime, I’m also happy to continue using them at my desk. (I’m almost looking forward to a cold, wet fall!)

Just recently I started experimenting with a blender tool – it’s like a pencil made of hard plastic. I’m not sure if I know what I’m doing, but by rubbing it over the pencil work, it seems to blend the various colors used and intensify the hues. One thing I learned immediately is that you have to be completely done applying color at the point that you use the blender, because blending takes out whatever tooth is in the paper, and when that’s gone, you can’t apply more color over it. (Note: I wrote “burnished” in the image below, but what I used was a blender tool. A burnishing tool is something else. I have one, but I don’t know what to do with it yet. Stay tuned.)

A blender tool is like a pencil made of hard plastic.

The right side of the line shows where I used the blender tool.

Embracing my inner (and outer) colored pencils!

The View from Foshay (Plus Critters, Dead and Alive)

8/29/16 brush pen, colored pencils, ink (Capella Tower)

Sketching at the Minnesota State Fair was certainly the highlight of our short visit to the Twin Cities, but we had a few quieter adventures that were fun, too.

Foshay Tower, built in 1929, is a lovely art deco building modeled after the Washington Monument. At 32 stories, it doesn’t seem like a skyscraper anymore, and many buildings in downtown Minneapolis now dwarf it. But as a viewpoint of the city, its observation deck is fantastic. Amid the usual boxy, glassy monoliths were a couple of more interesting buildings that caught my eye: Capella Tower, with its halo-like top, and Wells Fargo Center. Sketching both through the imprisonment of the observation deck’s security girding, I really enjoyed the different architectural challenges of each.

The upper part of the Capella are the rounded tiers of a wedding cake, while the lower part is more traditionally flat-sided. I had to observe the shadows carefully to retain those shapes.

8/29/16 ink, colored pencils (Wells Fargo Center)

Wells Fargo was a different matter. Instead of the usual planes and lines, this building seemed to be made of textures and patterns in shades of warm and cool grays.

Coincidentally, Greg and his sister had a family meeting to attend at Capella Tower, so while they were inside, I found a shady spot in Capella’s courtyard to sketch the towers of Minneapolis City Hall (incorrectly labeled on my sketchbook page as Hennepin County Courthouse). Unfortunately obscured by a pedestrian walkway, the rest of the building would have been fun to sketch, too.

On another day we visited the Bell Museum, a natural history museum on the University of St. Paul campus. Compared to our own Burke Museum, the Bell seemed tired and outdated – lots of dimly lit dioramas that had seen better days. (In fact, it is closing at the end of the year for a major move to new digs, so in a couple of years it will be worth revisiting.) Disappointed that there weren’t any dinosaur skeletons to sketch, I had to settle for a white-tailed deer, which was still fun because I’d never sketched one.

8/29/16 brush pen, colored pencils, ink
(Minneapolis City Hall)

In addition to the skeletal and stuffed specimens, the Bell has a few living creatures, including several tarantulas! Squatting next to an aquarium with a hairy, dead-still beast of a spider, I felt the fear and sketched it anyway!

Before leaving the Cities, I got a chance to sketch the skyline over the east bank of the Mississippi and the lovely Stone Arch Bridge that crosses the river. I have fond memories of sketching in the same location three years ago when the Twin Cities Urban Sketchers arranged an outing for me there. 

8/29/16 brush pen, watercolor, colored pencils, ink (Stone Arch Bridge across the Mississippi)

8/28/16 colored pencils

8/28/16 ink, colored pencil

At Last – the Minnesota Fair Sketchout!

8/27/16 colored pencils (rooster)

Greg and I have been visiting his family in the Twin Cities annually for 30 years. During those decades, due to various family events, we’ve managed to time our visits to coincide with the Minnesota State Fair only a couple of times, and the last time was about 10 years ago – long before I began sketching.

Certainly I’ve been to our own Washington State Fair, and the last few years I’ve even joined Urban Sketchers Tacoma there. But I have to say, our fair cannot hold even a 15-hour votive candle to Minnesota. One of the oldest and biggest state fairs in the country, the Minnesota State Fair is arguably the best.

