Crealde X Casa Feliz Exhibit: In Good Company

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By Thomas Thorspecken

From August 5th to August 28, Casa Feliz will have an exhibit of work from the Crealdé faculty. One of my painting demos done for my students was used for the poster.

I have sketched so many times at Casa Feliz. I also sketched a wedding held on this front door porch. There are often concerts held indoors and those are perfect sketch opportunities.

This should be a pretty amazing show, it will be awesome to meet the many talented professors who teach here.

Casa Feliz, or “Happy House,” is the signature residential work of noted architect James Gamble Rogers II. It was built during the Great Depression at a cost of $28,000.

In the year 2000 the building faced demolition and the community rallied to protect the historic home. The entire 50 ton  structure was literally lifted and moved to its present location, balanced on 20 pneumatically leveled dollies, and then gently moved the 300 yards across Interlacken Avenue to its new home near the golf course.

Today, Casa Feliz serves the community as a historic home museum and rental location for private parties, weddings, and business events. I have sketched so many events here that it feels a bit like my Moulan Rouge.

I will have to reschedule at virtual class I am supposed to teach during those hours, and I hope to get to the opening to sketch. So much creative life flows through the homes halls. So mark your calendar for August 2, 2025 from 2pm to 4pm for the show’s opening. Stop by and say hi.

Crealde Large Scale Sketching

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As the pandemic progressed, class sizes dwindled at Crealde School of Art. I worked hard to maintain social distancing in the classroom and masks were required. I haven’t seen pre-pandemic class sizes yet, though my online classes have me booked solid 6 days a week.

These two students were friends and both were talented artists. I gave them the challenge of drawing the classroom on very large sheets of paper that completely covered their tables. The sketch above was also done on that massive scale. When starting a sketch the artist is often confronted with a feeling that they could not possibly fit all that they see on the sketch page. This assignment flips that feeling on it’s head. Students can no longer sketch dainty small objects but instead they must draw on a massive scale, to fill the sheet.

The fun thing about working this large is that you can dig in and sketch the smallest details. The sketch still needed to be done in about 3 hours so lines needed to be put down quickly and the entire body is used to put lines down rather than twitching fingertips and wrists the movement of the pencils were influenced by how the student stood and leaned into the sketch. The entire arm, and shoulder and hips would pivot making sketching a much more active sport.

Crealde Table Cloth Sketching

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6 months into the pandemic I was teaching an Urban Sketching course at Crealde School of Art on Sundays. Tables in the room were arranged in tight rows, but I would spread then out into an open circular layout just before class to allow for some social distancing. Masks were required at this point.

My mantra from the very first class is to “fill the page.”  I also want to encourage the students to draw from the hips, trough the shoulders and then to the hand rather than dainty lines put down with wrist or finger movement. To encourage this, I covered each table with white paper tablecloths which become the sketch that needed to be completed. The sketch above was also done on one of these large sheets of paper. You can see the ripped edges on the left and right. I painted the scene much later digitally.

The Crealde Urban Sketching course will start up again in the Spring. I am teaching 6 days a week for Elite Animation Academy and they have a course called “Sketching People Places and Things” which very much like the Urban Sketching course. There are virtual classes for adults now and I have students from as far away ad Borneo!

Crealde Urban Sketchers in Panera’s

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One of the last classes of my Crealde Urban Sketching Class is held inside a Panera Bread on Aloma Avenue in Winter Park just a block from the school campus. The goal is to get the students familiar with sketching in a restaurant.

On a Sunday, Panera Bread has few customers in the early morning but as noon approach people start to arrive many from church. Some retirees are here every weekend it seems. Most people were on their digital devices. Only my students held paper pencils and pens. Since tables are set square to the room, this is often a lesson in one point perspective for my students. My sketch is sett up as a one point perspective with a hint of a second point off to the left off the page.

I move from student to student and kneel down to do thumbnail sketches helping them at any point that has them stumped at the time. My time working on this sketch is therefor limited. An older couple sat right in front of me. After they had eaten, I liked that they were both on their cell phones at the same time facing one another but speaking to others. It is a sign of our times. A digital divide.

