Sunday's at Nina's Cafe

Nina's Café on Selby has easily become our café of choice for a Sunday morning "relax over coffee, but get something fun done," session. In my case, this often means spending some time with my sketchbook, and in Chris's case, this means working on his business plan for the brewery. Ok, it also often means ARE study time too... But seriously, we need to have some fun too:) In the winter we find ourselves here more often then not these days as we look to get out of the apartment.

And important lesson was learned on this morning is if we don't want to be sketched while we are working on the business plan, then we should sit at a table more a the perimeter of the space so Jodi can draw the architecture and other people instead (see sketch above).

Sometimes we don't get to stay for too long, just enough time to have a quick cup of coffee and be on our way.

Back to the very beginning, this was one of the first sketches I did this summer on one of our first business plan/sketching outings.

Minnesota Museum of American Art - with Metro Sketchers

 

For someone who just doesn't know that much about fiber arts, the Minnesota Museum of American Art has a great show going on entitled "Repetition and Ritual: New Sculpture in Fiber".  Maybe I've never really been drawn to fiber arts because it reminds me of a craft sport like "extreme quilting" that one would create. Nonetheless, take something like fabric and yarn and get out of the box by making it sculptural; allow it to hold its own weight and suddenly, ah-ha, this makes perfect architectural sense.

 

This piece by Emily Barletta drew me in because of the barnacle like connection to blood cells and vessels.  The inspiration of human biology gave her pieces all had a common thread  that tied them together (no pun intended). Upon reading her bio you would understand why - how could an artist go through major surgery and not have it influence her work?

 

Anyways, enough art rambling. Here is the original piece:



And with a few seconds to spare, I was able to get in one more quick sketch of another amazing piece:

And the original:

As always, be sure to check out the work of all the Metro Sketchers as featured on the blog and facebook page.

Monoprinting with Gelli Plates

This past gathering at the MCBA Visual Journal Collective I got the chance to try something  I've been wanting to try for quite a while - Monoprinting with Gelli Plates.  The process is quite similar to gelatin printing, except you don't have to cook your own gelatin mold, and instead use a gelatinous slab that can be reused. The main benefit of this process is that it is easy to do at home - no access to expensive equipment is required! Besides being quick, easy, and a bit whimsical, I would imagine that you could use this method to print on any solid surface as well as combine with other printing methods to create compelling images.  I haven't have a chance to play around with this more (yet) but wanted to share my first stab at it.

In the first print (on the left) I used the brayer mostly to push the paint around and then color shapers for the smaller marks.  The second print (on the right) was pulled using what was left on the gelli plate from the first print, with the addition of a bit more paint and a layering of stencils.

A huge thanks to Briana Goetzen with Orange Spiral Arts for sharing this with us.

Lakewood Cemetery with Metro Sketchers

Wow! Nothing like being able to sketch at a beautiful place on a gorgeous day... I think I could have spent all day in a happy state of blissfulness with my sketchbook and Joan Sorano's new Mausoleum at the Lakewood Cemetery.  Any opportunity for my inner (almost) architect self to come out is a good one:) Committing to sketch a section cut of this masterpiece felt as much an exercise in studying and understanding scale proportion as the usual light/shadow/composition challenges that urban sketching brings. Bit by bit, walking down the long hallway each little nook revealed itself as unique and compelling, yet still a part of the greater whole. This is what I hoped to capture - the subtle nuances and manipulations of space.

Again, given the opportunity I could have easily spent endless hours here.  Hopefully next time I'll venture above ground more, but until then, here are a few other photos of the site and building:

Vikings game at The Muddy Pig

How to get your non-football-fanatic wife to "watch the game with you." First, take her out to a bar and order her a drink.  Once that has been taken care of, turn away and keep your eyes glued on the game.  Turn back around to talk to her during commercials and learn why she agreed to come and "watch the game" with you.

So obviously I am not the biggest football fan.  But this did seem to work.  Who knows what might be next for me? Golfing and Fishing and Hockey here I come!



Hanging out at one of the bars in our neighborhood within walking distance, The Muddy Pig. Oddly they were not packed for the game.  Maybe they don't have a reputation as an all out sports bar, but they are definitely known as one of the top 100 beer bars in America.  The only other one to make the list in Minnesota is also within walking distance. 

 

A quick pencil underlay at the bar.  It's still hard for me to commit to jumping in with pen sketching right away.

