Urban Sketching in Richmond Virginia

A few more watercolor paintings of some older buildings in Richmond Virginia. Each sketch was done first in Lexington Gray ink and then watercolor was added. I have included a photo of the building after each watercolor sketch, I think there were many liberties taken.

808 West Franklin watercolor

808 West Franklin Street photo

I feel like I am struggling to include all the detail and the depth of the actual building and just overworking the colors in some places. 

818 West Franklin Street watercolor

818 West Franklin Street photo

Sharon Warren Glass | sharonwarrenglass | sharonwarrenglass.com | FluttterByButterfly | Sharon Warren Glass Artist

Fused Glass Abstract Landscape SUNcatcher

Fused glass abstract landscape.

Getting settled into a new workshop takes some time and leaves me feeling a little abstract. So I was inspired to create a very modern and loose interpretation of a landscape. These colors were inspired by my daughter's art, a color gradient of the layers of the earth as you move from the core to the earth's surface. When I looked at her brilliant color gradations, I was reminded of a landscape looking out to sea and beyond to the mountains. Art is always in the eye of the beholder. 

Bullseye glass frit in jars.

To create each mini landscape, I layered opaque and transparent crushed glass on a solid clear base. A strip of fiber paper was inserted between layers of glass to save room for a ribbon later. Each glass landscape is heated in the kiln to 1375 degF to leave textured and dimension. 

Fused glass mini landscapes before firing.

Sharon Warren Glass | sharonwarrenglass | sharonwarrenglass.com | FluttterByButterfly | Sharon Warren Glass Artist

Urban Sketching Watercolors

Our daughter has begun college with a virtual freshman year while living in the dorms at Virginia Commonwealth University. It is all very strange but probably pretty normal for right now. Walking around VCU before going to visit her is beautiful. Everyone is masked and Richmond is such a clean little city. 

It's wonderful to have the opportunity to sketch in ink and then work to capture some of the local buildings in watercolors. I have been trying to limit a painting to a few color mixes but maybe my choices for this one were too strong. I used a mix of Indian Red, Permanent Red and Winsor Orange for the brickwork. The tree colors seem all over the place too.

North Laurel Street and South Cathedral Place

Here is a sketch of just the porch of the same red brick building done in much lighter tones. Maybe too light this time. I lost the perspective of the crosswalk but gained the detail of the brick and bushes.

16 North Laurel Street

Here is a different building just a ways down Cathedral Place. This time I chose to paint the brick in just a mix of Indian Red and Permanent Red for a more pinky and happier tone. More lemon yellow in the bushes also makes it feel sunnier.

808 Cathedral Place

I'm not sure anyone would recognize these buildings from my sketches, but they are fun to do and an exercise in how much detail to include and what colors to choose and lots of other things I'm trying to work on. 

Sharon Warren Glass | sharonwarrenglass | sharonwarrenglass.com | FluttterByButterfly | Sharon Warren Glass Artist

Moving Back to the US! Yeah!

The past 5 years has seen us living in Sicily, then in Okinawa and back to the east coast of the US. A Navy move is never easy and definitely not an international move with an 85 pound dog during a global epidemic. 

We are getting settled in Williamsburg, Virginia and as we wait the 3 months for our crates of stuff to arrive, I thought I would sketch some of the old buildings in Richmond, Virginia. I spent some time making a waterproof palette guide for my colors and tucked into the top of my travel tin. I'm a beginner and it helps me to keep track of my colors mixes.

My organized and labeled watercolor palette.

Richmond is about an hour's drive from our house and where our daughter will be going to college. It is such a nice city and just the right size for walking. It is filled with tons of older buildings perfect for sketching. The streets are mostly empty and those people that I see are wearing masks due to the pandemic. I thought to include some of them, but it seems depressing and timely.

An alley off West Franklin Street

917 West Grace Street

Here is to more art and less stress!

Sharon Warren Glass | sharonwarrenglass | sharonwarrenglass.com | FluttterByButterfly | Sharon Warren Glass Artist