Night Falls at the Fountain

This fountain holds many memories, and I love returning to paint here with artist friends for the Brush Creek Art Walk. The Nocturne Quick Paint kicks off the weekend plein air, one that I haven't attended for several years.  I'm normally out of town painting at another event, but have chosen to stay in town this year.  Additionally, I've been missing my oils lately, so I am pulling them out tonight!  This was so much fun, and I'm glad to be painting in Kansas City again!  Painting number 4640 in 4640 days. 

47th Street

 I love painting the street scenes of the Country Club Plaza, where I have so many fun memories with friends and family!  With so many places to shop and dine, I've spent many happy hours in this place.  I could never have guessed that I would once love painting it so much as an adult!  Painting number 4057 in 4057 days. 

Fogo du Chao

I love sketching in one of my favorite places - the Country Club Plaza!  SO much wonderful architecture - so little time for sketching!  The streets here are lined with gorgeous Moorish architecture, much like Seville, Spain, and are a delight to paint.  I first ink this with India ink in a pen, then float in a little watercolor.  The result is a little snapshot of the day, and a place I love to visit and shop! Painting number 4043 in 4043 days. 

Plaza Lights Magic

I absolutely LOVE painting the Country Club Plaza for the holidays!  Always inspiring, this place is celebrating it's 100th year!  Though I've painted these gorgeous streets multiple times, I've never chosen acrylics to do it with.  I've been painting a great deal lately, so it's wonderful to stretch into a different medium for a bit.  I'm using a do brush technique with heavy body acrylics, without water.  They build up with a thicker, more opaque quality this way.  And the color pop of that acrylic paint is also very different from my oils.  Such a great change!  The best bonus is that the painting dries very quickly, so I could frame it up the same day!  This one is now showing at HDR Inc in Kansas City along with 14 others.  It is the 3955th painting in 3955 days. 

Nichols and Broadway Lights

I loved getting one more trip to the Country Club Plaza in today - and got a free hot Matcha Latte, too! Finishing up some shopping on 47th Street, the Kansas City Store handed me a free drink bookmark when I checked out at the register!  So, I turned around and got it to go, enjoying it on the street.  This place is bustling so close to Christmas, and it's great to see everyone out enjoying the Plaza!  Painting number 4128 in 4128 days. 

Nichols and Broadway Lights

I LOVE shopping AND painting the historic Country Club Plaza along Nichols during the holidays!  The Christmas lights switch on shortly after 5:00, and the wet streets lend themselves well to reflections.  The beauty down here is timeless, and 90 years of Christmas lights is something to be celebrated!  I only wish I had many more days available to paint it's beauty!  With a wintry mix expected Monday - I find myself wondering how gorgeous it would be down here with a blanket of snow on...... and the wheels start turning. Painting number 4125 in 4125 days. 

Lights on Broadway

 

I LOVE capturing the magic on the Country Club Plaza during the holidays!  This place is iconic in Kansas City, and a must visit spot each Christmas season.  I loved painting the Lighting Ceremony, and have returned here several times since to paint the lights on that wonderful architecture!  I'm lucky to have grown up locally, and have many fond memories of the place. I'm so happy to return to paint the beauty again and again.  I am truly living this artist's dream.  Painting number 4123 in 4123 days. 

Country Club Lighting Ceremony

 

What a fabulous experience to paint the Country Club Plaza Lighting Ceremony from this vantage!  From start to finish, it was such an amazing night!! The lights, music and merriment from the crowd was a delight to be a part of, and the acrobatics involved were really a hit!  I thought one girl would soon be sailing into the audience from the force of being swung around so fast!  Working larger - to fita 20x16 frame, I moved back and forth from inks to watercolor, once my composition was down.  I painted the light masses first, adding more color as I worked, pushing the darks pretty quickly.  It is important to establish that road map early, especially with so many wonderful distractions!  I delivered this painting today to the Country Club Plaza, and I can't wait to see the next chapter to this story!  Stay tuned!  Painting number 4410 in 4410 days. 

Lights on 47th St

 

I LOVE capturing the Christmas magic of the Country Club Plaza on 47th Street, in ink and watercolor.  I've long done nocturnes in oil, but have only started using my watercolors.  My intention was to start with watercolor and finish in gouache, but I've yet to use my gouache!  I even think it would be far easier to get the intensity I need with gouache, and yet I hesitate.  I'm so comfortable with my normal methods, I find myself leaning on them in the field, rather than jumping into something new.  I will make it a point to do so this week!  No reason to sit in my box when there are methods to explore!  Painting number 4406 in 4406 days. 

Nichols and Broadway

It was magical to walk down Nichols after the lighting ceremony, and only see pedestrians!  Normally bustling with cars - this is a once a year view on the Country Club Plaza.  We try to make a trip here every holiday season, but this is my first time to be right by the stage for all the festivities.  So magical, I wonder why we're not down here every year for the lighting!  This may just become a new tradition - and there are so many other places I want to paint!  Painting number 4404 in 4404 days. 

47th and Nichols

What a lovely morning to paint at 47th and Nichols on the Country Club Plaza!  I was so happy to gather with artist friends again for an Urban Sketchers KC event with our sister city Seville, for a sketch exchange!  I was on the Plaza earlier this week to get in some early sketching. As one of the admins, we were all trying to do extra work, to be sure there is enough to exchange with the artists in Urban Sketchers Seville. For each artist who sends a painting (size 9x6), a painting will come to them from an artist in Seville, Spain.  How cool is that?  I've only just turned in my work, and I can hardly wait to receive my treasure!  I hope we do much more of this in the future - just imagine the international connections to artists of shared interests!  What a wonderful way to spread a little joy across the pond! Painting number 3363 in 3363 days. 

