New YouTube Tutorial and Sketchbook Flipthrough

 I made this sketchbook for a friend so I have blue taped over the name on the tag.

See inside 3 new accordion style sketchbooks that fit into your pocket for on the go sketching anywhere! I just uploaded a new YouTube tutorial with a Bonus Flipthrough of one of my watercolor sketchbooks at the end.  Give me a thumbs up if you like it!              

Watch a full tutorial and see inside 3 new accordion style sketchbooks 

Look inside for ideas on gift sketchbooks

     Naturally, you wouldn't use the sketchbook with a heavy refrigerator magnet still in it!            

My Haul from Pike Place Market last Saturday--And CSI

A day at Pike Place Market is full of treasure. My sketchbook, and a bouquet, of course.

And then there's the eerie parallel of my life with scenes from "Caddy Shack."

4.17.16---First, I noticed the decapitated tulip blossom on the deck. Then, the squirrel stared me straight in the face while he insolently consumed the entire stem like a stalk of celery. I've got evidence. CSI-Criminal Squirrel Investigator, Michele Cooper

The last day for my tulips from Roozengaard.4.16.16

Completed Sketch Pages

I felt that my quick 20 minute sketch on location yesterday at Ed Epp's garden needed more on the page. Here is how it looked on location. Here is how it looks after bringing it home and doing some more "thinking with my watercolors".

Further exploration of warm and cool reds

I got a better image by scanning the page and tweaking the colors a tiny bit with my watercolors.

My Sketchbook Projects Then and Now

The Seattle Times wrote an article about The Sketchbook Project in 2011.  I was thrilled, since it was the first time the tour came to Seattle and the first time that I had entered.

With promises of drinks and nibbles afterwards, I dragged my husband, sister and brother-in-law with me all the way downtown to see my contribution. We waited outside in a line that went down the block and around the corner. I remember seeing a mother and her 8 year old daughter sitting outside on the stone windowsills of the building, smiling and reading each other's sketchbooks.

Accordion spread from 2011 Sketchbook.

Note: I rebind my sketchbook with 140lb. watercolor paper, because it better suits my way of working than the thinner paper that comes with it. I also use a few accordion folds to make it less bulky at the binding and to extend the pages out further when the subject calls for it. Good for my style, not so much for the way they digitize the pages. So not all my pages are visible online. I hope someday they will discover how the flaps might fit their format. Guess you'll just have to visit the Library or Mobile Tour to see the missing images!

A spread that stayed folded up in the 2014 digitized version.

Come to the Mobile Tour in Seattle July 10, 11 & 12 at the Seattle Public Library and check it out! More info.
You can see my projects digitized at Sketchbook Project here.

PS. I wasn't planning to, but I signed up for the 2015 Project, since it's coming back here to Seattle on Tour. It could contain a lot more street scenes if  I can include some of the sketches I am doing with the USk Seattle and ASk.

All Green

All green.......that's what you see. And then, you realize this little ranch house is tucked away in the perfect spot off the road at Kualoa ranch.

I finally had an opportunity to sketch this for my 2014 Sketchbook Project.

It's just the left side of the 7x10" composition.

This sketchbook is currently on an international tour. Head to the official tour page for even more details. 

Hurricane Sandy delays Sketchbook Tour

I am pleased to announce that my sketchbook has been selected from thousands of others in the collection to go out on tour with "A Landmark and a Mission", curated by Christopher Jobson over at Colossal. He describes his blog as a place that explores the intersection of art, design, and physical craft.

The tour was scheduled to start in Pittsburg, PA, on Nov 6, but has been delayed due to Hurricane Sandy. I am happy to relay that all the people at Arthouse, the sketchbooks and the Brooklyn Art Library are safe and sound.

Sketchbook Fold-Out with Apple

Two 5x7" sections showing
with 4" journal tab

Since this sketchbook journal was made accordion style, it's fun to see what you get when pages are folded out at random.

Trees

Original Watercolor
7"x10" center of foldout
Sketchbook Project, Limited Edition

Here's another page from my sketchbook. It's the center section of an accordion foldout. It has another section either side of it, each 7"x5".

We had a long winter and the transition was almost immediate into spring. Another day in early April, and I don't think I would have caught the change.

I'll post more about this series of three sketches soon.

The Sketchbook Project, Limited Edition

Original Sketches from my Sketchbook Project, Limited Edition
7"x18" Accordion Fold Section

Now that this has been sent in, and the deadline has passed, I thought you might like to get a peek inside my sketchbook. Visit here for more information on the whole project.

I removed the thin paper from the original Moleskine sketchbook provided by the project and replaced it with 140 lb. CP Fabriano Artistico watercolor paper. Directions on how to rebind your sketchbook here.

Every contributor to the Sketchbook Project Limited Edition Vol. 1 will be included in a series of art books documenting the project. Together, the series will provide insight into the imagination and process of each artist participating in the project. Bound by the Brooklyn Art Library Press and hand-finished in our Brooklyn workshop, the book series will be published in the fall of 2012.