Choice and Chance- Sketching over Collage

I have always loved making mixed media collages and have been wondering how to incorporate them into my sketches. I decided to just randomly glue down pieces of different papers I have been collecting over the years onto my sketchbook pages and see where it would lead.

Some of the collage papers I used include various Japanese rice papers, printed papers from India, and photocopies of my own line patterns and text. and torn papers of watercolor washes.

I glued them to the paper with acrylic gel medium.

Part of the joy of this process is the chance way the sketching interacts with the paper background with lost and found edges, layering of lines and shapes, and randomness of how it all comes together in an unexpected way.

In these pages I used ink, white markers, watercolor and watercolor pencils.

This is a great exercise in incorporating choice and chance into a page, 

and a good way to let go and take a few risks.

***

View from my Capuchino

On cool winter days days we are always 

in search of good hot coffee in San Miguel.

Fortunately there are lots of options-

Under the orange trees at Sacrista Cafe in San Miguel

At the new Silverio Rooftop Bar

At PANIO in San Miguel de Allende- with irresistible chocolate muffin on the side

At the Cafe Buen Dia in San Miguel de Allende

Sketching the Patzcuaro Parade

The day after teaching my Sketching Patzcuaro workshop turned out to be the the birthday celebration for the town- costumed dancers, charros on horseback, and indigenous Purepecha music paraded through the streets and plazas.

Danza de los Ambakatis

Preparing for the parade- danza de los Kurpites

Musicos con Toro

Why I love to sketch in public

New amigas

Unfolding Images- Playing with the mini concertina sketchbook

I have always loved handmade books- even as a child when I would staple together sheets of typing paper and fill them with drawings and writing. These mini concertina booklets, or accordian books, are made from strips of drawing or watercolor paper and force me to look at the environment in a different way, incorporating multi faceted views, searching for repeated shapes and forms, and finding ways to unify the piece through line and color.

Concertina of the Jardin in San Miguel

Mini concertina on watercolor wash of a courtyard in San Miguel

Multi view mini concertina of my neighborhood

Sketching Mexico's NationalTattoo Festival

Sketching at the En Tinta La Piel Art Tattoo Fest yesterday at the conference center in San Miguel, where Mexico's finest tattoo artists were busy adorning bodies with incredibly imaginative designs.
The perfect setting to sketch people sitting still.
Each person had a story to tell about the images they were choosing to adorn themselves with, and chose their artists carefully after perusing the many portfolios of styles.

Dia Internacional de La Mujer!

Celebrating International Women's Day with a few sketches from the past few years in Mexico.

The Art of Waiting

As a person who suffers from perpetual impatience, sketching has saved me from losing my mind while being forced to wait in countless airports, bus stations, restaurants, doctor's waiting rooms, long queues, et cetera, et cetera... 

Now waiting is an opportunity to draw, and the challenge is to make an otherwise tedious environment into an interesting sketch, experimenting with composition, design, and color.  

Three hour unexpected layover at LAX

A hundred ways to draw people on their phones, and one newspaper

Two hour wait at the Mexico City Bus Station

Waiting for lunch at Betty's burgers in Santa Cruz, CA