Capitol Hill Neighborhood

I am now working as a graphic designer for Capitol Hill Arts Workshop. Here is a promotional map I created using sketches from the Capitol Hill neighborhood.

a walk down 2nd St SE in Canal Park

I've been enjoying the good weather on weekends in October and have completed a set of 5 panoramic drawings that describe a walk down 2nd St, along the west side of Canal Park, from its intersection at K St, walking north to Bridge Spot, the skate-park under 695 near Garfield Park.

Sketching @ The National Gallery of Art

"15 Pairs Of Hands" By Bruce Nauman

U.S. Botanic Garden on Saturday - 3.12.11

View Kent's Sketches in a larger map

DC Sketchers @ The National Gallery - The Perception of Spaces & Relationships

DC Sketchers visited the National Gallery of Art and learned to see and draw negative spaces. We also learned how to make visual judgements regarding proportion & measurement. We sighted and drew the compositional format and postive/negative forms of masterworks in the gallery's From Impressionism to Modernism show.

The we visited the East building's installation of Bruce Nauman, “Fifteen Pairs of Hands” and observed and drew the varied and interesting negative spaces interwoven among the fingers in the cast hands.

A new session of DC Sketchers starts April 16 and continues 'til June 4. Register for eight classes for $240 0r drop-in for $35. Registration begins Monday, March 7th. Save 10% during the first week of registration.

View DC Sketchers in a larger map

DC Sketchers @ The Trapeze School of New York - DC

DC Sketchers gathered at the Trapeze School of New York - DC. We focused on gesture drawing by observing the school's Intense Flying Workshop. While it seemed safer on the ground, students were challenged by drawing the human figure and further challenged by their constant movement.
Next Saturday - March 5th, we'll be visiting the National Gallery of Art from 10am to Noon. Check out the class' description and itinerary/schedule.








View DC Sketchers in a larger map

DC Sketchers @ U.S. Botanic Garden

DC Sketchers visited the U.S. Botanic Garden on Saturday and continued our study of contour. It was a pleasure drawing the variety of plants and flowers, staying warm inside during the blustery day. The instructor adds his drawings to the student's work here.

NOTE: I'm going to check out the book The Art of Travel by Alain de Botton. One of the DC Sketchers recommends it. I found an excerpt and was intrigued by the essay that refers to John Ruskin, especially his The Elements of Drawing, a book I often reference in my teaching. I'll definitely take a closer look.

Next week we'll be visiting the Trapeze School of New York-DC and learning about gesture drawing while observing their Flying Trapeze class. We will meet at 10:45 to 12:45 to coincide with the Trapeze School’s class schedule. Check out our itinerary/schedule for more info.








View DC Sketchers in a larger map

DC Sketchers @ The National Gallery - The Perception of Light and Shadow

NOTE: The Spring 1 session of DC Sketchers begins next Saturday, 2/12. See link for itinerary/schedule. Register at http://www.chaw.org/ or by calling 202.547.6839.

DC Sketchers met at the National Gallery of Art for the fourth and final session of their Winter Workshop. We began with a warm-up in the beautiful Rotunda. Mercury was circled with Valentine's Day themed flowers and plants. Looked like an FTD ad.

The class revisited Exercise 3 from Ruskin's The Elements of Drawing: creating an tonal gradation from light to dark with cross-hatching or a continuous tone.

We then went to the cafeteria and claimed one of the tables and set up a still life of styrofoam cups - illuminated by the directional light of the window with the cascading fountain. We observed the tonal gradations in the smoothly curved forms of the cups - including cast and attached shadows.






Teaching artist, Kent Gay, also tried his hand at the day's exercise - below.




View DC Sketchers in a larger map

DC Sketchers is also featured in EastCityArt.com

DC Sketchers @ The National Gallery of Art - the perception of spaces & relationships

The DC Sketchers learned about the importance of the compositional format. We tested our measuring and sighting skills by copying masterworks from the From Impressionism to Modernism exhibit. We then gathered at a table in NGA's cafeteria. There we set up a simple still life of styrofoam cups, observing and recording the negative spaces between the cups and bounded by a compositional viewfinder.

The new Spring I session of DC Sketchers is beginning on Saturday, February 12th. We will meet every Saturday from 10am to Noon for 8 classes, ending on April 2nd.
http://chaw.org/index.php/classes/details/dc_sketchers_s1as1/

Register for eight sessions for $240 by visiting www.chaw.org or calling 202.547.6839. You can also drop-in for $35 per class by contacting Victor (no later than Noon on the Friday before class) at 202.547.6839 or at victor@CHAW.org.

See Course Synopsis and Itinerary for the Spring I session at end of this post.

Course Synopsis and Itinerary
DC Sketchers - Spring I Session
Saturdays, 10am to Noon, 2/12 to 4/2

The course is organized to present author Betty Edwards’ thesis that the global skill of drawing is made up of five perceptual skills
1.The perception of edges
2.The perception of spaces
3.The perception of relationships
4.The perception of lights and shadows
5.The perception of the whole, or gestalt


Week One: 2/12 – The Perception of Edges: Blind Contour
Capitol Hill Arts Workshop

Week Two: 2/19 - The Perception of Edges: Modified Contour
U.S. Botanic Garden

Week Three: 2/26 - The Perception of Edges: Gesture
Trapeze School of New York – DC

Week Four: 3/5 - The Perception of Spaces: Negative Spaces/Picture Plane
National Gallery of Art

Week Five: 3/12 - The Perception of Spaces: Negative Spaces/Picture Plane
U.S. Botanic Garden

Week Six: 3/19 - The Perception of Relationships: Perspective
Library of Congress – Jefferson Building

Week Seven: 3/26 – The Perception of Lights and Darks
Capitol Hill Arts Workshop

Week Eight: 4/2 – The Perception of Lights and Darks
National Gallery of Art

DC Sketchers @ The National Gallery - The Perception of Spaces

Saturday proved to be another successful day of drawing at the National Gallery of Art with DC Sketchers' Winter Workshop. We learned to look for negative space shapes, like in the interesting, interstises between the fingers of the 15 Pairs of Hands sculptural installation by Bruce Nauman.

Then interested students and teaching artist Kent Gay joined other
drawing enthusiasts for the 30th SketchCrawl at the Library of Congress. The idea of SketchCrawl, founded by Enrico Casarosa, is that of a global drawing marathon: taking a day to journal and draw all that is around you.

30th SketchCrawl @ Library of Congress

I joined the 30th SketchCrawl in DC and spent a couple hours on a drawing of the interior of the Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress.
The idea of SketchCrawl, founded by Enrico Casarosa, is that of a global drawing marathon: taking a day to journal and draw all that is around you.

View Kent's Sketches in a larger map