December Sketchcrawl - Pioneer Courthouse Square, 12/18

Sketch by Ellie

For December, we'll go back to another long-time tradition of ours -- downtown's Pioneer Courthouse Square.  We meet at the tables outside Starbucks, where our options for sketching include the square itself, courthouse, holiday tree, weather vane, and people gathering for holiday performances taking place in the square starting at noon.

I have a special (very optional) request: wear your most colorful coats, scarves, and/or hats. Not only will this keep you cozy in the probably chilly outdoor seating area, but also anyone that includes you in their sketch will get to add a punch of color!

For this sketchcrawl we usually just stay put at those tables, but additional sheltered areas nearby that could easily be explored during the crawl include Pioneer Place Mall and Director Park.

Sketch by Ali Corbin

9:30-10: gather at the tables outside Starbucks, on the northwest corner overlooking the square

10-12: Sketch!

12: Sketchbook throwdown, optionally stay on to sketch or just enjoy the performances in the square

I hope to see you all for our last crawl of the year and perhaps chat about your art plans for 2022!

How to Join a Sketchcrawl

Doing something for the first time is hard. You're not sure if you can. You don't know the right people. You are wondering what to bring or what to wear. Add in strangers and performance and it seems like a recipe for awkwardness.

The good news is that joining a sketchcrawl is easy. 

Showing up is first thing to do (and possibly the hardest.) If you can do that, everything else will just flow. And do show up on time/early. That's when people gather and talk informally- it's a good way to meet other sketchers. First timers are welcome.

There's no secret handshake or Urban Sketchers badge- your ticket is a piece of paper and a pencil. Look around for people carrying notebooks or backpacks and you'll know you've found us. Sidle up to a group, eavesdrop if you like, but don't be afraid to say hi, we're a nice bunch of people. It's that simple.  

As for materials, you can get started with the most useful and cheapest art materials: a Dixon Tigcongeroga #2 pencil and some white paper. (Many sketchers come with a notebook of mixed media paper, a pencil, some Micron pens, and a small watercolor set, but don't let your lack of art supplies stop you.)

After a critical mass has arrived, there's a brief time when we introduce ourselves, then disperse to sketch for about two hours. (Bring an extra layer of clothing or a hat, sitting still and drawing for a long time can be chilly.) Some people like to sketch alone. Sometimes I find that sketching with others lets me learn new techniques or is just more fun.

When the time is up, we have a "throw down," where people put their notebooks out for others to see what they drew.

It sounds intimidating to put your artwork out for public viewing. Let me assure you that there is no more welcoming community than Urban Sketchers. The focus is always on what people like. Among our group, variety is valued. Participation and enthusiasm count. 

Sharing creates community: It gives people ideas about how to be better artists, it forms bonds of trust, and it's just fun to see.

So now that you know what a sketchcrawl is all about, won't you come out and join us in 2022?

November Sketchcrawl - one last time at Lloyd Center, 11/20

Our last sketchcrawl before the pandemic shut us down was at the Lloyd Center.  Let's go there again for its swan song, before it's closed and turned into whatever dying malls become.

Kay French, Feb 2020

Even more stores have left the mall in the past year and a half, but the ice skating lessons are still scheduled, so there should be kids to sketch, even if shoppers are scarce.  And those up for a real challenge can do a one-point perspective of one of the arms of the mall.

Capitalism, CC BY 3.0

The Starbucks that we met at last time is closed now, but google tells me that there are other places to get caffeine nearby.  So let's have everyone manage their own beverage and meet at the SW entrance - the one with the pile of coins (inside or out, depending on the weather).

Saturday, November 20
Lloyd Center Mall -- SW Corner entrance near Capitalism statue

10am: Intros, then sketching
12pm: Gather at same location for sketchbook "throwdown"

October SketchCrawl - Irving Park, Saturday 10/16

Sketch by Andrea Matthews

Just in time for Autumn, let's sketch this public park full of maples. Irving Park also encompasses broad rolling lawns, some shelters in case of rain, a playground, and a public toilet. There is a cafe (no indoor seating) just a few blocks away for your coffee, pastry, and sandwich needs.

