Drawing near the Royal Palace, one of my favorite afternoons

Thursday afternoon concluded the first week of Spanish classes and I walked to a shop to buy a few more school supplies. In addition to the necessities I found myself in the art aisle and couldn't resist picking up a lead pencil kit and pad of paper. Art: painting, drawing, photography, etc. have always been things I’ve liked to do; real talent is a secondary thought, as I think it should be.

My second night in Madrid, my friend Chris took me to the Royal Palace and it was gorgeous, so I headed there to be inspired. Chris and I have missed each other after classes this week, he’s a front row-er and I like to look at myself as the under the radar second row-er. That aside, we just kept missing each other. I sent him a message to see if he’d be interested in joining with the expectation that I might be into the drawing thing so he should bring something to do as well.

I had more than an hour to myself before Chris arrived. He read and I drew, and I thoroughly enjoyed my afternoon.

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My inspiration, shortly after started I was wondering why I picked something so difficult...

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Still coming along...a work in progress...keep you posted.

We sat there for a couple hours then wrapped it up for a beer.

There was this café near the palace that overlooked a small valley and the back of a monstrous church. I’ve had a few “oh my goodness I’m in Madrid, ah-ha” moments today, and this was another one that I said out loud to Chris. It’s absolutely beautiful.

A chat about the third blister on my foot transitioned to Chris outlining his expert travelling risk-aversion protocols. The quick-dry clothes, the man-purse, the shoes, the appropriate socks, the escape routes…I told him I was going to sacrifice comfort and practicality for beauty and fashion this year…when in Rome…