Sketches from Mackinac

We went up to the Mackinac/Mackinaw area this weekend.

I’ve been wanting to get away for a weekend; to sleep in, see the water, find a diner for some greasy breakfast and explore nature with the pup (And of course, to paint a bit…) so we decided to make the 4 hour drive northward.

I had just gotten a new sketchbook that I was really excited to try out. It’s an accordion fold from Hahnemule with really heavy watercolor paper. It felt a bit like a AAA map from road trips of yesteryear, so I decided to make some contour drawings of the land and use the colors of our drive to be a ‘map’ in another sense.

I also brought along these water-soluble ink blocks from Derwent that I tried out a few weeks ago.

It was a beautiful drive up. Seriously, Michigan is a gorgeous state.

We got in a bit later than planned, so we let the pup walk around and headed straight to dinner. I was hoping to make a few beach-side color studies but had lost all my light. Sketching would have to wait until tomorrow.

Mackinaw City Sunrise.

The next morning I was greeted with a spectacular sunrise and whatever irritation I felt for missing a chance to sketch by the water last night, was totally gone.

Once the sky had lightened enough I gathered my ink blocks, drawing board and a fresh rolled canvas from Fredrix and set up on the chilly, windy beach.

I didn’t exactly dress for the weather, so this was a quick painting session. The Inktense blocks worked beautifully on the canvas (pre-gessoed) allowing me to get the color and motion down in quick strokes.

A new thing I just discovered with the pup; usually I bring back my work to dry on the hotel floor. I can’t do that anymore unless I want to add little paw prints to the design ( paint is definitely not something that should be on dog feet…) so I had to get creative about where to store the wet canvas overnight.

Luckily, there was a perfect sized luggage rack in the cabin’s closet.

We’ll head home in a few days, hoping to get a few more chances to paint along the water - the colors up here are just so incredible.

Hope you’re all having a wonderful weekend!