One iconic southwestern church that is on my sketchlist is the San Francisco de Asis Church in Taos. This is not only a paragon of southwestern church architecture and aesthetic but is a paragon for any structure period (the other being Taos Pueblo, featured in another post).

This is reportedly the most photographed church in North America. Its likeness has been captured by Ansel Adams and Georgia O’Keeffe.

My first stop before I got into Taos was the church. As soon as you pull off the highway you are confronted with the earthen form of the back of the church, captured in O’Keeffe’s famous painting. I did my own on a much smaller scale and with much less talent.

I moved around to the front, found a bench, and sketched the rounded, earthen buttresses and the twin bell towers (featured sketch).

This was a great way to start my Taos morning, sketching a wonderful piece of architecture with the soundtrack of the local birds (flicker and scrub-jay) filling the air.