Fogo de Chao

I love getting an early start on this weekend's Urban Sketchers "Paint the Plaza" day.  The weather has been spectacular this week, so it has been a joy to sketch outside!  This building is another iconic stand out in the Country Club Plaza. I can't tell for sure from here, but it looks like the face of the clocks are also plaza images.  I'm always surprised by the details I see when I'm painting on location.  They are so much more apparent as I work.   The opposite is also true - sometimes there are big ugly things in my line of vision, and I don't see them at all as I paint.  I think there is a lot of "self-editing" going on in my head - without my knowledge! Love painting down here!  Painting number 3361 in 3361 days. ❤️🎨

Central and Nichols Rd

There was some construction going on down this road, so traffic was limited, street traffic, too.  This building has always caught my attention, but I don't think I've painted it before!  I started by sketching the big shapes, then tightening down on those fabulous moorish details.  I love taking the time to really notice all the craftsmanship that went into these buildings.  I think if that when something looks too complicated - I'm just drawing it, not building it!  Kansas City is very lucky to have the Country Club Plaza, there's no other place like it!  Painting number 3360 in 3360 days. 

Chuy's on the Plaza

I've gone out early to sketch for this weekend's #urbansketcherskc sketch exchange with #uskseville Spain!  We are trading an oversized postcard size - 9x6, so I thought the extra time would help with such complicated architecture.  Seville is Kansas City's sister city, so what better way than to celebrate Urban Sketch life than by trading work?  We did a similar thing with Mexico a few years ago, and I LOVE my sketches from there!  I also love that I can go to any city with a chapter, and meet up at their events while in town.  We're all one big family, after all.  And the bonus is that I love painting the Country Club Plaza!!  Painting number 3359 in 3359 days. 

Chuys Mexican Food Inked

Tonight's quick paint for the Brush Creek Art Walk wad held at JC Nichol's Fountain.  The setting sun through the buildings grabbed me immediately, so I began my sketch.  Knowing I would need to work fast to get those values down before my painting, I dropped them in quickly.  I keep a Pilot Varsity fountain pen in my easel all the time, which I keep in the trunk.  No matter how that pen has been abused by heat or cold, and laying on it's side all the time, it works every time I remove the lid.  It may not be fancy, but that pen is a workhorse, one that I depend on when I forget my fancy pens!  This painting will have a new home in Canada!  Painting number 2062 in 2062 days.

sold

Neptune Fountain Inked

This was a day spent in the hospital with family as my mother-in-law underwent surgery.  All has turned out well, and the healing begins.  At times like these, it is nice to settle into the rhythm of ink on paper.  The flow of the ink as it glides along the surface of this special handmade paper is soothing.  Like an old friend, I know each mark before as it unfolds, telling a story of beauty and movement as timeless as the fountain itself.  What therapy drawing is, and at the end of my fingertips all of the time.  Painting number 1672 in 1672 days.

ink on paper, 8x8
purchase here

Nichols Fountain Inked

Getting back to the ink tonight is like returning to an old friend.  It is easy to slip right into the rhythm of drawing, almost without thought, just letting the pen take over.  This paper is thinner than my usual, so the ink does not move as readily, and takes a little coaxing.  The paper retains that same water, continuing it's movement when I think it will stop!  Because of this, I blot areas to keep them in check, or let them go if I want that area loose.  So fun to play in the ink again!  Painting number 1671 in 1671 days.

ink on paper, 6x6
purchase here

Plaza Shopping

As part of my "100 people in one week" challenge, I headed to the Plaza for some concentrated people sketching.  With each figure,  they get easier to sketch.  They don't stand still,  so I often get the top half done, and then use another person for the rest!  Although,  I'm doing this less as I get faster.  I'm way past the 100 now,  and let me tell you this simple challenge really improved my skills!  I've done this with cows, and am starting it with cars. It makes a huge difference!  Is there something you are uncomfortable drawing?  Draw it 100 times, and you will have mastered it!  Painting number 1583 in 1583 days  :)

Plaza Inked

This is my week of a hundred cars-  and by gosh,  I am going to get them in!   I love picking a focus and attacking it!  True as it is, I keep getting sidetracked by all the spring beauty bursting forth all around me!   This drawing has another 20 cars in it,  and plenty of tiny people with dot heads and dash bodies!  I am in this drawing,  behind my easel,  and more prominently located than the last one!   Can you find me?  Painting number 1557 in 1557 days  :)

JC Nichols Fountain Revisited

My fountain series continues on this very special khadi paper!  This paper is so special that I save these individual sheets for the fabulous fountains of Kansas City.  This sheet has a quirky little top edge which I love!  Pen work is like handwriting,  every artist has their very own style.  I try to follow form with line,  just as I do with brushwork and paint.  I start with squinting, to see all the values clearly.  I also finish the same way,  rechecking the path of lights and darks.  Sometimes,  a few darks need to be added just to improve the eye flow through the composition.  I have yet to add watercolor to this paper......perhaps the next one!   Drawing  number 1549 in 1549 days - and today is my birthday!  :)