Category: News

Unraveling the Complexity of Travel Sketching

Workshops in the San Francisco Bay Area

The San Francisco Bay Area chapter of Urban sketchers is excited to be holding it’s own series of 10 workshops around the Bay Area: 10 teachers you’ve been wanting to take a workshop with, and workshops geared towards all levels of sketchers!

My Workshop in San Francisco

Title of workshop: Unraveling the Complexity of Travel Sketching

Level of difficulty: Beginning
Instructor: Richard Sheppard
Date/time: May 6 and May 7, 10am-1pm (I have two spots that just opened up for Saturday May 6. My May 7 class is currently full.)
Meeting place: San Francisco, Palace of Fine Arts, on the corner of Baker St. and Bay St.

Class description: The best souvenirs are not the things you buy or the photos you take while on vacation, but drawings you create in a sketchbook. Sketching allows the artist to slow down enough to get acquainted with surroundings that are so often overlooked while framing the world through a lens. Yet sketching in public can be a daunting experience for the self-conscious sketcher, or for those that are just unprepared. The first part of this class will cover tips on getting beyond the emotional roadblocks that keep us from sketching. Then we’ll discuss materials, styles, and techniques that are best suited for travel sketching. The final part of the class will cover developing a visual vocabulary as well as choosing subjects that are memorable and meaningful.

To register contact suhita@gmail.com and put “San Francisco Bay Area 10×10” in the subject line of your email. Suhita will let you know if there are still spots open and she will help you through the registration process.

Urban Sketching workshops!

Urban Sketching Classes Near You!

If you are interested in urban sketching workshops, read through this post carefully, for
1) Workshops around the world
2) Workshops in the San Francisco Bay Area
3) And a workshop I’m teaching- in San Francisco!

Workshops Around the World

This is an exciting year for Urban Sketching! Urban Sketchers is 10 years old this year and they’re celebrating with year-long workshops all over the world. Excited? Click  this link to see where all the workshops are. Each city lets you pick from 10 workshops being held throughout the year.

Workshops in the San Francisco Bay Area

The San Francisco Bay Area chapter of Urban sketchers is excited to be holding it’s own series of 10 workshops around the Bay Area: 10 teachers you’ve been wanting to take a workshop with, and workshops geared towards all levels of sketchers! To read more about those workshops, go to this link. If you’re interested in a Bay Area workshop, get in touch with Suhita at suhita@gmail.com and tell her what classes you’re interested in. She’ll walk you through the registration process.

We have quite a fantastic lineup of workshops, so register soon because they’re filling up fast. And whether you are signed up for a workshop, thinking of signing up, curious about urban sketching, or just want to meet and hangout with urban sketchers, everyone is invited to our launch party on Saturday February 11 at Arch Art & Drafting Supply in San Francisco. The event will kick off with a sketch meet-up at San Francisco’s Mission Bay at noon, followed by the launch party at Arch Art & Drafting Supply at 1:30. USk classes will be introduced and individual instructors will be available for a meet-and-greet session. Come join us even if we’ve never met before, we’re a friendly bunch!

My Workshop in San Francisco

Title of workshop: Unraveling the Complexity of Travel Sketching

Level of difficulty: Beginning
Instructor: Richard Sheppard
Date/time: May 6 and May 7), 10am-1pm
Meeting place: San Francisco, Palace of Fine Arts, on the corner of Baker St. and Bay St.

Class description: The best souvenirs are not the things you buy or the photos you take while on vacation, but drawings you create in a sketchbook. Sketching allows the artist to slow down enough to get acquainted with surroundings that are so often overlooked while framing the world through a lens. Yet sketching in public can be a daunting experience for the self-conscious sketcher, or for those that are just unprepared. The first part of this class will cover tips on getting beyond the emotional roadblocks that keep us from sketching. Then we’ll discuss materials, styles, and techniques that are best suited for travel sketching. The final part of the class will cover developing a visual vocabulary as well as choosing subjects that are memorable and meaningful.

To register for any of the Bay Area workshops, contact suhita@gmail.com and put “San Francisco Bay Area 10×10” in the subject line of your email. Let her know what workshops you want to sign up for.  Suhita will let you know if there are still spots open and she will help you through the registration process.

Classes are filing up fast!

Urban Sketcher Correspondent

Screen Shot 2016-05-23 at 10.44.25 AMI’m thrilled to announce that I’ve been invited to be a full correspondent for Urban Sketchers! I’ve been a Bay Area chapter member for a number of years but now I’ll be posting on their main website. I’m looking forward to contributing my stories and sketches to this unique group founded by Gabi Campanario. Thanks to all who made this happen!!!

What is Urban Sketchers, you ask?
Urban Sketchers, also referred to as USk, is a 501c3 nonprofit organization, supporting and representing a grassroots global community of sketchers. Our mission as a nonprofit is to raise the artistic, storytelling and educational value of location drawing; promoting its practice and connecting people around the world who draw on location where they live and travel. We aim to show the world, one drawing at a time.

 

Good Friends, Good Wine

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For those of you who live in the Bay Area, specifically Sonoma County, get a copy of today’s paper (Sunday April 17, 2016) and you’ll see the first installment of an ongoing series of stories about wine and grape growing. The Press Democrat will be publishing excerpts from my new book, “Impressions of Wine Country” over the next year!

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My book “Impressions of Wine Country” is, of course, available on Amazon.

Impressions of Wine Country

Bottling a Dream

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My Sunday Column “Sense of Place” usually runs at the bottom of the Towns section every other Sunday, but today my work was printed in the “Vignette” section at the top of the page. Today’s story is about Robert Rue Vineyards located in the town of Fulton. Bob and Carlene Rue, the winery owners, are some of the nicest people I’ve meet and make some great wines too.

Here is the text (I know it’s a bit hard to read the newspaper from my scan):

South of Fulton and down an old country road, a row of plum trees call attention to Robert Rue Winery. Bob and Carlene Rue purchased this 10-acre, 100 year old vineyard in 1973, and over the years have sold their grapes to many well known local wineries. The vineyard is a field-blend of predominantly Zinfandel, interplanted with Petite Sirah, Carignane, and Alicante Bouschet grapes.

In 2001, Bob and Carlene’s long held dream of producing their own wine became a reality. With the help of winemaker Dan Barwick, and before him, winemaker Carol Shelton, the wine blended from Rue vines has garnered many awards. The first vintage was produced at a custom crush facility and the finished wine stored in their garage. In 2010 the Rue family built a new facility on their property to accommodate an expanding production of almost 1,000 cases per year.

“An Illustrated Journey” by Danny Gregory Book Cover

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Danny Gregory’s new book “An Illustrated Journey” will be published late February 2013, and I am excited to be one of the contributing artists. You can pre-order the book on Amazon and all the contributing artists can be seen on Pinterest. I’m a big fan of Danny’s previous book, “An Illustrated Life” which gave me the inspiration to travel and sketch in Greece. (My book can be found here).

The Press Democrat Towns Section “Sense of Place” – Limerick Lane

Last Sunday, my Limerick Lane sketch was published in the Press Democrat’s newspaper column “Sense of Place.” So far the sketches selected for publication have come from last years sketchbooks but soon I’ll be sketching new work specifically for the column. I’m looking forward to discovering more of Sonoma County one sketch at a time!