Touring with my family in Spain

[Guest post by Shannon Troxler]

  This winter we had a chance to visit our daughter Aviva who was spending the year abroad in Spain. I always take my little pochade box and oils with me on our family trips. While my husband and daughter visit museums and see the sights I am perched on some doorstep madly painting away. This time I decided to make it a “real” family trip and just brought my sketchbook and watercolors along. One day I was sketching in Madrid and a passerby asked if I was an “urban sketcher”. I had never heard the term before, but figured I was sketching, and I was in a city, so I must be an urban sketcher! When I returned home I did a little research and discovered more about the movement.

Above is the city of Cadiz, the oldest occupied city in Europe. It is a port city that looks out over the Atlantic toward Africa. I fell in love with its decayed streets full of orange trees.

Lunch in the sunshine in Sevilla.

The arches of the Alhambra were incredible. I could spend a lifetime drawing them. As we sketched curious cats gathered to watch our progress.

Another cafe in Granada, where we were serenaded by guitar players.

Narrow winding streets of Granada.

We hiked up a hill to sketch looking down over the town on a Sunday morning. As I drew a pair of Andalusian horses galloped past with streaming manes and tails.

 Sunrise from the rooftop of our Airbnb. Croissants, coffee, and a view–it doesn’t get any better than that.

The charming city of Ronda. The best thing about watercolors and drawing is that lunch in a cafe is the perfect amount of time to finish a drawing (or two, or three).

Shannon Troxler is a full-time artist, she has a studio in Wilson, Wyoming. There are lots of moose, elk and coyotes in her backyard to sketch but not many urban scenes. Whenever she can, she escapes the cold winters and heads to Mexico or Europe to sketch and paint. More of her work may be viewed at shannontroxler.com.