super sketching day...spring is on the way!

We had a wonderful gathering for our March sketchcrawl at the Japanese Memorial Cherry Blossom trees. No Cherry trees were actually in bloom yet but we had great sunny weather to sketch the scene that included both the Burnside and Steel Bridges and along the waterfront.

Our group....apologize for the spot in the lower left that partially obscures sketcher Ellie. There was a glare on the screen so I din't notice it until later.

Here are some random sketches showing bridges and across the river views. Please comment if your sketch is shown here. I didn't get everyone's name to give proper credit...thanks.

My contribution was a sketch of Burnside bridge and then wanting to put some color down  I turned to a pillow vendor at the busy Saturday Market.

After lunch at the market I spent some time with Ali at the Lan Su Chinese Garden.....

Sketching Inside; Waiting for Spring Weather

I was at Lan Su Gardens recently, too, but I was too cold to sketch outside. Even the hot tea didn't keep me warmed up for long.  

 Sketching the calligrapher's desk, I resisted the strong desire to go inside and use the materials. If there had been a coal brazier under the desk for keeping the feet warm, the temptation might have been too much.

 /

Kennedy School was plenty warm and even had the smell of woodsmoke.

I'm eager for when it will be warm enough to sketch the lovely gardens at both of these places. 

Come on, Spring!

Lan Su Garden Sketches in Ink

I met some Urban Sketcher friends at Lan Su Garden on this overcast day and enjoyed tea, conversation, and the soft shadows.  I've been using water brushes with diluted ink to speed up my sketching...a little bit anyway! (Thanks for the idea, Deb!) In these two sketches I used my favorite, Noodler's Lexington Grey, and J. Herbin's Lie de The or "Dregs of Tea" which seemed appropriate somehow.

Lan Su Chinese Garden in the Spring

In spring in Portland, we have beautiful trees bursting 

 with new leaves and fragile blossoms of pink or white.  There's so much potential for sketching, but there is often accompanying wind, rain, chilly temperatures, and sometimes hail. Luckily, the tearoom at the Chinese Garden offers shelter and views out the window, along with  fragrant pots of exotic 

tea and delicate, tasty snacks. I think I could spend days there, watching the sky change, drinking tea and  never running out of things to draw.