Busy Times ....

I know it's been a while since I blogged anything, but I've been a busy guy, to put things as mildly as possible. But I'll get to that stuff in a moment. First, I want to announce my new "Sketching Essentials" course on Craftsy! I just did the filming about a month ago, and it was great fun working with the Craftsy folks - they really know how to put together a valuable teaching and learning experience via the web, and I'm looking forward to getting started working with everyone who signs up!

Now, to explain my absence from blogging. I was in Rome over the summer, as usual, but this year was more challenging than most - I won't get into detail here, but the difficulties were related to our housing and studio space, and dealing with this took a crazy amount of time and energy. So while I was drawing as much as usual, there were other activities - like blogging - that had to be set aside. On top of this, I've been developing a new book on perspective, which carried into the Fall but is now complete - more news on this when the book becomes available in the Spring. As if that book wasn't enough, I'm currently working on another drawing instruction book, which should be out in the summer. Again, more news on that as the publication date approaches. 

Also, I went to Singapore, to teach at the Urban Sketchers Symposium ... and I wouldn't even know where to begin to describe that experience! So I'm not going to start right now, because it would take me so much time that I'd get nothing else done today ... and I have a deadline this evening for a couple book chapters!

And finally, I've been trying to teach and be a responsible faculty member, not to mention a responsible husband and dad. All the book stuff and travel stuff and Craftsy stuff has been a blast, but I'm looking forward to a respite - as soon as the next book is done, I'll be downshifting a bit, and hopefully drawing more, just for fun.

The Cupola of Art & Architecture South

I had my “Introduction to Architectural Graphics” class go outside to draw this morning, because it’s a perfect spring day, and by the time I answered a few questions and actually got out there I only had about 25 minutes to draw. So I limited my focus to one detail of the building where I’ve worked and taught for the past eleven years. Designed by J.E. Tourtellotte and built in 1904, what is now known as “Art & Architecture South” started its life as an armory and then the Women’s Gymnasium before being converted into offices and studios for the University of Idaho’s College of Art & Architecture in 1976. At some point the original cupola was removed, and the upper level studios would get very hot in the early fall and late spring. So in 2009 a new cupola was designed and built to replace the old one, and it now works effectively to vent the heat from the building. Here are some historic photos of the building and its original cupola in the years 1906, 1907, 1926, and 1936. [9" x 6" in a Stillman & Birn Gamma Series Sketchbook]