Lucy Medford’s 70th Birthday.

Posted on by Thor

I know Lucy Medford through her daughter Kelly Medford. Kelly is an expatriate painter living and painting in Rome. Her Mom lives just north of Orlando. It was a rare frigid night so it was nice to get inside for the warmth. Every Medford in America muss have been at the party. Before the potluck Before the potluck dishes were opened on the dining room table, I settled into the comfy couch and started to sketch.

There was a station set up for goofy photos with feather boas, pink hats, antennas and a frame announcing Lucy’s 70th. Some relatives were adventurous and wore the props throughout the party. I wanted to speak to Kelly about how she markets her Rome Sketch Tours. I want to offer more Orlando workshops and her insights would be invaluable. With every relative in attendance, I only had a few minutes to speak to Kelly. I’m hoping Skype, or just a few e-mails might answer my many questions.

Valentines Day Sketch Tour notes.

Posted on by Thor

These are thumbnail studies made at the Valentines Day Sketch Tour. Kelly Medford from Rome was offering advice on making simple value studies. I used a blunt black colored pencil to quickly fog in some grey valves and line work. Although the exercise wasn’t about color, I couldn’t resist adding a few watercolor washes. The color swatches were added to show the colors available with the palette we gave each student. First a thick swatch us added with plenty of pigment. Then the color was thinned with to of water to show how light values cool be achieved. Our lakeside classroom felt a be in like a Colosseum with the gentle arch of the shoreline.

After all the mornings sketches, we all took a lunch break an found food from vendors in the Mennello Museum’s Folk Festival. After lunch it was my turn to inspire artists to try and populate their sketches. I posed and the had several students pose to give everyone an idea of how to quickly block in a figure. Then I explained one and 2 point perspective and had student create a for grid plane. They then took the figure studies the Did and added them to the grid plane. Large figures were is the foreground and small figures were is the background. Then we all explored the crowded Folk Festival, with the objective to incorporate as mane figures in one sketch as was possible. We agreed to return to our quiet lakeside classroom to share the results.

Valentines Day Sketch Tour.

Posted on by Thor

On Valentines Day, Kelly Medford, a plein air painter from Rome came to Orlando and co-hosted a Valentines Day Sketch Tour at the Mennello Museum Museum of American Art. The Mennello Museum was having it’s annual Folk Festival. All the artist met by the lake close to the foot bridge.

We gave each artist a Strathmore Sketchbook, a travel sized watercolor palette, a pencil, pen and water brush. Kelly began the morning by introducing the supplies and getting everyone started doing Blind contour drawings. From there we started doing simple thumbnail studies. It was nice to sit back and be a student again.  I did these two sketches using just watercolor washes followed by minimal line. I usually finish the whole drawing in line be for I start adding watercolor, so this was a liberating departure. of course with more time, I could refine and ad detail, but I like the freshness of splashing watercolor first. My challenge now is finding ways to mix larger puddles of color to cover more of the sketch at once. I’m considering just using a bowl as a palette.

We had a good crowd of artists show up for the day. It is wonderful to see everyone unique approaches. The Folk Festive was just setting up as we were doing these sketches. You can see the first tents popping up just on the on the other side of the wrought iron fence. All of these loose instructional sketches were shared with everyone in the workshop online. I will not post them all on this site. There are far to many events and news to report on.

Moon Jelly illuminated the In-between series.

Posted on by Thor

On Saturday March 5th, Moon Jelly performed at the Gallery at Avalon Island as part of the monthly In-between series. When I arrived at the upstairs theater, Kate Shults was setting up the lighting and video effects. Hanging vines had their branches wrapped in foil as if to protect them from harmful radiation or alien attack. A vibrant green lamp caught my eye to anchor the scene and I sat in the front row to start sketching. Steven Head, the guitarist made a comment about all the “foiliage”.  He let me know that his family would be sitting to my left. He was also surprised that I was working digitally. He got ready to perform by putting on a pair of glitter socks. A photographer asked all the band members to hold plants and she photographed them before the show.

I just wanted to be sure I was fine where I was seated before committing to the sketch. Moriah Lorraine Russo sat next to me, and I felt at ease since she is an artist herself. My concern was that the room would go dark and I would be be the jerk with a giant illuminated tablet. People have been shot in Florida for turning on their digital devices in a dark theater. She reassured me that she enjoyed watching the sketch develop. Hopefully others felt the same. 

Timothy Murray, the other Moon Jelly guitarist, held up the small purple vase to let people know that they could place any tips inside since they were not getting paid for this gig. He was good about reminding the audience that he would be making the announcement multiple times.

Anna Wallace, the lead singer also performed on an Omnichord. She had on giant eyelashes and plenty of glitter around her eyes. The bands music is classified as pop psych. “Round, soft, colorful, senseless and unknowing. Polka-dots can’t stay
alone; like the communicative life of people, two or three polka-dots
become movement… Polka-dots are a way to infinity.” – Yayoi Kusama. Before the show, band members joked that it was hard to be weird but accessible. 