It would be a good idea to bring a fold-up stool if you have one. 

For pre-meeting coffee and treats, the nearest cafe is Cafe Destino at NE Fremont & 14th.

Saturday, 10/16

9:30-10am: Meet at park entrance across from Door of Hope Northeast, 831 NE Fremont Street

12pm: We'll reconvene within sight of this same entrance for the sketchbook throwdown.

NOTE: If the forecast is for rain that morning, we will likely meet up on the south side of the park under a shelter just east of the tennis courts.

Trimet line 8 passes nearby on NE 15th. There is some street parking available.

Here's some information on the trees of Irving Park.

How to stop the "first page jitters"...

 I have more sketchbooks than a reasonable person should own. Most of which are still blank. I've suffered for years with the affliction of "first page jitters". I now move past my debilitating sickness by making the first page of my sketchbook an ode to one of the loves of my life...Coffee. 

Here is my new sketchbook with a drawing of my morning coffee:

Hammi - not a sketchcrawl

As it turns out, the weather was absolutely miserable this morning.  And I have to admit that I was relieved that I wouldn't be out tramping around in a park somewhere.

But, hearkening back to our virtual sketchcrawls, I did do a bit of sketching today.

This is Hammi, whom I'm fostering.  She has a prospective furever mom lined up.  We just have to get them together to see if they click.  And then Pippin will have her house to herself again.

Some September sketches

More sketches around this town of Bristol, RI. The humidity is finally calming down so outdoor sketching is more fun. I went out sketching with a new sketcher here and she was asking about some of the ins and outs of urban sketching....my first advice was weather related; find a shady spot where the view appeals to you and then; safety; and access to a WC (water closet)among other advice.

Sorry that Pdx sketchers are not meeting in September but hope to see some sketchers efforts on this blog, at the email site or on Facebook!

No September Sketchcrawl

As we were expecting might be the case, Oregon's COVID cases are spiking right now and hospitals are full, so we're doing our part to keep our community safe and will not be scheduling a September sketchcrawl.  It pains us to skip it when we were all so excited to be gathering in person after the long hiatus, but we have every hope and expectation of sketching together again in October. We'll be announcing that sketchcrawl soon!

We welcome you to sketch on your own and post your drawings to share -- on the blog, in the email list, or in the Facebook group.  You are also completely welcome to use our group to arrange meetups with other sketchers to whatever degree you feel comfortable with, or share any resources or ideas you find inspiring!

See you in October!

Reduction Sauce

 I like going out in boats a lot. And I like sketching a lot. Therefore I like going sketching in boats a lot.

Drawing from a boat presents multiple interesting challenges. For starters, you are always moving even when your sails are down and your oars are stowed. Your subjects are often in motion too.

Second, your eye picks up so much that is hard to translate to a pad of paper quickly, if at all. Observing details from far away while bobbing up and down is hard, but fun to do.

So earlier this summer when I went on a cruise from Olympia to Port Townsend, I decided not to use my paints and tried to capture the essence of each scene in pen and ink alone. Sort of like cooking, I created a reduction sauce on paper.

 

 

And for the record, no clams were harmed in the production of these sketches! ;)

August Sketchcrawl - Cornell Farm Nursery

Let's try something further afield this month - Cornell Farm Nursery, at 8212 SW Barnes Rd.

Saturday, August 21, 10am to noon-ish
We'll meet at 10am in front of the cafe (the big yellow house) and then again at noon, somewhere, for a throwdown. Here's a map of the nursery.

Sketch by Amy Stewart

For people driving, it looks like they have on-site parking.  For people busing, the 20 has a stop nearby, at Barnes and Leahy.  The nursery is on the south side of Barnes, a bit west of the intersection.

July sketches

I wasn't able to join in virtually for the 13th Street sketchcrawl on the 18th but I did want to do something to post. These are 2 more sketches of Bristol; A local Seafood store that takes in catches from local fisherman (our neighbor in the apartment above goes out to rake in Quahogs and clams, which according to many is a hard and messy job, he then delivers his catch to this shop). In the other sketch I am still working on finding a good blue for shadows.....try, try again!

