Sketching in Miami

For this year’s Spring break with the kids, we went to Miami, Florida. It's lovely to spend some days in warm weather and relax on the beach. As usual, I brought my sketchbook and art supplies to capture moments and locations of our trip. While I try to paint on location as much as possible, some sketches I started between swims or playing with the kids and finished back at the apartment once they went to sleep. Other sketches were quick, 5 or 10-minute paintings while we were on the road.

One characteristic of Miami Beach is the lifeguard towers. These towers have been around since the early 1900s. They started as basic wooden structures but changed over time to become more colorful and unique. In the 1980s, they got a makeover and became the vibrant towers we see today. Each one is different in shape and color. They're usually painted with two or three very bright colors. I captured four of them: one purple, one green, one blue, and one orange.

The other subject I tried to capture was the color of the sea, those blue and green turquoises that change depending on the sunlight and weather conditions. Turquoise is actually my favorite color so I brought different watercolors, acrylic markers, water-soluble Caran d'Ache neon crayons, and colored pencils.

Here are sketches of some places we visited like Bahia Honda, the Seven Mile bridge, and other locations in the Keys. Sketching on the beach is beautiful but not without challenges like wind, humidity affecting paint drying time, and the annoying sand getting stuck in your watercolor pans.

I'll finish with one of my favorite places, the lighthouse in Key Biscayne. I highly recommend this place for bird watching, seeing other creatures, visiting the lighthouse, and of course, swimming at this beautiful beach.