Meet the Sketchers: Carrie Lee McClish

Sketching became a part of my life when I was in elementary school in the early 1970s. Only then I used a No. 2 pencil and ruled notebook paper, the kind with three holes on the left-hand side of the page. It is far different from the pocket sketchbooks, watercolor pencils and fountain pens that I use today.

Men on a bench

I seldom leave home without something to draw with or draw on. I've drawn during difficult times: I sketched I.V. bottles, walkers when my mother was in the hospital. I also recorded happier times: while on vacation in Italy I drew Mount Vesuvius!  My drawing looked even better than the post card.



@ the Bread Workshop in Berkeley



I feel so fortunate to be part of this Tuesday evening sketch group here on the east side of the San Francisco Bay Area where I was introduced to urban sketching. Each week is a destination – one week we’d turn up at a pub, the next week a pet store. Recently we sketched at a library – located in a historic building – that we learned would soon close because of budget cuts. I’ve learned a lot about drawing during these weekly treks and along the way I have also learned so very much of the world around me.

inside a Berkeley boutique