Crealde COVID Classroom

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At my Crealde Urban Sketching Class I usually have one lesson inside while the other 5 lessons are outside.The goal of the one indoor class is to teach the students how to draw the classroom using one point or two point perspective. My sketch is done in two point perspective.

Before class I remove most of the tables and leave just one table for each student. My goal is to remove any chance of students sitting too close together. In the foreground of my sketch is the 6 foot long staff I bring to every class. I literally carry it around like Moses as a visual reminder that I need to keep 6 feet from students. Each table is 6 feet wide so that is another visual reminder. I sat more than six feet away by the open classroom door.

Next to the six foot staff is a rolled up drawing on brown paper that is a three dimensional map of the room with an orthographic view from above and orthographic views of the walls. When taped into a cube shape it is a decent representation of the room. The basic lesson is that an artist maps out his view of everyday places and events.

The next series of six Urban Sketching classes starts January 30, 2022.

Crealde Urban Sketching Class

Posted on by Thor

Starting January 30, 2022 I will be teaching 6 Urban Sketching classes on Sundays starting at 9:30AM at Crealde School of Art. These sketches were a demo to sow how to do panoramas and think about foreground, mid ground and background in each sketch. I find that by having students work smaller they tend to finish more sketches and some might finish a spread like this in the course of a class.

I walk around each time I finish a stage of each sketch to show my progress and how long I take for each step. When I meet each student one on one I then often share quick sketch suggestions for the scene they are working on at the time.

We work outside which is a safer working environment. I wear masks even outside at this point in the pandemic. I have upgraded to wearing a KN-95 held in place with the cloth mask Pam made for me right at the start of the pandemic. I let students remove their mask if they are socially distanced outside but insist they put it back on if they get within 6 feet of another student or myself.

For a second time Pam and I hopefully have dodged a COVID bullet. A co-worker tested positive but an at home test has thankfully shown a negative result so far. A second at home test will likely be taken today. These test are expensive so we need to figure out how President Biden’s Plan to have insurance companies cover the cost works out in practice. I suspect lots of robo calls and red tape.

Anyway it is nice to get out of the studio on Sundays and enjoy the sun and breeze while sketching with like minded students. It is a breath of fresh air even if I am wearing a mask.

Crealde Thumbnails

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These are examples of the quick little thumbnail notes I jot down for students taking my Crealde Urban Sketching class. We work outdoors documenting the Crealde Campus. The notes usually apply directly to the sketch that the student is working on and I offer a quick simplification of the process.

My next series of Urban Sketching classes start January 30, 2022. They are every Sunday from 9:30Am to 12;30PM.

Learn to sketch from subject to the environment. Classroom sessions will focus on sketching clothed models and progress towards sketching the model and classroom environment. Learn how to incorporate storytelling into your sketches in our location sessions. These trips to local venues will challenge you to use your sketchbook the way a photojournalist uses a camera. The six-week goal is to produce finished sketches using pencil, pen, and watercolor within two hours. Skill level: Intermediate

Required Supplies

#2 pencil with an eraser, 05 and 08 micron pens, Stillman and Birn 9 x 12 inch spiral bound sketchbook (Alpha or Epsion series), Travel sized watercolor pallet (mine is a Windsor Newton with 14 color pans), Pentel water brush (water goes in the handle), Black Prismacolor pencil, Compact artist stool

I am always pleased by the wide variety of artists who take the class. My goal isn’t to get each artist to draw exactly like me but to encourage them to express themselves in their own unique style. If Artists start carrying sketchbook where ever they go, the world will have so much more to see than iPhone photos.

Crealde Urban Sketch Class

Posted on by Thor

Each Sunday I teach an Urban Sketching class at Crealde School of Art. We sketch outdoors on the campus and lately the weather has been gorgeous. I appreciate the class because it gets me out of my socially isolated studio where I focus on the horrors of the pandemic every other day of the week.

This sketchbook is over 35 years old and  I am intent on filling it up. The pages are tissue thin so the pages curl up when I apply watercolor. Partly because I know this will look like a throw away sketch, I can be looser and more spontaneous. I also work faster so i can walk around and give notes to each student.

I always wear my mask, even outdoors while teaching since I never know when a student might approach with a question. One of my student is a serious about staying masked as I am, which I appreciate.

We just finished the series of classes and the next series will begin, January 30, 2022.

Crealde Urban Sketching Class

Posted on by Thor

My Crealde Urban Sketching students have this week’s class off because of Thanksgiving.  I have 3 talents student an we work outside doing sketches of the campus.

I always do several sketches as well to show them my approach. I work quickly so that I can spend plenty of time walking to each student and offer sketch suggestions. I offer insights on perspective composition and how to work quickly.

The student in this sketch returned for a second round of classes. As she explained, the first time she suspected some of the information washed over her. Explaining the principles is far different that applying the principles in each sketch. That is why we spend most of each class sketching.

From the first class each student does finished watercolor sketches. They quickly realize that covering a sketch page with watercolor washes takes more time that expected.  It is rewarding to teach adults since they are more in tuned with the idea of slowing down and taking their time to finish each sketch. My main challenge is always to give people the time to truly see. Society moves at a breakneck pace and an artist needs to slow down to put things down on the sketch page. When my students are working outside I allow them to unmask but ask that they put it back on when within 6 feet of anyone else. I have notice them forgetting to mask back up and when they do I stay at least 22 feet away. That is about 4 dead bodies lying bed to toe.

