Scavenger Hunt - coffee drinker

For this scavenger hunt item, I expected to be out to breakfast or hanging at one of Portland's many coffee shops. Alas, that was not the case. While awaiting a flu shot at a Kaiser facility I noticed this woman casually sipping her coffee. Busted out a quick sketch while I could. Got the gist of it down just in time and once again I'm reminded, it's always a good idea to travel with a sketchbook by your side.

Chilly SE Foster Sketchcrawl

Scavenger Hunt: Bakery!

Great team of sketchers came out this weekend, despite the very cold and rainy weather. An Xuyen bakery was full of deliciousness, and the sesame puffs were perhaps the prettiest of them all. * Nuestro equipo de artistas venció la lluvia y el tiempo frío esta fin de semana. La pasteleria An Xuyen olía a azucar y crema a un nivel intoxicante. Estos dulces de ajonjolí eran tan bonitos que tuve que pintarlas.

Scavenger Hunt: Neighborhood Theater

From the porch of the bakery, the Day Theater was resplendent in purple and gold, which harmonized nicely with the car repair place's sign. Notice how the raindrops added interesting texture to the paint. * El teatro Day lucía con una mezcla de purpúrea y oro, y me gustó la armonía con el letrero para la tienda de reparación de autos. Varias gotas de lluvia añadían texturas interestantes a la aquarela.

Scavenger Hunt: Someone drinking coffee.

We finally hid from the cold inside Foster Burger. Alanna warmed herself up with a cup of coffee. She looks so serious here because she was focused on drawing, too--don't worry, we were totally having fun. * Finalmente nos escondimos del frío dentro de Foster Burger. Alanna se calentó con una tasa de cafe. Ella tiene la cara un poco seria aquí porque está enfocada en dibujar--no te preocupes, nos divertimos mucho.

Passing The Time In Portland

On a drizzly Tuesday afternoon I cozied up in a coffee joint, with a friend, in SE Portland for some tea, pastries, and a little light sketching. I caught this girl lazily sipping her coffee (scavenger hunt item... score!) and paying me no mind, so it was easy to get a quick sketch of her. I've been really digging the light blue Pitt pen. I like how soft it looks and how it's a little moody.

Fountain pen, with Blue Pitt Pen in Moleskine Sketchbook

The next Saturday in stark contrast was a wonderfully warm morning and as usual, after my Saturday run (10 miles on this particular day) with Portland fit, my running buddy and I got our post run bagels and coffee on 23rd and Glisan. Just enjoying the sunshine and chilling. Fortunately we were posted up right next to this paint chipped old fire hydrant and I was able to check another scavenger hunt item off the list.

Fountain pen with assorted Pitt Pens in Moleskine Sketchbook

Back in Portland and up to the old tricks. Planting my ass in various locales and sketching Commonus Portlandius Urbanatia, or the common Portlander. They are a breed of human often observed abstaining from one or several common food items for unknown reasons. Dairy-free, fat-free, sugar-free, full soy, no meat, gluten absent, lemon zested, breakfasts sound delicious... don't they? Apparently, the new thing everyone can't have is gluten. Five years ago I don't think I had ever heard the word gluten more than once a year, now everyone thinks they can't have gluten. No gluten, but cigarettes, weed, and potato vodka will keep you healthy, or so the Commonus Portlandius Urbanatia believes... as long as you follow up your weekend with a cayenne pepper and citrus filled hydro cleanse. I ask for extra gluten now. I mean, someone's got to do it.

Dragonfly coffee shop awaiting a meeting with some dude. A girl wants her gluten free sweet treat (minus the sweet) and a large man reclines peacefully enjoying the sunshine coming through the window as he reads something on his kindle.

Portlanders like big glasses, scruffy beards, and wind swept hairdos. I like sketching with a bamboo dip pen and trying to come up with new skin toned paint mixtures.

Coffee Heads

Our sketchcrawl yesterday didn't actually involve much crawling. It was cold out, so we stayed in Stumptown Coffee Roasters and sketched. Having tired of drawing coffee cups and pastries over the past several weeks, I chose to draw the customers (no elipses are required).

Floyd's coffee shop

Here's a recent piece that I did while enjoying a cup of tea at

Floyd's coffee shop in Old Town. I couldn't help but overhear

the conversations that these ladies were having. I think this

coffee house is located within the old Norton building? Wondering

if the beautiful old brick on the wall is original.

-Karlene

Coffee Shops and Parks

Two things Portland has plenty of are parks and coffee shops.  These are recent sketches I've done in each category.  We had our last sketch crawl near Jamison Park, which is in the middle of a busy section of downtown and surrounded by tall buildings.  On nice days it is always filled with families and groups of friends enjoying the outdoors--children climb on a series of boulders, adults play bocci on an expanse of gravel, older folks watch all the activity on chairs that are provided for the public. It's a very user friendly, pleasant space.

I did this last sketch at the Concordia Coffee shop, which has a Dr. Who theme. The coffee shop was suitably funky and even had a Tardis (my husband, the erstwhile Dr Who aficionado, explained that it is a time machine disguised as a British police call box).  We had a nice relaxing time sketching and reading, and I was grateful that a student was engrossed enough in her studies to sit still while a sketched her.  I think she suspected that something fishy was going on though.