When all our sketches were complete, we went outside and lined up all the sketches on a table. It is so rewarding to see the amazing variety of approaches each artist takes. Even though they were all given the same information to start, they each interpreted what I told them in their own way. This is what makes sketching from live so exciting. I am often asked, “do you take a photo and work from that?” NO! There is an energy that you get when working directly from life. It is that energy and excitement that I hope to share with the students. Granted sketching on location isn’t as popular at Crealde as ceramics, but the students how embrace sketching, will have a new way of interacting with the world.

Sign up for the next Crealde Urban Sketching classes which will start up in the spring. The winter class was canceled since no one signed up. Perhaps Florida students fear the cold. It is 56 degrees out there right now. Brrrr!

Crealde Urban Sketching Tent

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One of the first assignments my Urban Sketching students get at Crealde School of Art is trying to sketch this outdoor tent. The day starts with a lesson in 1 point and two point perspective and then we go outside and sketch the tent.

There is a lake behind Crealde and the far shore gives a clear indication of where the horizon line would be in a sketch. Before students get too far into their sketches, I visit each one individually and give them a thumbnail sketch to indicate what features I would look for if I were to attempt the sketch from their angle.

Sometimes we just work in pen and ink and sometimes we push further and use watercolor. It depends on the vibe of the students. Each class tends to focus on one premise which is rolled into what we learned the previous week.

This is the perfect time of year to attend the Urban Sketching Class since the weather is so cool. In most classes we are outside exploring the camp us or heading out to a location to sketch. Past locations have included, a dog park, bowling alley, Panera’s, and antique car meet ups. The possibilities on a Sunday morning could be endless with enough research.

If you are interested in improving your skills and joining an international movement of like minded artists you should come on out. We meet for 3 hours and the goal is always to push the sketches to a level of completion with line, value and color. These are sketches not something for a museum wall. When you stop worrying about the final result you tend to take more chances and surprisingly the sloppy experiments are what works best. In my work the sketches are almost always populated with people, so in one class students sketch one another.

I just got an email from Crealde and unfortunately the January 19 series of classes have been canceled but you should think about signing up of the next series of sessions starting in the spring. I can’t figure out why sketching on location is not more popular in Orlando. I have been sketching everyday on location since 2009. I just did the math, that is 16 years. It is a habit that keeps me motivated and inspired each and every day.

Today I will be unpacking all the sketchbooks I have filled over the past 16 years. They take up a shelf and a half on my handmade bookcase. I also discovered I have tons of wood stretchers and raw canvas. It might be a good time to start working on larger paintings on location. I am now in a rural Lake County Florida, so I will soon be hiking into the woods to sketch and perhaps work on larger paintings. This is an exciting time, much like a residency. This new location should inspire me to take more chances moving forward while still working on the COVID Dystopia book.

Crealde Urban Sketching Class

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This is a quick sketch done of my students working on the patio behind the Crealde Urban Sketching classroom. This was a demo to show how to do a thumbnail sketch to plan out the composition of a scene.

I do these sketches with no intention of pushing them to a finish to show the early stages of planning a scene. When I work on location on my own, I tent to just jump in and do a sketch that fills the page. The early stages of one of those large sketches would also look a bit like this, with detail pushed aside to block in the big shapes. This sketch really only has one major shape and that is the students on several benches. The general shape is a backwards letter L.

This thumbnail could be pushed further if I went back in and refined shapes using my fountain pen. Instead, I spent my time working with each student to show each how to analyze and sketch their own thumbnails, based on their chosen view.

Crealde Student

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In my Crealde Urban Sketching class, we take one class to do fast five or ten minute poses with each student taking a turn.

As a demo I sketch each student in turn and try and encourage the students to capture more that the person but the entire scene.

There is a frantic energy to working so fast and the goal to get the students to work just as fast and frenetic. Sketches become less detail oriented and more simplified. Detail is only added where it is needed.

I am always pushing students to look for the curve of the back so in this sketch there is one curve drawn behind the figure to show that curve. It was the first line to go on the page.