Tropical Tree Crealde

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On Sundays I teach Urban Sketching at Crealde School of Art. We spend most of our time outside sketching on the campus. This is the safest option to teach the class.

I did this sketch of Tropical Tree by John Walfe to demonstrate negative shapes in a sketch. Though the sculpture it the focus of the sketch, the pick up actually takes up more space o the page.

Rather than focusing on the trunk like yellow and green shapes I instead focused on the triangular shapes between the trunks. The same applied to the tree trunk in the background.

I also rushed this sketch to show that the paint does not have to be delicately applied to the sketch. I literally spattered paint and threw it at the page to create blunt rough textures.

I am always stressing perspective and making sure the viewer knows where the ground plane is. The cement base of the sculpture is the one hint about the ground plane while most other object are viewed rather straight on creating a flat image.

Crealde Thumbnails

Posted on by Thor

On Sundays I teach an Urban Sketching class at Crealde School of Art. We work outside on the campus to stay safe from the virus. Masks are required in the     classroom but they are voluntary outside. I just insist that students put on their mask if they get within six feet of another student or myself.

This class was about doing a series of small sketches that explore the campus. The goal was to get 9, 4 or in my case 3 sketches on the page. I encouraged the students to thing in terms of a cinematic panorama.

As always I stressed the importance of using perspective to make it clear how each thing in the sketch is planted on the ground plane. Shadows under any object also help plant it in the scene.

I have a super talented student this semester and I am just encouraging her to keep the sketches in her sketchbook oriented in a similar way so that anyone who pucks up the sketchbook and flips through will not need to turn the sketchbook upside down or sideways to experience the next page or spread.

All week I work in the studio doing horrific images each day that document the pandemic and peoples ignorance, so it is nice to take one day a week to feel the sun on my face and simply put pastoral scenes on the page. Gustave Klimt put it perfectly, “Art is a line around your thoughts.”

Lake Baldwin Dog Park

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Sketching class at Crealde School of Art branched off to sketch at Lake Baldwin Dog Park. It is only about a mile drive from the campus.

At Crealde I went over dog anatomy and showed them how to quickly sketch dogs from any animal from memory. The hope was that they could use what was learned to get dogs and their owners into a single sketch at the dog park.

After the dogs wrestle in the mud and splash in Lake Baldwin they often get a bath at this grooming station. Hoses are set up to spray the dogs down and owners often bring their own shampoos and lotions. On this day 50% of the owners were masked. Just keeping the dog on the platform is half of the battle.

Pam and I used to take Sprout and Donkey to this park rather often but we haven’t gone since the pandemic set in. On top of being around a bunch of mask less owners we realized that Sprout can not be run over by some larger dog while his leg heals from a knee surgery. He has been in isolation for several legs and he wears an inflatable Victorian collar that keeps him from licking his knee stitches.

This sketch demonstrated the basic principle I try and teach the students. I draw the stage and then add the actors. The setting is more important than the people who come and go while the sketch is in progress.

Crealde’ Urban Sketching

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Each Sunday I teach an Urban Sketching class at Crealde’ School of Art . I continue to hold the classes outside especially sine the weather is getting so nice as it cools down. My next series of six classes starts October 24, 2021. The class starts at 9:30Am until 12:30PM. The Crealde’ campus is dotted with statues and curving paths making it a wonderful place to explore visually in a sketchbook.

In this class the students were tasked with the idea of sketching the tent to give the impression that they were inside of a room. They were taught the principles of one point perspective and then set out to capture the space using pencil, pen and watercolor. The goal is to produced finished looking sketches right from day 1. It is a delight so see students slow down and experience the zen of truly observing their surroundings. We live in a time of constant digital distractions and sketching with old school pencil and paper strips students away form that hive mindset for a moment. The hope is that some will become addicted to the act of creation every day.

I always do a sketch along with the students so they can see how I approach each sketch. I share the initial block in, the pen and ink stage and the watercolor while sharing compositional thumbnails that point out things they can consider in their own sketch.

I am proud that Crealde’ continues to keep students and staff masked and safe. I insist that my students must wear a mask any time they are withing 6 feet of one another. Personally I wear a KN95 mask at all times and many students follow my example. The hospitalization numbers continue to drop in the United States so I we continue to maintain precautions the numbers can continue to drop. This class each week is the one day I get out of the studio to feel the breeze on my face and get some sunshine. Sharing my love of sketching is helping keep me sane through this pandemic.

Casa Feliz

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On May 13, 2021 the CDC had announced that fully vaccinated people can participate in many of the activities that they did before the pandemic.

I still refused to hold Crealde School of Art classes indoors choosing instead to take my students to outdoor sites to sketch. On this weekend we went to Casa Feliz in Winter Park.

My first lesson was to make sure you are always in the shade because the Florida sun can be hellish. Most of my students scattered to shady shops under trees but this student decided to sit on the stone wall around the back patio. Within 15 minuted she was baking in the sun.

No one wore masks outside but I wore my mask any time I approached a student. I approached this student and suggested she back up into the shade since the basic outlines of her sketch were established. Adding color to a sketch needn’t always be done in the exact spot where the sketch was started.

I had to do this sketch super fast since I spent most of my time visiting each student and offering feedback and suggestions. The backs of most of my sketches in this sketchbook have the rough sketches I did for each student to advise them on how to set up compositions.

On July 18, 2021 it was reported, that the latest Covid-19 hospital patients are unvaccinated and increasingly younger. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government reported 1,008 daily coronavirus cases with just one week to go before the start of the Olympics.