 

Media:  Carbon Ink, Micron Pen, and Watercolor Crayon



St. Louis Girls Weekend

Labor Day Weekend I got together with two of my good friends from Baylor University for a girl weekend in St. Louis.  Yes, I used to live in St. Louis, but most of the people I knew when I was there are no longer there, and it is amazing how much the city has changed! I was able to fly in Friday night and fly out Monday evening, which gave us 2.5 days of running around the city.  It never ceases to amaze me how much St. Louis has to offer beyond the iconic arch. We went to live blues music in the landing, a guided Schlafly brewery beer tasting, the new addition at the St. Louis Art Museum, the Japanese festival at the Missouri Botanical Gardens, the Budweiser brewery tour, and hiking in Castle Rock State Park,  amongst many meals of delicious food and beverages.  Next year it's a girls weekend in Minnesota!

I wanted to bring my sketchbook, of course, but knew I would be constantly battling the fact that no one really wants to sit and wait for me.  A strategy was in order here.  Before I left I drew up a comic strip like composition of boxes, open space, and text lines.  The thought was that this would force me to limit myself to very small sketches.  Did this really work? Eh, kind of... yes, it did force me to stay small, yes I was able to do some sketching in a more timely manner with everyone staring at me, but no, I will not claim that I was able to sketch absolutely everything on site (the ideal).

Bell Museum Sketch Night #1 - Celebrate Something Sketchy

 

 

Here is a new one that I was happy to learn about - Sketch Night at the Bell Museum! Once a month the Bell Museum of Natural History hosts an open sketch night for all ages and abilities. Amateurs sketch right along side accomplished illustrators. In addition to being able to sketch anything in the museum, they bring out pieces from their collection not normally on display.  Ok, great idea. Why don't more museums do this?

 

In my first night here I managed to hatch out two sketches. The one above (sketched second) was from a diorama that I admit caught my eye right away as I passed by. I must be a softie when it comes to cute little baby animals.

 

 

And this is the diorama I was sitting in front sketching.  In all, the night lasts two hours.

 



 

Above is my first sketch of the evening. I thought the bone practice would be nice - like back in the days of freshman drawing when your teacher creates an intricate display of obscure objects you have never seen before, inevitably including many bones from unknown animals. I thought this practice a bit um, weird, the first time I came upon it, but now older I feel like I understand it more.  What better way to learn about the subtleties of shadow, texture, and form when these elements are so minimal?  After concentrating on this particular bone for a while I did stop and ask what it is - an Ostrich bone, the top of the lower rump to be specific.

 



 

If you do get a chance to stop by the Bell, there is currently a great exhibit of sketchbooks in the art gallery from those who sketch regularly that is definitely worth checking out!





TRNP/Maah Daah Hey Trail - Part 2

With thunderstorms, achy feet, and a washed out river this is where we decided to take a bit of a detour from the trail and explore some of the other sights in the area. This is also where I was brutally attacked and the reason for the delay on this post.  I sat down on a bench quite unsuspectingly, opened by sketch book, laid out my crayons, and began sketching the teepee, fence, and barracks across the way.  A few minutes later I heard a loud obnoxious shout from across the lawn in a deep southern drawl, "Oh, my gawsh, look everybody, she's going to sketch!"  As I had suddenly gathered the attention of um, every single human being within a 10 mile radius, 5 people came running straight at me. Looking at what I had on my paper, barely a few lines, I mumbled a few words to them and humbly packed up as soon as I could get them away.  Don't get me wrong, I like talking to people, just not being called out unsuspectingly in front of a crowd and descended upon like a flower that a swarm of bees are heading straight for.

Back at home, I looked at the sketch I had and the frustrating memory that went along with it and decided to erase it all and start over and draw the fort instead.

 

 

Off the trail we had the chance to explore other parts of Theodore Roosevelt National Park that we would not have otherwise seen.  In this case, doing a few of the day hikes in the northern unit, I fell in love with the rock formations of cap rocks, flutes, and cannon balls, all signs of the erosion of wind on rock with varying densities. 

 

Heading back down to Medora we stopped at this small town of 100 people whose claim to fame is a sod post office.  It no longer functions as a post office, but instead has an interesting array of historic items inside.

We spent our last day back in Medora just looking around and relaxing.  Here I was sitting at the motel pool enjoying a beverage whilst watching no one swim. After all the running around we had done the previous 9 days it was nice to sit down and relax for a day before heading home.

Gold Medal Park

Monday evening I had the opportunity to get together with the Visual Journal Collective through the Minnesota Center for the Book Arts. The event for the evening was sketching outside on site (a personal favorite), in preparation for a Minnesota State Fair sketching get together. The sketch location was Gold Medal Park right next to the Guthrie on the Mississippi River. Above is my sketch for the evening.

