Parroquia de San Antonio de Padua.

Pen&Ink, watercolor and color pencil on HP Lanaquarelle 10” x 7”

There’s a beautiful jardin in front of the Parroquia de San Antonio de Padua here in San Miguel de Allende. This was the Tuesday’s meet up location with the urban sketchers. As I promised myself to not to sketch so many churches, I looked for a promising view. I spotted five construction workers sat on a bench near a convenient store, they were probably having a break to eat something. It was until I started to sketch them that I noticed there was this huge tree right in front of me that I almost overlooked, so I change the focal point to the tree. Since the day was partly cloudy, the shadows went away and came back constantly, teasing us, so I gave priority to the tree and the shadows, I painted them first, it was imperative. The back dome of the church was included in this sketch, not only because it was in my view, but to remember the location. This is a sketch done in a gorgeous location with lots of sketchers today, 40 people perhaps. A trendy neighborhood called San Antonio, so beautiful, no wonder it is so popular!

Photo by Judy Plummer

Exercise. Lamp Black watercolor paint

The use of black watercolor paint wasn’t in my horizon until I read the book of Santi Salles Verde al Natural. I really liked the mix of W&N Lamp black and W&N Prussian Blue he mentioned in his book and how he uses it for shade.

Then out of curiosity and to try out something new, I did an exercise mixing other common colors with Lamp black, an opaque paint with bluish tint. It resulted into interesting muted neutral colors, which quite frankly I didn’t think it was possible coming from mixing with black.

I liked the mixtures of black with blues and violet better. Mixing paint with black opened  the door to explore  other possibilities.

The color used above are named from top to bottom and  from left to right:

WN Prussian Blue, WN F Ultramarine, DS, Phthalo Blue, DS Carbazole Violet, Winsor Green, WN Burnt Sienna, WN Yellow Ochre, Winsor Yellow, WN Alizarin Crimson, Winsor Red, WN Sap Green, Winsor Orange, WN Quinacridone Gold, DS Quinacridone Rose, DS Cerulean  Blue, WN Cobalt Turquoise Light, DS New Gamboge.

Have you ever used black, did you liked it? I’d like to know about your experience!

The house next to Casa de la Cultura.

Pen&ink and watercolor on HP Arches 7” x 10”

Next to the Casa de La Cultura here in San Miguel de Allende there’s a house that is almost hidden, I mean the view downwards from the location I was is amazing but quite complex, however looking up, this house had quirky angles and those stairs up turned on my imagination to what they could lead you up to, what’s behind those doors, so I choose it. The sun was behind the house hence it was shaded but there were some spots where the sun hit directly and made them shine. I took the challenge. 

The urban sketchers of San Miguel de Allende met up at this location, the resulting sketches were so varied, I love seeing what everybody finds interesting to sketch and their styles. It’s always fun to meet with them.

Photo by Meagan Burns

Just a note to myself, Arches HP paper curls a bit.

Verde al Natural

Graphite pencil, color pencil, magic pencil koh-i-nor and watercolor on A5 Leuchtturm1917

My eternal struggle with sketching nature made me got the book Verde al Natural by Santi Salles. His sketches are so beautiful. The book invites you to explore his technique and find yours, and that’s what I did. I was in awe of the sketch above. I normally don’t put a lot of time to the greens in my sketches, but if you want something so expressive and loose you really have to put an effort into it. 

I didn’t bring my color pencils with me, so I went to the art store here in SMA and found 3 green color pencils I thought I could use. This are my careless first doodles.

But then I put my mind into it and the sketch at the top came out, it surprised me that I am actually capable to do nice trees with the materials I had. It’s a great book, I read it in one evening, very inspirational, if you know Spanish, read it, you’ll love it.

Mercado Ignacio Ramirez.

Pen&ink and watercolor on HP Legion Stonehenge WC paper 10”x7”

The Mercado Ignacio Ramirez is a fresh produce market, well it is more than that. Some days ago we went there and did some shopping of the most varied. In our way there I took photo that included three interesting elements for my sketch, the dome of the church, the clock tower and the stone column. It seems that this composition is symmetrical given that the tower is in the center, but if you pay attention the whole composition is triangular, starting with the shortest building on the left, the mid height tower at the center and the tallest yellow building on the right. This adds stress to the sketch and makes it interesting. The hanging street cables emphasize this composition.
I’m running out of red and yellow watercolor paint in my studio palette, due to the repetitive colors in the city but, I still have paint in my portable palettes, hopefully I’ll have enough to make it through the last day we stay here!

