An old woman buying fish at a market in Tokyo. I love drawing these kinds of pieces of everyday life when I travel. – posted by Veronica Lawlor

This is a drawing I made in the shipyard up at the Mystic Seaport Museum in Connecticut. For the past few years, Margaret and I have been bringing the artists of the Dalvero Academy – including several Studio 1482 members – up there to draw and document the restoration of the Morgan, the only wooden whaling ship left in the world. It has been an incredible experience for all of us. The museum is hosting an exhibition of our work this spring – stay tuned for more details to come!

posted by Veronica Lawlor

INTERVIEW! – On Sunday, January 29th at 6:30 pm EST I will be interviewed live on the program Artistically Speaking with Rebecca Parsons. We will be talking about the One Drawing A Day book and drawing in general. Hope you have a chance to listen in!  http://www.blogtalkradio.com/artisticallyspeaking

I rang in the New Year by spending some time teaching with Margaret at our Dalvero Academy workshop in Washington DC. We had GREAT weather for the mall – 67 degrees – and then it snowed a few days later. But by then we were in the museums. Wow, the Smithsonian branches have so much information it’s almost crazy.

Couldn’t do much drawing since I was teaching, but I did manage a little bit here and there. This is a view of the Air and Space museum, from a corner near the back – ha! Always good to practice drawing any chance I get.

Happy 2012 everyone, hope it’s a year full of One Drawing A Day!

posted by Veronica Lawlor

A few drawings of the lovely Lynn. Enjoying several days in the museums of Washington DC, with the Dalvero Academy, preceded by a few days of drawing in our Brooklyn studio. A great way to start the New Year!

posted by Veronica

Happy New Year! This silk painting titled “Garden of Eden” is one I did for the United Nations World Food Summit. It represents growth, abundance, and peace- my wish for everyone for 2012.  Enjoy the holiday.

posted by Veronica

Best wishes for a happy holiday season and peaceful 2012 to every one of our readers! Here’s to more One Drawing A Day in the year to come.

posted by Veronica Lawlor

This is an Indian tiger that I illustrated recently for a newsletter for A&K luxury travel. I did several illustrations for them, but I especially enjoyed doing the tiger. I was thinking when I did it of the Jungle Book and the version I had as a child, illustrated by Aldren Watson. Rich, luscious watercolors that really brought the story to life for me. I wanted to get that lush feeling in the jungle behind the tiger…

posted by Veronica Lawlor

Check out our new Flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/groups/onedrawingaday/

You can do the exercises in our One Drawing A Day book and post them, for feedback from our Studio 1482 illustrators and other One Drawing A Day participants! Don McNulty has been posting regularly – great work, Don!

I love the steamboat at Walt Disney World in Orlando. I have learned so much by drawing that boat over the years. The “wedding cake” my teacher used to call it. One class he made me sit on it every day for a week and draw. Wow. And now I send my students there to draw, when Margaret and I take our Dalvero classes to the parks. We’re going again this summer – I can’t wait, seems like too long since I visited my old friend.

Posted by Veronica Lawlor

We’ve been having some unseasonably warm weather here in New York City, but I know it’s not going to last. As wintery winds start blowing, my mind drifts back to the Turks and Caicos islands where I spent some lovely time recently. Sitting on the porch overlooking the ocean, I started to play with color and marks to draw the tropical trees at the beach’s edge. Then suddenly a swimmer’s head appeared in the window between the palms. Lovely view!

Posted by Veronica

Just now finally getting to go through the many drawings I made in Spain in the summer of 2010. This was a group of young boys playing futbol (soccer) one day near the Miro museum. They were without doubt the most beautiful little boys I’ve ever seen. Long eyelashes, so sensitive, really sweet. Neil and I sat and watched them playing for a while. Every time one of them made a goal, Neil would say “Woooowwwww!” in this very emotional way he has of saying it. Well, the boys loved it! I don’t know if they knew what “wow” meant, but they certainly understood the emotion. They started showing off for us, and every time they would kick the ball, they would call out to us, “Mira, mira, WOW!” Which means, basically, “look, look, WOW!” It was the funniest thing.

Pretty soon they noticed that I was drawing, so they all clamored for me to draw their portraits. I was happy to oblige. What a nice group of kids, and what a wonderful memory. Wow!

Posted by Veronica

 I will be interviewed about our One Drawing A Day book on the radio program Creative Mojo with Mark Lipinski tomorrow (Wednesday) on the internet radio station Toginet. The program is streamed live from 3 – 5, Eastern Standard Time. Visit www.loginet.com to hear the interview!

