Category: Sketches
I love sketching on location in Europe. Little details abound everywhere you turn. This year has been a whirlwind of inspiration and impressions. Although I haven’t had much time to paint since I’ve been on the road continuously (for just about a year now), I’ve been sketching and doing lots of creative writing along the way. Best of all, I was recently granted another opportunity to travel back to Europe (3rd time in one year)! Here’s a sketch from Vienna, Austria.
Stockholm is perfect for wandering and sketching. These were done in Gamla Stan, Stockholm’s old town district.
Stará radnica, the old town hall, Bratislava, Slovakia.
These sketches come from lovely Helsinki, Finland!
I’ve been wanting to visit Helsinki for a while, and took the long route through Scandinavia to arrive here (traveling all throughout Norway, then into Sweden, before boarding a boat from Stockholm to Tallinn, Estonia, and finally taking a ferry over to Helsinki, where I got an apartment and stayed for a bit. I love the vibe of Helsinki—it’s very artistic and designy, and completely inspirational.
Happy December!! I’ve finally had a minute on this wild tour of Europe to scan in a couple pages from my sketchbook! I was very inspired by the elaborate puppets at the Estonian Museum of Puppet Arts, which had not just puppets, but a puppet making workshop, artisan studios, and a puppet theater with really cool live performances.
You can also see photos from the puppet museum here, and read all about Tallinn here.
Specs: Pen & Ink, 50 minutes.
Location: Denver, Colorado.
I had heard great things about Lucca, a Tuscan fortress city surrounded by medieval walls near Pisa, Italy. The city was as charming as I was expecting to be, and had a great small town flavor.
One small detail I noticed right away were the windows. In Florence they are all rectangular for the most part. But here in Lucca, they were all rounded at the tops. I love Italian windows, almost always comprised of green shutters on yellow unwashed walls. (This one was no exception.)
I’m currently working on an illustration for Whole Life Times Magazine illustrating an article about healing sessions taking place around Los Angeles that begin with cocktails! It’s been such a fun assignment, getting to draw sophisticated socialites that can float cocktails in the air, have third eyes, and will have glowing auras once I add color! —G
Fashion and space, two of my very favorite things! I drew this while I was in a sci-fi frenzy, reading Orson Scott Card novels and having just watched Caprica. Anyway, I love creating space worlds and creatures because there are absolutely no restrictions! I haven’t decided yet if I’ll color this with watercolors or digitally….hum…
(graphite on watercolor paper)
This week’s Illustration Friday challenge was to illustrate the topic LATE. There is a contemporary cafe in Rome with a full wall of sculptures positioned behind the tables for ambiance. I’m sure this is nothing special to Romans, but of course for someone from LA, where things are mostly all modern, stunning details like this conjure up a dreamy sense of history. I wanted this composition to feel as if it was pulled from an ancient Roman night, or better yet, maybe a dream involving Michelangelo.
So for the topic LATE, I thought of dozing Roman sculptures under a big Italian moon.
Graphite on Paper
Inspirations: Friday! + space suits and robot drawings
