Buttnekkiddoodles

Saturday at Evanston Farmers Market and checking in of some favorite stalls. Above, Nick answers questions and keeps the flow going.

 
Faber-Castell Coconut barrel Ambition fountain pen, Essentio Black Leather fountain pen and Pitt Artist Pens on Clairefontaine Goldline Watercolour sketchbook.

 
David is a very good spirit who works in the grocery store in my neighborhood. He and the staff have done a good job resupplying the store during the pandemic despite some binge buying. And David and crew have kept a Upbeat and helpful attitude when many customers became frustrated or contentious. Finally, if you come into the store you must mask up which helps protect these workers and their families.

  
Tools used: Faber-Castell Essentio Black Leather fountain pen, DeAtramentis Document Black Ink, Pitt Artist Pens on Clairefontaine Goldline Watercolour sketchbook. #fabercastellusa #clairefontaine

 

  Last Saturday I made my way to Calvary Cemetery on a day of exquisite beauty. The light was intense, producing strong, crisp contrast and deep shadows. A fairly chilly day for mid June at 60F, and a cool breeze from the lake meant the necessity of a sweatshirt despite the heat of direct exposure to the sun.

I had expected to meet up with a group of artists also going there to sketch, but, despite the relative openness and simple layout of Calvary, we never bumped into one another. Deep into the cemetery there are sufficient crypts and statuary and scattered cedars to screen people separated by only a couple hundred yards.

Calvary Catholic Cemetery was created because 19th century Irish residents of Chicago were being excluded from burial in some of the city’s cemeteries.

I brought a simple kit of Pitt Artist Pens including my some of my dwindling supply of the various  #fabercastellusa PAP Big Brush Grays. I will be truly bummed, if not challenged to become adept with other medium. I also used a Faber-Castell Black Leather fountain pen filled wit DeAtrementis Document Black Ink. The top sketch is in a #clairefontaine Goldline Watercolor sketchbook, the bottom sketch is on a on Stillman & Birn Nova Beige sketcbook. White Big Brush Pitt Artist Pens gave me the sky and highlights.

 
Stopped by my framer’s shop and drew Avram masked-up and in the midst of a project. Owners Ross and Darren have done an excellent job under truly challenging times to complete old orders, accommodate new orders, and help their employees thru this grueling health/economic crisis all the while observing protocol for the pandemic and keeping everyone safe.
Drawn with a Faber-Castell Basic Black Leather fountain pen and Pitt Artist Pens on a Clairefontaine Goldline Watercolour sketchbook.

The one place I thought I could go during this time of pandemic lockdowns with Chicago Police dispersing gatherings of a half dozen or more was a cemetery. So Giamila and I agreed to meet up, masked up as well, at Chicago’s elegant Graceland Cemetery.
In general, cemeteries are very sparsely attended so I was a bit surprised to find dozens of people, solitary, and groups of five, roaming the ground. Kids were zooming about on bicycles, a practice generally discouraged by cemeteries. Many unmasked. Lady G and I sat by this tombstone for an hour and a half while I drew and then roamed the grounds, her first time ever at Graceland.
If you have the opportunity I highly recommend a visit wherein you will find the tombstones of luminaries such as Louis Sullivan, Jack Johnson, Mies Van Der Rohe, Daniel Burnham, Dorthy Page, Pinkerton, Cyrus McCormick, and many others after whom Chicago streets, Parks and buildings are named.

Pitt Artist Pens, fountain pen on Clairefontaine Goldline Watercolour sketchbook. #fabercastellusa #clairefontaine