Drawing Bikes with Kids!

Another year - another opportunity to draw bikes with kids at a local event promoting biking to school and work. This year we had a heat wave and, understandably, fewer visitors. But it was a blast nonetheless!

I planned to bring lots of brushes and paint instead of drawing but did not have a way to bring it all and instead brought acrylic markers - I thought they would be a big hit - but kids cared only about colors and not what tool they were using! I hope to learn from them :)

This year's favorite/new/surprising expressions are:

• Strawberry is riding my bike! Wait - where do I sit?
• My bike has polka dots instead of spokes!
• And mine has hearts instead of spokes - this is the most heart bike ever!
• I know how to bike and make matcha. I also just started kindergarten - I will know more soon.
• I am drawing a city where I am riding - and need to add cameras - many cameras.
• This is me, and this is my mom - riding a bike together. She does not know how to ride a bike, but we are going for matcha ice cream - this is a drawing of our dream.
• No! My bike does not need a helmet! But I do.

Bell Peppers!

Farmer's Market bounty: bell peppers of all sorts in markers, watercolor and gouache, not to mention a mix between all of this and printmaking and collage!

A Vase and Some Dry Grass Collected on my Walks

I made this vase but did not draw it for some time since I was trying to find a good branch to put in it. But none worked. Leaves were not working either. But with time, some unknown grasses and remnants of sweet alyssum (Lobularia maritima), which I am trying to cultivate, made a somewhat working collection. 

Drawing Trash Bins and Back Alleys with Friends

Back alleys were on my list for some time, but there was always something blooming or an event happening or a new building there or an interesting tree here. But this time I got my wish - a whole morning of drawing trash bins behind the actual businesses! A joyful way to spend time with friends - thank you for joining me, Suhita and Uma! Below are my sketches and process photos.

A Question About Changing Mind and a Mess of a Sketch of an Oak

I often wonder what makes me change my mind about a drawing. I liked it on location (see photo). I really did not like it later to such a degree that I  tried to fix it. I did not like the results so much that I spent quite some time writing about all kinds of things about this sketch. And now I am kind of liking it. I know that changing your mind about work as time passes is a common situation - do you know why it happens to you? Click on the image to see my comments and questions.