One of the wonderful things about spring is being able to get back outside with a sketchbook and pen… and not becoming an instant ice cube. It’s still a bit chilly yet for really long outdoor sketching sessions, but here are a few of my firsts of the sketching season.

I spent Easter weekend in New York City mostly visiting with my son and his girlfriend, but I managed to grab a few minutes sketching here and there. This is the southern skyline from a windy park bench in Madison Square Park. Part of the reason for not finishing all the detail was that it DID get cold sitting out there, even in the bright sunshine, but I like this unfinished look. (Staedtler pigment liner .005  and watercolour in Stillman & Birn Alpha small sketchbook)

In the Park Skyline

The Toronto chapter of Urban Sketchers met last weekend at this fabulous art space, 401 Richmond, and while standing in a shady corner of the inner courtyard, I did this sketch. Again, it got cold so I shortened my time by only painting the shadows. (Moleskine watercolour journal, Staedtler pigment liner .005 and .003, Moonshadow Daniel Smith watercolour for shading)

401 Richmond Courtyard

And here’s a collage of small fast drawings I did inside while “waiting” over the Easter weekend – airports, airplanes and hotel rooms are good waiting spaces, providing there’s pen and paper handy. (Stillman & Birn Alpha sketchbook, Staedtler pigment liner .005, and Koi cool grey brush pens.)