At the Fields in NW Portland

A very nice group of urban sketchers arrived at the Fields to sketch today. The park was filled with activity; like the Ciderfest, children in the play area and people with their dogs. But typically I ignored all that and instead looked out toward the buildings and construction!

The morning sky started out blue with white wispy clouds and then progressed to darker grey clouds with just a bit of wispy white. I tried to capture some of that in this last sketch as it started to rain.

My Italian Sketchbook

Here are a few sketches from my recent trip to Italy. There are more on my blog, if you're interested. http://draw2c.blogspot.com

At the Roman arena in Verona, we were more impressed with the exterior than the interior, until one of the visitors stood in the center and treated us all to a spontaneous aria.

It was off-and-on rainy in Florence, but we had a very nice morning in a quiet garden where I sketched across the Arno. In the upper left of the sky, you will see a mosquito.

While I sketched the Brunelleschi sculpture, two Italian women watched and then humorously, we all three tried to have a conversation as they looked through my sketchbook, making all the appropriate gestures and sounds.

As I was sketching this, my stomach lurched when I noticed the tiny people looking over the top of the duomo--not for me.

I decided that half of this very elaborate church with so many different styles, was plenty for me to draw.

This last sketch isn't mine at all. It was drawn by Laura, from Madrid, who I caught sketching me in the Florence airport as we waited for our flight. It was an hour late, but she and I had a delightful conversation about sketching and art, her studies in Florence and her future as a children's book illustrator. In the meantime, I hoped to make an Urban Sketcher of her.

Later, on the plane, the woman across the aisle from me was sketching her daughter, so once again, I had another lovely conversation about sketching and art. 

It was a terrific trip, made even better by sketching.

Weekend Sketching

It was a beautiful, cold, sunny day in Portland today, so I decided to sketch some winter trees.

This view was from the cozy cafe, Behind the Museum, where I sketched while drinking a latte and nibbling on fruit cake.

Then I did a quick sketch of the same tree seen from the plaza between the two buildings of the art museum.

Sitting on a bench in the park blocks, this view between two buildings caught my eye.

And now for something completely different: If you were at the convention center sketching with the Urban Sketchers yesterday, you might recognize these images. 

Line to Color Workshop in Seattle

This weekend, I took a two and a half day Urban Sketchers Workshop with Gail Wong and Frank Ching, in Seattle. It was terrific and filled with useful, individualized instruction as well as lots of time to practice what we were being taught. We met a few more Portlanders there and I hope that they will join us for future sketchcrawls and maybe post their sketches, too.

Here are a few sketches from the weekend. If you want to read more about it and see more, go to http://draw2c.blogspot.com

This is the canal in the Fremont neighborhood. (We went straight to pen in this workshop, so all the guidelines and mistakes, remain.) At one point, the bridge opened and a tall sailboat passed through.  It held a violinist at the bow, playing as the boat moved along the canal.

Besides trying to use appropriate perspective and measurement, we were trying to have our subject placed in context (i.e. the surrounding area). I was pleased to see that those plants (with clusters of three leaves) that were surrounding me, were blackberries and not poison oak.

Next, we moved up the hill for street scenes. Here's Saturn, with solar panel rings, atop a building.

Strangely, there is a statue of Lenin nearby. Appropriately someone painted with blood on his hands.

On the final day, from a place on the crowded sidewalk, I sketched this iconic view. (Full disclosure: a few of those lines are Frank's.)

 A couple of children came by and painted with us for a few minutes. Here is one of the little charmers...

Back in Portland, I decided to try some of my new skills on a view I've sketched before and here's the result....

Thanks to Gail and Frank and my fellow sketchers!

Corrugated Metal

I was down in Eugene this weekend, and had some relaxing time to sketch little scenes of the city. Funny how it all seemed focused on pieces of corrugated metal! * Estaba visitando la ciudad de Eugene esta fin de semana, y pasé el tiempo tranquilamente pintando algunos rincones de la ciudad. ¡Que curioso que todo fue enfocado en pedazos de metal corrugado!

View from the coffee shop. * La vista desde el café.

Pizza kitchen made from a shipping container. * Cocina de pizza hecho de un contenedor de transporte.

Decorative lights in a friend's patio. * Luces decorativas en el patio de una amiga.

National Train Day

Wow. The sun comes out in Portland, and the people of the city are eager for action! National Train day at Union Station was packed with folks of all ages. * Híjole. Cuando sale el sol in Portland, ¡la gente de la ciudad esten listos para celebrar! Un montón de gente asistieron el evento celebrando trenes en Union Station.

Pen & watercolor. * Tinta y acuarelas.

The historic steam engine had very long lines to tour the inside. I stayed on the platform and enjoyed the periodic blasts from the steam whistle. * Las colas para explorar adentro de la locomotora histórica eran muy largas. Me quedé en el andén del tren y disfruté de los soplos periodicos del silbato de vapor. 

Pen & watercolor. * Tinta y acuarelas.

Northeast Sandy Sketchcrawl

We started off today's sketchcrawl at Voodoo Doughnut Too, where the screeching punk music was a perfect fit for a doughnut whose eye had been poked out by a pretzel.

The on-and-off sunlight lured us outside, where I caught some of the iconic building signs in the neighborhood.

Many of the sketchers ended up taking shelter from the cold in a delightful motorcycle coffee bar, which was remarkably cozy, comfortable, and welcoming (especially in comparison with Voodoo!) I was too chicken to draw any of the historic motorcycles, but I did try to tackle the Sandy Plaza building across the street.

Lunch at Pho Gia was super tasty, I'd happily go back there. And even more delicious was the passing around of everyone's sketchbooks, super-inspiring stuff. Thanks, sketchers, for a great morning!

The View from Pill Hill

Another big group of urban sketchers this month--13, 14 people? Wonderful.  * Otra vez, un grupo grande para dibujar esta mes--¿13, 14 personas? Que maravilloso.

The Rilassi Coffee House on the south waterfront is an excellent place to admire people's dogs. Chops the bulldog puppy was perhaps the biggest hit in the puppy parade. * El café Rilassi, en el sur de la orilla oeste del rio, es un lugar excelente para admirar perros. El perrito "Chops" tal vez fue la superestrella del desfile de perros. 

Fast sketch as we rode up the aerial tram to the OHSU campus. Had to stop and admire the historic photo of the student rugby team from 1894. * Hice este dibijo rapidamente al subir a OHSU por el teleférico. Despúes, admiré a lost chavos del equipo estudiantíl de rugby de 1894.

From the balcony where the tram lets you off, the view down over the city is pretty fancy. My attempts to paint the Ross Island Bridge and the Marquham Bridge from above would have been better if Wayne Thiebaud had been there to give me advice. * Al salir del teleférico, hay un balcón con una vista excelente de la ciudad. Mis pinturas del puente Marquham y del puente Ross Island habrían sido mejores con la ayuda de Wayne Thiebaud.

The lovely blue-green building tiles and the bright yellow flowers made this corner of campus a lovely little scenic surprise. * Los azulejos verdes y azules en el edificio historico con las flores amarillas trayeron color sorprendente al gris del día.

And finally, before we went back down the tram to share sketchbooks and eat pho, I tried tackling the skybridge. My grasp of the architecture is so-so, but I like how the contrast between the trees and the buildings turned out. * Antes de regresar al fondo de la colina para compartir dibujos y comer pho, traté de pintar el puente de vidrio que conecta dos edificios de la universidad. No entiendo bien la arquitectura, pero me gusta el contraste entre los edicifios y el bosque.