Ever since I started reading Roz Stendahl’s blog several years ago, I’ve been fascinated with her passion for sketching at the Minnesota fair – and for the fair in general. I could see that she worked very hard to organize a very special outing for sketchers in the area – bringing together not just urban sketchers but art groups of all kinds. Every year her sketches of animals at the event and eventually the sketches of other Twin Cities Urban Sketchers inspired me, and I became more and more determined to get to the fair again someday – this time with sketchbook in hand.

My prized Fair Sketchout button on my bag!

This summer the stars finally aligned, and we were able to make it to the fair again – and even better, I made it to the 8th Great Minnesota State Fair Sketchout! Since I had used the previous day with Greg’s family as a preview, I knew exactly which animals and attractions I wanted to sketch, so I hit the ground running! Before I took off, however, I joined Marty Harris, the current sketchout organizer, and an enthusiastic group of Twin Cities sketchers at the morning meet-up. I was proud to finally wear an official Fair Sketchout button (artwork by Marty)!

I spent quite a bit of time wandering slowly through all the animal barns. The chickens were so colorful, and the bunnies were adorable, but I think I had the most fun sketching a broad-breasted bronze turkey. Constantly twitching, his bluish-pinkish head had a bizarre texture that was very challenging to capture. It was fascinating to watch that thing that normally hangs down over his mouth lift up when he ate or drank. Eyeing me intensely, the tom occasionally turned around to display his rear end.

8/27/16 colored pencils (broad-breasted bronze turkey)

In the Dairy building, I watched a demo of the Smart Masker Pro several times. This product would be 10 times faster than using an ordinary roll of masking tape, he assured us. Although he moved quickly, the demo guy made the same motions repeatedly, which made it easier to anticipate what his next gesture would be.

When the occasional drizzle dried up, I wandered around outside to capture the Sky Flyer ride (I stood on a bench to get above the crowds) and Fairchild, the fair gopher mascot, who is celebrating his 50^th birthday this year.

Speaking of crowds, I learned afterwards that a record-breaking 140,000 people attended the fair on the Saturday Sketchout. (A second Sketchout was held the following Monday.) While London crowds completely overwhelmed me, for some reason, I wasn’t bothered by fair hoards. Perhaps eating deep-fried foods on sticks has a sedating effect. (By the way, if you think that making all these sketches kept me from eating, you would be very wrong!)

Spin Art -- something I hadn't
done in decades!

My only regret for the whole day was that I missed sketching Princess Kay of the Milky Way! Crowned during Minnesota fair pageantry, the princess and each of her court members has her likeness carved in a 90-pound block of butter. At a previous fair, I had seen one of the princesses sitting for her butter sculpture (crowned and bundled in a down parka because the sculpting occurs in a refrigerated chamber with glass walls for viewing), and that image was seared in my memory. Where else on earth would I have the opportunity to sketch someone being sculpted in butter? Unfortunately, the sculpting schedule isn’t published, so by the time I got to the Dairy building, the sculptor was done for the day. Oh, well – it gives me a new life goal.

In the late afternoon the sketchers got together again to share sketchbooks, and that’s when I was delighted to meet Roz herself! After all these years of learning from her extremely informative (not to mention entertaining) blog, it was a thrill and honor to meet her in person.

8/27/16 colored pencils (rabbit)

Ken and Roberta Avidor, two more Twin Cities urban sketchers whose work I follow, were also a delight to meet. In addition, I was happily reunited with Amber Sausen and Daniel Green, whom I last saw at the Manchester symposium only a few weeks ago.

I know I’ve said it before, but the single-best thing about Urban Sketchers is the amazing network it offers. Whether I travel around the globe or go to Minnesota, I can find sketchers to spend the day with. The Urban Sketchers world keeps getting smaller.

Many thanks to Marty for organizing a fantastic Fair Sketchout! I can’t wait to get to another one!

Updated 9/2/16: Minnesota Public Radio News has been covering the fair on its website with many sketches by Sketchout participants, including a few by me!

