Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Bike Pile and Portlandia


I'm going on vacation for a bit. Camping on the coast, with no internet, no computer. Whoops--that made tonight my last chance to finish up the scavenger hunt! I hopped on my bike and sped to the Bike Pile after work. * Voy de vacaciones por un rato, acampando en la costa, sin computadora, sin internet. Hííjole—esta noche es mi última oportunidad de cumplir la búsqueda de tesoro! Monté mi bicicleta y fui al montón de bicicletas después de trabajo.
 

Then, with the sunlight already slipping away, I knelt once more in front of Portlandia. * Y después, cuando la luz del sol ya estaba escapándome, me arrodillé frente a Portlandia otra vez.


Done! * Ya!

Scavenger Hunt: Bridge



I've been dragging my feet on choosing what bridge to draw for our artistic scavenger hunt. Portland's bridges are so darned iconic that it's hard to chose! But yesterday I found myself waiting on the Hawthorne bridge, as the drawbridge section was just starting to rise...and I realized that this was be the perfect moment to capture in a sketch. I scratched it out in ballpoint pen and then added watercolor at home. * He tardado mucho en escojer un puente para la búsqueda de tesoro artístico. Los puentes de Portland son tan icónicos que ha side difícil escojer! Pero ayer me encontré en la puente Hawthorne, esperando porque el mecanísmo de levadizo estaba empezando a trabajar…y me dí cuenta que era el momento perfecto para capturar en un bosquejo. Lo dibujé con bolígrafo, y anadí la acuarela al regresar a mi casa.

Scavenger Hunt: Food Cart and Portland Sign (sorta)


Tonight I finished off the watercolor sketchbook that I've been carrying around since October of 2012! This painting is a combination of different scenes from various neighborhoods in Portland. Hopefully it captures something of the creative, humorous element of our city. * Esta noche terminé el libro de dibujo con papel para acuarela que he llevado conmigo desde octubre de 2010! Esta pintura es una combinación de escenas en distinctos vecindarios de Portland. Ojalá que capture la eséncia del lado creativo y chistoso de la ciudad.


I painted this with a kind of watercolor that comes applied in a dry layer on sheets of paper, a interesting invention by the "Peerless" company. The colors are super-bright and intense. Normally my instinct is not to go for such a vivid look, but it works so well for this composition. This side of Portland isn't meant to be subtle. * Lo pinté con un tipo acuarela que viene aplicado en una capa seca al superfície de a una hoja de papel; es una novedad hecho por la companía “Peerless.” Los colores son muy intensos y vibrantes. No es mi insinto natural escojer colores tan vivos, pero es perfecto para esta composición—este lado de Portland no es nada sútil.

For the scavenger hunt, this one scratches the food cart off the list. The Cambodian food cart here is so pretty, look for it at SE Clay near 11th, my sketch doesn't do it justice! I've also decided that the "Keep Portland Weird" mural should count for the "Portland Sign" component. (Isn't it fun to creatively interpret the rules of this game?) * Para nuestra búsqueda de tesoro por la ciudad, esta pintura tiene una restaurante móvil (la más bonita que he encontrado ya; mi bosquejo no captura la elegáncia de veras). Y he decidio que la muralla “Keep Portland Weird” merece cualificar como una version del rótulo de Portland tambien. (Es divertido interpretar las reglas en maneras creativas, no?)

Sunday, August 26, 2012

St Patricks and Scavenger Hunt (Farmers Market)

Well, being inspired by Deb's blog on St Patricks and adding another to the Scavenger Hunt, I did some watercolor sketching this weekend.  I went down to St Pat's today and set up in the parking lot with 405 roaring overhead and started painting.  I learned quite a bit about the church since I got there just after mass and a few people came by and chatted for a bit.  I'm still having a rough time with how fast you have to work in plein air sketching.  I also went down to the Farmer's Market yesterday because it's so perfect down there during the summer (which I discovered during Marc and Shari's workshop) and tried to paint the masses again with a little bit of success - again the pace is difficult for me - everyone kept moving and I wanted to tell them all to stand still - please. At any rate it really is great to get out and immerse myself in the event I'm trying to capture - it's quite rewarding but I'm sure you already knew that ;-).  I'm going to do a studio piece of St Patrick's and give it to them....it's such a beautiful church it's just too bad the thing got trapped in between all that concrete - just look at how that church downtown we painted during the workshop can breath again after having the space next to it opened up.  Anyway summer is waning, I've started to rediscover plein air work and am very glad I have all of you to share work and ideas with - that's what it's all about for me......The pic of St Patricks seems to have gotten a shadow in it somehow but you get the idea.  

Cheers, Don





Saturday, August 25, 2012

More scavenger sketching

I got three sketches in Friday. We considered doing the Quest but decided there were too many body parts to draw, so we did Portlandia, challenge enough! Next, we did City Reflections in hopes that it will qualify for person with a dog. Why not, they both held still. Later that evening I ordered a beer with my pizza just so I could sketch it.