Sitting at the top of the park I almost forget how much of Minneapolis is really visible. With the Mississippi River, the Stone Arch Bridge, the Guthrie, and a park setting, it was hard to decide what to draw for the night. While walking around the park, my eye caught sight of this old building across the river.  I really wish I knew what it is. Please do let me know if you get a chance, so I can add a name to my sketchbook.

I did want to take a few seconds here and talk about process, as everything takes time and thought to develop and unfold.

1. This is what I was able to draw by the end of the gathering (by the time it got dark).  In general I like to make a bunch of quick pencil lines to get an overall idea of perspective, scale, proportions, and composition. At this point I try to not get too carried away in details.  Once I got home and looked at the sketch again, I decided to add the bold boarder.

2. Erase all those pencil lines! Graphite never really stays on paper anyways. Once everything had been inked over, I erased all the pencil lines and started to add color with the sky.

3. Hmmm... more color and more detail.  Windows always seem to be worth the effort in drawing every little mullion. From here I kept adding more layers of color and then decided how to do shade and shadow (or just shade in this case).

If you get the chance to compare the end image to the photo, there are two key things that were intentionally changed to create a more interesting image.  One being a more exaggerated perspective (from my view the perspective was too flat, I thought something a bit more dynamic might be more interesting), and I changed the direction the sun was coming from to let the light façade lead the eye across the page.

Seriously though, what is the name of this building?





Mill City Farmers market

 

A visit from fellow Seattle urban sketcher, Tina Koyama, led to an impromptu urban sketching gathering that I was able to join in on this morning at the Mill City Farmer's Market in Minneapolis. This, being one of the farmer's markets around town that I have not been to before, was all new to me.  After walking around a bit (and buying a few bits of food) I really came to appreciate the tightness that having  a market in between the nooks and crannies of buildings can lend itself to.

 

Unlike many of my other drawing that I post here you'll notice that my straight lines are not really all that straight. Yes, I was trying to pry myself away from the dependency of sketching with a ruler.  Not that a ruler is a bad thing, but the more I think about the idea behind urban sketching, sometimes perfectly straight lines look, well, too perfect to really be an impression made by sketching on location. 

 



Here is everyone who was able to make it out. L-R, Daniel Green, Patty Scott, Tina Koyama, Myself, and Amber Sausen. Be sure to check out the Twin Cities Urban Sketching blog for other sketches from the group.

Mixing Colors - Part 1

Lately, I've been working with water color crayons a lot. It's turned into an addiction that I do intend to let go of at some point. For the time being though they are easily affordable, a good quality, come in a variety of fun colors, oh so easy to transport, and don't make a big watery mess that can result from typical watercolors. Like many things, the more you play with them, the more possibilities you discover to do with them.  In this case, I've been mixing every possible color that I own together to see what other kind of colors I can possibly come up with by using what I already have.

The colors along the top and the left side are the ones that I am starting with, and when you add them together the intersecting square is the color you get. Granted, this is by no means a perfect science, but it has definitely been giving me a great idea of how and where to start from in terms of thinking of a color palate, or trying to mix the perfect brown.

Many of the colors do seem quite similar when mixed together, though I do have to say that thus far, I think my new favorites are the neutrals that I get from burnt sienna mixed with a yellowish/ochre color, or anything mixed with gold. I never guessed that I would be using the color gold as much as I have. Saturation also seems to have a lot to do with the strength or intensity of the color. These, for example, are all quite watered down, as I put the pigment on the paper first, and then applied the water to mix the colors together. Had I pressed much harder with the crayons, or applied less water I do think they might have turned out more intense.

Webb Lake 2013

 

Every year this time of year (2nd week in August) my family goes up to a resort in Northern Minnesota on Webb Lake called Sperr's Point. This has been a tradition long before I was born that dates back to roughly the 1950's.  Our extended family along with our friends from Missouri more or less stage a take over of the resort for the week, renting out every single cabin. As of right now we all fit perfectly.

This year, unfortunately, I was not able to join my family for the whole week.  Instead, I was able to stay for two whole days (Sunday and Monday) and drove to work at 3:30am in the morning on Tuesday - with the assistance of diet cherry coke.

The above sketch is our designated cabin that we stay in ever year. Imagine if you will, 6 adults and one bathroom with a limited capacity of hot water, three bedrooms, and a small kitchen/living/dining room all rolled into one.  We stay very close as a family.

There is a lot to do up there, but mostly daily life seems to revolve around fishing, which is not quite my thing to say the least. My favorite place to sit and relax (typically over coffee in the morning or a drink in the evening) is our deck.  From here It's easy to see what everybody else is doing while under the shade of the large tree in front. This also made a great location for sketching as there was already a table out and it was an easy place to come back to at different points in the day.  It's easy to get sidetracked while relaxing on the lake.

