Guatemala sketchbook

Three years ago I took an excellent workshop with Bobbi Friedman called Journey Books.  We made our own sketchbooks, mainly accordion style books with pockets and inserts sewn in.  I've filled three, and I started one for Guatemala.

Tonight I thought I'd post some pictures from the smaller inserts.  I also paste interesting tickets and business cards onto these smaller pieces of paper.  This came from the shop of San Francisco el Grande church in Antigua.

I also drew chicken buses, which are old American schoolbuses which are pimped out and used as public transport in Guatemala.  Each one has a name. Here is Camelia:

I love the thunderbolt windshield wipers.  They are almost as nice as the Thundercats decal I saw on a Tuk Tuk.

The last page of this sketchbook is a sketch made for me by my friend Juan Carlos Calderon - it's beautiful.  Stop by my office and ask to see it!

Guatemala paintings

I worked on small paintings during the workshop with Frank Francese.  Here is a painting I made in the forecourt of San Francisco el Grande in Antigua. Also, for anyone watching the news, I am not in the part of Guatemala where the volcano went off today, although I can see plenty from Antigua.

Here is Chichicastenango.

Finally, I finished the scene from Santiago Atitlan.

Antigua, Guatemala

Today after sketching in Antigua all morning, my friend drove us around the small villages at the base of the local volcano.  We saw five churches, had a wine tasting of fruit wines, attended a local party/dance briefly, and drew even more scenes.

This church is in San Juan de Obispo.  The town is named for the Bishop for Central America who used to live here outside Antigua and ride his carriage into town. This sketch is in my travel sketchbook. 

Before driving all around Antigua, we had lunch with the artist and other students at Sky Cafe.  The view of the volcano and the San Francisco el Grande church was fantastic.

Lastly, here is a photo of Antigua's cathedral at night, where I went for a walk after dinner.

Jeans

Yesterday I realized I needed a new notebook and bought this hot one in San

Juan La Laguna. How we ended up here is a story you will hear in person.  

This is probably the first jeans-themed sketchbook I have ever bought. Let's hope it is not the last.  The paper is incredibly thin, and my friend from Guatemala tells me it's really hard to get decent paper in the country.  

I did a value sketch from Santiago Atitlan this morning. The vehicle in front is a Tuk-Tuk, a three wheeled scooter/taxi we ride around in.  Actually, the reason I ended up with a Jeans Notebook is because we were close to leaving too late to catch the last boat from San Pedro La Laguna to Pana, my friends found a Tuk-Tuk to drive us, there was some confusion at the counter about the price since I apparently sped through the Rosetta Stone lesson on numbers too quickly, my friends called my name to get in the Tuk-Tuk already, and hence no bargaining for a non-jeans-themed book.

Here's the painting, not quite finished, but we head for Antigua tomorrow so I packed my paints up and will finish it mañana.

Line drawings from Panajachel y San Antonio

Today we spent time sketching.

As I was drawing some shops near Lake Atitlan in Pana, Juan approached and made far more conversation than my Spanish ability could handle, so I drew him. I think he is a waiter; at one point I looked up and half of the restaurant staff were crowded around us.

My friend later told me that Juan said I was going to put the sketch on the Internet and make him famous. Here you go!

We took a pick up truck (my friend who is a local Guatamalan and I weren't on the official tour at this point!) to nearby San Antonio. Once we got out, one of the women from the village invited us to visit her house. Outside her house was a cliff were we could sketch the lake and the churches.

Next we visited the churches and caught the pick up truck back to Pana, after talking with more local people. 

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