The final Urban Sketching lesson took place at a bowling alley. Once I saw the gentlemen in the red throw a gutterball in lane 13, I knew it had to be the focus of my sketch. He was actually a decent bowler (and better than the woman he was playing against), but I couldn’t resist telling that story. Sorry dude.
Date: 7/29/18
Time spent: 2.5 hours
I wanted to get some more urban sketching practice before my final Urban Sketching lesson. At my coworker’s recommendation, I went to Hannibal Square in Winter Park. There was a conveniently placed table and chairs outside of Orlando Skin Solutions with a nice view of Hannibal’s On the Square and a pot of colorful coleus (my favorite foliage plant and latest obsession) on the street corner.
My first attempted sketch was a disaster. I originally included more of the left side of the street in the frame, but the proportions of everything just wasn’t lining up properly and I was struggling so much with the sketch even after 45 minutes of working on it that I decided it was best to start over from scratch. The second attempt was much better, but I still need to work on value contrast and making my dark values dark enough.
Date: 7/28/18
Time spent: 3 hours
For the fifth Urban Sketching lesson, the class met up at Casa Feliz Historic Home Museum. However, I’m exceptionally bad at nagivation, so I struggled to find the place even with Google Maps help. I think I circled the area three times (and then called one of the other classmates) before I finally found the place.
There was an Orlando Urban Sketchers meetup event right after class inside Casa Feliz, and even though a few of my classmates joined the meetup to sketch, I wasn’t finished with my first sketch at the time (partially due to my late start) so I stayed outside to complete it. I’m glad I did because this sketch is among my favorites from the Urban Sketching course.
Casa Feliz really is quite lovely; I definitely intend to go back some time for more sketching. I think I should be able to find it better this time. I hope.
Date: 7/22/18
Time spent: 2.75 hours
For the third lesson of the Urban Sketching course, the class attended the Orlando Cars and Coffee event hosted at Donut Central & Fuelpresso. Our assignment was to sketch at least one car with a few people around it. Choosing one car among the many unique, colorful, and cool cars was a challenge in and of itself, but it was even harder to find one with a decent place to sit in the shade (I have since learned my lesson and now have a portable chair). And, when I finally picked one, sat down, and set up my supplies…the car owner packed up and drove away.
The sketch above is the second car I chose. By the time I finally got started, the class had only one hour left before we would return to the Crealde classroom. And then, another car pulled in to the parking spot next to it and blocked my view for at least 20 minutes. Despite the obstacles and the short time frame, I think it turned out pretty well, and it might be one of my favorite sketches from the course. I don’t know much about cars so I’m afraid I don’t recall what the make or model is, but I have a penchant for blue cars and really enjoyed painting it. The owner of the car (the guy in the blue shirt) seemed to like my painting too and asked to take a picture of it.
Date: 7/8/18
Time spent: 1 hour
The following week, the class went back to Donut Central & Fuelpresso to sketch the inside of the café. While I was there, I ordered a red velvet donut and a macchiato latte. Both were delicious! Highly recommended!
Date: 7/15/18
Time spent: 1.25 hours