Out and About - Minnecon

This year I got the chance to attend Minnecon, the local Minnesota version of NeoCon in Chicago (an interiors product showcase).  Now, what would an *almost* architect be doing at an interior design show you ask? Gawing of course! I've always enjoyed being involved with the interiors on my projects, which is completely feasible when working on small projects.  Needless to say, I wanted to show a few of my favorites.

Remember when you were a kid and you got to play with squishy surfaces?  Well, that level of fascination has transferred into adulthood with this new liquid motion commercial tile by Hirshfields.  Every time you step on it the liquid under the plastic casing of the tile moves. Yes, I spent quite a while playing around on the two sample pieces. 

 

 

I love Arktura and humbly await the day when after years of saving I might be able to purchase one of their coveted pieces for display (and maybe sit on it) in my own home.  After pondering images of this chair online for quite a while I couldn't take my eyes off this original right in front of me.  Just a humble hint if anyone is looking for a Christmas gift.

 



 

And... amazing 3D wall panels by Soelberg Industries.  The waves I have always loved, but the birch plywood nature inspired ones were new to me, and very much in my line of interests. Rumor has it all the panels were inspired by the natural environment in Utah. Plywood is an amazing thing when the layers are used as a part of the panel design by routing out different patterns. 

TRNP/Maah Daah Hey Trail - Part 1

Phew! As much fun as it is to take a break and go on a vacation it feels like it can take twice as long to get your life back together once you get back. With all the mad hiking mileage we were still able to make a point to sit down and sketch at least once a day. Since this is taking me quite a bit of time to get together, I am splitting this into two posts - this one being the hiking part of our trip, and the next one will be on all of the other sights etc. Enjoy!

Day 1 - Sully Creek Campground to Cottonwood campground.  We started the day around noon with a 7 mile day starting at Sully Creek Campground just south of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Right away we found ourselves at the first crossing of the Little Missouri River in less than one mile. Up to our waist line in water we thought - hmmmm... this does seem a bit higher than we were told was "normal."  For the next 5 miles we passed through beautiful wide open scenery as we wound our way up and down hills and through grass fields. At about mile 5 we passed through a gate that served as our official "entrance" to the National Park. From here, the trail conditions we less maintained and sign spotting was a little sparse. So sparse in fact, we never found mile marker 7 which was our key to crossing the Little Missouri River to our campsite at Cottonwood Campground for the night. After a bit of trail blazing and river fording, we finally made it!

 

  Instead of "re-trail blazing" across the river and finding the trail again, we opted to back track 2 miles to the last road crossing and do a 12 mile day up to Wannagan Campsite. While still in the park we came upon an unexpected creak crossing.  Though only roughly 10 feet across, this particular creek was nothing but mud, and the kind that you just keep sinking down and down in. It took us a while to hatch out a strategy and get across, but not without the loss of two sandals. Not long afterwards we saw four buffalo from a distance. As our trail continued to wind up and down and around hills, we eventually ended up on top of a huge plateau for three miles. Not long afterwards we officially exited the park and headed onward for three more miles to our final destination - Wannagan Campsite.

 

The nice thing about backpacking is that you are always in the right place to start off your day hiking in the morning:) we departed from Wannagan Campground for another beautiful hot day of rolling grasslands. Now out of the park, we were hiking in the "Little Missouri National Grasslands." In this sketch Chris was really just sitting behind a large tuft of grass, though looking at it afterwards, he thought he looked a bit awkward as you can't really see what he is doing. I'll leave that one up to the imagination.

 

 

Ok, let's stop looking at all the pretty scenery - I've been hiking in it and sketching it for three days now, and look at the reality of the situation - MUD AND WEEDS! Yes, everywhere. Mostly the mud was dry and cracked up with weeds growing out of it.  Often we would see animal footprints (Buffalo? Elkhorn?), but mostly it just crunched beneath our feet as we trekked on. After our lost-sandal-creek experience we were nonetheless thankful that it was in fact DRY.

 

 

The day we met a river we could not pass. We knew that at about halfway through the trail we would be crossing the Little Missouri River again. At the crossings on day 1 she was higher than we expected. After checking with the National Park headquarters, who claimed it impassable, and meeting a ranger at a campsite who claimed it possible, with too many questions we decided to hop out at the last road before the river - the dirt road 708.  Interestingly enough, dirt road 708, which was supposed to cross the river as well, had also caved in and the only way to get to the other side now was to drive all the way down to Medora. Which we did, and got a hotel room for the night.

