Apple-tastic Sketchcrawl on Saturday, October 20

Join us for our 3rd Saturday Sketchcrawl! We're heading to the Apple Tasting Festival at Portland Nursery. It should be a treat for eyes, ears, and mouths alike--great apples (and other food too: Hotlips Pizza, Staccato Gelato...), music, hula-hooping, and all those other ingredients that make a wonderful party.

Meet at 10 am at Portland Nursery, 5050 SE Stark. (Map!)

Bring canned or non-perishable foods to the Impact NW table, help them get a head start on filling their pantry for the cold winter months to come.

 

Sketch until you have to go!

 

The Most Colorful Corner of Oaks Park

As we gathered together to look at each other's sketches yesterday, Kalina called out," You guys have GOT to see this! It's so colorful and amazing!"

Only in the off-season would we have all of the stanchions and other colorful signage in one big pile like that. We couldn't resist a group photo. Big thanks to Andrea for taking the shot!

Empty Amusement Park

Nice group met up in Sellwood for the Worldwide Sketchcrawl on Saturday. Kalina and myself were very happy to welcome Andrea, Jen, and Evan (a fourth-grader!) to their very first Urban Sketchers adventures. (Oh, and Marta met us at the park, too! But she had to leave a little early.)

I had imagined spending a lot of time drawing the roller-coaster. But man, those things are complicated!  

Even though the colors of the autumn leaves and the bright paint of the park rides were very vivid, all my brain really wanted to contemplate was the beautiful texture of the cloudy sky.

I finally settled on a combination of black and white pens with just occasional touches of colored pencil. I feel like that captured the quiet, historic beauty of Oaks Park in the off-season (as well as the calm contentment in my own head) fairly well.

Worldwide Sketchcrawl: Saturday, Oct. 13

Yes indeed, the 37th Worldwide Sketchcrawl is happening this Saturday, October 13! Join us in the afternoon to enjoy the challenge of sketching rollercoasters and autumn leaves...We're heading for Oaks Park.

Disclaimer: the rides won't be open this time of year, but the roller rink will.

Meet 1:00 pm at Grand Central Bakery in Sellwood: 7987 SE 13th Avenue.
At 1:30, stroll about 20 min (or drive, I suppose) to the Oaks Amusement Park: 7805 SE Oaks Park Way.
(Map showing how those two dots connect: http://goo.gl/maps/Snx9o)

Don't forget to pack your raincoats; we might get a little rain...

Goose Hollow

I’ve never really explored the Goose Hollow neighborhood before, so I was excited to go to the sketchcrawl there this morning. But the coffee shop where we met up was decorated so charmingly that I spent most of my time inside, admiring the artificial crows. * Nunca había explorado la vecindad de Goose Hollow mucho antes, así que estaba muy entusiasmada assistir al sketchcrawl ahí esta mañana. Pero las decoraciones dentro del café donde nos reunimos eran tan encantadoras que pasé la mayoria de mi tiempo adentro, admirando los cuervos artificiales.

Realizing that it was a beautiful sunny day, I took a quick walk around the block and did fast doodles of pretty decorations on people’s porches. * Me dí cuenta que era absurdo estar adentro durante un día tan perfecta de otoño. Rapidamente pasé por las casas históricas y dibujé las decoraciones en las porches.

Impromptu Sketchcrawl: Goose Hollow and Fun on Foster

A two-part sketchcrawl has been spontaneously proposed for this Saturday, Sept. 29.

Part One: Goose Hollow! Meet at 10 am at Fehrenbacher Hof, located at 1225 SW 19th Avenue, Portland OR. (*note: original post had typo in address, now corrected!) Map here.

Part Two: Fun on Foster event!  This neighborhood block party happens along SE Foster, between 49th and 93rd Avenues. Activities go from 11 am to 5 pm. We'll play in by ear in terms of heading from one side of town to the other...

Hope you can join us. Happy sketching!

Putting the "Crawl" into SketchCrawl: Taylor Electric Supply

On Saturday we met at the Coava Coffee Bar, and after we chatted and soaked up the amazing woodwork of that space, we went over to the location where the Taylor Electric Supply company building had been before the big fire in 2006. * El sábado nos juntamos en el café Coava, y después de charlar y admirar la madera elegante del café, fuimos al sito donde la compania Taylor Electric estaba antes del incedio de 2006.

The graffiti on the remaining walls was what first caught my attention, since it was so colorful. It was fun trying to capture the effects of spray paint in watercolor. * El graffiti en las paredes restantes es muy coloroso, y es lo que primero me agarró la atención. Es divertido tratar de replicar el efecto de pintura en aerosol con la humilde acuarela. 

