Berry Hill, Nashville
The Sketchbook
by Shari Blaukopf
4d ago
If I can, I usually arrive at least a day early at a new workshop location. I feel more comfortable teaching in a place that’s at least a little bit familiar to me. That was the case last week in Nashville. I arrived on Monday evening so I had Tuesday to drive around with my host and sketch in the Berry Hill neighbourhood of Nashville where Warehouse 521 is located. It’s a great area, and the art studio is surrounded by recording studios, small cafés and restaurants. I sketched Nashville Jam Co, which I thought was a music venue of some sort but it turns out that it’s a brunch place where they ..read more
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As good as it gets
The Sketchbook
by Shari Blaukopf
6d ago
Happy first day of spring! This morning I had a snowy view outside my window in Montreal, but it certainly was more springlike last week when I was teaching in Nashville. I’ll post my urban sketches later in the week, but here’s one from my last day in Tennessee. On the recommendation of one of my workshop participants, we visited Cheekwood Estate and Gardens, just outside of Nashville in the suburb of Belle Meade. Besides flowering magnolia and cherry trees, there are over 250,000 bulbs in bloom. Daffodils and tulips as far as the eye can see. I sat on a bench in the sun to sketch these pink ..read more
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Like butterflies
The Sketchbook
by Shari Blaukopf
3w ago
I can’t stop painting these mini-daffodils. This time I painted them in my portrait format sketchbook. When I looked at them up close with all their delicate details, they reminded me of butterflies, so I added a deep sky blue background with some Prussian Blue. It’s not that easy to paint around all these shapes so I wet the paper first, as best I could, around the flowers. In some places I went back with a second wash of paint which ended up a little too dark in spots. Sketched in my Hahnemuhle 100% cotton sketchbook ..read more
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On my counter
The Sketchbook
by Shari Blaukopf
3w ago
Thanks to all of you who wrote encouraging words the other day when I went through a trashing paintings day. It was so comforting to know that we are all in this together, in different ways and on different days. I didn’t save the paintings to analyze what went wrong, but I will consider that for next time. In the meantime, you might enjoy this podcast I just listened to. It’s Kelly Ann Powers interviewing John MacDonald on the Learn to Paint Podcast. She’s a great interviewer and he’s a very articulate painter, and of course I was intrigued because one of the subjects they covered was what to ..read more
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Antidote
The Sketchbook
by Shari Blaukopf
3w ago
Today I ripped up three paintings. I had a bouquet of tulips in a vase in front of me, and no matter which way I tried to paint them (wet-in-wet, wet on dry or direct watercolour), they were just awful. They all went into the blue bin. Some days are like that. One failure after another. When that happens I try to analyze why it didn’t work out. Bad planning is sometimes the answer. Impatience is another reason. Too much water on the brush. Too little water on the brush. Sometimes I even blame the subject — in this case maybe these tulips were just a little too pretty. But I try not to get disc ..read more
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Bois à vendre
The Sketchbook
by Shari Blaukopf
1M ago
It’s been a strange winter here. Not too much snow and wild fluctuations of temperature. There’s definitely more exposed ground than usual, especially in open areas like along the farm road where I go to find inspiration for painting. The patches of snow provide some contrast but they will likely be gone by Wednesday when the mercury will hit 15°C! Not our usual February weather. I was hoping to paint this one from my car but on these country roads that I’ve been exploring near our new neighbourhood, there’s often no shoulder to stop on. Plus I feel a little awkward stopping the car to paint o ..read more
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Tumacácori and a new video
The Sketchbook
by Shari Blaukopf
1M ago
Good advice on where to sketch often comes from other sketchers, so during my recent teaching trip in Arizona, I visited both San José de Tumacácori and San Xavier del Bac, based on recommendations from students. Both were great sketching spots and interesting structures to draw, although very different in character. San Xavier has been maintained and restored, while Tumacácori was abandoned around 1856. The site has since been restored and is now a National Historic Park, and although it’s not as spectacular as San Xavier, it’s still a fascinating place to visit and to draw. Both sites are wi ..read more
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White tulips
The Sketchbook
by Shari Blaukopf
1M ago
I think I bought these tulips about two weeks ago and I’ve been good about changing the water daily. They’re on a kitchen sill where I admire their beauty as I do the dishes. Instead of flopping over and dropping petals, they’ve remained upright, but I’ve been witnessing the slow shrivelling and browning of the leaves and flowers. They’re much more interesting to sketch this way than when they’re fresh out of the cellophane. Sketched in my Hahnemuhle 100% cotton sketchbook, A4 portrait size ..read more
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The White Dove of the Desert x 3
The Sketchbook
by Shari Blaukopf
1M ago
San Xavier del Bac Mission, situated a little south of Tucson on Tohono O’odham land, can be spotted from miles away. Its bright white towers can be seen from miles away, hence the nickname “The White Dove of the Desert”. I drew it three times on my recent visit to Arizona — once on my own and twice with groups of students. And I never got tired of drawing it. The first visit was to prepare myself for teaching at that location AND to have time to tour it, which I rarely get to do during a workshop. Sketching it gave me a little time to understand the white octagonal towers, the Spanish Co ..read more
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Sabino Canyon walk and draw
The Sketchbook
by Shari Blaukopf
1M ago
On a day off between workshops in Tucson, we took a drive to see the popular Sabino Canyon. There’s a shuttle you can take to the top, and since we had no idea how difficult the climb would be, we took it. In hindsight, we could easily have walked it since it’s a paved road all the way up. But we did walk down, and I stopped to draw (in ink) along the way. During my short drawing stops, I tried to capture the distinct characteristics of the landscape — the steep cliffs, the Saguaros clinging to the hills, the winding stream and rocks — as well as a few features of the park such as the st ..read more
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