Cannon Beach charm

I stayed at Cannon Beach over the weekend ( along with my hubby and our dog) and finally got to do at least one sketch of one of the many charming buildings that inhabit the town! It was such a great weekend, weather-wise, that we spent a lot of time just walking on the beach. There are a lot more funky houses and shops to sketch but my dog had other plans!

Even though our group is called 'urban sketchers'....I think a day trip to this coastal town might be a fun excursion someday. We could picnic on the beach and come home with lots of interesting sketches. Just sit on a bench in town for a few minutes and you see dozens of dogs and their owners...more perfect subjects!

Hopefully, there will be other perfect weekends ahead....Linda E

Sketching Portlandia

Had a great time at the Portland sketchcrawl on Saturday...where a dozen of us roamed between second avenue and fifth darting raindrops and marveling at the sporadic sunshine of a very unpredictable day. I managed a few ink sketches which I splashed with some watercolor once I got home. I also took a few photos to sketch from at a later date.

 Not happy with my first Portlandia....I tried again.......

 It was hard to get the right amount of muscle to her figure...she really is an amazon woman...and is also in an unusual crouching position!

( just draw the darks.....!)

Busy sketchers staying dry at the cafe across from the Portland Building

Marco's sketch of Portlandia

Linda E.

PDXUsk members at my studio

I really enjoyed having my comrades in sketching visit my studio. I took a few of photos. It was more fun than it looks in the pictures

I also did one sketch of Kalina and Alanna

At Bill's place....

Here's another 'Thank You' to Bill for hosting that Saturday sketching session a few weeks ago in and outside of his studio . Loved the tour, as well as seeing new and old faces! Hope to make a few more of the sketching events this year. I only had time to do one sketch...it's fun sketching each other.( ever since Lisbon, I am trying to do more people...it is the only way to get better. I also was impressed by all of Bill's wonderful paintings that were tacked up on the walls...he is one prolific artist! ( with a sharing and caring heart!)

Linda  (Engstrom) 

Impressions of Lisbon by Linda Engstrom

I spent two weeks in Portugal and took over 500 photographs along with filling my sketchbook! What struck me about Lisbon were the wonderful and varied patterns ....coming from the intricately cobbled streets and sidewalks, to the tiled houses and walls, to the varied patterns of light and shadow on the many narrow winding and hilly streets. The buildings were amazingly intricate, and the grid-lines of trolley wires above many of the streets added another layer of pattern over everything. Our plain concrete sidewalks here in Portland seem very boring now! I even managed to bring home an actual Lisbon cobble stone (from a pile on the sidewalk where they were doing some repairs)

We met the first day in the large yellow-walled courtyard of the art college...

Then, after introductions and meeting with our individual instructors, we fanned out onto the streets of Lisbon for our first 3 hour workshop!

Two of my favorite instructors were Pedro Fernandes and Joao Moreno, both from Portugal.

Following a vertical axis across the narrow cobbled street....with my sandeled foot leading the way! So little time and soooo much to draw!!@!

Sketching went on even during the lunch hour...this small restaurant had the typical blue and white Portuguese tiles covering the walls.

We all gathered for the world-wide sketch crawl until the light faded on the Terreiro do Paco..... (Alanna in Blue shirt)

Just a sampling of a great trip that I hated to see end!

From Lisbon we traveled by bus and train to Sintra,Obidos ,and Belem....then rented a car and drove to the Algarve region on the Southern Coast. That's another story ....to be told later. ( a visual overload!!!!)

Sketching at Linda Engstrom's Vineyard

Several of us met at Linda's vineyard in Hillsboro for a soggy sketch session.


Linda gave us a tour of the property and then we had a relatively dry hour or two to draw.

Our other host for the day was Luka, one year old ball of energy.

Don Colley, visiting from Chicago, joined us for the day.

Deb found a sheltered spot on the deck to draw until lunch.

Greg, Kalina and Deb chat before starting in after lunch.

Marco distracts Luka for a minute.

Thanks to Linda and her husband, Fred and, of course, Luka, for their warm hospitality. Hopefully others will share their drawings from the day.