Cacti, agave and succulents
Posted: April 17, 2022 Filed under: Uncategorized 14 CommentsI took my sketchbook and pen out for a walk in Santa Barbara, and along the way I drew the plants in front of the El Zapato house on Garden Street. It’s liberating to carry such a light kit because I can be very mobile and work standing up. The plants in front of the house are really comical, and a bit reminiscent of something from Dr. Seuss’s imagination. I added colour back at the hotel, and even though I did take reference photos, in a drawing like this, does it really matter if the colours are naturalistic? I think not.
Shari Blaukopf's Sketchbook 
A garden on Garden Street! I lived up several blocks for several years from there – use to be a rougher neighborhood back then! Succulents and such are often so weird! They look like aliens from another world, and the agaves always make me think of Audrey from “Little Shop of Horrors”!
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Lucky you to have lived in such a beautiful place. The weather seems ideal to me, but I don’t know what it’s like in January and February. But it seems from the gardens that it must be pretty nice.
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Overall, coastal California can be pretty nice. The problem is the ongoing droughts, increasing it seems every year. Fires are devastating and horrid. I’ve been through a fair number of them, but, knock on wood, never lost a house to one. Along the coast, SB is a really good place to live except for the escalating (ever-escalating) property values there and everywhere. SB is a nice sized city, has culture and beauty, great beaches and mountains, and good weather. I do miss it for that, but not for the increasing traffic and touristy aspects. I live about 50 miles further south now, and like my area but getting the ocean is now a task when it was just a hike down the road!
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Interesting garden, looks very exhotic to a northerner like me. I really like how you captured the detail with a few simple washes, and simple line work.
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It looked very exotic to me too Shawn!
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love this has an animated feel
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Maureen, thanks.
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Shari, I am so far behind in the courses I’ve signed up from you–enjoy them so much–but these funky drawings are the most fun images. Love them!
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Thanks Robyn. There’s no rush to do my courses. Take your time. There’s no closing date for these.
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It definitely matters not! These are lovely and playful and alive!
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They were such fun to draw.
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They are rather comically shaped. I’ll bet they were fun to do!
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They were really fun!!
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Very whimsical. I enjoy your style!
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