Sketches from Cuba

These sketches were done during a two week trip to Cuba over New Years December 2013 - January 2014.

On our last day in Cuba, one choice was to walk around Old Havana. I started walking with friends but decided I wanted to strike out on my own. After the initial shock of being alone after so many days of being with a group, I felt really free. That freedom often comes to me at the end of a foreign trip, as if I’ve accomplished everything I need to accomplish, and now I can just wander aimlessly. I came across a sweet little park where someone was playing guitar, and I noticed a group of artists drawing together. I stood near them for awhile, half-hoping that they would ask me to join them. They reminded me of the drawing groups that I’m a part of at home. In the end, I decided to sit on a bench near them and do my own drawing while absorbing the creative energy around me.
On our last day in Cuba, one choice was to walk around Old Havana. I started walking with friends but decided I wanted to strike out on my own. After the initial shock of being alone after so many days of being with a group, I felt really free. That freedom often comes to me at the end of a foreign trip, as if I’ve accomplished everything I need to accomplish, and now I can just wander aimlessly. I came across a sweet little park where someone was playing guitar, and I noticed a group of artists drawing together. I stood near them for awhile, half-hoping that they would ask me to join them. They reminded me of the drawing groups that I’m a part of at home. In the end, I decided to sit on a bench near them and do my own drawing while absorbing the creative energy around me.
Another Cienfuegos poolside sketch. I like the one in the upper left corner. It shows the relative unimportance of facial features in capturing someone’s likeness. I find this person to be recognizable from stance and other non-facial features.
Marlena’s hand. I have a drawing book that says that you should sketch everywhere, and one of their examples was the inside of an airplane. I did this one on the plane to Havana. I do not often have the patience to do long detailed likenesses of people, but one of my strengths is to capture characteristic gestures. I was so flattered when Meera saw this sketch and told me that it captured her mother’s hand gesture so perfectly.
This watercolor sketch was done poolside at the hotel in Cienfuegos. I was talking to one of our companeros, and I think that the conversation altered the look of the sketch. It’s different from many of my watercolor sketches.
Abstract watercolor with pen design over it is a form of self-soothing for me. On January 1, I ended up in the Clinica Urgencia with a toe injury, so on January 2, I really needed to stay in and rest. This was in the cabana-like hotel room in Santa Clara, I believe. I did the watercolor in the hotel room that night and continued the pen drawings on top of the watercolor off and on for a few days.
This was done while waiting to board for the last leg of the trip to Havana. It was a long trip, but I was actually fairly relaxed and rested by this point after a nice sleep in Mexico City and many pleasant conversations getting to know my fellow travelers on the trip.
This sketch brings up a nice memory for me. I had been looking for a place to sketch where I wouldn’t get wet; there were intermittent rain showers that day, I had no raingear, and I had two hours before I would meet our bus. I began sketching this scene, and I noticed someone was watching me. Sketching often attracts attention, and I end up talking to people I would not normally meet. The young woman who was watching me was a young Cuban artist who does caricatures of tourists. We looked at each other’s sketches for awhile, chatting in a mix of English and Spanish. As we said goodbye, we wished each other artistic success.
On our last day in Cuba, one choice was to walk around Old Havana. I started walking with friends but decided I wanted to strike out on my own. After the initial shock of being alone after so many days of being with a group, I felt really free. That freedom often comes to me at the end of a foreign trip, as if I’ve accomplished everything I need to accomplish, and now I can just wander aimlessly. I came across a sweet little park where someone was playing guitar, and I noticed a group of artists drawing together. I stood near them for awhile, half-hoping that they would ask me to join them. They reminded me of the drawing groups that I’m a part of at home. In the end, I decided to sit on a bench near them and do my own drawing while absorbing the creative energy around me.