Field Trip Revised

Posted on October 29, 2017 by Sarah Sullivan
Revised Sketch of a Field Trip by Sarah Sullivan

Field Trip Revised

This is a larger and more carefully drawn version of my post from October 25. I wanted to do a better job capturing the liveliness of a very large class of students taking a field trip to Balboa Park in San Diego.

This sketch is based on a couple of photos and my plein air sketches of the lily pond from earlier in the month. I got kind of bogged down with the detail and overworked the pond and building. And I could not come close to fitting in the many students in a typical California classroom. However, I did convey livelier students this time, especially those students at the end of the line.

This is gouache sketch on a 12 X 17-inch sheet of black paper.

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Field Trip to Balboa Park

Posted on October 25, 2017 by Sarah Sullivan
Sketch by Sarah Sullivan of a class of students along the lily pond at Balboa Park

Field Trip to Balboa Park

Just as I was finishing up yesterday I looked across the lily pond and noticed a class of students walking energetically behind their teacher along the other side. I was charmed by their quick pace and by their reflections in the pond. I took several photos and used one today for this sketch.

The base of this sketch is a preliminary 9 X 9 inch sketch I did in gouache for the larger piece, ‘The Lily Pond Again’, that I did yesterday. Today I used pastels and drew over that preliminary sketch. Then in the water portion, I added more gouache over the pastels for the blurry look of water.

There were some 30 students in this class. Tomorrow I will develop this idea further using a 17-inch long sheet of paper to emphasize the long line of students.

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The Lily Pond Again

Posted on October 24, 2017 by Sarah Sullivan
Sketch by Sarah Sullivan of a portion of the lily pond at Balboa Park in San Diego

The Lily Pond Again

This was my third morning at the Lily Pond in San Diego’s Balboa Park and I got closer to what I would like to show about the pond and its reflections today. I now know that the choice of a spot for painting and the choice of the time of day are both important decisions because reflections are altered by the angle the water is viewed from and the angle of the sunlight in the sky.

This is a 12 X 12 gouache painting on black paper.

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Across the Drawing Class

Posted on October 23, 2017 by Sarah Sullivan
Sketch of two women by Sarah Sullivan

Across the Drawing Class

I had a hard time getting into the lesson for the day which was drawing parts of models extending off the page. I looked around the room to see how the others were doing with it and I was surprised to see that they mostly seemed focused and enthusiastic.  I ended up drawing some of them instead of the models.

This is chalk sketch on a large sheet of drawing paper.

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Pumpkin Patch

Posted on October 22, 2017 by Sarah Sullivan
Sketch by Sarah Sullivan of the Pumpkin Patch at Summer Farms Past in El Cajon CA

Pumpkin Patch

The San Diego Urban Sketchers met this morning at Summer Past Farms in ElCajon, just east of San Diego. With only nine days to go to Halloween, excitement was in the air and it showed with every step that each child took. I wanted to capture the buzz in this sketch and tried to keep my brushstrokes brisk and clean.

 

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Passages

Posted on October 21, 2017 by Sarah Sullivan
Sketch of two people walking a Marriage Labyrinth by Sarah Sullivan

Passages

This is a small brainstorming sketch for a larger painting I want to make.

Last weekend I was at a ranch in Arizona for a wedding. Although the wedding took place on a large green lawn, the ranch also had a nearby labyrinth which I was quite taken with. I loved the dried grasses and old oak trees that rim the area. Each day I sketched and photographed different people walking the labyrinth, although not the bride and groom.

This week I got to thinking of the symbolism of passages, pathways, rocks, blue skies and such for a marriage and am planning out a large painting of it.

 

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A Rare October Rain in San Diego

Posted on October 20, 2017 by Sarah Sullivan
Sketch of A Rare October Rain by Sarah Sullivan

A Rare October Rain in San Diego

Rain in October is not what I expected to wake up to this morning in San Diego, never mind that it was less than a quarter inch, it still was rain. I walked up to a mesa with a terrific view off to the north-west at San Diego State University, a place from which I often draw. I hoped it might be a great morning to paint clouds and it was. And I even got to try my hand at rainy clouds. The black paper was perfect for this.

As the clouds cleared I got a second more abstract sketch. I used wet into wet and liked the way the clouds and colors merged.

Sketch of October Clouds Over San Diego by Sarah Sullivan

October Clouds Over San Diego

Both of these sketches are gouache on black paper.

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