Sketching Here and There

It's hard to get out and join the group, but it doesn't mean I'm not out and about sketching this and that. From sitting in my car before work, sketching the shoppers coming and going from Nordstrom Rack, to Dr.Sketchy events, and the obligatory coffee shop sketches, I've been getting it done.  Nothing fancy, or colorful. Just your basic pen and pencil sketches.

Dr. Sketchy Crush Bar, Belmont Ave, Portland

Dr. Sketchy Crush Bar, Belmont Ave, Portland

Dr. Sketchy Crush Bar, Belmont Ave, Portland

Dr. Sketchy Crush Bar, Belmont Ave, Portland

Starbucks in Lake O

Watching the comers and goers of Nordstrom Rack  from afar, Beaverton

Worldwide Sketchcrawl- Portland Convention Center

Amid all of the super activity around the Chocolate Fest and the Comic Con at the Convention Center this Saturday I ignored it all (at least in my sketches) and as usual looked to the structures and sculptures.

Glass Flower sculpture - ink and watercolor pencils

Convention Center sculpture at escalator- ink and watercolor pencils

I was sitting in the long corridor for the above sketches while the long line of people for the Comic Con  was passing. There were several really inventive and creative costumes but they were moving a little too fast for me to attempt to sketch them. It may have been OK to attempt it if I had been a little more familiar with the characters they were representing .....as it was the only characters I related to were the obvious Star Trek and Star Wars types. Great fun to see all of the creativity though!

This first attempt at the Dragonboat was taken from the floor below but then I found the ideal place (thanks to Janene) to sketch this boat from the balcony above so I could really see all of the details.

Dragonboat- ink and watercolor pencils

Dragonboat- ink

Weekend Sketching

It was a beautiful, cold, sunny day in Portland today, so I decided to sketch some winter trees.

This view was from the cozy cafe, Behind the Museum, where I sketched while drinking a latte and nibbling on fruit cake.

Then I did a quick sketch of the same tree seen from the plaza between the two buildings of the art museum.

Sitting on a bench in the park blocks, this view between two buildings caught my eye.

And now for something completely different: If you were at the convention center sketching with the Urban Sketchers yesterday, you might recognize these images. 

Muddy's & the Chocolate Festival

Last week and this week at Portland Urban Sketching, I drew little scenes with people.

There's been a sketching event almost every week this month, and that's exciting!

I plan to go to Dr. Sketchy tomorrow and do some more drawings with people.  Hope to see you there.

Another great day of sketching with the PDX Urban Sketchers!  We met on a busy day at the convention center, with several simultaneous events drawing crowds. I found a quiet spot on a balcony where I had a great view of this fierce figurehead on the huge dragon boat that dangles from the ceiling.  It's always good to meet up with my sketchy buddies, particularly on World-wide Sketchcrawl Day when groups are meeting on the same day to sketch all around the world!

Sat, Jan 25: Worldwide Sketchcrawl at Oregon Convention Center

It's time for another global drawing marathon! Join us on Sat, Jan 25 for sketching fun at the Oregon Convention Center: 777 NE Martin Luther King Jr Blvd, Portland, OR 97232.

Meet at 10:30 am by the big swinging pendulum (lower level, under north tower).

Chocolate Fest and Wizard World Comic Con will be going on; both events have entrance fees, but there's also plenty to sketch for free around the sprawling building as well.

Some special guidelines for this event:

• Consider using public transit! A whopping 12,000 people are expected in the building on Sat, and parking lots will fill up fast.
• When sketching, please don't block emergency exits, doorways, stairways, or any of the aisles in the exhibit areas. (The fire marshal thanks you in advance.)
• The organizers of the day's events are investing lots of time, energy, and dollars to make sure everyone has a great time. As you explore the convention center, make sure you aren't accidentally blocking booths or otherwise interfering with the vendor displays or decor.
• If approached by security guards, please do comply with their instructions.

Map:

View Larger Map

Mississippi Ave.

As Katura said, we had a good group for today's chilly, but sunny sketching event. Here are some photos of the sketchers who stayed for lunch and sketchbook sharing at Laughing Planet.

Notice the bright, glaring sunshine. But how did I leave out the precious, Baby Magpie?

Here's my sketchy sketch done on the patio of Muddy's, looking toward the ReBuilding center.

Thanks, everyone, for such a good turnout!

Shiny Things at the ReBuilding Center

Lovely sketchcrawl today, great meeting some new sketchers as well as hanging out with old buddies.

The fabulous forest facade of the ReBuilding Center was just too daunting for me today, so I ended up exploring light and shadow on the rows and rows of salvaged hardware inside the building.

A shelf full of globe-shaped lampshades...

A single lighting fixture in an intermediate state of disassembly...

And sinks, sinks, sinks!

