A quick glimpse from San Miguel and Mexico City

Art and friends

I visited Frida Kahlo’s house in Mexico City with my husband. I walked and drew with one marker (The yellow ochre one), so it’s very spontaneous and is filled with moments that caught my eye, rather than trying to consider a composition.

I’m on the tail end of an amazing trip to Mexico (Mexico City and San Miguel Allende). There is so much to absorb, process, and talk about. I’m a bit overloaded with visuals and talking and need a day of quiet contemplation. I’ve been drawing every day out in the world, recording what I’m seeing. It’s been incredible spending the week with a group of extrordinary women who inspire me so much.

Gayle Kabaker

Samantha Dion Baker

Charlotte Hamilton

Michelle Allen

LoriSeibert , Mokshini and Maru Godas. We exchange ideas and stories and friendship. It couldn’t be better.

When I got to San Miguel I started this new sketchbook. The first page always turns out a bit of a mess. But I also remember the day and what I saw. It’s ok that every page isn’t one I love; I want to embrace that since it’s real life.

My goal with my art for years and years is to draw live out in the world. I’m an introvert, and my happy place is in the studio, where I can combine pictures I’ve taken with memory, imagination, and dreams. That’s all great. I never want to stop doing that, but I also want to capture the small bits of life I see spontaneously and presently as I go through my day. This has evolved slowly, over quite a few years. I got the Tombow and Kuritaki Markers a year ago, it was life-changing in my approach to outdoor sketching.

This is a drawing in the park of the Mariachi and a tourist. I can keep the energy of what I see if I work very quickly and use continuous lines. Once I lift my pen and obsess if the hand or head is in the correct position, it becomes robotic. And everyone moves so quickly that I need to use and arm from him and leg from her!

Lots of lovers on park benches, drawn from different angles and viewpoints. I added the blue later.

Parroguia de San Miguel Arcangel. It’s easy to tuck this notebook into my bag with a handful of markers and then limit the color to 2-3. It’s simple and dramatic. This is drawn from a rooftop restaurant as I ate dinner.

A wedding photo session in front of Parroguia.

We had a lovely lunch at Jacques Restaurant. There was a musician who had a great voice and played guitar. After lunch, we met him on the street and asked him to come to the Airbnb to perform for us while we all drew.

Here is Alphonse playing for us.

Here is our lovely artist group with Alphonse in the courtyard of our Airbnb. Joyful!

I’m about to start my day and get out and about and draw. There is so much more to share; I will process all of this when I’m home. I have also been painting live, sitting on street corners with all sorts of supplies, learning a lot from everyone, and gaining a special understanding of urban sketching from Maru. It’s a lot and it’s exciting to try new things.

The supplies I’m using for my everyday sketching are a small Muji sketchbook, Tombow Markers and Kuretaki Zig Markers

I’m so glad to be in paradise and not the US right now, I'm back to reality on Wednesday.

Thanks for reading, and let me know your thoughts!

xxJennifer