The colors of San Miguel from above

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

I chose this view from above because there’s so much to see. The four floors of this property and the aerial perspective looked so interesting. The theme of colors of San Miguel de Allende continues, bright oranges and yellows are forever present in sketches done in San Miguel. The edges of the distant trees of the hill on the background disappear and the trees become blueish, there’s only a corner of blue sky left. I sketched this from a deck. It gives the impression that I was flying...ha! I wish.

L’elisir d’amore, last minute.

Pen&ink on A5 Hahnemuhle watercolor book

We went to the teatro Angela Peralta to ask for information about shows coming to San Miguel de Allende. At the box office we heard  the orchestra playing classical instruments, they were rehearsing next room for the Opera L’elisir d’amore by Gaetano Donizetti which was about to start in the next hour. We loved the sound so much that we wanted to buy tickets but the show was sold out, there were tickets for next day, we took a chance with Galeria seats (rear mezzanine). Nedless to say the sight wasn’t the best, we have to move constantly in our seats to be able to see the whole stage, but all the voices of actors were so good, it was all worth it, I was  really impressed by Anabel de la Mora, the soprano in the role of Adina, she received the ovation of stand up crowd. 

As usual, photos were not allowed but nobody said anything about sketching. So there’s the view from up. I couldn’t fit the screen above the stage, yes, a screen with subtitles in Spanish and English, since the Opera was played in Italian. It was a fun night.

Centro Cultural Ignacio Ramirez El Nigromante

Pen&ink and watercolor on CP Arches paper 7’’ x 7”

The Centro Cultural Ignacio Ramirez el Nigromante is a fine arts school, it has spaces available for exhibits,  there’s also a unfinished painting of the famous Mexican muralist David Alfaro Siqueiros. Despite of being in downtown of San Miguel de Allende, the courtyard of this place is incredible quiet. There are stylish and comfortable chairs to sit in the courtyard. Two years ago these chairs were in the lawn but now they are in the hallways around the courtyard. The space invites to take a break from the hussle of the city, to read and even to take a nap. The fountain has a lamb on top, I don’t know the significance of that but it looks so cute, the sound of water is sooo relaxing. Nice place.

Museum of Mexican Toys

Pen&ink and watercolor on A5 Hahnemule watercolor book

We visited the Mexican toy museum La Esquina. Not only I enjoyed the big collection of toys but seeing the former residence layout was a joy. At one moment I realized that some of the toys in the exhibit were part of my childhood! Really? Is that hard to accept that one is aging? Not really, I’m happy to be alive and see that some toys I played with belong to a museum.

Instituto Allende

Pen&ink and watercolor on A5 Hahnemuhle watercolor book

Another day with the Urban Sketchers of San Miguel de Allende group. This time  we met at Instituto Allende. The coffee shop in the corner provided a warm coffee, a piece of carrot cake and a table. This is the first time I’ve been here, Instituto Allende is a school of visual arts popular among the expatriate community from the USA and Canada. The main court yard has a beautiful fountain, it had a lot a fresh flowers in two tiers but the view was blocked by other sketchers, the view above is the view from my table, the one with perspective that was available....and there you have it. The day was overcast and cold (despite the grey sky I painted it blue, ha!), the watercolor washes took a lot of time to dry, but there was plenty of people to chat with while the washes dried. I’m starting to recognize more familiar faces and learning their names, since this is the 3rd time I met with this group this year. I’ll keep coming, it’s a lot of fun.

Photo by Laurie Richards 

Flamenco in San Miguel de Allende

 Koh-i-nor magic pencil on Leuchttrum1917 sketchbook

Entertainment in San Miguel de Allende is easy to find. The theater Angela Peralta is always offering shows. We went to a Flamenco Show. Seven was the number persons in this dance company, 3 musicians and 4 dancers, being Patricia Linares the leader. I was happy I brought with me a sketchbook since photos are not allowed. I attended a Tango show a couple of weeks ago and regretted not  having a registration on paper, but I’m sure I won’t forget since I went with family who came from the USA. Magic pencil was my choice because lines and color are done at once, especially when I’m sketching people who moves constantly. The different rhythms or palos were dance with different accessories, the clackers or castanuelas, the shawl or mantoncillo and of course the feet and hands. “Art is written with L as in Linares”, the singer said, it made me laughed but it was true.