The music flowed and ebbed with a mysterious electron vibe. One song flowed seamlessly into another. The lyrics were quirky and fun. I absolutely loved the show which took me back to the brooding seamless concerts of Pink Floyd. Moon Jelly however had a much light flair. Blurred and pixelated images flickered on the screens. Listening was like a dream in which you find you are floating, a bit out control, but certain that things will work out. The audience went wild when the music found its resolution. Moon Jelly was the opening act for Mutual Benefit. I felt satiated when their set was done and decided to slip out before Mutual Benefit was set up. It was a great concert in a great venue. 


After the show, I got to see the plein air art show now hanging in the gallery. Kelly Medford, an American Artist has been living in Rome where she does a plein air painting every day. We collaborated on an Orlando Sketch Tour workshop on Valentines Day weekend and it was such a fun experience.

Golden Body Painting at Nude Nite.

Posted on by Thor

If you missed Nude Nite here in Orlando this Valentines Day, keep in mind that it will also be happening on March 3-5 in Tampa Florida. The sketch opportunities are clearly limitless. On my second night going to the venue, I decided to focus on Base Orlando body painters. I know Lori Babson Jessup, the body painter in the foreground from sketching dancers in town. Spiraling filigree were painted in Lori’s cleavage making it hard not to look there. Base Orlando is a group of Body painters who gather regularly and paint their models with a given theme. A recent Base Orlando event had a steampunk theme. It was clear the steampunk inspired Lori’s body painting on this Nude Nite. The model had golden chain mail on her shoulders and breasts and gears interconnected on her  legs.

Lori had an assistant to help with the work. Photographers would move in for their shots and the disperse like waves crashing against the shore. Some couples were concerned about the paint, perhaps because of the scene in Goldfinger in which a gorgeous woman died because she was painted head to toe in gold paint. Lori would reassure people that the paint water based theater paint that. completely non-toxic. Lori would at times stand on the platform with the model and other times she stood below on the floor. One time she was on the platform and so focused on her painting, that g almost tumbled off the platform. She laughed and then curtsied to the assembled crowd. “Thanks folks, I’ll be here all night.” As if the slip was all part of the act.

With my sketch done, to was tempted to try another, but I was exhausted. t had been teaching an Urban sketching Workshop all day with Kelly Medford at the Mennello Museum. We had 14 students and it was such a gorgeous day. Nudc Nite was the icing on the cake of a perfect day.

Sketching swans and ducks at Lake Eola.

Posted on by Thor

This is the last sketch I did at the First Orlando Sketch Tour. Instructor Kelly Medford and touring artist Gay Geiger set out to sketch the black swans and ducks. It had been threatening to rain all day, so it was nice to have a moment to enjoy a break in the weather. I decided to only use line in the foreground of the sketch. The far shore and city scape I left as bold blocks of watercolor. Since I had just done a demonstration on watercolor of the pagoda using no line, I was loosened up to try the same technique here. By verbalizing my thoughts as an instructor, I ended up learning something new. This is a technique I should be using more often. It is far more experimental and leaves much more room for discovery during the process. I am very much a creature of habit however so change comes slowly. Eight artists came out for the sketch tour and I had a blast collaborating with Kelly Medford sharing our sketching techniques. I hosted a second Sketch Tour at the Orlando Fringe and will probably host another one in September or October as the Florida heat dies down.

The Orlando Sketch Tour explores color.

Posted on by Thor

At the First Orlando Sketch Tour we were chased inside Panera Bread thanks to impending rain. Kelly Medford and myself made the best of it and the restaurant became our classroom. Here we introduced everyone to the watercolor pallets we had supplied each artist with. We asked everyone to make a color wheel and then to make a light watery wash of each color along side a dark, syrupy wash of the same color. When working on location, I seldom have the time to mix colors, so I mix color washes on the sketch to find the colors and values needed. A sketch always starts out light and then I keep adding pigments to build up the darks. Trying to cover the whole surface except for a few white spots is the first objective.

On this day, students from Elite Animation Academy came out to join the Sketch Tour artists.  My wife Terry also came out to show her support. She is in the center of the sketch in the pink cowboy boots reading a magazine. Her signature sketch is a smiley face and she can finish that in five seconds. Shelby brought her daughter on the tour and together they discovered color and how to compose a sketch. That seems like the perfect way for a family to spend time together. My Elite Urban Sketching students were well into their studies so I let them sketch in peace offering just a few suggestions if they needed help. Between the eight or so Sketch Tour artists and the four Elite Animation students, we pretty much filled up the front room at Panera Bread. A little rain never stops an Urban Sketcher.

