A little bit of Cuba in Portland

Seems I may have been inadvertently channeling Cuba today at our monthly sketchcrawl.
Comfortably sitting on an opposite corner I was able to try my hand at capturing this iconic building on NE Glisan housing a well loved Cuban restaurant. Love those bright colors. I am told by Jason (who sketched there with James Richards) that is typical of Cuban buildings.

watercolor and non waterproof ink.

 I spent the majority of my time on the above sketch and then headed over to the Zipper. There I joined other sketchers looking across to the Vintage Vendors trying to capture two older model classic cars. Something that I have heard is typically seen in Cuba...maybe not these as they are 50's cars but a feeling of a bygone era was definitively there.

watercolor and ink

So happy the rain held back very nicely to allow for our outside sketching. A very good day!

Tillicum Crossing sketches

I have been watching this bridge being built for the last couple of years but this is the first time I have been close enough to sketch it.
I thought I'd try something a little different. The first sketch was with my regular approach; ink and watercolor and the other two are watercolor only (the last one in a larger format sketchbook).
This was a challenging subject no matter what approach....but fun too.
All three sketches were all from the same view point.

non waterproof ink and watercolor

watercolor

watercolor (8"x23")

Peninsula Park sketches

This day was my first exposure to a Parkways Bike event. It was very exciting to see all of the bikers gathering before 11:00 ready to set off on their tour of the other parks.

Some of the other sketchers had their bikes and I was impressed with their verve. I however was on foot and staying in Peninsula Park for the morning.

The Fountain- watercolor and non waterproof ink

I love this sunken rose garden with its wonderful structure of paths and planting beds. After doing this fountain sitting at the lowest level I went up to an outer edge to get a view from a higher angle.

The Gazebo- watercolor and non waterproof ink (using the Hero m86 pen)

Another visit to the Portlland cherry blossoms

On my first sketching visit I was maybe a little too early- most of the blossoms were still in bud and not showing that snowy pink all over color.
This visit the blossoms were out but the leaves were vying for room so the snowy pink was being invaded by the green leaves.
Right in between would have been best.....but alas that did not happen.

watercolor with non-waterproof ink

watercolor applied first then non-waterproof ink added to highlight some details

It was nice to see a good crowd of us sketchers out there on this slightly chilly and windy day.

Cherry Blossoms - almost at peak

I couldn't resist going out to the Japanese Memorial Garden this past gorgeous, warm (although not so much in the shade in the morning) Saturday. Vicky joined me in sketching the not quite out blossoms on the Cherry trees there.

First I did this thumbnail above and then the real attempt to capture the essence of the blooms...some still in bud and some in that beautiful pale pink.

Cherry blossom allee - Watercolor and non waterproof ink

I then turned around to look back toward the Burnside Bridge. In this view the trees blooms turned a rusty cinnamon color against the bridge background.

Watercolor and non waterproof ink

All in all Vicky and I had a very productive day. You can see my other sketches from this day on my blog. www.reason2draw.blogspot.com

Fire and Rescue Station 21

View of the architecture- watercolor and non waterproof ink

This past Friday was a great day for sketching the new station.  An added bonus was a tour of this brand new Station 21. With spectacular architectural details outside the inside is spartan as you would expect in this functional space. However the art budget was generous so there are some really special pieces inside and out.

Fire engine truck- Watercolor and non waterproof ink