July Sketchcrawl - Pearl District / NW 13th

Let's sketch on NW 13th Ave this month.  The city has closed off a number of blocks to car traffic, to allow restaurants to serve people outside.  So there should be plenty of people to sketch, along with the interesting architecture of the industrial Pearl.

Sketch by Gregg 1991

Saturday, July 17, 10am to noon

Meet outside Barista Coffee (539 NW 13th Ave).

There are restrooms (I think) in the  lobby of Barista's building, and at Starbucks, at 1039 NW Couch St.

We can meet again at noon, somewhere in there, for a throw-down.

And maybe even lunch? Outside, probably, if people are ready for it.

Sketch by Gregg 2008

Bristol RI- 4th of July Parade...on the 5th!

This parade is known as the longest running 4th of July parade in the nation. It has been running since 1785 and well attended by the neighboring towns and beyond. Because the 4th was on a Sunday it was held today on the 5th. I sat around the yard in various places and on a balcony to try to get a view. Of course, it was not possible to get it all, people and vehicles moved, bands marched and pipers played too. There were minute-men and Fife and Drum units, everything patriotic....very colorful and exciting. The spectators were apporpriately garbed in red, white, and blue as well. Here are some vignette sketches of the offerings....sadly I am way out of practice on sketching people (I desperately need a refresher course from Rita Stabler!) but I did my best. Here are a couple of warm-up sketches

Then some attempts to get the flavor of the day.

June Sketchcrawl at Portland's International Rose Test Garden

We had a great turnout - everyone seemed very ready to be out among people and the weather was perfect.  

I focused on roses for most of the allotted time. Briefly I tried to capture some of the crowd but everyone besides the sketchers was moving fairly quickly. We sketchers did a good job of it, though; people need to remember to stop and smell the roses, even at the rose garden, and we sketchers set a good example.

Shoutout to everyone that joined us for their first time this month. A couple people mentioned having gotten interested in sketching during the pandemic year and waiting for the chance to get out and do it in a social context. Several sketchers had favorite artists that I had never heard of, and there was enthusiasm about new supplies that hadn't been tested yet.  I'm looking forward to getting to know more of these new Urban Sketchers over the coming months!

Get-together in the Rose Garden

Only our second in-person sketchcrawl since last February, and a bunch of people showed up.  Except for the mass vaccination site at the convention center, more people than I've seen in one place in over a year.  A lot of old friends, but a lot of new faces too.  Some were long-time artists, out to be sociable after a year of isolation, while other were newbies, who'd taken up sketching as a covid project.

June 2021sketchcrawl- my remote sketch and others of my temporary new home.

Bristol is a pretty typical small New England town. Here I am at the weekly farmers market held year round at Mount Hope Farm.

Since Curtis has joined me here we have been living in an apartment on tiny Cottage St. These are some sketches of the local color.

This town is known for its Fourth of July celebration and Parade....as a matter of fact it claims to be the longest running 4th of July parade in the US. And the residents take this seriously by putting out flags and bunting on almost every house and town building. This last sketch is a view out of our kitchen window showing some of the many Victorian homes here. The architecture is mostly 19th C. with a couple of 18th C. homes still in existence. The town of Bristol was incorporated in in 1681. Of course the area was well inhabited by the native tribes; Narragansett on the west shore and Wampanoag on the east shore.

June Sketchcrawl - International Rose Test Garden - Saturday, June 19

It was great to see everyone in person again at our May sketchcrawl. We're looking forward to doing it again in June-- this time at the International Rose Test Garden in Washington Park!

Saturday, June 19 (Juneteenth!)
10:15am: Meet at rose garden gift shop/restrooms (see map below)

12:15pm: Gather at garden entrance to find an open spot for sharing sketchbooks

If I'm not mistaken, the last time we sketched there as a group was July 2010, a couple weeks before Portland hosted the first ever Urban Sketchers Symposium.

PANDEMIC PROVISO: At this stage in the pandemic, we recommend joining the group only if you have been fully vaccinated. Masks are required on shuttles and buses, and we'll be wearing them outside at our own discretion when we can't maintain comfortable social distance. 