Did these on-the-spot drawings of a young woman putting on make-up. This is serious business! : )

posted by Veronica Lawlor

This Thursday at the Angel Orensanz Foundation in New York City, American Illustration and Photography hosts its annual party for selected artists and colleagues. The illustration above of the Spiderman balloon, and one other of the SpongeBob balloon, were selected for AI30 from my reportage of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

I am looking forward to attending the event, part of “Illustration Week” in New York City. (Thank you Mayor Bloomberg!)

Hope to see some of you there.

posted by Veronica Lawlor

Took this drawing I made of an Afro-Cuban band in New Orleans a few years ago and messed around with it in the computer. It was fun to create the brown line and add some music/energy marks in bright colors. This was an awesome band, the old Cuban guys really knew how to create a wall of energy with their bongo drums. The crowd loved it too, everyone was dancing around me while I was drawing. It is one of my favorite New Orleans memories, on good old Frenchman Street.

posted by Veronica

Our One Drawing A Day book is available now! Stay tuned for an announcement about our Flickr group, so you can post One Drawing A Day along with the Studio 1482 illustrators.

Barcelona is such a beautifully surreal city. The architect, Antonio Gaudi, helped make it so with his organic, wonderfully undulating architecture. It snakes it’s way around the city and winds up in Park Guell, a massively exotic architectural fantasy land set atop a mountain looking down on Gaudi’s obsession, Sagrada Familia. I enjoyed the magical feeling of the Park Guell, and especially loved escaping the heat in this open atrium with the sunflower inspired roof, listening to a lone musician playing. I was not the only one so inclined. I drew this last year on my ‘art holiday’. Thinking it’s time for another one soon…:)

Posted by Veronica Lawlor

A drawing of the Zakim Bridge in Boston. I love the elegance of this bridge. I remember being very cold when I made this drawing, and there was a group of street people with a somewhat menacing air right near me, but neither of those things could break the impact seeing this bridge in twilight had on me. It was magical.

The bridge, designed by  Ruchu Hsu, based on a concept by Christian Menn, was opened in 2003. It was named for civil rights activist Leonard P. Zakim, who spoke of “building bridges between peoples.” In 2002, 14 circus elephants walked across the bridge to prove that it could hold up to 112,000 pounds. Wish I was there to see that!

Posted by Veronica Lawlor.

PS – Our book, One Drawing A Day: A 6-Week Course Exploring Creativity with Illustration & Mixed Media, has just received it’s first review, from the Library Journal. You can read it on my personal blog, HERE.

Neil and I took our bicycles through the Haitian neighborhood in Providenciales, and I did some drawing. There is a large Haitian community in the Turks & Caicos, because the local population iss not large enough to handle all the work that needs to be done in the hotels on Grace Bay. These guys were hanging out, discussing life and settling the world, I think.

Posted by Veronica

While my students are working at the Museum of Natural History, I entertain myself by drawing faces of people in the cafeteria. I swear that guy’s hair was out that far in front of his head.

Posted by Veronica Lawlor.

I made this drawing under water, while snorkeling with Neil in the Turks & Caicos Islands. Happy times!

Posted by Veronica

Only ten years ago – a lifetime, really – two planes crashed into the World Trade Center in New York City and  changed the lives of everyone who lived there. The events of September 11, 2001 have had a profound effect upon the United States and by extension, world events. But I will always remember the effect that day had on my fellow New Yorkers. Some of us had great personal sacrifices to endure, others were affected in less heartbreaking ways. But we were all changed by the day.

When the Dutch built a fort in New Amsterdam, they chose the southern tip of what is now Manhattan for it’s strategic location, easily defended. We who live in Manhattan have always felt that same feeling of safety and protection on our little island. Even now, some criticize Mayor Bloomberg for having been overly cautious with safety measures during Hurricane Irene. We have faith that our tall buildings and iron fortresses can’t be breached.

But on that beautiful sunny morning in September, our confidence in our city was shattered. The twin towers – those landmarks by which every lost New Yorker could orient themselves – had fallen, and with them, our spirit. But I am proud of my city and how she has fought her way back. I can’t wait to see the completion of the new tower at the trade center site that will reach up to the sky with hope and confidence. And I also look forward to visit the memorial to the fallen and take a moment to remember all those beautiful people we lost that day.

The drawing above was made the morning of September 11th, 2001, on lower Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. My fellow New Yorkers trying to believe what their eyes and ears were telling them.

Posted by Veronica Lawlor.

Visit September 11th Words and Pictures to purchase the memorial book of drawings from 9/11. A portion of the proceeds is donated to the New York Firefighters Burn Center Foundation in honor of Carl Bedigian.