Lily

Portrait at 2 hours

This is Lily. As I said in my first portrait, she is cool, quirky, has a dog named Shadow and she's a photographer. You can see that first portrait here.

For this portrait, I met Lily at her house. We sat down for awhile and caught up on each other's lives and then turned our attention toward her portrait. The last portrait I did, she was standing behind a birch tree with one of the "eyes" of the birch bark taking the place of her right eye. To me, there was something poetic and poignant there - partly hiding and protecting herself and her identity, but also firmly planted in a forest of birches "looking" through another lens, or "eye", that to me, symbolizes her connection to the natural world. We discussed building on that same idea in my new portrait that would merge a part of my portrait with a photograph of her.

Then, I started to work on her portrait. I sat across from her at her dining table. A window to her right delivered beautiful morning light reflecting off the snow outside and casting a radiant golden glow on that side of her face. I took some photos knowing the light would soon change. Then I continued drawing and painting. It took Lily some time to get comfortable. I often ask people to look at me as I'm drawing them and, although they usually settle into it, the first few minutes are unsettling for most people. It's an intense experience to look into another's gaze and with Lily, I found her attempts to get comfortable particularly raw, attractive and intriguing. She was clearly more comfortable behind the lens than in front of it. I could only hope to capture some of this vulnerable beauty. At the end of 2 hours (my self-imposed deadline), I wasn't even close to capturing what I really wanted to capture. You can see in my "Portrait at 2 hours" photo that I was still working out the basics and building up shape and color. At this point, a resemblance is there but there's not much light, energy, or feeling.

"Finished" Portrait

And this is both a frustrating and tremendously exciting thing for me now with these live portraits. I would like to complete these portraits in the time I am with my friends but so far that just hasn't happened. Perhaps I need to work smaller, take more chances, push myself to go faster. But as frustrating as it can be, I am also extremely excited to keep pushing and exploring and so thankful for my friends for helping me and encouraging me and connecting with me on deeper levels while I am doing this in front of them.

Back in the studio, I was motivated to "finish" it - to push toward what I wanted to originally capture - so I continued to work from the photographs I had taken until it got closer to the feeling that I was going for. I probably spent another 3 or more hours in the studio working on it. As I move forward in this project, I would like to keep to posting the portrait I produce in the time I am with the person I'm painting and not let myself off the hook by knowing I can rely on their photograph to help me "finish" it or realize my internal vision.

12x16 watercolor and pencil in my huge Moleskine sketchbook.

Fire in the Hole

Don't you know
There's fire in the hole
And nothing left to burn
I'd like to run out now
There's nowhere left to turn
- Steely Dan

India 2015 Sketchbook - Jaipur

This was a quick 5 minute sketch from my seat on the bus on the way to Jaipur. The driver stopped to pay a road tax and I simply sketched the view out my window. He actually pulled over, got out of the bus and crossed about 6 lanes of high speed traffic, paid the tax, then ran back to the bus. By doing it this way he saved us an hour or so of waiting in much longer lanes of traffic. — in India.

This was a roadside stop we made on the way to Jaipur to have some Chai tea. — in India.

This was a nightime sketch of the rooftop where we had dinner our first night in Jaipur. I opted to sketch for desert. A couple of young boys sat with me and I showed them my sketching kit and brushes and let them paint with me. — in Jaipur, India.

Carmen

This is Carmen. She is a structural engineer and has helped me out on a few architectural projects. She is, by far, the most beautiful structural engineer I have worked with.

8"x10.5" pencil and watercolor in my Grand Portrait Sketchbook.

Seville

In Seville, I met up with fellow urban sketchers JoseMaria Lerdo de Tejada,Alfonso Garcia Garcia, and Deborah Ordonez Torres and spent an afternoon walking, sketching, drinking cervezas and eating tapas.

Erick

This is Erick. He's an urban sketching friend and he lives in Indonesia.

Sketched on my Samsung Note 10.1 tablet using the Sketchbook Pro app.

Jessie

This is Jessie. She is one of my Urban Sketching friends. I met her a couple of years ago in Santo Domingo at a symposium on Urban sketching. She has a wiry haired dog named Pancho that inspired my approach to this portrait. I think it makes her look complex. Interesting, but complex.

I sketched this on my Samsung Note 10.1 tablet using the Sketchbook Pro app.

Neung

This is Neung. She guided me and 15 others through the jungles, mountains and oceans of Thailand a few years ago. I remember that she gave me 10 minutes to sketch the buddha in the roots in Ayutthaya. She ran a tight ship.

I sketched her portrait on my Samsung Note 10.1 using the Sketchbook Pro app

Alessandro

Alessandro is one of my Urban Sketching friends. I sketched this on my Samsung Note 10.1 tablet using the Autodesk Sketchbook Pro App.

LK

This is LK - the first to be drawn in this journey of making 250 portraits of my facebook friends.

I drew this on a Samsung Note 10.1 using the Autodesk Sketchbook Pro app.

Brooklyn

Josh Schurr covers Joni Mitchell songs like nobody else. I heard his original song, Brooklyn, on YouTube and was inspired to do some art. I was thinking of  the album art on the cover of the Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young album, So Far, when I came up with the idea. Coincidentally or not, Joni Mitchell did the artwork on that album.

Mick

Mick, a photo by Camden Sketcher on Flickr.

17"x11" Watercolor in Paynes Gray

Paris Institute of France with Riverboat

When I walked by this scene, I was intrigued with the contrast of vertical and horizontal lines. The strong vertical of the dome and the strong horizontal of the long riverboat. This sketch never quite captured it - too many mistakes of color and perspective are getting in the way. Maybe I'll try again sometime. This is in my large Handbook Journal (8x10)and reworked some in Sketchbook Pro.

Interior Sketch

I don't often post work projects but since that seems to be all I've been doing lately, I thought I'd put one up. I did this sketch using a couple of softwares - Google Sketchup for modelling the space and then Autodesk's Sketchbook Pro for the sketch drawing. This one is for a client out on Vinalhaven - a small island community off the coast of Maine.

Toboggan Nationals Poster Contest

Every year right here in the little town of Camden, Maine, we host the Toboggan National Championships. Next year will be the 20th year that the Camden Snow Bowl will have put it on. A few weeks ago I saw an article in the paper that they were having a contest for the poster art that they would use to advertise the event. The artwork had to include a toboggan and the words "20th Annual". I thought it would be good to have a goal to actually finish something and practice learning how to use Sketchbook Pro so this is what I came up with. I still haven't heard who the winner is but I'll let you know when I find out...

Interior Layout

I always do these types of drawings by hand with pencils and markers on trace. I recently tried it on Sketchbook Pro - all computer work - not one piece of paper. I like it.