9-11 World Trade Center Collages

9-11-2001
World Trade Center
8x10" collage

A week after 9-11-2002 I participated in a collage workshop at Sitka Center on the Oregon Coast. I was still reeling from the enormity of the terrorist attacks, from the images I had seen on my television; I think of nothing else, so three of the first pieces I made that week referenced the events.

I used one of my "writing that can't be read" sheets as the background, to represent the debris-filled skies. A striped paper referenced the walls of the World Trade Center, standing and falling. Bingo cards referred to the numbers of the floor and to elevators. And of course, there's the fire and the smoke, and the pain of loss.

Urban Sketchers

Sketchcrawl esteponero - Malaga - Spain from Urban Sketchers on Vimeo.

I love to watch other people sketch almost as much as I like to do it and as I watched this video I made several observations that might help you on your next sketch outing. You DO sketch, don't you?

1. Use a 7-day pill container to hold your paints
2. Use a sea shell for water supply.
3. Note that most people use a waterbrush. Available at art and hobby stores, the barrel holds water, or ink.
4. A small amount of paint is enough to explain the colors; don't over-work the color.
5. Notice the different sizes of sketchbooks; one person uses single sheets of paper clipped to a backing board.
6. Notice how people hold their pen while sketching; notice how carefully and often they look at their subject.
7. Joining a group like Urban Sketchers for a day looking at your community is lots of fun.