NOTE ABOUT START TIME: I'm starting this crawl 15 minutes later than usual due to limited public transit options in the area; see transit/parking options, below.

Nearest MAX stop would be King's Hill, not the Zoo; from King's Hill it's a ~14 minute walk uphill to the park entrance at SW Park Place; from there continue another 10 minutes uphill or wait for the free shuttle which runs every 15-30 minutes starting at 9:30.

Parking is in demand in Washington Park; there may or may not be spaces available near the Rose Garden.

The Rose Garden is NOT near the zoo, for walking or shuttle ride purposes. I say that for people like myself who tend to underestimated the size of Washington Park!

Unfortunately Trimet Line 63 doesn't start up until 10:25 but you might choose to utilize it on your return trip.

Transit/Planning resources:
Washington Park Map
Free Shuttle
TriMet Line 63

City, river, t-rex

For my first sketch outing in over a year, I knew I needed to use a bold brush to force my drawing hand into decisive action.  I started with small cityscapes, went on to the willow tree with basalt... then wound up outside OMSI with a lovely t-rex.

It was a gorgeous day to get out there and be part of the world again.

Non-virtual Sketchcrawl!

At long long last, the Portland urban sketchers met in person, there being enough of us fully vaccinated (mostly the old farts, but the youngsters are hot on our heels) to feel safe out in the world.

We met on the esplanade, and, seeing that the Hawthorne Bridge was closed to auto traffic, I took the opportunity of planting my butt on the sidewalk and dangling my feet on the road bed and did a one-point perspective of the bridge, taking care not to drop a pen or pencil through the mesh and into the drink.

And then switched to my tablet and did a study of the trunk of a gnarly old willow by the fire station.

May 15th- my Virtual Sketchcrawl

Here in Bristol RI the weather has cooperated for their scheduled Street Fair. Current state guidelines are on par with the latest specifications from the CDC. So here we are. Personally I am double masked and keeping distant while sketching. I reside in a home of a compromised individual (my brother) so am doing the best I can to keep us all safe.

I have used pens with watersoluble ink; black, Apache Sunset, and Kiowa Pecan. The last two are Noodlers inks. Also Derwent Inktense watercolor pencils in both sketches.

May 2021 SketchCrawl - Eastside Esplanade, Saturday, May 15, 2021

Ready to return to on-site sketching?  We're planning our first non-virtual sketchcrawl since February 2020!

We recommend join this sketchcrawl only if you will be fully vaccinated and don't consider yourself high risk. Please wear a mask and be prepared to keep up social distance.

If you need to stay vigilant at home -- you are welcome to continue to participate virtually! 

Saturday, May 15
10am-12pm (No group lunch this time)
Vera Katz Eastside Esplanade

Meet in the open area just south of the bronze Vera Katz statue.  We will gather again at noon, and try to do a sketchbook throwdown in an orderly and distanced manner. If we get rain, there is shelter under the bridge and overpasses with good views still available.

Parking is available right next to our location on SE Main ($3 an hour or $9 for the day) or a couple blocks south at OMSI ($5, pay inside based on parking space number). Bus lines 2, 6, and 14 stop at Hawthorne Bridge and it's a ~7 minute walk.

If needed, bathrooms are available inside OMSI; as you approach the ticket desk, they are down the corridor to the left/east.  Be prepared - OMSI can be a bit crowded both outside and inside so it will be difficult to maintain social distance.

Looking forward to seeing everyone's faces again -- at least the upper half!

Virtual Sketchcrawl- Just Three

Seems that I may have a tendancy to choose limited materials anyway having found a least these two examples.

In the top image I am using a pen with black ink, a waterbrush with Noodlers Lexington Grey ink (watered down a bit), and another water brush with Noodlers Apache Sunset ink. This is a view of the neighboring house through the broad crotch of the Catalpa tree. In the other (same view, but of the whole scene) I used the pen with black ink, waterbrush with Noodlers Lexington Grey ink (as in the other sketch), and a pen with Noodlers Kiowa Pecan ink.