Sketches in Time

Crabapples in progress. . .

 

I am tickled pink to be headed to Italy tomorrow to help with a sketching class taught by one of my art heroes, Ken O'Connell. We will spend the first couple of days in Rome, and then two weeks in the Terni area at La Romita, with side trips out to several different small hill towns to sketch. This is one of those bucket list items for me--can it get any better?

I sketched the crabapple blossoms with a Copic W2 Original marker. Ken has been encouraging me to try sketching with a marker or multiliner rather than my tool of choice, a pencil. I chose a light value, warm-toned marker knowing that I could always cover a bad line if I really needed to. I can still see the original circles that I started building the larger blossoms with, but if I just fill in some color, I think those lines won't be distracting. 

As you can see, I'm not finished yet. It's a sketch in progress. (Is it my schedule or a touch of ADD? Who knows?)

Want to know my BIGGEST challenge for the sketch class in Italy? Working with a really limited palette. I think Ken suggested twelve colors. Then I picked another twelve. But I still had no oranges, no purples, and precious few blues. So, I'm up to thirty-six now. (Shhh! Don't tell.) I will still be missing my other 322 markers, so it's quite a limited palette, in my opinion. ;-) I'm taking watercolors too. Now there's another challenge. . .

Thanks for visiting--ciao!

Sketching in Italy, anyone?

I just saw this post on the Copic blog and had to share my excitement with someone! Have you ever wanted to sketch in Italy? Well, I've wanted to do that since the first time I heard Ken O'Connell talk about the sketching tour that he teaches in the Umbrian region of Italy every other year. Quaint Italian hill towns, great food cooked by Italian mamas every day, and sketching? Oh. My. WORD. . .

Ken, shown above, the President of Imagination International (North American Copic distributer) and Professor Emeritus from the University of Oregon, is teaching this class for the fifth time this coming September 2-16, 2012, and I am going too!!! (Normally I'm opposed to extra exclamation points, but I think these are totally justified--don't you?) 

Want to come along? If this sounds like an adventure that might interest you, be sure to check out the Sketchbooks in Italy blog post. I can't wait!

Coffee anyone?

I chose this piece from which to create my blog header because I loved the way it turned out. The inspiration picture shown above was one that I took in Germany last February--what a fabulous trip! 

I sketched in pencil, reinforcing the important lines with a Copic 0.3 Black Multiliner before erasing my pencil lines with a gum eraser and coloring with my Copic markers. Yes, it's still rough and "sketchy," but I think I like it that way. Ummmmm--loved that coffee, and love my markers!

Debbie Olson