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Friday, December 25, 2015

From incertitude to celebration

Mom was at the hospital in serious condition few days before Christmas. We waited for the 48 critical hours right after her admission to the hospital. Four days later she was released and she's doing well. We are not only celebrating Christmas... we are celebrating she is still with us.


Notebook and ballpoint pen.


I didn't have my sketchbook with me during this emergency. I found a notebook, cut the page and paste it on my sketchbook later.

20 x 14 cm AMI watercolor sketchbook, pen, ink and watercolor. 

Here my husband taking a nap one evening, on the couch at mom's room waiting for those 48 hours.

20 x 14 cm AMI watercolor sketchbook, pen, ink and grey Farber Castell liner.


Meanwhile, nurses receive instructions and fill patients' reports at the nurse station of the hospital.

20 x 14 cm AMI watercolor sketchbook, pen and ink. 

Back at home, mom breathing oxygen....alive.

Friday, December 11, 2015

Smart people saves trees.

A5 Hand.Book, pen, ink and watercolor.
I was walking my brother's dog in this neighborhood. I liked this place so I returned today with my tools to sketch this soccer field for kids. It opened not long ago and it's quite popular among kids and parents. What I really liked was the fact that this tree, much older that this place, was saved. The building was designed and built around it. It made me so happy to see this. Even if it is one tree..... there's people out there who cares for nature. Viva the smart people!

Saturday, December 5, 2015

Railway Museum, San Luis Potosi, Mexico.

A4 Fabriano Artistico, pen, ink, pigment liner various sizes, watercolor.
I've heard about this museum. Before I moved to the United States this train station was still in use and now it's a museum. San Luis Potosi city is located in Central Mexico, that's why it became a city with strategic connections. The boom of trains lasted for over a century from 1850's to 1960's. There was an exhibit at the museum about people who immigrated from Mexico to the United States through a program created by the Mexican Government called "Programa Bracero" that lasted from 1942 to 1964.  This program consisted in sending qualified Mexicans to work legally in the United States, specially during and after the World War II. Farmers were hired to grow food for the Americans at war. The employers paid the round trip train ticket and the employees collected at the bank their mandatory 10% in savings so when the immigrants returned to Mexico they could use that money towards agriculture. This program was so popular that a lot of people applied to be elected but many of them didn't make it. These 22 years created a path that is still followed by immigrants from Mexico and Central America who are trying to enter the United States at all cost. Now trains for passengers in Mexico are almost nonexistent.  The romance of that time made me visit this museum. There is a big train outside in the front yard by the main entrance which sketch took me almost 3 hours to make.  

Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Few lines can reveal a lot.

A5 Hand.Book, Staedtler pigment liner 0.05 and watercolor.

My recent visit to a government office made me bring my sketchbook. Sorry to say that they are not known for their fast service, so I started to sketch this lady in the waiting area when few minutes later they called my number. Wow! I was pleasantly surprised! As you can notice I put very basic lines. So I finished from memory her hair, the brown lines of her jacket and the details of its top back. It's amazing how much I could remember by observing first my target! I also realized, based on this sketch, how do I approached my victim. I did her face first, then her arm which connects to what resembles a hand (fingers are a pain in the butt that's why I left them for later, hoping she will repeat the position of her hand) and lastly her back and butt. I figured I kind of sketched in a in-out direction, sketching first the parts that move more. Reading so many times about sketching first the parts that move more made it stuck to my subconscious, perhaps by osmosis. Yesterday, finally, that knowledge revealed itself.