OLD TOWN SAN DIEGO - ONE POINT PERSPECTIVE

Sketching the Junipero Serra Museum arches from a photo.

The final result. Sketched on Stillman & Birn Beta Series hardbound A5 sketchbook, M Graham watercolors, DaVinci sable travel brush round No. 10, Platinum Carbon desk fountain pen and platinum carbon ink.

I found this image online of the Junipero Serra Museum overlooking Old Town San Diego and thought it would be challenging to sketch. I've  never sketched archways in perspective and I thought a good one point perspective view would simplify things a bit.

I've taken two online classes on perspective on Craftsy that were taught by Stephanie Bower and I learned a lot about one and two point perspective as well as how to draw arches, stairs roof angles, etc in perspective.

You should check out her classes if perspective is a mystery to you. I also have her book on perspective: Understanding Perspective: Easy Techniques for Mastering Perspective Drawing on Location (an Urban Sketching Handbook)

Here are a few shots of my sketch in progress:

A light pencil under sketch.

After inking with a Platinum Carbon Desk fountain Pen and Platinum Carbon ink.

adding the sky and foliage. I've been trying to avoid drawing trees, bushes and plants in general thinking that they look more natural or wispy with paint only. Although I do sketch a rough outline in with a pencil so I can ink in around where I plan to add trees etc.

Originally I was going to just leave the red tile flooring with a lot of white space as if the sun was reflecting but I thought it drew too much attention and messed with where I wanted the viewers' eye to flow. 

JUNE WEEK 2 SKETCHES

It's been pretty hectic around the house so I haven't gotten in much sketching ... or running ... or anything else that is hobby related done.

We are going on vacation soon so hopefully I'll get in some actual on-location sketching done instead of having to draw from photos.

I also got a new fountain pen that I'm trying out. The Platinum Carbon Desk Fountain Pen. I'll do a review on it soon.

Platinum Carbon Desk Pen - Extra-fine -DP-1000AN 

Here's a couple of sketches I did last Saturday from photos. I think I sketched and painted both of these in under an hour.

Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego. My son is a Marine and went through here. This is from a photo I found online.  This is sketched in pencil with a just a little ink for the blacks. Watercolors are M Graham's painted with a Da Vinci Sable Round #10 travel brush on Stillman & Birn Beta Series A5 hardbound sketchbook. 

I used my new pen, the Platinum Carbon fountain pen to draw this sketch of the Point Reyes abandoned boat. Platinum Carbon makes a great waterproof fountain pen ink so you would think, or at least I thought, they would ship their pens with that same great ink in the cartridge with their pens. Nope. 

As soon as I got the ink wet it started to run. So I had to just dab the paint on. I'm not happy with the result. I immediately threw away the ink cartridge that came with the pen and replaced it with a converter and Platinum Carbon waterproof ink. Painted with M Graham watercolors, Da Vinci Sable round #10 travel brush on  Stillman & Birn Beta Series A5 hardbound sketchbook.

Marc Taro Holmes posted on his website Citizen Sketcher about painting portraits in layers so I thought I would give it a try. No sketching first, just building them with watercolors starting with simple shapes then adding detail in layers.

Although these are embarrassing to share (as are all of my sketches) I hope that someday I'll be able to look back on these and see them as a stepping stone. I also need to remember I've only been sketching and painting since December (6 months) so not to judge myself so harshly.

If you haven't taken any of Marc's online classes you should check them out on Craftsy. He's a great teacher. Here's his link on Craftsy

JUNE WEEK 1 SKETCHES

Here's a few sketches I've done this past week. I've actually not sketched that much this week. The bottom sketches are from a month or so ago.

Casa Rojas Mexican Restaurant and Cantina is near my work place. I did this sketch over a about three or four days, just doing a little bit at a time.