Vista Bridge sketchcrawl

I wasn't very hopeful of actually sketching outside at this past Saturday sketchcrawl....but it didn't turn out to be as bad as I expected. Finding a stretch of sidewalk under some dense foliage gave me enough of a dry spot to attempt the Vista Bridge view.

A few dots and blotches of rain water but the city view under the bridge was framed nicely by the arching supports of the bridge.

After the first sketch I tried to get a more realistic view of the traffic using this busy road from downtown to Route 26.

Goose Hollow and another attempt at the Vista Bridge

We have been having some wonderful weather days here in Portland lately and even though personally I sometimes bemoan the heat it has been wonderful to go out and sketch without worrying about the possibility of having a backup plan for rain.

a nice little block of older homes surrounded by a newer highrise.

 In the above- trying to pick up on some of the shading with my Tombow and Pitt markers

Vista Bridge looking past the car dealers big tent waning.

This past Saturday sketching was no exception...great day, great fellow sketchers...how could we miss? Fun!

Vista Bridge and Plein Air painting

While most of our Portland usk members were out and about last weekend doing the watercolor workshop with Marc and Shari (and having a terrific time based on Mike's photos) Jill, Marianne and I staked ourselves out to sketch the Vista Bridge from SW Jefferson.

View east down SW Jefferson to downtown Portland

 I had been thinking about sketching the bridge for sometime now and thought it would be interesting. After several attempts (many others not shown....) I found in each sketch that I kept losing my place in the structure....this was incredibly challenging!

Afterward I headed to the South Park blocks to see the Plein Air artists at work. It was a wonderful to walk around and see (and smell the oil paint) so many painters out there working at the most amazing views. I tried to do some people sketching and it was really nice to see a crowd enjoying the scene too.