A Continuing Assault on Campus Buildings

I thought i would try something a little different today.  Bothe pictures today were done in watercolor crayon. It is sometimes hard to find a bench to sit on and paint, let alone a bench and table in an area where you want to paint.  So I thought it would be easier to take my watercolor crayons out and draw the pictures, then return to my office, wet them and outline them.  I have to admit there are some things I like about this approach.  I lose the opportunity for any detail at all, but gain speed and the ability to do this just about anywhere.  This picture is of the entrance to Cradall Gym.  The gym itself isn't used anymore and the University is trying to find a good way to utilize the space.  It is a huge building built in the old mission style.  This is the first crayon drawing I've done.

This picture is the corder of building 38.  I believe it is one of the Mathematics buildings.  The black in the center is a bank of doors that are just set back and very dark, even in real life.  I am working with a limited selection of colors which is why the bark mulch might look a little orange, and the bricks in the road a little too pink.

Hope you enjoy them both.

A Little Urban Sketching

Yesteday and today I decided to do a little urban sketching.  I suppose that is the new term for painting plein air.  Urban sketching sounds a bit less hoity toity.  I have been walking around campus trying to find places to sit in the shade and paint.  The shade part was crucial for me, and as I found out, was also the limiting factor in what I paint.  It turns out that nearly all the benches on campus are in direct sunlight at noon.  Who would have figured.  Anyway, in my hikes around campus, I found 3 places to paint.  They all seemed to fit onto one sheet, but the sheet is bigger than my scanner.  The first picture, Bench on Dexter Lawn, is actually on the bottom of the sheet.  You can see part of the Building 52 Plaza in the top right.

This is the picture that is above it.  This is Building 52 Plaza.  Or at least part of it.  I don't think I got this quite right, but you get the idea that it is a bench with mulch around it, and (absent detail) brick walkway in front of it.  I assume you all can tell it has a tree behind the bench?

This third picture is actually the first one I did.  I wanted to get the little taco stand next to this, on the left side of the tan building, but i didn't have a clear view from the bench I was on, so this got chosen by default.  Some different types of bushes and shrubs with a few rocks, and a wooden wall behind, just in front of the building.  I'm extremely happy with the way this turned out, I often have trouble working in different colors of greens.  The fact that you can see 4 distinct colors of green and a little shading in each is, for me, a triumph.