Go simple to sketch more often

By Laura Frankstone in Chapel Hill, NC. I find I’m sketching less. Painting more, illustrating more, but sketching less. The solution to this problem for me, a drawer since age 2, seems to be to follow my own desire for simplicity. Pencils, paper, and what my eye is, you will pardon the expression, drawn to. […]

Review of Urban Sketchers show at the Ackland Museum store!

Nice coverage of our show by Blue Greenberg, longtime art critic at the Durham Herald-Sun! 2 hrs 45 mins ago | 143 views | 0  | 4  |  |  Submitted/ Courtesy of Ackland Museum Store “Tuscany II,” by Laura Frankstone, is on view at the Ackland Museum Store, part of the exhibit “Urban Sketchers.” Submitted/ Courtesy of Ackland Museum Store “Union Square,” by Greg Betza, is on view […]

Eating out in Chapel Hill, NC

If you were here to see the Urban Sketchers show at the Ackland Museum Store, you’d find yourself in a foodie paradise. We’ve got some justly renowned restaurants here, one of which is Crook’s Corner,  ” a sacred ground for foodies,” according to the New York Times. The food is great and the sketching is […]

First Urban Sketchers group show opens August 16th in Chapel Hill, NC!

Chapel Hill, NC: Seeing the World, One Drawing at a Time: Urban Sketchers opens at the Ackland Museum Store, Ackland Museum of Art, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  Lisbon sketch by Omar Jaramillo Opening Thursday, August 16th, will be the first group show of Urban Sketchers, an international organization of artists, architects, […]

Sleepy Sunday morning, Chapel Hill

I wanted to make sure to get some July sketches posted, so here they are. It’s overcast, very hot, and quiet today. I hope for rain.

Eating gelato

You would think that people sitting in a café that sells gelato, espresso drinks, cakes, and martinis would be happy. I thought they were happy as I drew them, if I thought about it at all. When I got home and looked at the faces in my sketchbook, I saw a different story. Was it […]

Boutique sketches

I love the clothing shop run by two dear friends and have long wanted to sketch some vignettes of its interior. Here are three. Next time, I hope to include Amy and Katherine in the drawings… they were busy with customers when I made these.

You will have more adventure!

Like all Urban Sketchers, I’m always at the ready for adventure! I was so happy when my fortune cookie told me I had more in store soon. It’s not the Oracle of Delphi, my fortune cookie, but it knows what it knows. And like all Urban Sketchers, I like to be on the move. Here […]

Two restaurant vignettes, my town

I’m making lots of food illustrations for a foodlovers’ guide to our area, so this means I’ve been eating in lots of restaurants lately. Here are two recent sketches from all that dining! I also took a few moments to sketch President Obama last night, at his health care press conference. I added color today. […]

All around the town, with pen and paint

In the midst of a busy summer, I eked out a few sketches recently, three for the 23rd International Sketchcrawl yesterday and one, because why not. Happy July to one and all!

At the bar, on the terrace, sketching

I’ve been so completely swamped with work and worries lately, that I’ve been absent from Urban Sketchers for way too long. The other day, though, I managed to have a drink at a local bar, eat a delicious meal on a terrace, sketch both, and take the time to tell about it. Whew.

Lions and the like

I live in a very tidy, domesticated college town, outrageously deficient in wild animals. I won’t count the football and basketball fans in that group, just for the sake of politeness. Okay, yes, we have raccoons, rabbits, squirrels, deer, and even a red fox (in my in-town backyard!), but I’m talking tigers and things. Yesterday, […]