8/27/16 brush pen, colored pencils (pig)

8/27/16 colored pencils (hen)

8/27/16 ink, colored pencils

8/27/16 brush pen (sheep shearing)

8/27/16 brush pen (bunny waiting to compete)

8/27/16 brush pen, Zig marker, colored pencils, ink
(Fairchild, the fair's gopher mascot)

8/27/16 brush pen, rainbow pencil (Sky Flyer)

The Saturday Sketchout sketchbook sharing!

Tina, Roz Stendahl and Marty Harris

Daniel Green, Tina and Amber Sausen

Ken Avidor and Tina

Sketching with Non-Sketchers

8/26/16 brush pen, colored pencil

While my arteries recover from all the deep-fried foods I ate at the Minnesota State Fair, I’ll tell you about my adventures in the Twin Cities the past several days!

Before I get to the bulk of my fair sketches, however, I thought I’d follow up on my post from last week that was prompted by a reader’s question about how I sketch while traveling with my spouse. As you learned from that post, Greg and I have a system that works well for our independent interests. When I’m with other non-sketchers, though, I don’t want to keep them waiting, but of course I always want to sketch anyway. How do I manage that? Our trip to the Twin Cities, with the primary purpose of visiting with family, was filled with examples of how I’ve learned to balance my own desire to sketch with socializing as a group participant.

Our first full day in the Cities was spent with three family members at the famous Minnesota State Fair, one of the largest and best fairs in the country. It helped to know that I would be back again the next day, so I used that first day as a “teaser” to survey all that the fair had to offer and set priorities for my focus later. Still, I hadn’t been to this fair in nearly a decade, and I’d never been there with a sketchbook, so it was impossible to resist sneaking in a few sketches.

8/26/16 brush pen

How? I was always on the lookout for moments (and I mean literally moments of one to five minutes) when the others were occupied. My sisters-in-law want foot-long corn dogs? Plenty of time to sketch polka dancers. Others are still in the restroom? A quick sketch showing the variety of sizes and stances of fair-goers. Strolling through the poultry barn? That’s easy – I just focus on one hen while the others go down the aisle, and I catch up with them a few minutes later. And while the rest of the group goes through a fair history exhibit at a leisurely pace, I go through quickly, then wait outside the exhibit hall to capture more activities in my sketchbook.

It’s a matter of choosing subject matter appropriately – perhaps a single object rather than a scene – making it small, and adjusting expectations to the time available. And sketching fast! I usually use a brush pen for quick gestures, no details and colored pencil scribbles.

8/26/16 brush pen, colored pencil

I even had plenty of time to scarf down foods on sticks, just like everyone else! For the record, the best thing I ate was the deep-fried pumpkin pie served with vanilla ice cream – to die for! Healthiest and a runner-up for best taste was the roasted corn on the cob dipped in butter. Most surprisingly tasty was the deep-fried pickles! I could have passed on the Australian battered potato, although smothering it in sour cream and sweet chili sauce certainly helped. What’s Australian about it? asked a Facebook friend. The answer: the booth was playing “Waltzing Matilda,” and a tiny Aussie flag pierced the top of my potato. Meh!

Stay tuned for the rest of my state fair sketches!

8/26/16 brush pen, colored pencil

The healthiest thing I consumed all day: roasted corn on the cob!

Nitro ice cream!

Australian battered potato

Tom Thumb mini donuts

Out of Space

8/23/16 brush pen, colored pencils, Zig marker

Last week on a morning sketchabout, I spotted a cute Vespa in the ‘hood. I sketched it in my red Field Notes. Even on a full-page spread (which, granted, is only 5 ½ by 7 inches), I managed to run out of space for the front wheel.

The very next day, driving through the Green Lake neighborhood, I spotted an orange Stella scooter. I pulled over immediately to sketch it, this time in my Stillman & Birn. I don’t know why, but I started drawing the rearview mirrors near the middle of the page – so I nearly ran out of space again when I got to the wheels! It’s one of my ongoing sketching challenges – I don’t always plan the composition carefully on the page.

8/22/16 LePen brush pen, white Gelly Roll

Not Turning

8/14/16 ink, colored pencils, Zig marker

A couple weeks ago when I first started noticing that the trees are starting to turn, I spotted this one in a traffic circle and wondered if it had already turned completely – but on closer inspection, I saw that it was dead. A block north of the one I sketched the other day, it was apparently hit by a careless driver who ran right over the circle. The plants at the tree’s base are crushed and also dead. Someday the tree will probably fall over.

