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Sunday 10 March 2013

Sketches from Cuba

 
 

 
This first picture is of the sketches I made while travelling on the plane to Cuba. I drew first from my imagination, then drew pictures of my fellow passengers, then back to the imagination again.
 
 
 
A close up of one of the pages above.  I'd been thinking, as I drew these people whom I did not know, that for a few hours we were sharing the same experience, breathing the same air, feeling the movement of the plane taking us to Cuba.  Yet, in all likelihood, we will never see each other again.  Our lives have intersected, but not connected.  
 
 
 In the same sketchbook as I used on the plane, I tried to capture poolside.....
 
.....and oceanside.

 
In a different sketchbook I laid down some random watercolors and drew various scenes from our balcony (except the starfish - that's the logo of the hotel were staying at).


Close-up of the page above.

 
On the next page I painted the colors of sand, sea, and sky then drew while soaking up sunshine at the playa (beach).  A paper coaster from the hotel found a spot on my page too.

 
It had been quite windy for a few days and many of these jellyfish were pushed on shore by the waves.  I've since learned they are called blue bottle jellyfish. 


The waves also deposited tons of shells. 


View across the bay.  I think it's a lighthouse.

 
There is a story that goes with this picture.  We were in the markets at Varadero and I saw an artist drawing caricatures of people.  So I drew one of him (see below) real quickly.  Then I ran over to show him.  He loved it.  I sat back down in my spot and not two seconds later he handed me the above caricature sketch he'd done of me and walked away.  Didn't ask for any money.  Of course I went over and gave him some pesos.  He indicated that he would like my pen, but as I had only one of that kind I didn't give it to him.  I felt bad after and intended on giving him some different pens on our next trip to town.  But we never went back. :(   I taped the picture into my journal and decorated around it to remember him.  Next time I will be better prepared.
 


We took a excursion into Havana.  The historical buildings were amazing.  This is part of a castle which I believe the tour guide called Castle of the Royal Court.  But don't quote me on that.  I was too busy drawing to listen!!


This is the most sketching I've done on my travels.  I really had fun making them.  Notice I've got three sketch books and a few different pens plus watercolor.  I also had some charcoal and watercolor crayons and a few markers.  I simply did not know what to bring!  I've discovered that I love doing sketches with pen (I didn't even crack out my pencil at all!) and adding watercolor really intrigues me. I'm looking forward to doing more with these two mediums.

I hope you enjoyed looking at these sketches as much as  I've enjoyed sharing them with you. 

Until next time...

xoxo Leah




2 comments :

  1. Your sketches are amazing, Leah! I absolutely love your work here. It looks like you had a fantastic trip. I am trying to be braver about sketching in public...especially about sketching PEOPLE in public! Looks like you're a pro at it!

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  2. Thanks Janice! I'm still nervous about people catching me sketching them so do a lot of "shifty eye" action LOL

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