A sketch demonstration from the First Orlando Sketch Tour.

Posted on by Thor

I hosted the first Orlando Sketch Tour along with plein air painter Kelly Medford from Rome Italy on March 1st and 2nd. We decided to hold the Sketch Tour at Lake Eola and we gathered with about six other artists near the Japanese Pagoda at the North East corner of the park.

Kelly and I tag teamed, offering advice to get everyone warmed up and ready to start sketching. All skill levels were encouraged to participate, so we each offered one on one instructions to each student to bring them up to speed. We started off the day with blind contour drawings with artists sketching each other without glancing at the sketch. Then we did quick gestures again without looking at the page. I did several watercolor sketches to demonstrate value studies. I painted the Red Pagoda since it was in view.

The clouds moved in and we went to find cover at a lake side restaurant. I didn’t sketch at that location. Instead I did thumbnail sketches for each student showing them how I might compose the scene they were sketching. Kelly and I covered a lot of material that weekend and hopefully we encouraged the artists present to take a sketch book with them to document their next vacation. If just one artist from the Sketch Tour catches the sketching bug, then I’ve done my job.

I’m planning to host an Orlando Sketch Tour quarterly. The second Sketch Tour was held at the Orlando Fringe Festival which offers endless sketch opportunities. I’ve just started hosting Orlando Drink and Draw (ODD) events every month, so over time I should meet more local artists who love to sketch. Last year, the Orlando Weekly claimed I was Orlando’s best Urban Sketcher. Since I’m the only Urban Sketcher, that title doesn’t have much panache. I want to meet others who are as passionate about art as I am.

A power meeting at Panera’s.

Posted on by Thor

Kelly Medford, a plein air painter from Rome invited me to collaborate on an Orlando Sketch Tour. We decided to meet at Panera’s which is on the North East corner of Lake Eola Park. We decided to hold the first Orlando Sketch Tour in Lake Eola. I got to Panera’s early and decided to do a sketch of the business men meeting at the next table. The younger gentlemen were seeking funding for their start up company. They were discussing millions of dollars while Kelly and I discussed the most cost effective art supplies to purchase for anyone who came to our Orlando Sketch Tour workshops.

After meeting with Kelly, we both walked around Lake Eola to decide what sketch opportunities would work best for the weekend of the Sketch Tour. We considered places to go in case of rain as well.   About 10 people signed up for the Orlando Sketch Tour. Each person got their own supply kit with a sketchbook, pen and pencil, a watercolor kit and brush. These are all the supplies needed to create urban sketches. All the supplies came in a plastic zippered carrying bag that was water resistant.

On the day of the sketch tour, Kelly and I offered some fundamental drawing tips to get everyone warmed up. The participants then did a sketch of the Red Pagoda or Lake Eola. After that first sketch, it began to rain, so we moved into a sports bar on Lake Eola’s South shore and then Panera’s to continue working indoors. It was inside where we introduced everyone to their watercolor kit. Everyone made a color wheel and a chart showing a light wash and darker pigmented wash for each color. Then everyone created a complete sketch of the interior.

On the second day of the Orlando Sketch Tour, I invited my Elite Animation Academy students to join us. Once again, rain chased us inside and students recorded the atmosphere inside the restaurant. For those who attended, it was a great chance to sketch the drama that always unfolds in everyday events. The key is to look, listen and pay attention. In this digital age there are so many distractions that divert our attention from the amazing things happening all around us.

Social Media is a brave new fronteer.

Posted on by Thor

I always go to social media meet ups when I can to learn something new. Panelists discuss what they have learned, but they learn by trial and error. I learned that headlines should be catchy and informative. Complete sentences work better when the post goes on Twitter and Facebook. I’m thinking that the best headlines always involve cute kittens. Twitter is a beast I have only started to use. Panelists seem to have Thousands of followers and they accomplish that by looking through lists of followers followers and following them. I can’t imagine putting in so much effort to find people I don’t know.

Monetizing the blog is a realistic goal that I need to set for myself next year. At a party this weekend, we discussed the idea that a goal isn’t likely to be achieved unless you write it down and share it. Soon I will be teaching workshops to middle school and high school students, inspiring them to keep sketchbooks. I hope to start organizing monthly “Orlando Drink and Draw” (ODD) events to meet more local artists. The literary community seems to have a plethora of events every month yet artists seldom get together unless they are vendors at festivals. Frankie Messina had the awesome idea of having a softball game between authors and artists. It is fun ideas like this that can get arts groups to mingle and mix more.

Another goal for the new year is to set up sketch workshops for tourists. I’m sure there are some tourists who would like to escape the theme parks and sketch the real Orlando. In February I hope to collaborate with Kelly Medford who founded  sketch tourism in Rome Italy. Together we will host a tourist sketch outing in Orlando. I’m excited to see this happen.