Orlando Urban Sketchers: Baldwin Perk

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Orlando Urban Sketchers held a morning sketch outing at Baldwin Perk Caffè, 4833 New Broad Street Baldwin Park Florida. I ordered a iced caramel latte and it was delicious. I was super pleased that Baldwin Perk Caffè has a state of the art HEPA air filter running. I sat next to the filter. I am always pleased find establishments that offer clean air for their patrons. I debated about removing my mask but it was just as easy to leave it on. Masking indoors is my new normal. I have had a cough for the past week and wanted to keep everyone else safe.

I am so pleased with how strong the Orlando Chapter or Urban Sketchers has grown. The coffee hose was full of sketchers. It was like a sketching flash mob.

Gay reminded me of the times I used to host drink and draw events. She was one of the few artists who showed up in the early days and she is still sketching, Well on this day she was on her laptop working remote, but she often sketches at these outings. Noga who did an amazing job of building the group has been able to hand over many of the responsibilities to a new generation of artists.

One of my former students was sketching. I glanced at her several times convinced I must have met her before, but I couldn’t put 2 an 2 together. I don’t math in the morning, especially without caffeine.  Anyway she was one of my former Crealdè School of Art students. She showed me her sketchbook, full of my thumbnail notes. I had done a sketch of her in class, when we were going over sketching people on location. Meeting he absolutely made me glow. I have always said that if I can convince one student that sketching on location is an inspiring way to live life, then I would have done my job as an instructor. She convinced me I had done my job right for once.

I would gladly return to Baldwin Perk. I might stop in when I am teaching a class at Crealde again on Sundays. Urban sketching is my religion.

Urban Sketching Classes Canceled

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In the Crealde School of Art Summer Urban Sketching classes we cover composition, perspective, drawing the figure, and watercolor. We start with a lesson plan where I discuss the day’s topic and do sketches on a chalk board. I tend to explain better with line rather than words.

Then students spend much of the class sketching. I sketch along with them and share each step of my process so they get a feel for how long each step takes.

I also do pencil thumbnail sketches for each student explaining what could be adjusted inn the sketch they are doing to help improve it.

At the end of class we all put down the favorite sketch and then they get to learn from each other, discussing what works best.

Unfortunately not enough students signed up, so the next series of classes were canceled.

Crealde Panorama

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Each Sunday I head out to Crealde to do demos and try and inspire my students to sketch anywhere they go. We spent all of the classes so far exploring the campus. I keep stressing that everything is sketch worthy. We have covered drawing human proportions and this last class I did a demo on how to draw faces. Most of the time however is spent sketching.

I had the student break up a single sketch page into 9 panels and the goal became to fill each panel with a small sketch. Since students were still getting used to the supplies they worked slowly the first class. Some students only finished one panel other finished several. This week we returned to the same assignment to complete the page. At the end of this class one very talented student had finished every panel. She said, “This is the first complete sketch I have ever done.” It was rewarding to know I helped pushed her towards the concept of finished sketches that have line, value and color.

Another student pointed out that she had never filled a sketchbook. The problem is that many artists feel the book as a whole needs to be a masterpiece, and if it isn’t they put it aside and start another sketchbook. I always show my students my sketchbook that was lost when I rode my bike across the country. It was returned 30 years later when it was found in someones garage. Early sketches in the book are from when I was a freshman in college, then the book transitions into sketches form today. The transition is a jarring as the transition for black and white to color TV.

Since I am packing up my studio, I found all these scraps of matte board which are very horizontal in format. I demonstrated how to block in a panoramic composition in pencil, then pen and finally watercolor washes. I walked the sketch around to show each step, so students know how much time an effort goes into each step. All the while I let them keep working on their own sketches. They learn the most for making their own mistakes. I always offer suggestions, but also encourage then to accept the sketch as it is and apply my suggestions on the next sketch they do.

A gardener was carrying off huge trash cans full of refuge. It looked like real back breaking work. He loved to chat. He has been doing this type of work since he was 14. His father got him started and the money he made was put towards his first car. I later learned that he makes more than I do teaching at Crealde. Unfortunately I doubt I am strong enough to carry the same loads like Atlas. I can only put down lines and washes.