The Sketcher’s Spouse

Greg doing his thing in a train in Japan.

After seeing my posts about our travels in the UK, a reader asked me what my husband Greg is doing all that time that I’m sketching. That’s a question that I get asked frequently by friends who know how much I love to sketch and how much we both love to travel. Specifically, Jean is interested because she’s planning to attend the USk symposium next year and wondered how to manage such a trip with a non-sketching spouse.

“How and when do you meet up with your spouse during the Symposium? What parts of the Symposium can your non-registered, non-sketching spouse attend and not attend? How is your spouse received by other sketchers? And how do you plan a trip that pleases both of you, so he isn't just wafting about waiting for you to be finished with the Symposium so you can move on to the rest of the trip?” All great questions, Jean!

The easy and short answer is that Greg is a photographer, so our interests are highly compatible. Although certainly we enjoy spending time together while traveling, we also want to go our separate ways and meet later at a designated time and place. “Done, where u?” is a text message we exchange frequently.

If he didn’t have photography as a hobby, it might be more difficult to manage traveling together so that I still have time for myself to sketch. But I’ve also traveled or day-toured quite a bit with non-sketching friends and family members and have still managed to get in sketching time without being annoying (at least, no one has told me I am ☺).

Greg doing his thing in Bath.

There’s a reason for that: I can be very fast. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from sketching on location regularly, it’s the ability to manage my sketches based on how much time is available to me. (My correspondent role in Manchester certainly helped me hone that skill.) I wouldn’t want to make people wait 30 to 60 minutes for me to do a typical sketch. But no one seems to mind waiting 10 minutes, and often they welcome the opportunity to sit on a bench and rest while I do a quick one. If I know I have only 10 minutes, then 10 minutes is all I need.

Attending the symposium with a non-sketching partner need not be an issue, either. I talk to other symposium participants who are traveling with partners and keep my ears open. During the Barcelona symposium, Greg met another sketcher’s husband, and the two of them decided to do some touring together one day. (I regret to this day that I missed out on a visit to Parc Güell, but I had workshops to attend!) A similar opportunity came up in Manchester, so I let Greg know about it.

In Paraty, a small town that’s easy to navigate, I always left him a copy of my workshop map and timetable so that he would know where I would be each day, and we sometimes met up for lunch between workshops. In Manchester he joined me for lunch at the Manchester Museum where I had just done some sketch reportage, and afterwards he enjoyed the exhibits while I moved on to the next event.

Greg doing his thing in Rio de Janeiro.

At all the symposiums, Greg joined me at dinners and drink-and-draws with other sketchers, who enjoyed having another “victim” to draw (Greg got used to appearing in lots of sketchbooks!). And sometimes I skipped social events because after a long day of non-stop activities, it was nice to have a quiet dinner for just the two of us.

In regard to Jean’s specific questions about which activities spouses might be allowed to participate in, that’s something that has improved over time. In Barcelona, a number of spouses wanted to attend the closing reception, but there was no formal process in place for them, which led to people feeling like they had to sneak in the back door. In Manchester, however, the symposium staff anticipated this issue and simply sold reception tickets at the door to cover refreshments.

In Paraty, which didn’t sell out and therefore had attendee passes to spare, I bought Greg a low-cost “Sketcher” level pass, which allowed him access to the central facility where attendees hung out between workshops, used the restrooms, grabbed a snack and used Wi-Fi. That pass also allowed him to attend the receptions.

Achieving the right sketcher/non-sketcher balance during travel is not as easy as when you and your partner are always together. But having separate experiences gives each of you a different perspective and often enhances the travel experience as a whole. And balance is the operative word – just like all the other parts of a relationship.

If you have a non-sketching partner, what kinds of things do you do to achieve balance during travel?

Like Jean, if you’re thinking of attending a symposium for the first time, you might want to check out the post I wrote after Barcelona. After that first symposium, I learned a lot of practical matters as well as how to manage expectations.

We always eat ice cream together!