Courtroom Sketches

I was sitting in on a court case today and had my first-ever opportunity to sketch in a courtroom.  I arrived a few minutes before the first case was called, so I did the quick sketch above to feel out the lay of the land and get my bearings. I used a Pentel Gray Aquash brush pen for all of my sketching today. The sketchbook is one of the new Zeta hardbound books from Stillman & Birn. Going right in with an ink-filled brush is really my favorite way to go about this kind of thing, especially on this smooth Zeta surface. The two facing pages of this spread had been slightly toned with a warm-colored watercolor wash several days previously. I laid in a bit of color after I got back home just to liven it up a little.

This was the Albany City Court building. I wouldn't have minded an entire day there just to sketch architectural elements. The hallways were filled with magnificent marble arches and a central winding marble stairway. This courtroom had exquisite woods with intricate carvings, which of course I didn't have time to render.

The proceedings got underway, and I got to experience at least a little bit of what courtroom artists are up against when they are trying to capture a scene amidst a cast of changing players. I have to say, it was really a lot of fun to do this, though I'm not sure I'd want to do it under the kinds of pressures that the courtroom artists endure. There are lots of things I'd plan differently the next time around, such as leaving spaces to put in figures that would move into various positions in the room, then pop them into those spots as the situations present themselves.

This second sketch was done over a blue wash, which was a little bit dark in terms of being able to present my light values. That's something I'll have to take into consideration next time, especially if I plan to use watercolor over it. I resorted to a little white gouache to reclaim some lights, like on the table tops. It also would have been nicer to work a larger size for this; however, I was trying to remain inconspicuous, so the double spread of a 5.5x8.5" book was perfect for a few minutes of stealth sketching.

Expansion of the Hudson River School Art Trail

8.5x11" across a two page spread of a Stillman & Birn Alpha Hardbound sketchbook

Platinum Black Carbon Ink and Watercolor

Image can be clicked to enlarge

On June 2, the official announcement was made about the expansion of the Hudson River School Art Trail to include many new sites. Kevin Avery, from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, gave a wonderful lecture at the Thomas Cole National Historic Site about these official Art Trail locations as well as other spots where the Hudson River School Artists did some of their most famous work and their plein air studies. (Of course I couldn't resist sketching during the lecture.) Click here to read more about the Hudson River School Art Trail. You can download maps and information on the website.

Waiting and Sketching at White Plains Airport

8.5x11" across a two page spread in a Stillman & Birn Alpha 5.5x8.5" Hardbound book

Noodler's Black Swan in Australian Roses ink in a Sheaffer 100 fountain pen

Ink blended with a waterbrush, then transparent watercolor added

It's times like this when I'm especially grateful to be an artist. You could leave me alone with a sketchbook and some art supplies and a few apples, and I'd be fine for days! The rest of the passengers didn't share my enthusiasm for a bit of extra sketching time though.

White Plains Airport is actually a pretty fun place to sketch, with large model aircraft hanging overhead in the tall space. The last time I flew out of here, the flight was cancelled, so I considered myself lucky that the plane was just delayed this time around. The trip itself was so busy that I didn't get an opportunity to sketch again until I returned home.

More Sketching with Pitt Big Brush Pens

Pitt Big Brush Pens

Stillman & Birn Epsilon 5.5x8.5" hardbound sketchbook

Today our sketch group had its monthly sketch-out at Adams Fairacre Farm in Wappinger, NY. Patricia and I arrived at 10am and made ourselves comfortable in the dining area while waiting for the others. In honor of Valentine's Day, I had a chocolate caramel flavored coffee. It seemed like the right thing to do!

I've really been enjoying exploring all the colors and combinations of the Pitt Big Brush Pens I got recently. I'd prepared this page with a diluted teal-colored acrylic wash, followed by some iridescent/interference paint to give it some shimmer. I'd planned to use it with Private Reserve Blue Suede ink, but since I had a teal-colored Pitt Big Brush Pen with me, I pulled that out to do all the initial drawing, then added a bit of color with some of the other pens.

Webcast alert! Remember that Wednesday night (2/15) I'll be a call-in guest for the Goulet Pen Company's webcast, Write Time at Nine. I'll put up a link on my blog before the broadcast. The Goulets will probably get the link up before I do, so if it's not here, try their blog: http://inknouveau.com . Hope to see you there! I'll be revealing the preliminary results of the lightfastness testing that I'm doing with the Noodler's Eternal Inks, and fielding any ink-related questions pertaining to sketching and artwork.

Sketching at Carol's House

Click image for a larger, clearer view

Watercolor and a bit of ink across a two page spread

of a Stillman & Birn 5.5x8.5" Epsilon hardbound book

(The black along the center is black gouache from other pages that bled through the thread holes.)

A member of our sketch group invited us all over to her house to sketch her yard from her windows. I loved the colors and light in her sun room, so I sketched the room instead!

Private Reserve Blue Suede Ink Review

You can click on any of the images below to get a larger, clearer view.

Stillman & Birn Epsilon 5.5x8.5" Hardbound book

Border prepared with Golden and F&W Acrylics

Private Reserve Blue Suede ink, washed with a waterbrush

Private Reserve Blue Suede ink is so color-saturated that I probably should have put up a sunglasses warning icon at the top of the post! As winter gets colder, this color conjures up images of clear Caribbean waters and tropical skies. I love it. Not only is it colored strongly enough to create great washes, but it also shades when writing with it.

Here are some closeups of writing done with this ink using several different pens. These were done in a Stillman and Birn Alpha book, and posted previously in my long post on shading inks (though not in this closeup form.)

First up are three dip pens. Each crosshatched section was allowed to dry, and then washed with a brush dipped in water.

Below is Blue Suede with three fountain pens, which display better shading than the dip pens did:

I liked the broad range of shading that was present with the flex nib, so I wrote up a page of quotations, posted below. (Check out that first one from Erma Bombeck! Can any of you relate to that? LOL)

The writing in this sketch was also done with Blue Suede.

So, what's not to love? Well, I do wish the ink would hold a bit more line when washing with a wet brush. I had to go back once it was dry and restate some of the linework on the sketch where I had washed a lot, and put the darkest darks back in. Still, it didn't give up the line as easily as many others do. I haven't tested it for lightfastness yet, so we'll put that assessment on hold for now, and I'll start testing it soon, along with some other new samples. In the meantime, if you love teal and turquoise, you're definitely going to want a bottle of Private Reserve Blue Suede!