Last page in a sketchbook, last day of the year

Only one page left in a 2016 sketchbook so there was only one thing to do, head up to Mt Tabor for one more drawing before the year ends. It did start to snow before I thought the drawing was finished and my brush pen ran out of ink, but maybe that was a good thing.

Happy New Year to everyone!
Kay

Happy Holidays and to all a good night

Santa is from the sketch crawl in Goose Hollow.  It was a relaxing time and conversation was good.

Holiday diorama was from an overnight stay in Kittery, Maine. We've been to 4 states in the past 3 days.  

Sending You Some Post Holiday Cheer

This little hummingbird posed outside our dining room window long enough to get most of this sketch done. Two days later, as I was adding pear tree branches, it returned to the same spot on the apple tree--just long for me to see that I didn't get its profile quite right.

On the day after Christmas, I sketched amidst the clutter, reflecting on good memories of the holiday. (Wouldn't it be nice in real life if we could just crop out wrappings and extra clutter?)

I hope you all have some moments of serenity and peace and a time for a sketch or two.

Best wishes!

Goose Hollow in December

I met up with my fellow urban sketchers at the Fehrebacher Hof in Goose Hollow. We all got coffee and something to eat and then headed upstairs where there were large tables and plenty of room for us to draw and chat. We decided to stay inside since it was cold and a bit icy out there. I had a view out of the window that I drew first. There was a large tree that was blocking my view that I had to peer around to piece together the drawing so I focused on the tree for the second drawing. The third drawing was started in the coffee house and finished at home.

Happy New Year to everyone!

Goose Hollow Sketchcrawl at Fehrenbacher Hof

Cold and icy outside.  So everyone stayed inside to sketch.

I  bought a pretty pastry, solely for artistic purposes, and then had to resist biting into it until I'd finished this.

I followed that up with a couple of the other sketchers, and a bare naked tree that I could see out the window.

This one came later in the day.  I usually enjoy quick sketches of fellow bus passengers.  But when the bus has chains on, not so much,

Old Town

Catching up with some sketching I did earlier this month.

After the ice melted and the sun came out, I finally made it down to the Chinese Garden for the very last of their free days.  But it was still pretty cold, and, even stationing myself in a sunbeam, I gave up and went indoors after less than an hour.

Then, a small piece of the Christmas display in Union Station.  Where it was mercifully warm.

Morning Sunrise Silhouettes

This was my view out our window yesterday morning as the sun came up. Tomorrow morning, I think the view's going to be mostly white.

Stay warm, safe and cozy, everyone!

Pioneer Courthouse Square

I had a meeting downtown, and decided, seeing how it wasn't raining, to do another sketch of the tree, now standing upright and all lit up.

And completely and utterly surrounded by tents.  I hadn't taken into account that there was an ale festival going on.

One North

A bit of a brand-new office building in N Portland, next to New Seasons.

The courtyard is a public space.  It might be an interesting place to revisit, once it warms up a bit.

My two Foundry sketches from our last outing.  The first one was an experiment with Brusho powdered watercolor.

Took myself out to lunch and a sketch at Laurelwood.
Ellie

3rd Saturday Sketch Crawl, December 17 - GOOSE HOLLOW

Saturday, December 17, Goose Hollow Sketch Crawl

We talked about going to the Oregon Rail Heritage Center - BUT - it doesn't open until 1pm.  In the interest of keeping our sketch crawls predictable, let's go to Goose Hollow's Fehrenbacher Hof & Goose Hollow Inn instead.  Hey, we haven't been there yet this year and it's like a second home to me, so cozy in winter and the people that work there are so nice and friendly.

10:00am -  Meet at Fehrenbacher Hof, 1225 SW 19th Ave, for snacks, coffee, and introductions.

10:30am - Sketch inside or out - nice old homes, view of Vista Bridge.

12:0pm - OPTIONAL- Meet at Goose Hollow Inn, 1927 SW Jefferson St, for lunch and sketchbook sharing.

Looking forward to seeing you there!

The Foundry

Wow, so many sketches of the big green machine!  I was fascinated by the scale of the machine and the overhead cranes.  I quickly drew a bunch of thumbnail sketches walking around the space in my tiny sketchbook.

I was glad to see this before it's transformed into The Redd, a really exciting project.

The Foundry

I'll throw another sketch into the mix of the giant green press at the old foundry. Turned out to be a great day of sketching with the group and a wonderful opportunity to sketch something a little out of the ordinary.   Ink sketch with markers.

Machinery Up Close

The once clanging, booming foundry was silent as sketchers concentrated on capturing the relics of the building's industrial past in their sketchbooks.  I focused on the interesting shadows of the machinery.

I used diluted grey ink in a water brush, with a little red watercolor for the signage.

Afterwards, our soft voices discussed the various sketches in the cavernous building.  I think the huge space and massive machinery made us feel small yet not intimidated.  It was a peaceful, fun time with friends.

Old Foundry and two Green Dragons

Had a great time on Saturday, November 12 sketching the ghosts of Portland's industrial past with a lovely group of Portland sketchers. The cavernous space of the Old Foundry features a giant centerpiece –an enormous green punch press.




Lunch at the Green Dragon pub–the name that perfectly captured the morning seemed really apropos. Great job Andrea and Greg for putting this together.

Sketchcrawl in the Foundry



I started out with the big green machine.









And then, putting off the supreme struggle of getting myself up off the floor, did a clump of the other sketchers.



And then walked around to unkink my legs.  And found another view of the big green machine, behind a wall and through a window.




And then one more sketch in the pub, while we were waiting for lunch to arrive.


Sketchers in the Foundry

I drew some of my fellow sketchers before I tackled the giant press.

Drawing in the Old Foundry

What an amazing space. This is when I really appreciate belonging to this group. How else would I have wound up there drawing an industrial site that is in transition from a working foundry to a very different retail space.

Thanks so much.

another look at sketching the old foundry

The place was an awesome, wonderful space. So many views of things to sketch it was hard to choose. However that big piece of punch press machinery was very hard to resist.

watercolor and ink

watercolor and ink

Old foundry building

Beautiful light. Good turnout. Impressive machinery. Peace, silence, serenity.

Christmas is coming!

Headed downtown to see this year's tree arrive.  I got to Pioneer Courthouse Square ahead of time and found a seat, then did a sketch while waiting.


When the tree arrived it was an event, accompanied by a marching band and motorcycle cops, on an 18-wheeler with Santa riding shotgun.  And a second 18-wheeler piled high with extra branches.


I had to sketch quickly, as it only took them about 10-15 minutes to get the thing unhitched and hanging upright.

Some recent sketches- taking advantage of the good days.

Trying to take advantage of our random good weather days I struck out as often as I could to try to capture some fall color and interesting views around Portland town.

looking across W Burnside toward Providence Park Stadium -watercolor and ink

Portland Art Museum- watercolor and ink

Pittock Mansion- watercolor and ink

The Fields Park- watercolor and ink

How to calm your nerves on Election Day.

Sketch! These are three lovely old houses in our ever changing neighborhood on N.Williams.

It was a stunning day and trying to focus on sketching helped a bit!

U.S.Bank

Friday was a beautiful autumn day so I wasn't too upset when I missed my bus.

I had about a half hour wait and found a nice bench across from the old U.S. Bank.

I decided to focus on some of the many architectural details which I became lost in.

I added washes at home.