July Sketches

I've spent very little time working in my studio this summer other than working at my desk/computer. However, I've been drawing every day this summer and enjoying every minute of it, getting outside and really looking at the details of the world around me.

Twice I joined Rene Eisenbart to paint in local gardens. This rose was done Friday and is my first attempt at drawing and painting a rose.

Then yesterday I participated in the West Coast Urban Sketchcrawl. We checked in near the Roosevelt statue in the Park Blocks and fanned out to sketch whatever caught our eyes. When we gathered at noon for a group picture and Show and Tell I was blown away by the amazing work that was laid out on long tables for us to see. 

St. James Lutheran Church

My first subject was a nearby door in a church. I was struck by the contrast between the two parts of the same building at St. James, and by the mysterious non-functioning doorway and  the way the beautiful old building contrasted with the strikingly contemporary white office structure on the left.

The Old Church

When we first moved to Portland I attended this church. Now The Old Church is used as a venue for all sorts of events, especially concerts and recitals. This drawing is of the porte cochere. 

After lunch we continued to work until quitting time at 4pm. The Portland Art Museum graciously welcomed all the Urban Sketchers to draw in the galleries, free of charge! I watched others draw, including a new friend, Darsie Beck from Vashion Island, WA. Darsie has invented an amazing sketching bag that has a flap that folds out to form a platform on which to rest one's sketchbook while painting/drawing. See it at his website. 

Quick sketch of my yummy lunch, tied together with a strip of deli paper.

Downtown construction

My last sketch, of a new downtown building with its massive crane and nest of orange plastic construction fencing at the top. I messed up the sky something awful by starting on dry paper on a hot dry day when even the water on my waterbrush dried almost before I could use it. 

I'm posting drawings like this so that someday, maybe 5 years down the road, I can look back and see how far I've come as a result of drawing every day. We'll see. I trust the process!

Urban Sketchers

Sketchcrawl esteponero - Malaga - Spain from Urban Sketchers on Vimeo.

I love to watch other people sketch almost as much as I like to do it and as I watched this video I made several observations that might help you on your next sketch outing. You DO sketch, don't you?

1. Use a 7-day pill container to hold your paints
2. Use a sea shell for water supply.
3. Note that most people use a waterbrush. Available at art and hobby stores, the barrel holds water, or ink.
4. A small amount of paint is enough to explain the colors; don't over-work the color.
5. Notice the different sizes of sketchbooks; one person uses single sheets of paper clipped to a backing board.
6. Notice how people hold their pen while sketching; notice how carefully and often they look at their subject.
7. Joining a group like Urban Sketchers for a day looking at your community is lots of fun.

26th World Wide SketchCrawl

So what is the world is a World Wide SketchCrawl? Several times a year groups around the world gather in their home cities to sketch their surroundings and then post the results for others to see.  It happened that today was the 26th such happening as well as my sketch group's monthly meeting day, so we three met at Helvetia Tavern in Washington County to draw the countryside. We drew for and 1 1/2 hours, ate burgers and deep fried onion rings, and then drove down the road to another location to sketch some more. We're wimps, so we sat in the car and drew whatever was in front of us.

My drawing hand is a bit rusty and the first results were a combination of uncertainty and unskilled, but as I got used to the new pen, and then switched to my old tried and true gel pen the drawings and the color mixing improved.

Portland Waterfront - sketching with friends

"I love to check your blog after our sketching days.. to see where we were through your eyes because what you drew is sure different than what I did", said my friend Linda after our Saturday outing to the Portland waterfront. We found a lovely park on the riverbank and after wandering through the plantings awhile we parked ourselves on a shady bench and set to work. Of course it's much more pleasant to sketch en plein air on sunny days with a slight breeze in a beautiful place and we agreed that we'll return many times.

I worked in my little Moleskine journal with my tiny limited palette of 6 colors and a miniature waterbrush. I love being unencumbered by unlimited art supplies when I venture out of my studio to work... no heavy bag to weight me down... just the things I always carry so that it's becoming a habit to pull out my sketchbook whenever I have a few minutes to see my world through artist's eyes. And of course the more I do it the better I will get.

A couple of days ago my youngest granddaughter and I drove to the coast to deliver an order and to enjoy a day together. She's nearly 9 and a joy to be with one on one. She has boundless energy and yet is content to let grandma sit on the park bench while she plays. We found a great park with monster playground equipment, walked the beach and played in the wet sand, ate lunch at a popular seafood cafe, and managed to get home in time for her gymnastics class. I started one on one 'grandma days' with my grands years ago and we all look forward to this time together, building relationships and memories, as we do a variety of fun stuff including lots of art making and museums.

Sketchcrawl Saturday

My friends and I met at the Portland Farmers Market Saturday morning to do some sketching. No sooner had we settled down at an outdoor table than it started raining, so we quickly grabbed some coffee and seats at an interior window in the student union where we could watch the action down below. We did lots more talking than making art, of course, and then we took the tram up to the hospital to see the collection of art from Oregon artists that decorates the hallways.

Sketchcrawl by Streetcar

We 4 friends met Saturday morning for our monthly Sketchcrawl, this time by streetcar. We started across from the library and rode the entire loop, up to Good Samaritan hospital and down to the new riverfront development, getting off along the way to sketch or photograph. The day was so cold (33 degrees) that we were discouraged from sitting out on a convenient bench so we took images as they came to us. I drew the buildings from the edge of the sidewalk and didn't take out my watercolors until I return home and by then I had forgotten what the colors were except for the one red brick building.

I did the little sketches on the left as I rode MAX, our local light rail, to downtown. Everyone was bundled up in black... a very Portland winter look. I've found that once people are settled they usually return to one relaxed pose, making it easier to finish a quick sketch. And of course drawing someone from the back when riding on public transportation is the easiest of all. That's Jan's head.

And drawing people as they wait in line for coffee give me lots of opportunity for quick gestural drawings.

I recently discovered the blog of a talented London artist who draws people on his long commutes across the city. He's sometimes on the bus for 3 1/2 hours and he uses his time to sketch. Have a look at Adebanji Aladi's incredible work.

These sketches are in my little Moleskine sketchbook that I carry everywhere. There are other small sketchbooks available but I prefer this one for its overall quality and durability.

Sketchcrawl

Today is Worldwide Sketchcrawl Day and I went with a friend to the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge, in Sherwood, OR, to sketch in the 36 degree foggy weather. It is so beautiful there with lots of water fowl happily swimming in the huge ponds that have been created by the melting snow and rains of the last weeks. Big oak trees like this one were standing on hummocks on actually in the water and being reflected perfectly in the smooth-as-glass water.
And yes, I exaggerated the colors.

Sketch Crawl

Once a month three friends and I meet to sketch. It's part of a global drawing marathon called SketchCrawl. Anyone can participate and anyone can organize their own event... it just takes a couple of people who're interested in improving their drawing skills. Mine need help! I've taken drawing classes and I've drawn a lot but I don't draw daily, and that's the key. Draw every day. There's bound to be improvement.

You won't hear from me for a couple of weeks... we're leaving in the morning for a 2 week tour of Israel. I've been obsessing for weeks about which art supplies to take and I've finally decided on just a simple set of drawing materials and my little watercolor paintbox with a waterbrush. We'll be doing lots of walking and will be too tired at the end of the day for me to want to do much in the way of art-making. I know that I "see" better when I draw so that will be my goal... to see and draw a lot. I'll collect ephemera and take lots of pictures and store up lots of memories from which to make art after I get home.