Stanford Cactus Garden and Eucalyptus Tree

Somehow I managed to live near Stanford University for many years now, but never got to visit the Cactus Garden there. It is also called an Arizona Garden and is quite old. There were many things to draw, but the time was limited, so I think I would call this a reconnaissance sketching - I will be back to draw an old Joshua Tree and all the textures of many interesting succulents! I quickly put this sketch together from a shade of a tree where I could observe a plant being simultaneously eaten by a hummingbird and a squirrel.  

And of course, an eucalyptus tree is always a reason to stop by and sketch!

Sketching on a Campus of San José State University

Two views from the same bench on the campus of San José State University. 

Stencils, printmaking tools, ballpoint pen and actyling markers. Click on the image to see a larger version and some finger smudges (somehow drawing with markers always ends up being a finger painting ordeal for me!).

100 Views of Silicon Valley: Downtown San Jose State - University Campus and Art Museum

San Jose is a lovely city - constantly changing and evolving - at least that's how I feel. Every time I visit it I am a little lost and frustrated about something not being "as it was last time" but by the end of the visit there is usually something new I love. This time I was painting with Suhita and we saw that city was flooded with scooters to ease traffic in the downtown and people were really having fun riding them :)

Urban Sketchers Bay Area 10x10 Workshop

This Saturday I had a pleasure to teach an Urban Sketchers workshop at the Stanford University campus. The theme was "Gouache Your World" and it was was designed for people who never tried gouache, who were already learning and wanted to get some tips, and for people who tried and were frustrated with this medium.

Each participant received a kit to take home: a board which can be used as a support and a mixing area at the same time (we used these boards as supports for the workshop), and an airtight palette with 24 wells - twelve of which had samples of artist quality gouache.

We talked about gouache's secrets, about main mistakes that people make when starting with the gouache, and how to avoid them. Then we went over layering, brushwork and my approach to learning faster and more efficiently. And then we painted some exercises and surrounding University sights. Our location gave us a lovely view at the Stanford Tower and university grounds. At the end of workshop I shared my last two sketchbooks to illustrate how I use gouache in them along with ink, watercolors, and collage.

Big thanks to everyone who made this workshop possible - Bay Area USK organizers - Laurie Wigham, Suhita Shirodkar, and Cathy McAuliffe and wonderful group of students who joined me for this fun learning experience. Double thank you goes to Cathy McAuliffe for her assistance during the class itself.

I had a blast teaching this class and I’m looking forward to an upcoming June gouache class which will be a part of a Trio Workshop I am preparing with the wonderful artists Gay Kraeger and Suhita Shirodkar.

USK is planning to repeat these series in the Fall - so if you did not make it to this class hopefully you will join me then.

And I am collecting feedback from people to see if there is enough interest to run a Gouache 2.0 class to take some concepts deeper and just PAINT MORE. Let me know if you are interested!

There are NINE more classes this spring from the USK 10x10 - check them out!

100 Views of Silicon Valley: Stanford University and Downtown Mountain View