I drew a lot on vacation. And I have drawn a lot since I have been back home. This one is from a photo I took outside the Art Institute Chicago during our first night there. Walking around the city at night was a memory I feel privileged to have and wanted to be sure to capture the memory in my sketchbook. Since I don't like using pencil using the wash and ink or fast and slow technique by blocking out the basic images in color using watercolor before drawing. That served as my guide when I slowly drew everything I could see. There are a couple of slightly wonky areas but overall I am quite pleased to have this image in my sketchbook. This is my favorite drawing of the week. Thank you Sketchbook Skool for the technique to tackle such a complex image and the focus to keep going and finish it.

A lot of drawing and a little text. This is how I will remember my life.

Despite living in cold and snowy climates my entire life enjoying or even accepting winter does not come naturally to me. Maybe it has something to do with growing up in the mid-west in an area with snow but no hills so no good sledding unless you can find another kid or a dog to pull you. Not the same kind of fun as sledding down a steep hill on a simple plastic sled. In Chicago we built a lot of snowmen and igloos in the winter and had many snowball fights. Out east the snow is less conductive to building things but hills are all over the place and we have a great one for sledding with the kids walking distance from our house. I have good boots, a good coat, wool socks and snow pants so I was ready to spend hours having fun in the snow with my six year old. And to my surprise I actually had fun and didn't complain about the weather once. If you live in New England and spend all winter pining for spring and summer like I have done in years past then you are bound to be miserable. No more pining for Summer or crossing my fingers and praying for a mild winter. Just acceptance and doing my best to enjoy the winter that we get. After all we only get so many of them to enjoy why waste the time year after year being miserable? Also, how can I possible be miserable when she is so happy? It just is not possible to be sulky around such pure joy.