Chris and Purple.

Pen&Ink and watercolor on HP Stonehenge Aqua Legion 10” x 7”

It was nice to meet up with the Usk of SMA group this morning at Casa Europa Bistro + Cafe. Meagan Burns, the administrator of the group, greeted every one of us, we had a little chat and off we went to sketch whatever was around. I sat by the window to find this view across the street. The statue of Christopher Columbus is located in the corner of the Jardin del Templo de San Francisco, on the streets of Juarez and San Francisco. I really like how Chris was framed by the two buildings right in the middle, I just put him off center for a better composition. Trees are not my favorite subject, but the trunks have such cool shapes, I really had fun with them. I love purple color for shadows or shade. A purple wash over other color washes won’t necessarily show as purple but very often as muted colors which result on hues, most of times very interesting and pleasantly unexpected. For purple, I’m using a mix of Daniel Smith Carbazole Violet and whatever yellow I choose to mute it with. This gives me an earthy purple that suits very well the stone of colonial buildings in downtowns of Mexico. Love it.

Urban Sketchers of San Miguel de Allende
Photo by Meagan Burns