Food recipes

Friday, November 27, 2015

Car service

A5 Hand.Book spread, pen, ink and watercolor.
It was time to change the tires of my car. My brother recommended this place. They did a great job fixing some issues the car had. I showed the employees of the place the sketch I finished and they really liked it. It was a way to thank them for the job well done. Everybody was smiling when I left, me too, I was happy for the good service and my car fixed.

Thursday, November 26, 2015

Olympic Pool in Guadalupe, ZAC. Mexico

A5 Hand.Book, pen, ink and watercolor.
I visited family in Guadalupe. It was an express visit. The day I arrived I was invited to go to swimming classes. I went, but I sketched instead because I didn't bring my swim suit with me. The facilities are open to the public. My sister in-law takes classes at night. She works, returns to home prepare the meal for her family, rest a little bit and then goes to swim. There are instructors along the length of the pool and the swimmers exercise along the wide of the pool,  this way they make sure there's space for the many groups who attend. I sketched for about 50 minutes from the seats above. The view was pure joy, lots to see, including the spectacular view of the night lights of the city through the big windows. I used the white gel pen uni-ball signo to draw the light, the only white gel pen I like so far. There's a good video about it in Parka blogs, click here. 
The white dots didn't show the warmth of the lights, so later my niece applied watercolor over the dots and the image came alive. I think it worked very well. We had fun.

Monday, November 23, 2015

The love affair between street food and pharmacies.


I parked in Carranza Avenue near Muñoz Avenue. A young man was resting on the wall of a private school. He was selling potato chips in little bags, home made. They are delicious! and if you add some hot sauce or lime juice you make out of it a real treat. You can see street food vendors all over the city. In fact there was another vendor selling fruit next to him but he left before I started to sketch. We locals know very well we are taking our chances to become sick if we eat street food. There's a pharmacy beyond the corner across the street. Don't you think this is an irony? 

The drugstore mascot is a character called Dr. Simi, as a result of drugstore's name Similar. They sell affordable generic medications. There's a Dr. Simi in each branch. This character is very polite and quite funny, sometimes it can be a very skill dancer and entertainer. There are plenty of videos on YouTube. If my description didn't make you smile, then a video will.

Saturday, November 21, 2015

Plaza Aranzazu II

A4 Acquarello Fabriano block, pen, ink and watercolor.

Since my arrival to San Luis Potosi city days ago, I felt the need to do some activities related to art. I found some courses open to the public with topics of low interest for me. I thought the subjects were very pretentious and useless, they were described in a way hard to understand (and I understand Spanish very well since it is my native language!) So the way these events are presented to the public to invite them to come and participate actually discourage people from coming, on top of that they are not free.  So I thought I could start a group on FB which I called 'Dibujando San Luis Potosi' and created the first event....free of charge of course. The message 'Come and Draw' is easy to understand, plain and simple. The meeting place was in downtown in Aranzazu Square. I've been there before, this sketch below is from 2012, but this time I sketched the opposite view from under one of the arches, in the sketch above.

A5 Hand.Book spread, pen ink and watercolor.

Was the event successful? Well, yes and no. There was some people who showed interest but at the end nobody attended but me. I really had fun though, since it's fun to sketch even by yourself, but I really wanted to create the opportunity to meet people in this city who has the same interest than me. I won't give up. I'll create more events, maybe one day some one will show up and we'll have fun together.

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Men unshaved

A5 Hand.Book, Copic multiliner SP 0.5, and watercolor.
Flying to Mexico very early in morning yesterday, I couldn't help noticing unshaved man in my flight. Having to shave daily is a pain, my husband has mention that to me some time. I can imaging how hard must be to have to shave that early, I wonder if they were going to do it after the landing of the plane, perhaps in the restrooms of the airport before a meeting? How mysterious is this to me. 

Sunday, November 8, 2015

San Francisco, CA Part 6. How to get warm in San Francisco

Stillman & Birn Beta Series 7in x 10in, pen , ink and watercolor.

Over 2 years ago, on my trip to San Francisco with my friends, I had the idea to spend one afternoon to sketch on my own . I made three sketches that day, but I only published two, the first was the wharf and the last one, the golden bridge. This is the second sketch I didn't published. I had the idea to walk from the wharf to the Palace of Fine Arts.
  I gave up a wonderful supper with my friends at the very nice restaurant. It was cold and windy. When I arrived to the Palace I realized how big it was! I went close to it and wanted to sketch some details from up close. Needless to say I didn’t fit in my sketchbook. So I did what I could. I think I never published this one because in not one of my favorites, not  because I didn't like the result, but how I felt. The sun was setting, I was in the back of the Palace against a wall, a cold wall. No one was around, this is one of the few times I felt uncomfortable being alone. At that moment I regretted I wasn’t at a cozy restaurant having a warm meal with my friends. I walked along the bay back to the hotel and I saw the light, literally. The sun was setting and illuminating the golden bridge, I felt the need to call my husband while I sketched it. I was looking a way to warm-up in any possible way. After I finished the golden bridge I walked back to the hotel. I could take a cab but the view was amazing, and I’m not talking about the bay only. There was a pleiad of Greek gods exercising along the bay, why would I deprive my eyes from such a feast. Once at the hotel I was grateful for the warm welcome from my friends at the bar. It was a very productive long day and I needed a drink…… a warm one.

Thursday, November 5, 2015

Red cheeks man

A6 Hahnemule Notebook, pen, ink and watercolor.

Just across my table I saw this average man in an average restaurant on an average day. I have not a story to tell today, this is just about a mortal waiting for its coffee. What I'd like to share is that I'm working on my sketches to leave more blank spaces, I'm feeling inspried by the work of Felix Scheinberger. Also, why does he have red cheeks when in reality he didn't have them red? Because I felt like it. 

Sunday, November 1, 2015

Cleaning station.

A4 Pro Art Sketch Book and graphite.

I've been browsing through my oldest sketches and found some sketches I've never published and like to share. This is the cleaning station  at my mom's laundry patio. You'll see. At mom's house everything is old fashion. We wash the cloth and hang it to let it dry at the sun. In this patio, which is in the second floor, the sun is bright. I wanted to warm-up. Yes, my mom lives in Mexico and contrary to many people's beliefs, it can be very, very cold during the winter. Central Mexico can be cold at nights and warm during the day, that's how you catch colds. Anyway, going back to my drawing. I sat in the laundry patio, wearing sweaters and taking the sun but with my loyal pencil and sketchbook in my hands. The array of cleaning tools in front of me was so enchanting to me because they looked like trained soldiers waiting to accomplish their duty, well... except for that one on the floor, which looks like it's having a hangover. This is an old sketch but the story behind it is still fresh in my mind.