Sketch of the Day

"View from my kitchen window," pen and ink and marker in a Moleskin sketchbook
Copyright, Sara Light-Waller 2017

It was rainy today, not the best day to draw outside. So I drew the outside from the inside. This is a view of my neighbor's house as seen through my kitchen window.

It was fun to draw something that I look at from the sink every, single day.

More to come...

Flying Pony Studios site rebuild - DONE!

Welcome to the new Flying Pony Studios website!

I rebuild my website every few years.

It's necessary as both the times, and my focus, changes periodically. 

The new build is teaching-focused with pages for classes, an event calendar, and a page to promote my art coaching business. Of course, there's also a gallery of my artwork and a place to see some current projects. About the latter...there'll be more added to the current projects page sometime soon. I have a few new projects I'm really excited to share with you.

I'll get there.

And there will be a e-commerce store here, too. In time. 

For now though...I hope you like the new Flying Pony Studios website.

Drop me a line with comments or if you find any *shiver* typos.

I am delighted to announce my new Urban Sketching class series!

 Sketch in the City

Olympia, WA, Saturdays, March 4, 11, 18, 25 & April 1

Sara Light-Waller & Jane Wingfield, instructors

Have you ever wanted to be an urban sketcher? This class will show you how. You’ll learn everything you need to know from how to draw people quickly to sketching complex outdoor scenes. Through fun and confidence-building exercises, you’ll create fresh and expressive drawings. You’ll learn the keys to becoming a successful urban sketcher.

Every level of artist is welcome in this class.

Learning Goals:

•                  Explore urban sketching tools

•                  Learn to create confident line work with pen, brush, and pencil

•                  Build your drawings with simple shapes

•                  Play with value in both black & white and in color

•                  Understand one and two-point perspective

•                  Explore the art of visual storytelling

•                  Understand the value of thumbnails in sketching design

•                  Enjoy outdoor sketching with classmates

The Sketch in the City blog (http://sketchinthecityclass.blogspot.com/) has instructor bios and artwork samples.

Class size is limited to the twenty students so that every artist can get the personal attention they need to succeed.

Sketch in the City will be held on five (5) sequential Saturdays — 3/4, 3/11, 3/18, 3/25, 4/1 from 9:30 - 4:30 PM in Olympia, WA..

Five Saturdays. That’s a big investment in time, we know. We don’t want to waste your time and money. Any less class time and we would have to skim over some important topics. That would be a great disservice to you. We want you to learn all you need to know to become a confident urban sketcher.

We’re so sure that you’ll become a successful sketcher after this class is over that we’re offering students a Money-Back Guarantee on the tuition. If, after the class series is over, you don’t agree that you’ve achieved at least a minimum improvement in your sketching skills we’ll give you a prompt and courteous refund on your tuition.

Sign up by February 18 and get the Early Bird Price of $200. That’s a $25 savings over the regular price of $225.

Email janewingfield@gmail.com  or sara@saralightwaller.com with questions or to register.

Drawing the Bones of Bigelow House

Sketching the Bigelow House Museum

I’ve been an artist for as long as I can remember. I’ve filled countless sketchbooks and napkins and scraps of notebook paper with horses, superheroes, cartoons, and all the daily décor I see around me.

When I was fourteen my father told me that my sketch didn’t have any bones under the skin. I looked at the drawing and thought, “how can a drawing on paper have bones?”

I studied and understood that everything has bones…even houses.

I like to old sketch houses, I’m not sure why. Maybe, because they have such good bones.

Urban Sketch of the Bigelow House, Copyright Sara Light-Waller, 2017

I drove to Olympia today to sketch the Bigelow House Museum. The weather was cold and rainy, not unexpected for Washington in February. The house wasn’t open for tours today, and anyway, it was much too wet to sketch outside. So I sat in my car, across the narrow suburban street, and sketched.

The Bigelow House Museum in Olympia

It always surprises me how messy my sketches are. In the studio I could render this lovely old house exactly. But that’s not the point of urban sketching, is it? All the bent windows and off-kilter groundlines show that you really were there…drawing on your lap, braced against the car door with rain from the cracked-open window splattering onto your sketch and making the ink run.

And that's what makes it fun.