Posted by Katharine






Friday, August 24, 2012

Scavenger Hunt Countdown

With the Scavenger Hunt deadline quickly approaching, I decided to tackle a couple more items.  Here's the always difficult Portlandia...


and Katharine and I thought this might be acceptable as "Person with Dog." 
It's actually some of our public art: 'City Reflections', by Patti Warashina.


I have a couple more to finish up in my quest to fill up as many cells as possible in Katura's spreadsheet. Just a few more days to go!


Wednesday, August 22, 2012

OHSU Tram & SW Waterfront

OHSU Tram and Pedestrian Bridge
Our Saturday sketchcrawl in the SW Waterfront area started out cold with some drizzle and pretty grey.  My attempt at the Tram structure was challenging with lots of angled shapes. It was filled with all kinds of stuff and part of the challenge was to try for it all to make some sense in the drawing.
View from the Pedestrian Bridge looking east with the Ross Island Bridge on the left and McLoughlin Blvd on the east side of the Willamette River.
Later I walked up the Pedestrian Bridge to get an overall view of the area along the SW Waterfront. The crane structure in the foreground was a formidable structure and I thought interesting enough to attempt to draw it. Again there were a lot of other things going on and the trick was to try to make it 'read' well....I kind of lost the river in there...but there is always an opportunity to try again. The Pedestrian Bridge was a great viewing place for this busy area!

Monday, August 20, 2012

Tram and Streetcar


Aerial Tram and Streetcar from Saturday's sketchcrawl in the South Waterfront neighborhood. I'm not used to drawing shiny metal things! You can see a few tiny raindrops on the page. Autumn is on its way. * Dibujos del teleférico y el tranvía, dibujado en la adventura en el districto del South Waterfront el sábado pasado. ¡No estoy acostumbrada a dibujar tantas máquinas! Algunas gotas de lluvia mancharon el papel; ya viene el otoño.    

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

A Fountain to add to the challenge tally

I did this sketch of the Skidmore fountain during the workshop with Marc Homes. I had to finish it at home and then crop out the part that I didn't get sketched on location. Marc was amazing in how fast he could accomplish a sketch and watercolor it.



We sketched the Farmers' Market with Shari Blaukopf on the Saturday that it was 102 degrees! I spent most of my time observing Shari work so I only got the sketch done and did the coloring at home.




I did not paint the highlighted areas. I took the picture outside partial sunlight and liked the effect.

Burnside Bridge done with Marc and Benson House done with Shari. Both of these were almost completed on location. Whew!





Posted by Katharine

Monday, August 13, 2012

August 18 Sketchcrawl: South Waterfront

For this month's Third Saturday Sketchcrawl on August 18, let's explore the South Waterfront district of Portland!

There's a lot to chose from in the sketching department: views across the river to verdant Ross Island; snazzy new high-rises with very chic landscaping; construction sites full of cranes and bulldozers and scaffolding and orange safety-fencing; and the graceful arch of the Ross Island Bridge. Not to mention the shipyard that constructs marine barges, just south of the bridge!

In addition, we'll be at the base of the Portland Aerial Tram, so a $4 ticket will get you up to some wonderful views across the city from the OHSU campus (aka "Pill Hill"). Clear weather=great views of Mount Hood and Mount St. Helens from that lofty vantage point. The aerial tram runs from 9 am to 5 pm on Saturdays, with departures every six minutes or so.

Meet at 10 am at Rilassi Coffee House, 3580 SW River Parkway Portland, OR. (503.467.7532)
We'll likely regroup around 12:30 or 1:00 at the Bambuza Vietnam Bistro, at 3682 SW Bond Avenue (503-206-6330), then see if folks want to keep sketching into the afternoon.  

Transportation notes: The Portland Streetcar heads right through this neighborhood. Bike parking is plentiful and there's a nifty new bike-specific path that runs along SW Moody Avenue. Street parking looks to be very straightforward for automobiles.

Umbrella Man, 3 Groins, and some monkeys

I went to the zoo today, and the colubus monkeys caught my eye. On my way back, I paused downtown to finally sketch the Umbrella Man. Seeing the two pages side by side makes me giggle. * Visité el parque zoológico hoy, y los monos colubus me agarraron la atención. Al regresar al centro de la ciudad, finalmente dibujé la estatua del hombre con el paraguas. La yuxtaposición de las dos páginas en mi libro me hace reir. 


I also took a minute to sketch "The Quest," aka "Three Groins in a Fountain." Can you tell that I like the street tree better than the statue? * También aproveché la oportunidad de dibujar la estatua "The Quest" (que tambien se conoce como "tres entrepiernas"). Es obvio que me gustaba más el árbol que la estatua, ¿no?

Saturday, August 11, 2012

Vista Bridge

This sketch is from that very hot Saturday morning sketching the bridge from under the shade of the trees with Deb and Jill.

Scavenger list - Elephant's Deli & Lamp Post

I have a couple of earlier sketches that I didn't post because I planned to make a second try at them. Given the number of items I still have to do and the short time left I'll post these and move on to other things. The Elephant's Deli sketch is from the Director Park location, and the lamp post is in front of the Portland Building. I was planning to sketch the Portlandia statue but didn't have enough time so I went for a lamp post instead.

