Three coffee shops later...

...so I got out today and discovered I really enjoyed just hanging out and sketching and painting in my journal.  Here are the entries...

1st Stop - Walla Walla Roastery - ...crowded this morning but one tiny table was available...

2nd Stop - Colville Street Patisserie - ...not sure about my browns for the cannele - which was a deep brown with golden highlights. I tried Jane's suggestion of incorporating different colors. And I know I spelled "patisserie" wrong!!!! I penciled in my letters but when I got to the first "i" I accidentally inked it in as a "t" - felt frustrated at first but didn't want to mark it out so I just went with the misspelling in order to keep the page looking nice.

3rd Stop - Olive Marketplace & Cafe - By the time I got there I was on a coffee buzz and decided to bring it down with an IPA and a cheese plate. I was going to sketch both the cheese plate and the ale. But when the cheese plate arrived it was incredibly ornate and I felt overwhelmed at trying to capture it in a picture so I settled for sketching and painting my ale (the foam was challenging - I did use table salt to try to show froth that skimmed the top surface) while using the restaraunt logo for my corners and the lettering for the name of the cafe. When I prepared my pages ahead of time - doing the coffee circles like Jane did - a big splat landed in the lower left corner so I decided to use it for my date "box".

Lafazio Week 2: Go out and Sketch/Paint in Public...

...our assignment is to go out to a coffee shop and sketch/paint anything that inspires us.  I can't decide which shop I want to go to so am considering doing a mini-sketch crawl of a couple of them.  I want to stick with the locally owned shops.  The ones I'm cosidering are the following:

Colville Stree Patisserie - a daily plethora of french desserts, locally roasted coffee, and students from Whitman College to choose from for my subject...

Walla Walla Roastery - a local micro-roastery with a small low key shop to hang out in.

Olive Marketplace & Cafe - locals and tourists alike hang out in this down town shop that not only serves coffee and desserts, but meals throughout the day

Coffe Perk - locally owned shop just around the corner from Starbucks and has not hurt from the competition!

True to my key motto...

...I decided to put my schoolwork away today and to instead do another journal page!  I'll just go in a little early tomorrow to do what I was going to do today.  Today I was inspired by this gourd that sits in my living room.  It's plain with a candle bracelet draped over it and I just love the beads in the bracelet.  Anyway...here it is...

Getting Inspired...

...by taking an online class - "Sketchbook and Watercolor - On Location" by Jane Lafazio which is sponsored through an art website Joggles.com  Each week we will be challenged with a theme and this week it was to sketch and paint a set of our keys.  This is what I came up with...

While this week's assignment was an at home project, the main purpose of the class is to challenge us to get out into our community and sketch and paint in public.  Next week our assignment is to go out to a coffee shop and sketch and paint.  This class is good for me because I shy away from sketching and painting in public and I want to get over this!!!!  I live in a wonderful town in a great part of the country and there is so much for me to go out and sketch and paint!

Meanwhile...here's my previous journal entry from a week ago.  I was inspired by the miscellaneous yard debris I found laying around.

I love my Nook!

Lately I've taken advantage of getting free e-book from Project Gutenberg.  Right now I'm in a Jane Austen phase.  I love the richness of the language and have been using the "Look the Word Up" feature alot!

A Cold Start (or continuation) to the New Year...

I decided to welcome in the new year with a sketch of my snow boots.  They've been put to a lot of use this school year.  Since we only have one car and it's only 1/2 mile to school I walk, ride my bike, or take the scooter.  When it's snowy out, walking is what I do...and these boots get me there.  Honestly, unless it's blowing rain out, I really enjoy walking to school.  And below the boots is an entry in my handbound watercolor book of a snow encrusted Sumac.