Me Time

Western Suburbs, Chicago: So there I was, on the commuter train towards my destination of work in the city. The typical train only measures about 10 feet from side to side and within such a short distance there were 8 humans--strangers--each doing our own thing. Some choose to sleep, many are on their cell phones or laptops and others rustle their newspaper. And then I was there with my sketchbook trying to capture it all. I have done several depictions of people on the train, looking for the subtle differences inherent in each life form.

For this sketch I roughed out everything with pencil, then traced over the pencil with Uniball Vision Micro. Once back at my studio, I scanned this sketch and colorized it in Photoshop (which I might add still takes an artistic eye and hand skills). For me, Photoshop is just another set of tools that allows me to add color (without the clean up) and does not replace the ability to see and capture a moment in life.

My Favorite Pianist

When our USk Chicago group was recently at the Chicago Cultural Center, many of us were entertained by the very talented Irina Feoktistova as part of the Sunday Salon Concert Series. While I was only about 15 yards away facing the opposite direction from the performance, my ears enjoyed the performance (to say the least). 

It turns out that my mother-in-law is a wonderfully talented pianist who has played so long that many of the songs in her repertoire she has memorized. My piano--which normally collects way too much dust these days since my son has switched to the electronic synthesizer--comes to life whenever Juliet is in the house. Preparing the final details on a Thanksgiving meal are so much more enjoyable when Juliet is filling the house with her music.

One perfect note

Continuing with Urban Sketchers meet at the Chicago Cultural Center...

I was already sitting at a great angle sketching the grand piano in the Music room when two ladies arrived chatting in Russian and walked to the piano. One sat down and proceeded to play a piece of Tchaikovsky intoning it in a familiar Russian manner. That was just a warm up, the concert would actually start later.

The piano in my sketch was nearly complete so I just sat the lady pianist in front of it, tiger striped outfit and all. 

I was sitting there sketching, listening to Tchaikovsky and thinking that life rarely gets better than this: beautiful room, Tiffany glass, wonderful live music, five old and new friends around me, a pen and a sketchbook. Cheers!

Urban sketching as evidence?

Chicago suburbs: Sometimes the act of urban sketching puts the artist in a real life situation where it is tough to decide when to jump in and help and when to capture the event. The action may happen so fast that the only way to capture the event is by taking a photograph or to have the scene so clearly etched in the mind (such as this one). This sketch was created in 1977 when I used to live on a busy street in the suburbs, at the bottom of a hill where drivers often stop and turn into the subdivision. Often I would hear screeching of tires, slamming on the brakes, and the more rare collisions.  This accident was captured after all of the first responders had arrived and the situation was under the control of the incident commander. I became one of the many witnesses standing across the street to see how the rescue mission would play out and I could then focus on contrast of shapes and the lighting for the nighttime event. Sometimes what the urban sketcher captures may be useful to the police because our observational skills can help piece together the puzzle.

Telling the Story

So many Urban Sketchers capture their cities in the architecture but for me it's the people. There's nothing like people-watching in the city. It gets my creative juices flowing! So many stories, each unique and yet somehow universal.

While most of USk Chicago sketched in the Cultural Center I ventured across the street to
the rink at Millennium Park.  Despite the cold it was filled with skaters. There were tourists and locals, novices and pros, kids and the forever youngs and of course the speedsters. HA! When you're trying to sketch them they're all speedsters!

After sketching at the rink for I while I went back to the Center to meet up with the others and to finish up the color on my sketches. What a great group! It was a fun day!

Really Tired

On my way home from the Chicago Cultural Center "Let's Sketch" event on January 20th, I chilled out in the food court of the Ogilvy Transportation Center. I spotted this poor guy. So tired was he that he didn't even know he was laying down on his take out container. I've been there so I felt for him. And I wondered if the two people in the background had noticed him or if they were snapping pictures.

Sketched in pencil, then traced in Uniball MicroVision pen. While I most often work in colored markers and pencils, this sketch I scanned and bought into my iPad and colorized it in iBis PaintX. Pretty cool program and I expect to bring it to more "Let's Sketch" events.

We took over Chicago Cultural Center

The January Urban Sketchers meet turned out a spectacular event. An unprecedented number of artists showed up. It felt like there were 30 of us, or perhaps it was only 20 and I am exaggerating in my excitement. I really could not count us all, there literally was at least one Urban Sketcher in every room, and the Cultural Center is a very large building. One of our sketchers - Lucas - invited two of his classmates from American Academy of Arts and his painting teacher! It also felt that perhaps the movement is finally making traction in Chicago and beginning to gain momentum.

The internal architecture of the building is so beautiful that it is very hard to settle down and select something one to draw. I knew I had to limit myself to something manageable. I sketched in the Cultural Center before and was aware how easy it is to be enchanted by its beauty and try to grab too much for a given amount of time. So I chose a window, just one window, looking south on Washington Ave.