Today’s sketches

I wanted to paint today but we went to the Mets game….we’re not Mets fans but the stadium is only 20 minutes away.  And we had the added bonus of seeing Tebow get his first hit.  That was exciting.
Here is my sketch done at the causeway….my pen ran out of ink just as I was writing the date….good thing I brought the bottle with me to refill it!


And here is Sktchy #72 

“Vegetables, blechhhh!”


Here are photos from the Mets games and Tebow’s  first”at bat” today.

Plein air and Sktchy # 71

There was a plein air event in Jupiter, FL and I found out the Quick Draw was this morning.  I didn’t have my pastels with me and this is the first time I participated in an event with a medium that I don’t normally use…..but I figured what the heck, I’ll give it a shot.

For those who don’t know what a Quick draw challenge is, you get two hours to do a painting and then they judge them and give out prizes.  There were a lot of great paintings and I was glad I did it using the oils.

I did have a lot of interruptions so there were a few things I didn’t get to in my painting.  People stop to ask questions and I didn’t have John with me to deflect the observers, since he stayed home to do things around the house.  I don’t mind the questions at all, but I realized how much John helps me when I paint, he usually entertains the people who stop to ask about what I am doing.


I didn’t win any prizes but I did win the satisfaction of following through a personal   challenge to use a medium I don’t use very much, tackling a complex subject within a two hour time frame and the final icing on the cake?  Seeing how all my hard work of drawing/painting/sketching every day with any medium and tackling any subject matter makes painting anything easier.  Who knows, I might take this one back to my studio and turn it into a larger painting.


“Red October”. The first time I saw the reference photo for this sketch I thought of the movie “Hunt for Red October” and the music played in my head as I sketched it. I killed a Bic Cristal sketching this lol. I hope I brought more with me.

A change of pace

I spent most of last week sketching people because of 100 people challenge.  I definitely needed a change today.   I did my Sktchy for today but I also went out and painted for 2 hours.  I want to participate in a local quick draw event tomorrow and since I didn’t bring my pastels, I needed a test run with my oils, which I did bring with me.

We went to the beach and I did this from 4:16 to 6:03 PM….then we went home to make dinner….


This is Sktchy #70 for 2017

One week 100 people – final day

OMG TGIF!!!!! For many reasons….we drove back to Port Saint Lucie today….we left early in the morning….as I am writing this, there are a bunch of raccoons brawling in the woods across rhe street.  Sounds like a WWF cage match.

I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to get my sketches today, done but I did….

Sketch #1 was at a local restaurant….the first two ladies were eating quietly….the next two were part of an obnoxious party of 11…wow, the guy that waited on them had the patience of Job!  


The next sketches were done at the Jensen Beach bridge…..i was happy I caught the guy fishing and the bearded guy holding a baby! 


It was getting dark and John had finished book and wanted another to read and forgot to bring more down so we drove over to Barnes and Noble….



Last but not least, two Sktchy drawings….


Overall, I managed to sketch over 100 people this week…

One week 100 people day 4

John and I have been exploring today.  The first one is the only one that I did today where I had adequate time….many got up before I could finish them….

Here are sketches that I did on our travels:


These folks below got up and left before I could finish.


Some of these below were down at Mallory Square….many intoxicated people stopped to pet our two chihuahuas.  They were pretty popular on Duval Street as well.



I basically winged the girl on the right, I started her then she and her male companion walked away…she was very over dressed for Duval Street.


While doing the sketch on the left, some guy came, totally drunk, and sat down with us.  Proceeded to tell us his whole life story….I quickly finished the sketch so we could politely leave.  He was harmless but he kept saying things as people walked passed so we beat a hasty retreat.


We called it a day and went back to our hotel.

One week 100 people Day 3

Today was tough because we spent 5 hours in the car, for a quick jaunt down to Key West.   I couldn’t just do car butts on the highway because the subject matter has to be people.

   We found our hotel and walked the dog children.

Then we went out to eat and explore…I sketched at the resturant and then we drove to Duval Street where all the wackiness is….Duval st is a cross between South Street in Philly, the Boardwalk in Wildwood and New Orleans.   In short, there were a lot of drunk people.

I had to sketch fast because these subjects were on the move…it was very difficult to sketch because it was dark and people kept walking in front of who I was trying to sketch.


These below were outside a sweet shop that made ice cream, fudge, gigantic cookies and key lime pie.  Personally, my key lime pie is better.  Anyway, this was a great spot to people watch and sketch.  Lots of people were drunk.  They were cheering John’s T shirt that said “Italia.”  


They have these bicycles that are like taxis….one passenger squealed and jumped off of a bike to run across the street to go in and grab Key Lime Pie, while his partner sat in the bike and spoke to the “driver.”  


I decided to find another sketching spot and John wanted me to sketch the Darth Vader that was playing the banjo….so I did….

After I sketched Darth Vader, we walked towards the Hard Rock…where I sketched a guitar play doing a pretty good job singing solo…

Then I went across the way and sketched a guy leaning against a pole and he wouldn’t stop moving…


 After that I spotted a guy across the street who had a flat tire and a younger man was helping him change the tire….then John kept bugging me to sketch an artist who was painting in his outdoor shop, so I sketched him but couldn’t finish him because he stopped painting when he saw me sketching him and came over to talk to us.  Apparently he has already gone to paint in Cuba.

It was an interesting and productive evening.

Day two of sketching 100 people week

Here are my sketches for today….the goal is to try to 20 per day….I did 22 today….we bounced all over today.  We visited a greyhound track today.  It was the first time I ever saw dog races….


Then we came home to feed Chloe & Mack and then we popped out for coffee….

I sketched these people at a quaint cafe in Stuart that served awesome coffee….A far as coffee/tea shops….I think we found our new hang out.



Then we walked to the other end of Osceola Street where I sketched a few ladies who were waiting for their husbands…I am assuming they were  dropped off and then the spouses went to park the car.


Then we walked back to the car and John drove around looking to see who had the Rangers game on….we wound up at Miller’s Ale House again….I don’t like to hang out at bars but I got to do more sketches while John watched the game.

Turns out it was on the TV at home……😂


I posted one of these as my Sktchy because I want to relax now….

One week 100 people Day 1

So I decided to join this challenge…I thought it would be pretty easy but the chill and wind has kept a lot of people inside and not in parks and  other outdoor places.  So I went inside to a coffee shop, a barber shop while my husband got his hair cut, Miller’s Ale House (that was a fail because of where I was sitting) and I pulled down my last 5 from Sktchy.  The goal is to sketch 20 people per day…I was hoping to do more but the weather didn’t cooperate.    I tried sketching from the car but that was a fail too, because I couldn’t get close enough without getting out of the car and getting battered by the wind.

Oh well, I did get 20 (actually more but I counted some groupings as one)….