5-day art challenge, day 3

Cathy Johnson & Christiana Farabee on the grounds of The Elms historic hotel

I attended my first sketchcrawl in November 2007, driving 200 miles to meet Cathy Johnson and others in the Kansas City area. I knew artists closer to home; I just couldn't get any of them interested in going out to sketch "on site" together. But I formed many lasting friendships going to these sketchcrawls in Kansas City and Excelsior Springs, MO. That's what I miss most after moving to Texas.

One of our frequent spots is the historic Hall of Waters in Excelsior Springs. And my favorite subject to draw there is this lion fountain located at the end of the water bar.

Below are some tiles and gauges from the Hall of Waters. The golden lion is from an elevator door. At one time this was a very high-end spa and there is still a treatment room full of old spa equipment, as well as a swimming pool.

I tend to be slow at sketching; on that very first sketchcrawl, I only managed to do this drawing in pencil:

Then I went home and painted this from the sketch: