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.

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.

Virtual sketchcrawl - Trees dressed up for the holidays

I did this one last Saturday, in an unexpected sunbreak.  

It's a tree in my neighbor's front yard, which he dolled up something special for the season.  I stood on his parking strip, and we had a long-distance conversation between the street and his porch.  (And then he waited patiently until I'd finished, so he could come out and rake up his leaves.)

While I was there a hummingbird - a male Anna's - came to investigate the tree, probing every single ornament, in hopes it was a flower or a feeder.  And then flew away in a huff.

Then, this morning I braved the iffy weather, dodging both rain and other people, and walked down to Pioneer Courthouse Square to sketch the tree. 

I haven't been downtown in ages.  The number of empty storefronts is scary.  And these colorful circles are painted in the square and on the surrounding sidewalks.  I assume that they're social distancing markers.

Postcards from the Industrial Refuge

I managed to find my old sketching kit yesterday, and measured off some 4x6 rectangles in the sketchbook (last used in 2014).  Then I wandered off into the Industrial Refuge this morning.  There's hardly anyone there on a Saturday morning, just a few runners and bikers, and people camping in their vehicles.  It wasn't too awfully hot yet, but hot enough that I only sketched from spots in the shade.

First off, I did a water tower on top of a building near Montgomery Park.  I've gazed at in for years while waiting for a bus, but never had time to sketch it.  Because, well, buses.

Then I walked down to the ESCO office building and did a bit of 'art' in their parking lot.  It could pretend to be sculpture, but I suspect what it really is is an old rusted drill bit.

And then, just a bit further to capture the last remaining bit of ESCO's old No. 1 foundry.

Virtual sketcrawl #6 - your favorite green space.

At first, I'd read this as 'your favorite park'.  And I spent some time in trying to figure out which park was my favorite.  Well, no, there's no debate at all, it's Forest Park.  But I'm not heading up the narrow trails anymore, and don't feel safe lingering in one spot, even on Leif Erickson.  Then I re-read the post, and realized that it said 'your favorite green space'.  And my favorite is, hands down, my own yard, where I often hang out with a cat or a dog.  And lately, my favorite activity has been the daily berry hunt. 

So I sat down in my backyard and sketched some of my cane raspberries (almost done), strawberries (only the ever-bearing ones are left, coming ripe in ones and twos) and blueberries (about a week into the season)

There are others that I didn't get to.  Thimbleberries are tiny and hardly worth picking, but they're pretty.  My creeping raspberries were planted as a ground cover.  But I found that I liked the fruit.  My huckleberries are likewise small and hardly worth picking.  Moreover, I don't think they're ready yet.  The salal is full of seeds and not very sweet, so I usually leave it for the birds.  And, finally, my oregon grape got wiped out by the oak tree.  It's coming back up from the roots though, so I'll have it again.  I found one stalk that somehow survived the desolation, and produced a half a dozen berries.

Virtual sketchcrawl - new media

I'd bought a cheap kid's set of watercolor pencils, months ago, at Freddy's, but had never tried them.  So, with today's theme of trying a different media than you usually use, I dragged them out.


Obviously, I couldn't sketch the pencils themselves, not in their true colors at least, so I let other pencils stand in.  And the highlights didn't work very well.  There was a white pencil in the box, but, wet or dry, it didn't seem to end up in the drawing.

For my second sketch, I dragged everything outside, and huddled under my eaves to do one of the dogwood blossoms.  To make the white stand out, I cut apart one of the multitude of paper grocery sacks that I've brought home during the pandemic.

And, again, the white was pretty pathetic.

Balch Creek Sketchcrawl

I walked a laborious two blocks to meet a bunch of other sketchers at the Macleay Park Trailhead.






I found a vantage point to do the underside of the bridge, with a simplification of the trusses that hold it up.












And then walked up the trail to do the waterfall, where I got some relief from the all-encompassing green around me.



I stood on the footbridge that spans the creek.  Which bounces when people are walking on it.  Good thing I didn't need to draw any straight lines.

Albina Sketchcrawl

I started out by wandering to the north from the meeting place, to get a good view of the tangle of on-ramps and off-ramps that connect I5 to the Fremont Bridge.

And then walked up the hill to Emmanuel Hospital, to the top of a parking garage there, where I found a view of the bridge itself, bracketed by a couple of evergreen trees.

Hawthorne Bridge from the Esplanade

Actually, four bridges: the Hawthorne, the Marquam, the Tilikum and the Ross Island, all in a row.  Done from the dock below the fire station.


Then I walked back up to the bank and found a good view of Big Pink, framed between two trees.


Kay had given me a brush/stylus.  That worked pretty well for doing the tree bark.

Pro Photo Supply, 18th and Marshall, NW Portland

Had little time to sketchcrawl last weekend, but found a great corner near us in NW.
Around the corner from the main Pro Photo shop on 19th is the new-old building, where they've taken a dull green-grey corner at 18th and Marshall and brightened it up.
I used deep colors, with layered dark colors on top and tried a deep shadow.
Not to bad, running colors (I like) and fine for the field.

This entry used to be unnoticeable; the colors all around it
have popped it and made the entire entry cheery and inviting.

 Strathmore Journal, Platinum Carbon pen, White Uniball Signo pen, and Greenleaf & Blueberry, Daniel Smith, and Holbein watercolors.

Cherry Blossoms and the Steel Bridge

Two great sketchcrawl weather days in a row! What luck! I know I probably just jinxed us and we're doomed for rain next time, but today was just a lovely day. The cherry blossoms fluttered all around and everybody was outside. Despite the only once-a-year tree show I couldn't help but sketch another bridge. I did get a couple cherry trees in there, though.

I did all the ink outside and finished up with color at home. 

Ross Island Bridge

This past Saturday morning, I loaded up my bike basket with art supplies and rode over the Tilikum Crossing down to the South Waterfront where we met for this month's sketchcrawl. A short ride from our meeting place was a sunny viewpoint showing the full expanse of the Ross Island Bridge. The steel structure is going to be repainted this year and in real life, it is faded. I took some liberties with color and decided to show how nice it will look in bright green. 

As I finished up the ink for this painting, the sun was warm and I was even able to take off my coat. A sail boat floated by with 4 pirates on deck singing,"What will we do with a drunken sailor, early in the morning?” By then, it was a bit late to be considered early in the morning, but at the sounds of it, they had the drunken sailor part just right.

Last Saturday's sketchcrawl began a little drizzly, but I didn't want to miss a chance to sketch the outside of Union Station. I drove around in a perplexing circle of one way streets, until I found a perfect parking space. This view was periodically blocked by buses, but over two and a half hours, all of it was revealed in bits. I was delighted to be able to see Union Station's towers, the Fremont and Broadway bridges and two construction cranes all from my lucky spot. By the time my drawing was done, it was pouring rain and my windows were all fogged up. I finished up with watercolors at home.

Sketching Around the Central Library

Even though it was cold, I set out to find a spot in the sun...hoping for the side benefit of an good view.  I soon found that the canyon-like streets of downtown were mostly in the shade, including the spots with the most interesting vistas.  Finally I noticed this cupola sparkling in the sun behind the shaded buildings, and found an unobtrusive spot to set up my stool on the sidewalk where some rays were coming through.  My fingerless gloves served me well while I sketched...I didn't notice that my feet were almost numb until I tried to get up!

I used a cool grey to shade the cupola in the distance, and warmer shades of grey to bring the buildings closer.

This Elm tree in front of the Central Library was begging to be drawn...and I could do it from the comfort of a coffeeshop!

It's always enjoyable to meet up with my fellow sketchers, so thank you for the opportunity!

PSU Sketchcrawl

These is something about a nice comfy bench that enhances the view in front of it, in my opinion anyway.  We found a bench and this was the view.

I did the drawing in ink but ran out of time so added the watercolor later.

Someone I know pretty well sat beside me & did this sketch--pretty ambitious, John!

I did this sketch at a Plein Air event at Tryon Creek the weekend before.  Everything had a velvety coat of moss.

Line to Color Workshop

I had a great time at the workshop last weekend with Frank Ching and Gail Wong.  They were able to put complex concepts into simple, understandable terms and I gained some useful sketching tips...now to try to put them into practice!

Frank Wong commenting on sketches from workshop.

Here are my sketches from Sunday, the last day of the workshop.  It was fun to have the PDX Urban Sketchers join us for the afternoon sketching session!

St Johns Sketchcrawl

Last Saturday about fifteen Urban Sketchers met at Proper Eats Market and Cafe on Lombard in the St John's neighborhood of Portland.  St Johns is one of my favorite places to sketch because of its quaint, small town feel plus the main street is only a couple blocks from the lovely St Johns Bridge and Cathedral Park, which spreads out beneath the bridge.  After coffee and a good chat by the shaded tables outside Proper Eats, the group spread out to sketch--some headed over to the park, some down the main street of St Johns, and some remained in the comfort of the shade at the cafe, with generous coffee refills forthcoming!  Afterwards we met at Cathedral Park to share our sketches and chat some more.

PDX Urban Sketchers enjoying each others sketches.

Sketchers chatting at the park.

My sketch done from a comfy seat in the shade of a tree outside the cafe. I added a little of the shading later.

John said I could share his sketch from the same vantage point.

Rainy Sketchcrawl

My first sketchcrawl with the Portland Urban Sketchers;  I've crawled around a lot by myself
urban sketching!  My husband Mitchell was the bravest, being new to sketching and
braving today as well. It wasn't raining, it was POURING -- not a monsoon but hard rain. 
Never let up.  Non sketchers, and shoppers were all trying to stay dry,
and everyone wanted coffee, so no window spots in cafe's either.

Mitchell dipped into Annie Bloom Books, and I was able to sketch a very
fast sketch with tons of kids running all around and my floppy book on my knee.
10 minutes, and my normally free-flowing Preppie pens both clogged!

 

We tried to find a dry place to sketch outside but finally gave up,

and ended up at Village Coffee.   I managed to knock out another fast sketch.
Today, the best part was meeting Deb and Tony and Colleen and Ellie and Kay!

Drawn in an Strathmore Mixed Media journal with graphite watercolor pencil,
Noodler’s Polar Brown and Lexington Grey ink, and Daniel Smith watercolors.
Note: Normally those inks do not run, but they bleed a bit in this journal.

Last Saturday's Sketchcrawl

We had a good turn-out at our sketchcrawl last Saturday. Here are some of the sketchers who stayed around for the sharing and lunch.

Here's a sketch from the Farmers Market.  If you look closely, you'll see a couple of sketchers.

Here are a few other sketchers from our lunchtime sketch.

A few of us sketched until the market closed. I tried to capture some of the remaining people.

It was a great day to be at the market and at PSU and mostly with the always enjoyable sketchers.

A Terrific Sketchcrawl on the Waterfront

We couldn't have had a more perfect day for sketching in Portland today. It was great to have the large turnout today, too. I hope that the newcomers will keep returning because it was fun to see the variety of sketches and get to talk to some of the sketchers. I also hope that folks will post their work, because we all love to look at pictures.

In order to get the ball rolling, here are a couple of my sketches from today. (Ink on the first one, watercolor then ink on the next.)

I've been in a sketching slump lately and although I haven't climbed out of it, I at least didn't rip any pages out of my book today. The sunshine, the view, and the enthusiasm of my fellow sketchers must all have helped!