A lot of the windows clearly showed warping from the heat of the fire. The rust colors was a rather lovely compliment against the blue sky. * En muchas de las ventanas, todavía se puede ver cómo el calor del incedio deformó las ventanas. El color de la oxidación del metal sirvió como un complemento bonito para el azúl del cielo.

 

 

My attention wandered back to the graffiti again. The message "Don't f*** up" was making me want to paint this one extra-carefully, hee hee. * Otra vez me enfocé en el grafiti. El frase “Don’t f*** up” me dio ánimo a pintar un poco mejor, je je.

 

 

Angelika and I went back after lunch, and I painted this portrait of a burnt telephone pole. I noticed during the time I was painting that a whole lot of photographers and their models kept dragging themselves under the fence. It's a popular place for portraits! We use the term "sketchcrawl" a lot, but for this adventure, crawling was a genuine option. *  Angelika y yo regresamos al sitio despues de comer, y hize este retrato de un poste de teléfono quemado. Noté que, durante el tiempo en que había estado pintando, un montón de fotographos y sus modelos se habían arrastrado debajo de la cerca—¡es un lugar muy popular para retratos!  Decimos “sketchcrawl” para describir nuestros adventuras, pero esta vez, tuvimos la opción de gatear de veras.

 

Lone Fir Cemetery: Small Gravestones

 

Small gravestones, from last weekend's trip to the Lone Fir Cemetery. I drew the living plants, treating the gravestone itself almost as negative space. * Lápidas pequeñas del cemetario Lone Fir, que visitamos el fin de semana pasada. Dibujé los plantos vivientes, tratando la lápida como espacio negativo.

Brown colored pencil on tan paper gave subtle results. But it's a cemetery, maybe it's OK for the drawings to be muted. * Usando un lápiz de color marrón en papel café claro dió resultados sútiles. Pero, dado que estamos en un cemetario, tal vez es apropriado hacer un dibujo un poco apagado.

Scavenger Hunt: Final Results

I'm sure you've all been waiting with bated breath to see the grand tally of our Scavenger Hunt Sketching Challenge! The graph is below, with highlights of the data called out after that.

 

Most-Sketched Items: 

• Coffee (8 sketches)
• Fountain, Fire Hydrant, and Bridge (7 sketches each)
• Unusual Hair, Rose, Watercraft, and Stripes (6 sketches each)

Least-Sketched Items:

• Three Groins in a Fountain (1 sketch)
• Mount Hood and Hung Far Low Sign (2 sketches each)
• Streetcar, Umbrella Man, Food Cart, Bird on It, Pigs in NW (3 sketches each) (I suspect we have more streetcar sketches out there, but they didn't get posted yet, rats!)

People With Most Sketches: 

• Katura, 30 items
• Vicky, 23 items
• Katharine, 20 items
• Deb, 12 items

That was a lot of fun! If we were to do it again in the winter, I'd be curious to hear if there are suggestions about how to structure the challenge. Longer (or shorter) length of time to work with? Fewer (or greater) number of items? Do share your thoughts!

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?)

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.    

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?

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

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.)

Scavenger Hunt: Elk Statue

I really enjoy passing by the elk statue when I go downtown. I finally found time to flop on the grass in the park and spend some time drawing this week. There's a real dignity and elegance to this animal. (Although the strange little water-squirting heads around the base —are they mountain lions, or bears, or something else entirely? —are quite silly by comparison.)
*

Gozo de admirar la estatua del ciervo canadiense cada vez que entro al centro de la ciudad. Esta semana, yo finalmente encontré el tiempo de relajarme en el parque y pasar un poco de tiempo dibujándolo. Hay un sentido verdadero de gracia y dignidad en este animal. (Aunque los estraños cabecitas que echan agua en el base del fuente—¿son osos, o leones de montaña, o otra cosa? —son muy chistosos comparado con el wapití.)

Bikes, revisited

OK, I know that I already crossed of the "bike" from my scavenger hunt list; but I can't resist sharing this doodle of an amazing bike that was parked outside of the museum this week.

Keeping Portland Weird with every pedal-stroke!

Tacoma: City of Destiny

Four of us Portland sketchers took the train north to Tacoma, Washington last weekend to meet up with sketchers from all over Washtington state. It was a blast.

I used my water-soluble felt-tip brush pen to whip out a few fast postcards on the train ride north: