The students who joined me for my third annual Day of the Dead sketching workshop…

Colorful Market Sketching
It was a lovely day for outdoor sketching, and I took advantage of the Wednesday Farmers Market in Corte Madera Town Center. The bright orange tent and the magenta table cloth of the gourmet Indian foods attracted my attention. Photo shows my view.

I squeezed the scene a bit to accommodate a nearly square format. Dark purple aquarelle (water-soluble) pencil established the layout and some of the darkest areas.

Using the side grip on each pencil, I filled shapes with color quickly. Notice the direction of the strokes

The water brush was used to intensify some areas and blend others. I left some areas dry for a variety of textures.

A few details are added with fine line ink strokes. The darkest edges and shadows are accented with a brush-tip (B) pen.
The fellow doing business under the orange tent came over while I was working…that rarely happens when I am doing “stealth sketching!” After I showed him the finished result, he gave me a dollar off on a package of spinach besan pura.