Final Sketches

Here are my final sketches for the 10-day challenge. I included my “creative space” sketch in this challenge a few days ago, but here are four new ones. The first sketch was done in Hudson, Wisconsin. My son and I went there on a cloudy day, it is across the St. Croix river from Stillwater, MN. There is a park and marina and sailing school right along the water, so I parked and sketched. There were a ton of geese with goslings, so we enjoyed looking at the little buggers. Some were small, fuzzy, and yellow (what I sketched), and others were gangly and taller and gray, obviously more developed (like teenagers). It was fun to watch the geese families and sketch boats and the sailing school shed.

Yesterday, my city was under curfew for the riots, so I drove around and found a quiet parking lot by the library that overlooked a senior living community, Stonecrest. I liked the red sign on the front of the building that said “Heroes Work Here”, and it reminded me that in the midst of violence, there are still people helping others. I also sketched the white transport van for the seniors who go to doctor appointments and field trips. A couple small boys rode by on their bikes and later their mom came on the scene on her bike. I could tell she was in a discussion with the boys, I’m not sure what they did wrong, but one boy was blaming the other. So I quickly sketched the mom before she rode away! It was a warm, quiet, peaceful time of sketching and helped me focus on something good for a few minutes.

Finally, I did two sketches today in Red Wing, Minnesota. We drove down there to get out of town and relax a bit after an intense weekend in the Twin Cities. We walked down to the downtown area and a newly installed park along the Mississippi River. Cement was brand new and fixtures and benches were obviously new. The view was spectacular and you could hear live music across the river in Wisconsin at a bar. We watch the boats and cabin cruisers go up and down the river and I settled on a bench to sketch. My daughter laid on the cement to get a sun tan, but once she felt a bug crawling on her, and I identified it as a spider, she leapt up like she was on fire, scrambling around and exclaiming, “Where? Where is he?” I pointed out this tiny spider on the sidewalk and couldn’t get her to resume the pose. So I had half a body in my sketch. Ugh. But never fear. I have learned now to just keep sketching and not worry about it. So I decided to sketch the large grain elevators on the bank across from me and worked it into the sketch of my daughter. I think it turned out fine. It looks a little weird, but I love it!

My final sketch is also in Red Wing along the river. My family was patient with me, and though my kids were pushing to go to Culver’s and get onion rings and ice cream, I was able to squeeze in one more sketch. I chose to sketch the historic St. James hotel, a beautiful structure. I liked the fork lift in front of me, which added a nice juxtaposition to the elegant hotel. A dirty yellow contrasted with the brick of the hotel and the Red Wing sign behind it. I would love to go back and sketch there again, there was so much to see!

This was a great sketch challenge, and I hope I can keep sketching in June! It is relaxing, meditative, and fun. I hope you can find things to sketch too. Just look around you, the world is an interesting place!