Inktober - Day 30 & 31 and Meeting a Friend

I am behind again because we have been so busy lately. First of all, here is my Inktober sketch for Day 30. It was done quickly at the Riverwalk in downtown San Antonio while Mike, Jerry and I were having margaritas while waiting for our river tour boat.
#inktober #inktober2016

Then yesterday, I went to La Villita which is in the same area near the Riverwalk. It is a historic arts village with shops and galleries in the buildings that were part of the early settlement of San Antonio over 300 years ago.

The BEST PART of the day however, was meeting my friend, Jo Castillo. Check out her work at https://jocastilloartblog.blogspot.com. Jo is a wonderful pastel artist who lives in Texas. We have been internet friends through an art blog for more than 10 years. She drove down from her town to meet me for lunch. We did a lot of talking and even did a a bit of sketching. It was so much fun to meet her! Those of us who are friends through the internet mostly know snippets about each other's lives. It was great to find out more about Jo and her family. Here we are in front of some of the Day of the Dead art on display at La Villita,  and then in front of a mural in Mi Tierra, the Mexican restaurant where we ate in Market Square.  My thanks to Jo for making the trip down and making the day so special! Too bad the day went so fast.

I love how the internet has made it possible to be friends with people from all over the world, but it is so special to meet some of the people in real life. I have been lucky to meet several of them that way too.

Here is my final sketch for Inktober done at La Villita where Jo and I stopped to sketch a bit. It was a madhouse with huge crowds and lots of booths with all kids of art and merchandise. We found some chairs on the lawn in front of the River Art Group Gallery and the person in the gallery let us sit out of the crowd to sketch. 

Here are some decorated pumpkins that were for sale. Aren't they great?

There was a Day of the Dead Parade with people dressed in all kinds of costumes. There was music and dancing too.

I think everyone had a great time. I know I did!