Crealde Urban Sketching Class

Posted on by Thor

I teach a 6 week Urban Sketching Tips and Techniques Class at Crealde School of Art (600 Saint Andrews Boulevard Winter Park, Fl). Even in the heart of winter we head outside each class to get out of the studio environment and sketch from direct observation. Half of the class is usually in the classroom as we explore a new premise then we sketch from life. We expand from drawing a single person to capturing the entire scene. Each class builds on the last. The goal is always to get the students to finish their sketches using pencil, pen and ink and watercolor within a two hour window. Sketches in the beginning of the course might be unfinished but towards the end of the course the work becomes more complete. A sketch by definition is unfinished however and I try and relate that form of acceptance.

I dash of fast digital sketches like the one above as the students at focusing on their own work. I also make the rounds and offer suggestions in the form of sketches to each student when they start out. The initial composition is what I try and get them to focus on before the details. In the first 5 or 6 strokes of the pencil the entire composition can be established and I try and get the students to embrace the same bold approach.

I end up missing each group of students when the course is over. Six weeks is just enough time to get them started on what could be a life long journey but I always wish that I could have shared more. I set up an Instagram hashtag (#crealdesketcher) so I can share notes and students can also share work with each other. Communicating and sharing is the main reason to become an Urban Sketcher, so I am hoping this platform will open students up to sharing their work online.

My next Urban Sketching Tips and Techniques Class in studio 1B begins Sunday January 19, 2020 at 9:30am until 12:30pm and runs for the following six Sundays. The price is $270 for Members and $290 for Non-Members. Go to the Crealde website to register.

Donut Central & Fuelpresso

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I am always on the hunt for fun places to bring my Crealde School of Art students on our urban sketching outings. We sketched a car show in the parking lot outside Donut Central and Fuelpresso (495 N Semoran Blvd Unit 1, Winter Park, FL 32792) and the owner invited us to sketch inside, so the following week we stopped inside for some donuts and sketching. I ordered some caffeine and a round shaped sugar bomb and got to work as my students sketched. I kept my sketch simple, knowing I would be going to each student to offer suggestion on composition, line value, and color. The sugar rush kept my lines flowing quickly.

Staff and locals seemed to congregate together at the central table and I was quite taken by the giant teddy bear in the corner of the room. Much of the purpose of the course is to get students comfortable with the idea of sketching in public. Venues we go to are friendly and supportive of the arts. This place is a real gem and my students created some stunning sketches. My hope is that they will continue to sketch each day and share their work with the world.

My next Urban Sketching, Tips and Techniques class starts Sunday, October 27, 2019 and runs for 6 consecutive weeks on each Sunday from 9:30an to 12:30pm. The cost is $275 for 6 classes.

We learn to sketch from subject to the environment. Classroom sessions
focus on sketching clothed models and progress towards sketching
the model and classroom environment. Students learn how to incorporate
storytelling into sketches in the 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. See the online course description and sign up if you are interested.

Skill
level: Intermediate

Suggested 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

Wekend Top 6 Picks for September 14 and 15, 2019

Posted on by Thor

Saturday September 14, 2019

10pm to 5pm Free. 331Sullivan Street Fair, Punta Gorda. Punta Gorda Craft Festival. Punta Gorda Sullivan Street Craft Festival will highlight the talents of
many unique crafters, providing the area with one of its most enjoyable
winter traditions. Come meet and visit with some of the nation’s best
crafters while enjoying the charming streets of Punta Gorda. It features
a display of products like ceramic, jewelry, digital, photo, fiber,
metalwork, sculptures, glass, mixed media, wood, graphics, painting and
much more.

4pm to 6pm Free.  Young Voices. JB Callaman Center 102 North Parramore Ave Orlando FL. Teen Open Mic Every second Saturday of the Month. 

8pm to 10pm $5 Second Saturdays in Sanford. 202 S Sanford Ave, Sanford, FL. Live music event featuring 2 stages, drink specials and more.

Sunday September 15, 2019

9:30am to 12:30pm  $275 for 6 classes. Urban Sketching Tips and Techniques. Taught by Thor. Crealde School of Art. 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

2pm to 3pm  $77.25 6 of VIII Casa Feliz 656 N Park Avenue Winter Park, FL 32789.

Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived. Revel in the bliss and misery of marriage as the six ill-fated queens of the second Tudor king share their experiences of matrimony and acrimony. 

This original work about the 6 wives of Henry VIII expands the song cycle Try Me, Good King by Libby Larsen, with original monologues, madrigals, and other music to give voice to Henry’s dead wives. The result is an atmospheric snapshot into the unique lives of history’s most famous wives. The Critic’s Choice winner for Best Musical at the 2019 Orlando International Fringe Festival, 6 of VIII features The Helena Collective. Presented at the Historic Casa Feliz Mansion in Winter Park, these special encore performances include appetizers, desserts, and wine.