 

 

With the river washed out and our route diverted, we decided to drive up to the end of the trail and work our way back down from the CCC Campground instead. Once done with the trail on this day we managed to finish about an hour earlier than anticipated. Thus, we sat and waited, and waited, and waited for our ride to pick us up. One of the reasons we finished so quickly was because we didn't stop for a sketch break. Instead, this meant that people were at the mercy of being sketched:)

 

With many miles on our feet, serious blisters already developed, leg skin irritation issues, and numerous feet issues, we stopped hiking here. A crime? Yes, but it also gave us the chance to see much of the area we would not have seen otherwise.  

TRNP Sketchbook Prepwork

As much as planning for a long distance backpacking trail involves a lot of thought and foresight, planning on bringing my sketchbook with is now involving even more thought... which brushes, colors etc. can I possibly live without? Also, in anticipation of our new route, a new sketchbook was purchased. Thus, another need arises, that of an introduction in the sketchbook itself. Kind of like a site plan, this is how we plan to begin our journey.

And this is our journey, tip to tip, 96 miles in all. With the mindset to cover every last bit of trail and relish in the lack of television, loud neighbors, and constant distractions.

Summer Solstice Festival - 45th Parallel Spirits

 

I am not sure what a distillery and summer solstice really have in common, other than an excuse to gather people together and spend some time enjoying music, food, a distillery tour, and tastings. Nonetheless, we had a great time on this day trip. As I've had the time to sketch more lately, it's been great to meet others who share in this passion and make sketching a normal day activity. On this day in particular, I got the chance to sit down with my mother at this festival and chat as we sketched together for the first time. This sketch above is my version of our time at the solstice festival. 

 

 



Above is my mom's sketch. I am always amazed at how different each artist sees the world around them - how they compose their image, what details they pick up on as being important, and their choice of color, shade, and value. It's been fun for us to compare our sketches and be able to look at the world through each others eyes. In all, she was a lot looser with her strokes, where I drew more tightly.  She shows people and the sky, whereas I left both of these out of my sketch, focusing more on the building and the tents.



 

Sketching side by side with my mother. If I learned anything on this outing it is this: Similar to backpacking, gardening, and running, when spending all day under the sun sketching - WEAR SUNSCREEN!!!

Sketching "Tool Kit"

Blogging more has inspired me to purchase a few more new items to add to my sketching "tool kit" so to speak, so I thought I would do a quick visual inventory of what I typically have on hand to sketch.  When it comes to sketchbooks, as an architect I am pretty much addicted to Moleskine's, so it's no surprise that the two new sketchbooks I just purchased are also Moleskine's (I did seriously ponder purchasing a different sketchbook, but just couldn't bring myself to it).

For color, I tend to use watercolor crayons a lot, though have also worked with the typical pigment base that allows you to mix your own colors. The nice thing about the watercolor crayons is that the color is ready for you to use, meaning less time spent mixing colors but you have less color options. Using straight pigments, I can get whatever color I want, but will often spend more time mixing and playing with colors than actually painting with them. Now, I have just purchased a new palette of watercolors in the hopes of finding a happy medium between these two.

Of course there are a few token items such as brushes (I have a few good ones that I am using constantly - all natural sable), a ruler (another architect thing, though I prefer my clear triangle that I can't find at the moment), and a few containers for carrying around water.

For the initial sketch, I tend to start with pencil first, layer on the ink, and then move to color. While I can't claim a strong preference for a pencil, micron pens are definitely my pen of choice for sketching.

There you have it, my "tool kit" in a photo!

Wyalusing State Park

Finally, a chance to relax!!! With one more test down and summer upon us, Chris and I had the chance to join dear friends from Milwaukee for a weekend of camping, hiking and relaxing at Wyalusing State Park. We drove down on Friday and pitched camp at a scenic campsite overlooking the Wisconsin River Valley. 

Saturday we hiked the Sentinal Ridge Trail which stopped at quite a few different overlooks/points of interest. At this one, the Carrier Pigeon Monument, we stopped for a while longer to eat lunch (hence a chance to bust out the sketchbook).

After hiking and relaxing a bit we headed over to the other side of the Mississippi river into Iowa and Pikes Peak to check out the view from the other side (just as beautiful) and a waterfall. 

Up early the next morning, I had a few minutes to sketch out our luxury sleeping accommodations... the first tent Chris and I purchased together (she has been very good to us). Ah, the memories... we have come so far from our very first time camping and hiking together.

Media: Micron Pen, Watercolor Crayon