Tracks and Lines

Tracks and Lines Near Union Station DC  pen & watercolor 8x5"  by Meera Rao

I don't know what this building is. I see it as the train pulls out of Union station DC on my trips to NYC. Everything about the building - the color, the structure, the look and all the wires crisscrossing was just the invitation for me to sketch and paint it.  

There are so many scenes I see in passing on my trips that I just to itch to sketch - but most of them pass by too fast for me to photograph, let alone sketch.  What do artists do in situations like that? Resort to imagination?  Make a special trip by foot or car back to those places leisurely and sketch? Add one more to my stories about one that got away?  I was finally able to take a few blurry photos of this building as the train sped past it and used those, my mental notes and impressions to sketch and paint.  Last week when I passed it again by train I was pleased - I had captured the scene to my satisfaction :) 

I came across an article in Artists Network  on Sketching On The Go by Bill Silvers with this tip that I really like :

"Try sketching while traveling in a car. My favorite time to sketch is while traveling in a car. As my wife drives, we pass a house. The outer shape is quickly noted. We drive on?there's a group of trees. I place those trees behind the house. Look at that?a differently shaped building. I place it so that the first one overlaps the second. There, a telephone pole; a car, etc. As object is added to object, I try to get them in an interesting overlap. Working directly in watercolor may be impossible during a car ride, but when I get home, I take out my sketchbook and lay in the colors and tones as I remember them. If it doesn?t work, I can change it or do the sketch over. After all, the beauty of the sketch is it's only a sketch!"

Do you have any tricks and tips for sketching on the go? Please do share them in comments below - I am eager for more ideas !

Distance From Origin

A Stone of Hope watercolor and Ink 5x8 by Meera Rao

It is funny how I have inventory anxiety and then feel pangs of separation as I let go a painting that finds a new home!  I am a jumble of emotions feeling grateful and excited that someone else liked the painting enough to want it and a twinge of apprehension that I might never see it again :) Last month, A Stone of Hope, a sketch of the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial at Washington DC  was auctioned off at a fundraiser for my granddaughter's school PTA.  I am grateful to be able to give back to the community in my own small way. 

Distance From Origin  colorpencils  by Meera Rao

I was honored to be invited by Katherine Thomas, an artist friend by way of the cyber world, to participate in doing a page in the Sketchbook Project "Distance From Origin"  via the Brooklyn Art Library. The sketchbook had already traveled to :Ohio, USA; Kent, England; Colorado, USA; and Nasum, Sweden.  I used color pencils to sketch a view of the NASA Langley (Lunar)Landing Impact Structure from my backyard.  It was my interpretation of the theme 'Distance From Origin' -man exploring the universe, the light and heat from Distant Sun burning up the early morning fog. And all this captured by me, who was of course quite a distance from my origins :) I wished the sketchbook happy travels and sent it back. Check out talented Katherine Thomas's FaceBook page and also the special page she created for the project 'Distance from Origin' to see where in the world that sketchbook traveling to!  

Altered States TAA Portfolio show Mixed Media By Meera Rao

My mixed media paintings on photographs have been juried into the TAA Portfolio show at the Suffolk Art Gallery in Virginia.  The theme of my portfolio is "Altered States."  The  show will be up from April 29-June 4.  At the opening, I was pleasantly surprised to see that two paintings already had red dots :) My wish for all my paintings is for them to give happiness and pleasure from whatever walls they grace !