Sung in English.

Adaptation created by Sara Catherine Barnes

Special pre-show presentation “On the Balcony” featuring selections from Gounod’s Romeo et Juliette and Bernstein’s West Side Story along with pop-up performances by the ConVivo Madrigal Singers.

10pm to Midnight. Free but get a coffee. Comedy Open Mic. Austin’s Coffee, 929 W Fairbanks Ave, Winter Park, FL. Free comedy show! Come out and laugh, or give it a try yourself.

Aloma Bowl

Posted on by Thor

My intrepid group of urban sketching students from Crealdé School of Art went for a sketch outing to Aloma Bowl (2530 Aloma Ave, Winter Park, FL 32792) which is just a block away from the school. On Sundays Tournaments are held, so there are some pretty talented bowlers working the lanes.

The goal of this sketch workshop was to help students catch gestures in their sketches. For the first half hour of class we worked in the Crealdé studio, doing quick, two minute sketches to catch gestures. We used a round shaped radio to substitute for a bowling ball and posed, keeping gesture and storytelling in mind. I stressed the importance of using fluid action lines to catch the motion.

The Aloma Bowl lanes were active when we arrived and they grew more crowded as we sketched. I made the rounds, showing the different stages of my sketch as I progressed, and also giving tips and some demonstrations on how to catch a pose in repeated attempts as the parson stepped up to the line to bowl again and again. The large overall sketch was intended to demonstrate one point perspective. I suggested that students only focus on the bowling pins on one lane so they didn’t spent much time obsessing over that one detail.

Families came in to bowl, and guard rails were raised on either side of the one bowling lane so that stray balls didn’t go down someone else’s lane. For the very small kids there was a ramp that could be put on the line and the child just had to get the ball to the top of the ramp and gravity would “bowl” the ball down the lane. I had never seen that contraption before. The first bowler I sketched was finished with his game after only a few times of going up to the line to bowl. I started getting better about watching the score board of people I was sketching, because the board could let me know if I had much time to sketch the people before their game was over. My quick demo sketch stressed the importance of making the figures in the foreground dark against the illuminated lanes. I didn’t spend much time on the sketch since I kept checking in with each student as they worked.

There is a wonderful energy to a bowling alley, as folks celebrate their strikes or spares and chat between games. The place had an auditory buzz about it, punctuated by the loud sounds of the pins getting smashed. As an artist, it is exciting to feed off that energy and try to infuse some of it into each sketch. This was unfortunately the last class with this crew of talented artists. It is always hard to say good by after working with artists for six weeks straight.

My next Urban Sketching: Tips and Techniques class starts June 16, 2019 running each Sunday Morning from 9:30am to 12:30pm. Usually, the first hour we cover a premise in the Crealdé studio and then we break out into the community around the school to sketch on location.

Sketching Blackrock with Elite Students.

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On the final class of my Urban Sketch course with my Elite Animation Academy students, I tend to bring them to Blackrock Bar and Grill, a restaurant that recently opened in Windermere (8965 Conroy Windermere Rd, Orlando, FL 32819.) I order an appetizer to share with the students. At Blackrock, your choice of meat or seafood arrives seared and sizzling, sitting atop
a square, inch-thick piece of volcanic granite, heated to 755 degrees.
Your server demonstrates the process of slicing, cooking, and time
needed – as quickly as a minute – before reaching your preferred
doneness.

On Sunday afternoon when we went to sketch, the bar was active with sports fans. It was too early for the dinner crowd, so we didn’t get to experience the sizzling rocks being delivered to tables. The point of this exercise was to focus on one point perspective. I showed every student this sketch in the early stages with the one point out by the far window which is the brightest light in the sketch.  I ordered a pretzel and cheese fondue appetizer for $9.99. Cheese and caffeine are fine fuel to do a quick sketch. I had a real talent in this class. The young girl seated in front to f me was doing stellar pencil line work. Her sketches were brilliant and it would have been nice to push her even further, exploring color and mass.I just hope she keeps doing a sketch each and every day which was my main mantra throughout the 10 classes.

This month I will be teaching Urban Sketch principals to adults for the first time at Crealde School of Art (600 St Andrews Blvd, Winter Park, FL 32792) on Sundays. I am excited to get the opportunity to share my experience with artists who are already well into their artistic journey. I did one workshop at Crealde and had a blast teaching. The Crealde classes start on Sunday January 28th. Contact Crealde if you want to join us. Classes will start in the classroom with a clothed model and then expand outside the studio so that we explore the community with our sketchbooks. The Urban Sketching: Tips and Techniques class starts at 9:30 PM until 12:30 PM each Sunday. Time to crack open those sketchbooks.