a couple days of sketching

I've been pretty lucky the last few days in that I've been able to hang out and draw with some pretty talented illustrators.

Friday afternoon my sketch group was down to just Karen Klassen and myself. Despite the rain, it was a great afternoon of art books, chai tea, sketching and great conversation.

Saturday afternoon I met up with Mike Kerr and Renata Liwska for some coffee and drawing. Renata was even nice enough to sign a couple of books for me. After a few hours of sketching with them, I left feeling happy and inspired. Thanks guys :) You can read Renata's post about it here.

recent sketchbook activity - characters

recent sketchbook activity - boys

an afternoon of sketching

Yesterday afternoon I met with my sketch group for the first time in several months. It was so nice to just drink coffee, and chat, and sketch. Thanks guys for the great conversations, the feedback and the encouragement :) I always feel so refreshed and inspired after spending some time with them.

I drew some butterflies, experimented with their shape and pattern. I prefer the ones with a more bulbous shape to the more realistic ones. I think the purple butterflies on the top left turned out the best.

I also just wanted to say congratulations to my friend, Karen Klassen, for having some work chosen for Lürzer's 200 Best Illustratiors Worldwide book.

sketchbook - crying child

©2009 Jacqueline Hudon-Verrelli

playing with watercolor again

©2009 Jacqueline Hudon-Verrelli


©2009 Jacqueline Hudon-Verrelli

assorted owls

I drew these at my sketch group last week. I was researching owls before I did the sketches and was really impressed by the huge variety of different owls out there. Some are really creepy - google the great gray owl to see what I'm talking about.




©2009 Jacqueline Hudon-Verrelli

assorted monkeys

©2009 Jacqueline Hudon-Verrelli

I did this on Tuesday at my sketch group.

Tuesday night sketch group - two birds

©2008 Jacqueline Hudon-Verrelli

Tuesday night sketch group

©2008 Jacqueline Hudon-Verrelli

sad boy

©2008 Jacqueline Hudon-Verrelli

Tuesday night sketch group - a couple characters

I did these last night...

©2008 Jacqueline Hudon-Verrelli

figure drawing

I went to a drop in figure drawing class last Tuesday. I wasn't super happy with anything I drew that evening, but it felt good just to get some practice. I'm going to try to go once a month as part of the sketch group I'm a part of.

Tuesday night sketch group

Last Tuesday I got together with some fellow local illustrators and artists for our first gathering as a sketch group. I think it will be a great way to get me drawing more regularly. And it's always inspiring to get together with like-minded people. Great idea, Karen.

Lately I've been really interested in the way fabric folds and gathers so I was mostly paying attention to that with my sketches on Tuesday. I think it adds a lot of interest to my drawings when there's attention paid to the way fabric behaves. And, as usual, I'm also interested in disproportion.





Sometimes interesting things happen when you're not trying too hard... and sometimes it just looks like you didn't try :)