Waiting at school

I pick up my granddaughter at school twice a week. She is in first grade, so this is the second year that I have chafed at the amount of time that is spent waiting for her class to come out. The elementary school and middle school are sited adjacent to each other. If I don't get a parking space on the street 20 or more minutes before classes start to be released, it is not possible to get near the school, as cars line up in the street in both directions and impede all traffic through that neighborhood. Last year I knitted socks to make the time productive. Now, I sketch things.

#Inktober 2019 Palm trees in Poway.
Inks: Diamine Chocolate Brown and
Monteverde Malachite Green

There are, of course, palm trees.

10/07/19 Horse crossing at elementary school
Exceed journal paper
Chinese rainbow color pencil

Poway was known in the past as the "horsey" community. In the decades since the schools were deemed "award winning", the influx of high-income people have taken over many of the horse properties, but many still remain. It is amusing to me still to see the intersections with push buttons high on the crossing poles so that horseback riders can trigger the crossing lights to allow them to walk across. There is a riding path adjacent to the school and I tried out a new rainbow pencil to sketch the horse Xing sign. It was interesting to use one pencil to get multiple colors in the scene. I was disappointed by the way the yellow disappeared on the cream colored paper.

10/19/2019
Horse crossing at elementary school
Strathmore Toned Tan sketch paper
Marco Rainbow Pencil

I repeated the scene using my new Marco rainbow pencil on Strathmore Toned Tan paper. That allowed the yellow to come forward, but I learned that sharpening a rainbow pencil in a long sharp point does not make it as easy to get the single colors. I didn't have time to include the background details this time.

The second sketch was done while I stood on the sidewalk. Several mothers with kids in tow walked by me as I sketched, smiling when I glanced up. I thought they were smiling in support, and maybe they were. But when I closed my sketchbook, I noticed the 2 minute poses on the back from a practice life sketching session.

2 minute pose practice sketches.
Strathmore Toned tan sketch paper
Pentel pocket brush pen

Then I wondered if they were smiling at the pose sketches. I am intimidated by observation if I sketch in public. Yes, I have read about how to overcome that fear. I'm sure that it will go away someday, like the fear of speaking in public has. So, for now, I will assume they were smiling in support, not amusement.