What's Tony Thinking

Sketching in San Miguel

San Miguel de Allende is nothing if not picturesque. I’ve been having fun doing some watercolor/ pen and ink sketches. Here are a few.

The first is basically the view from the rooftop deck of the apartment where we live in central (El Centro) San Miguel. The largest church (pink on left) is the Parroquia de San Miguel Arcangel, built in the late 16th century. It stands on the main town square, a.k.a. Le Jardin. The design was inspired by the cathedral in Cologne, Germany where we lived many years ago.

The Parroquia is not a cathedral because it lacks a bishop. You gotta have a bishop to be a cathedral. I thought of offering to fill in, but they would probably want a bishop who actually did bishop-type things, not to mention, being Catholic and speaking Spanish. Most of the Parroquia got sliced off in this reproduction, sorry.

San Miguel is located in the mountains and on several hillsides, so a lot of the views look down long winding streets out into the distant countryside and other lines of mountains. Here’s one with that view sort of.

The third is of a series of windows catching the afternoon shadows. It is based on a photo I saw somewhere here. The colors of the walls in San Miguel (and other cities in Mexico) are dictated by the colors and hues of the surrounding countryside. So lots of ochres, shades of orange, yellows and browns. Other cities have more pinks and blues, but you don’t see those here.

This last one I did on the grounds of a nearby hotel where there is a beautiful bell-tower. Towers, domes and cupolas are the most common architectural feature of San Miguel, reflecting its colonial heritage.

Down in the lower left corner you’ll see the very common Agave cactus, which is used to make tequila and mezcal.

Since we haven’t gotten any Christmas cards or letters going as yet, consider these my Christmas cards to you.

Feliz Navidad!