Falling shadows in Santa Fe

[Guest post by Erik Madsen in Santa Fe] La Fonda hotel, one of the more prominent and historic
buildings on the Santa Fe, New Mexico plaza, is always a challenge to sketch.
The hotel was opened in 1925 and built in Pueblo Revival style
architecture. This style is inspired by both Spanish Missions and the
Indian Pueblos.

In the
fall and winter, the falling shadows in the afternoon provide extreme light and
dark contrasts. I believe that the large shadowed walls really help provide a
solution to understanding the building definition better. These conditions
allow me to capture the complexities of the scene with rather “simple”
black and white, water-soluble drawings, which are really fun to do.

All
sketches were done with fountain pens and water-soluble ink in a Pentalic watercolor
journal.

Erik Madsen is an artist/sketcher living in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He sketches
regularly with Albuquerque USk and other groups in Santa Fe. He has contributed
two previous guest
posts about New Mexico. More of Erik’s work can be seen on his Flickr site.