Urban Sketching Workshop 

with Wil Bosbyshell

Discover the joy of urban sketching in this hands-on, outdoor workshop hosted by Presson Gallery.

Saturday, Feb 21st, 2026, 10:00 am to 12:00 pm

Presson Gallery – Downtown Monroe, North Carolina

$40 per adult, with children eligible for a $25 discounted rate when registered with an adult.

Sketch your way through downtown Monroe on a guided walk with artist Wil—no experience needed, just curiosity. The workshop fee is $40 per adult, with children eligible for a $25 discounted rate when registered with an adult. To reserve a child spot at the discounted rate, please contact Presson Gallery directly by phone, message, or email. Payment for parent and child tickets may be made at the time of the workshop. Please see full workshop details on website.

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Fellini's Pizza in Decatur!

Good friends and great patrons asked me to paint this scene from a foggy evening at Fellini's Pizza in Decatur Georgia. She took a great photo, which is helpful. Below for the 1st step I began with a white canvas. Then I painted transparent layers of paint for nine coats to create the black background. The layers were crimson, blue and green, three times each in order. So the background is not black, but many layers of color which make the surface look deep. 

 

For step two I added initial layers for the neon signs and spot lights. The "walk" sign was done in a series of color dots of paint. The shadows in the background and under the bush are the color of the canvass. 

For the final step I used several iridescent colors to make the metal parts shine. The main neon sign has many different colors to get the neon effect. The red areas are red, orange, yellow, and pink. Fun painting. Acrylicon canvas 11 x 14. 

Cityscape Series adding Cabo Fish Taco

Cabo Fish Taco with a little memorial day flair! People just love the food here. The entire series are monoprints with watercolor and colored pencil. 

Meredith Connelly's mushroom sculpture at Tremont and Camden. 

Hawkers at dusk! 

Cabo Fish Taco early evening! I like the distorted perspective in the cross walks. 

Meredith Connelly's sculpture from another view. 

Light rail dusk. 

Flower Child at sunset. 

Uptown from NODA. 

 

Charlotte Mono-prints - a New Set of Ten in progress

 

Returning to my continued observation of Charlotte through mon-prints. I am doing a set of 10. Here are the 1st three. The one above is from NODA looking south to uptown. The moon was actually in the sky that night. The monoprints have layers of watercolor paint and colored pencil on top. I work really fast when I am dong these.  

This is in South End at Flower Child restaurant, formerly Phat Burrito, looking north to uptown Charlotte. 

This is at Atherton Mill during a light up the Rail Trail show. 

Urban Landscape Monoprints

I use a monoprinting technique to experiment with color in these urban landscape sketches. I have done 100s of these over the years. I start with a xerox transfer monoprint, then I layer watercolor, graphite and colored pencil over the top. I try to work very quickly and without analyzing my decisions too closely! 

 

Urban Landscape Charlotte

For a landlocked city, Charlotte has fantastic colorful sunsets. I painted night urban landscapes for over a decade in Charlotte's South End historic district. Watercolor on paper. 

The Arlington Building casts the pink shadow seen above. Oil on canvas. 

Price's Chicken Coop in the rain. Watercolor on paper. 

Price's Chicken Coop at dusk. Oil on canvas. 

The trolley at dawn with a moon rise. Watercolor on paper. 

 

Business Journal Illustration

This painting, Golden Skyline, has been published in the Charlotte Business Journal Book of Lists in the December 2012 issue.  The painting is oil on canvas and 14 x 11 in size.  The painting is available for sale at $590 and on display at my studio in the Charlotte Art League.  The League is open Tuesday through Friday from 11 to 3; closed on Monday; Saturday 3 to 8, and Sunday 3 to 5. 
Call (704) 376-2787 for Charlotte Art League exact hours.  The painting appears on page 8 of the magazine.  This painting is part of my on-going Charlotte Cityscape series. 

Paris: You Can't Get Enough!

This is Luxembourg Gardens.  The late afternoon sun was just magnificent!  A friend of mine took this photo and I could not resist painting it.

The gargoyles on top of Notre Dame.  My sister Mary Helen and I loved the top of Notre Dame Cathedral.

The Eiffel Tower as seen from the top of the Arc de Triomphe at sunset.

A close up of the Louvre.  Jim Kelly took this photo.

This is a pastel as opposed to my usual watercolor medium.  This is Versailles Palace.

Paris: Flat Series

I did a series of small watercolors that were flat, meaning they had no perspective.  This is Napoleon's Tomb from Rodin's garden.  I love the storm in the background of this one.

 The Louvre.

All the Paris monuments.

A Paris square a came upon while wondering around.

Hungarian Doors

This painting is from my Hungarian Series.  This was a home in Budapest.  In previous paintings of doors or windows I had removed wires, signs, etc.  I was discussing a painting by Andrew Wyeth with my wife, Maura.  Wyeth painted an electrical junction box that was beautiful.  So Maura dared me to paint this image with all the wires and signs.

This is a garage in the country side of Hungary near Balatonfred.  The color was so great I had to paint it!  I modified the composition using Divine proportion.

Middle Eastern Series

The Alhambra in Spain.  There are an incredible number of columns in this painting.  The reflections on the floor came out really well.

This is probably my most recognizable painting: Moroccan Sunshine.  I painted many versions of this image to get it just right.  This watercolor painting is 24 x 36 inches.

This is from Turkey.  Jim Kelly took the photo on a trip.  I modified it a lot.  The title is Face in Ruins.

Swan Fountain is also in Turkey.  This is a watercolor painting with pencil on top.

These paintings are from a series I painted in the late 1990s.