Texture test

I did this line drawing early one evening, while waiting to pick up a pizza, adding watercolor pencil and watercolor later. I experimented with adding texture by scraping through it with a piece of old, cut-up credit card.

I have seen several urban sketchers use this technique--most recently, Paul Wang, from Singapore.

St. Brigid's in July

Drawn from Brigid's Green, across the road—looking west.

I finished the Stillman & Birn Alpha sketchbook about a month ago. This is drawn in my new “everyday carry,” a Handbook Travelogue Journal, 5.5” x 5.5”. I’m still getting used to the change in size, shape, and paper.

Churches

Fellowship Baptist Church, after the rain, 6/23

St. Brigid's Catholic Church, 6/26

Northwest Presbyterian Church, 6/28

First Presbyterian Church, Ada, Ohio
7/2



I find the churches in this area the most interesting buildings to draw, because architects seemed to place a higher value on beauty than with other modern buildings.

As usual, when I change sketchbooks, I find it difficult to adjust to the new paper. I liked the large Stillman & Birn Alpha I used a few years ago. The size of this Stillman & Birn A5 feels a bit cramped, and the paper doesn't take as much water as the Pentallic Nature Sketch I had been using. I used a little colored pencil over the watercolor on St. Brigid's, and a little pastel pencil on Northwest Presbyterian. (It was difficult to add watercolor layers, to get an even wash with a water brush, and to get pages to lie flat while photographing.)

I have learned from ArtTutor.com, that in order to improve my sketches, I will have to:
(1) Use heavier weight watercolor paper
(2) Give up the water brush
(3) Dedicate larger blocks of time to a piece
(4) Sometimes practice specific techniques working from photographs, where I can focus on difficult elements of a scene, over a period of time.
(5) Stay out of art supply stores; use the time to practice and improve
(6) Clear a space on my art table to actually work
(7) Get over my fear of masking fluid
(8) Become more comfortable working wet-in-wet
(9) Reduce dependence on ink lines to establish form
(10) Hold mark making tool further from the tip
(11) Try mixing more on the paper and less on the palette
(12) Experiment with glazing
(13) Consider negative shapes
(14) Try to fit sketching into a time of day when there are more shadows
(15) Draw thumbnails before sketching; consider options
(16) Experiment with limited palettes
(17) Be willing to sacrifice a great deal of pigment in the Pencil sharpener and the water jar.
(18) Work larger
(19) Use fresh paint

St. Brigid's Catholic Church, in the wind

The perspective here is off, a bit more than usual, I think. I was becoming re-oriented to the earth beneath my feet, after nearly falling over while gazing at the steeple with clouds scudding past behind it. The sensation of movement resembled that of being on a ship or a slow moving vehicle. For a brief moment, I felt I had glimpsed an unseen reality, of some nature. The church and I were moving through time.

I was unable to find a parking spot with a view of the whole church. The bells rang. Congregants soon came pouring out, maybe from a wedding. I thought, this may be a moment, a day, a couple will remember for the rest of their lives.

Perimeter at night

St. Brigid's (thumbnails)