I managed to get myself into such a "shiny thing" mindset that I ended up sketching one of the metal handrails on the bus on the way home. Good times! Glad we got to explore that amazing treasure-trove of building materials.

Sketchcrawl on Sat, Jan 18: Mississippi neighborhood

Join us on Saturday, Jan 18, to explore another corner of Portland! The Urban Sketchers will meet in North Portland's Mississippi neighborhood (near where N Mississippi Avenue intersects N Fremont Street.)

The entrance of the ReBuilding Center, which is sculpted like a 3-D forest, could be super fun to draw, and there are lots of neat little cafes and shops and cute houses all through that neighborhood in general. According to this article, It's a neighborhood that is "vibrant and full of young people...Mississippi Avenue in North Portland is one of those pockets of Portland that has gone from grungy to trendy in a relatively short time."

Gather at 10 am at Muddy's Coffeeshop, located at 3560 N. Mississippi, (http://muddyspdx.com/). and then share sketches at 12:30. (Weather looks promising so far--a nice eventually-sunny winter day!)


View Larger Map

OMSI, Lan Su Chinese Garden, and Dr. Sketchy

As you've been seeing in other posts, several of the Urban Sketchers joined a Drink & Draw gathering at OMSI.  I sketched a movie prop automobile from outside the exhibit proper, and then sketched from outside OMSI.

For this trip to the Lan Su Chinese Garden, I tried to keep my sketches small and mostly looked at tiny details.

 

   

Here's the group going through sketchbooks at Floyd's Coffee afterwards...

 My collection of Lan Su sketches from various trips is on Flickr.

Though not actually urban sketching, I also attended December's Dr. Sketchy session on the theme of "Old-Timey Circus Performer" and sat with two Urban Sketchers cohorts; that was great fun as always. (Last Sunday of the month, Crush Bar, $10 entry)

Friends from Dr. Sketchy and the Drink & Draw showed up for the Lan Su expedition, and Urban Sketchers are showing up for Dr. Sketchy and the Drink & Draw. I'm really enjoying all the crossover between these various groups, as it is starting to feel like one big community of creative people, all of which are busy organizing fun events for us all to attend. Way to go, Portland artists!

Lan Su (wtih bonus Samurai!)

Lan Su was very chilly when we visited last week. I picked a spot to sit that was sunny and then started looking for something to draw--the fabulous rockwork that made up the floor of the plaza was an excellent warm-up for my brain.

Grey and black brush pens can give a sense of depth quickly and efficiently.

Drawing other sketchers can make a scene more fancy!

Coincidentally, my friend Violeta happened to bring her kids to the garden that same morning. She took some snapshots of sketchers in action--and gave me permission to share them here.

The black brush pen has been super useful when out sketching with the baby, because I can get interesting lines down fast while standing, rocking, or bouncing with the darling little wiggler. Here are a few quick sketches from the Samurai exhibit at the Portland Art Museum as a little bonus!

This Weekend's Sketches

Saturday, at OMSI, I sketched one of the lines for the Sherlock Holmes exhibit.  Andrea has inspired me to look at ceilings, and this one was pretty interesting. Sometime, I'm going to go back and sketch those steps completely from that upside-down perspective.

This room, full of interactive displays, was frenetic, but I was in my own private sketching zone.

Sunday, several of us found a spot in the sunshine at the Chinese Gardens.

Can you identify which hat belongs to which sketcher?

I'm so proud of our sketching group for starting the new year with 2 sketch crawls!

A sktechy weekend

Saturday was spent at OMSI with the Drink and Draw group. Our intention was to sketch in the Sherlock Holmes exhibit but when we met at 1:00 OMSI had posted a sign that they were not taking tickets at that time due to high demand. So, we decided to just hangout there and do some sketching in and around the open areas of the museum.
Initially I was attracted to the 'Sherlock Holmes' vehicle behind the ticket counter but decided to hold off and take advantage of the sunny outside (although there was a slight breeze too).

Ink and Large Pitt pen

I had been wanting to draw this bridge construction and there was a perfect view of it from the walkway outside of OMSI.
Later I went back inside to tackle the auto driven by Robert Downey Jr. in the movie Sherlock Holmes; A Game of Shadows (2011). Loved the soft curves and accoutrements on the vehicle....old cars are the best!

Ink...two colors because my brown ink ran out

It was fun and there was a variety to draw but eventually we gave up on getting into the exhibit and retired to a local pub to share and eat.

On Sunday despite the cold temps there was a good crowd of sketchers gathered at the Lan Su Garden....it was again sunny and that made it bearable to sketch sitting in the sun.

Ink and large Pitt pen

Ink and large Pitt pen

I wasn't motivated to get out any color though (and I regret that based on the other sketchers stuff) so these don't really reflect the beautiful scenes so abundant in the garden. Several of the Camillas were in bloom and there was some fragrance from the Wintersweet to enjoy too.