No Verdict Today - Television News Truck

The media waited and waited... I sketched.

Click on the sketches to make them bigger.

A splendid afternoon along the River.

This picture was drawn below Main Street along the river, by Pracna. I'm sure that some of you have been down there. What a splendid day it was. Among other sweet distractions, there was a guy up the path playing bag pipes for a while.


Thanks for the invitation.

Como Town, St. Paul

Left: quick sketch of Como Town entrance, using a Faber-Castell Pitt Artist's Brush Pen and some light washes of gouache. The text background was adhered before my trip out. The journal is an odd one, being 3.5 x 8 inches. The sun was setting fast. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

Tuesday my friend Tom and I went over to the Como Conservatory to check out some prospects for his Gigapans (large, detailed panoramic photographs). After he set up and shot a couple inside the Conservatory we went walking around the zoo area, including the outside perimeter. While Tom took a Gigapan panorama of Como Town, I did the above sketch, standing to the left of the camera. (See Tom's Gigapan of Como Town here.)

Sketching at the Federal Courthouse in Saint Paul

I'm still sketching at the trial of Tom Petters. It was a nice day on Friday and Judge Kyle let us out early. I sketched a few of the sights in the park at Kellogg and Roberts. Click on the sketches to make them bigger.

View of Construction from Federal Courthouse in Saint Paul

I took a break from sketching the trial of Tom Petters to sketch the construction outside (click to enlarge).

Views of the Como Conservatory

Above: Liz Carlson's sketch of the Como Conservatory. Mixed media (Nexus, Faber-Castel Pitt Artist Brush Pens, watercolor washes), in a Canson ringbound, landscape watercolor journal (7 x 9-3/4 inch page).

Today I went out to Como Conservatory and Zoo with BFF Liz (I have to refer to her that way, we have a contractual obligation). We sat on a bench near the entrance and sketched the Conservatory Dome before entering the zoo (it's what Liz selected—later I would select several birds of course). One of the great things about going out to sketch with friends is that you get to see their perception of the same item you are looking at and sketching. We were both on the same bench, the same distance away from the Conservatory. It was a cool and overcast day (52 degrees Fahrenheit) but it didn't rain until we were leaving the zoo at 4 o'clock.

Below: My sketch of the the Como Conservatory Dome. (I was actually focusing on the tree at the right!) I borrowed Liz's Pentel Pocket Brush Pen (mine was inadvertently left on my desk) and I used a Niji waterbrush and gouache. (I have to stop sharing my journal with people—I felt compelled to write down the circumstances under which I wrote my rambling note so students who might read my journal wouldn't really think this mattered to me. Let's just say I was finished sketching—and had plenty of time to sit and heckle Liz. I'm lippy.) My page spread is approx. 11-1/4 x 9 inches and there is a piece of thin Japanese paper glued down the center of the spread, extending about 2 inches on to each page. (I like to collage things on my journal pages.) I did get to use a bit of my Schmincke Gold Calligrapher's Gouache on the round ball at the top of the dome.

Sketching While Waiting for the Library to Open

Sketches of people waiting to get into the Minneapolis Downtown Central Library: