Courtyard

When the weather moderates in the spring, people come to the Des Moines Art Center courtyard for lunch. A small cafe comprising maybe ten tables expands with outdoor seating. It's a cool, shady spot with a big reflecting pool, views into the galleries and a big bronze sculpture. 

Last week I spend an hour there, sketching the contribution of Richard Meier to the architecture of the Art Center. The original building, opened in 1948, was designed by Eero Saarinen, the renowned Finnish architect who designed many landmark buildings in the 1940s and 1950s. The second building, by I.M. Pei, who also designed the pyramid entrance of the Louvre, enclosed the courtyard on the south. The Meier building is much more than the cafe in the corner of the courtyard; it's about twice the size of the Pei but that part of the three story addition can't be seen inside the courtyard. 

"In the Courtyard," wc/ink on paper

This is a watercolor and ink sketch done similarly to many others. I begin with a graphite drawing, add watercolor, then ink and then more color if needed.