Sketching in Black and White...

When planning workshops I go back to what are for me, the basics--like quick line studies, and value studies in black and white--I never get tired of doing these!  I love watching classic black and white movies of the 30's and 40's made by the masters of lighting.  They understood the dramatic power of beautifully composed shots of dark and light, and all the gradations in between--something I always aspire to!  I also believe that it's key to working in color as well...





A quick study in late afternoon in a Los Feliz parking lot...I can never resist a view of my favorite Los Angeles building, the Griffith Observatory...

 Quick sketching over coffee on a Saturday morning...

From a recent train trip down to Mission San Juan Capistrano, with my sketching friends Shiho, John and Chris--to meet Gail Wong and Frank Ching here from Seattle to do a workshop.  This has to be the loveliest of missions!  I wanted to study the light that day--and now look forward to returning to do more work in color...

A quick sketch waiting at the train tracks for the trip back to Los Angeles...

Sketching Around Town...

...and some from out of town too...from a trip to old town Orange with sketching friends on the train from Union Station...
























Sketching with the LA Worldwide Sketchcrawl group in January at the La Brea Tarpits...

...and in April at the Venice Canals...

Happening upon a wonderful orange truck in Glendale...

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And some neighborhood sketching at train crossing in South Pasadena, and on Los Angeles streets...

...and on a gray day with balloons...

Desert Travels

Finally catching up with posting drawings here, so I'm making a combined post of desert travels--a Christmas trip to the Mojave Desert, Joshua Tree National Park and the desert town of Twentynine Palms, and then the recent return trip for Spring Break...

These trips involve a lot of driving, which is great for me as the passenger, since it allows me to indulge in something I love to do--highway sketching!

I never get tired of visiting Joshua Tree National Park...to see familiar beauties like Hidden Valley (with or without the multitude of visitors), or discovering new places to explore.  Always fascinating, and always changing with the season and the light...

 The abandoned ruins of the
Reyes Adobe...

 Hidden Valley...

And a place without a name (that I know of!)

And then there is the town of Twentynine Palms...with old adobes, the Mojave landscape, and trips out for breakfast...

Animal Drawing

Every fall I take students to the LA Zoo, and I go a few times in advance to sketch, see what's new and mentally map out the best routes.  Some sketches from this fall...

Meerkats greet you near the zoo entrance...(while they watch the skies for winged predators)

 We watch and sketch the "elephant training"--Billy, Jewel and Tina.  The girls are retired circus elephants...

Someone said you cannot be in the presence of gorillas for an hour and not be completely awed...this is very true.
















Chimp mothers...

Amazingly, we happened to be at the zoo the day after the birth of a baby hippo!  Seen here nestling with mom--baby's sex hadn't been determined yet since mother and baby were being left alone to bond...

Orangutans in the "Orangutan Forest"...

 One of my favorites--Francois Langurs--visitors stand in a little house surrounded by the Langurs' forest habitat...














The siamang making his extraordinary resonating calls with his throat pouch...






I always find zoo visitors pretty interesting to sketch as well!