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Symposium & Workshop Debrief - Next Thursday

We've finally planned a gathering at which to share stories and sketchbooks from the 3rd International Urban Sketching Symposium in Santo Domingo and the more recent watercolor workshop in Portland taught by Marc Taro Holmes and Shari Blaukopf! Please join us:

Thursday, August 16 (next week!) 
5:30 pm 

Bring snacks or drinks if you would like

I apologize for the late notice and hope that everyone who would like to come will be able to make it! Thanks very much to Gregg for inviting us to join him at his place of business.

Thanks Everyone!


Hey Portland! Thanks for a great time drawing in your city! 

We had a lot of fun, and hope to make it back soon.

~Marc and Shari


Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Scavenger Hunt Countdown


Our spring & summer scavenger hunt is ticking down! For a sketch to count towards the final tally, it has to be posted to the blog by Saturday, Sept. 1st. (Let's make that before midnight, Portland time.) As of this writing, that gives us all 24 more days to work down the list--and a lot can happen in 24 days.

I've made a little chart of our progress, using a thumbnail of the sketch in question to check off the boxes for each category. It's scaled down a lot in this image, so the details are hard to make out, but sure gives an idea of the dynamics of our sketching so far:

As of 10pm on August 8, fourteen of us have thrown our pencils and brushes into the ring. We have art from Anne, Rita, Alanna, Linda, Katharine, Marianne, Don, Deb, Celeste, Kalina, Carrie, Marco, Katura, and Vicky. Interesting statistics:
  • Most sketches posted: Katura and Vicky are currently tied for the lead, each with 21. Next up is Katharine with 15, then Deb with 11. 
  • Things most sketched: We've got 8 cups of coffee and 7 fire hydrants. Fountain, Stripes, Watercraft, Rose, and Unusual Hair each have 6 sketches.
  • Things least sketched: "Three Groins in a Fountain" is the only item that nobody has drawn at all yet. Only one Portlandia has been posted since the scavenger hunt started. (Earlier Portlandias don't count!). Streetcar, Umbrella Man, Dog, Mount Hood, Hung Far Low Sign, Food Cart, and Gondola each have two sketches posted. 
Here's a link to the original post about the scavenger hunt challenge.  Thanks so much to everyone who is already playing the game, and remember--if you do two sketches per day, you could still easily beat the deadline!

--Katura

Monday, August 6, 2012

Vista Bridge and Plein Air painting

While most of our Portland usk members were out and about last weekend doing the watercolor workshop with Marc and Shari (and having a terrific time based on Mike's photos) Jill, Marianne and I staked ourselves out to sketch the Vista Bridge from SW Jefferson.

View east down SW Jefferson to downtown Portland
 I had been thinking about sketching the bridge for sometime now and thought it would be interesting. After several attempts (many others not shown....) I found in each sketch that I kept losing my place in the structure....this was incredibly challenging!


















Afterward I headed to the South Park blocks to see the Plein Air artists at work. It was a wonderful to walk around and see (and smell the oil paint) so many painters out there working at the most amazing views. I tried to do some people sketching and it was really nice to see a crowd enjoying the scene too.

3 day Workshop Photos with Shari and Marc

Mike Porter's Flicker set for the Workshop


Hi Sketchy Friends, here is a link to the 3 day Urban Sketcher's Workshop taught by Shari Blaukopf and Marc Taro Holmes.  They visited Portland from Montreal to be greeted by a chilly Friday morning then record heat by Saturday!

There were 26 of us who soaked up the tips and were fascinated with their display of talent.  People came from Seattle, Calif, Vancouver BC, even Washington DC to see our beautiful city.

Thanks to Linda Daily who took the lead in organizing and bringing the event to Portland.  

Scavenger Hunt: Unusual Hair


The “Curiosity” robot landed on Mars! I was sketching the JPL scientists, and what with Mohawk Guy and the beared long-haired fellow, I think I found some folks with “unusual hair.” (Especially if you compare it to the styles of the Apollo Mission Control team.) 

 ¡El robot “Curiosity” aterrizó en Marte! Estaba dibujando los científicos de JPL, y entre el muchacho con el penacho y el hombre con barba y cabello largo, creo que encontré “personas con pelo fuera de lo normal.”  (Compáralo con el estilo de los científicos en el equipo de los cohetes Apollo.)


Sunday, August 5, 2012

Portland Workshop with Marc and Shari


I thought I would share my work with everyone and hope others will do the same - I had a great time the past 3 days with Shari, Marc and all the Urban Sketchers - quite a talented group.  Thanks to everyone for sharing and especially Linda for helping orchestrate the visit with our friends from Montreal.  I learned quite a lot, made some friends along the way and saw wonderful Portland in a completely new way. I also have a new found appreciation for the demands of plein-air work in hot weather and look forward to making art with all of you in the future. Cheers, Don