Mobile, AL - City Icons (illustration)

Mobile is Azalea City--everywhere I went, when I asked people what they considered to be a city icon, almost every time the answer started with "Oh, you have to get the azaleas!"  So I did.

From left to right: the city's favorite flowering shrub, Bellingrath Gardens, Bragg-Mitchell Mansion, the government building (designed to look like a sailing ship), two of the city's tallest skyline features (RSA Battle House Tower and Renaissance Riverview Plaza Hotel), the fountain at Bienville Square, and some of the park with its Spanish Moss-draped live oaks.

Everyone should see Mobile at some time in their lives--it's beautiful.  I only recommend the trip occur in the spring (April), when the azaleas are actually in bloom.  (Heh!)

Aug 25 - Mobile, AL (sketches)

(sigh)

Today was one of those days when everything I tried to do ended up being a disappointment.  The photos were okay, the sketches were rushed (dang ants!) or I was feeling frustrated that the markers weren't blending like I wanted them to, or I tried to use people as subjects and (as usual) failed.  Also, I forgot to put on sunscreen today and got a horrible farmer's tan line just under my knees (lol)!

Or, to paraphrase: bleh!

In the interest of full disclosure I've posted the sketches here in this post rather than give them their own postings . . . they don't deserve them!  I'll try these subjects again on the flight out of New Orleans (on the 28th) and push them a little further.  I also picked up a few supplies today that I hope will enable me to work with the markers a little differently when I want to use them as a color wash (versus a solid like with the cartoons).

And, to focus on the positive, the sketch I did with the people in it shows at least my non-existent people-as-subjects skills are getting better.  I'll keep practicing.

New photos in the Mobile album--click the picture!

Fort Conde, Mobile, AL

Mobile, AL - Bienville Square Fountain (sketch)

Drawing water in sunlight against a dark green-black fountain = more difficult than you might imagine.

Mobile, AL - Japanese Garden (sketch)

Just a quickie sketch while we were cooling off in the gazebo by the bridge--there's a photo of this same spot in the Mobile album (link in the previous post).  I'll revisit this back in the studio for a larger, cleaner version.

Aug 24 - Mobile, AL

Wow--I'm slipping into town just in time for the first week of classes at the University, Beer Fest downtown, and just ahead of Tropical Storm Isaac!  Now if only the Chili Cookoff was happening or the fishing rodeo I'd be set for the next few days with a mysterious cold that sadly laid me up for about a week or so while I "recovered."  [cough, cough]

I got in touch with some old friends from school (USA, go Jags!) who gave me some pointers on what to see downtown for this project, and my host also suggested going to Bellingrath Gardens, which is a sight to see year-round and one of Mobile's true gems.

We went to the Gardens first; I could spend a week camping out there and still not get all the photos I wanted to!  Did a quick sketch in the Japanese Garden and then we took off for downtown.

For those who are not familiar with the city (which is pronounced mo-BEEL after the Maubila indians, not MO-bul like it's portable), it was once the 3rd largest city in the US and has French and Spanish roots.  Sadly, most of the historic part of the city has been lost to fire or misguided architects of the previous century, but some of the older historic buildings have survived, along with the centuries-old live oaks that line the older residential streets and area green spaces.

Click the photo below to see today's pictures taken at Bellingrath Gardens and in "historic" downtown Mobile (around Dauphin and St. Joseph Sts.):