Bagdad Theater

Not much to show from yesterday's bike-n-sketch, but here's one from a couple of weeks ago.  Sketched from the coffee shop across the street from the theater.

Ladd's Addition

I didn't bring a bike to yesterday's sketchcrawl, so I stayed in Ladd's Addition and sketched in a couple of alleys. In the first one, I tried going right to watercolor, without lines, but I found that I got lost in all the shrubbery and buildings, so I went back to my trusty pen. Feeling a bit too confident, I tried to sketch a man who rode by on a recumbent bike, but he ended up out of proportion and looked like an insect. Luckily, the Palio card hides the evidence.

For the second sketch, I started with pen, went to watercolor and then added more ink. I think I may still add some darker ink fenceposts since it doesn't have much contrast.

It was a lovely day, tucked away in the alleys, sketching with Linda. Then it was a treat to have everyone return and show their sketches of goats and bikes and all kinds of things. Thanks to our organizers and to all the sketchers who showed up to make this another fun sketchcrawl.

By Rail, By Sail, By Bike

I'm catching up on posting sketches from the last several crawls, and find a transport theme has accidentally emerged.

We celebrated National Train Day at Union Station...




We sketched the tall ships Lady Washington and Hawaiian Chieftain while they were docked in Vancouver over Memorial Day weekend. I started with a thumbnail in which I worked out some problems of ratio, but still had a lot of trouble in the final drawing. And then the Hawaiian Chieftain sailed away...



Katura and Alanna and their spouses teamed up to provide an organized sketchride as part of Pedalpalooza.



 

Many thanks to Katura and Chris and Alanna and Tad for their work to make the sketchride a success! It was also great to meet new sketchers and to get return visits from sketchers we haven't often seen.

Here's hoping this summer treats us all gently and we can have many beautiful sunny days of sketching together.

Bike & Sketch: My Challenges

I had a wonderful time meeting you all and rolling around town. There were some challenges for me, aside from taking the leap to join a new group: I'm not so good at creating scenes; I usually find I look at detail and small vignettes, so putting together a view is a thing I can work on. And, drawing in 20-minute slots -- that's something I haven't done except in art classes and I didn't feel exactly adequate to the matter.

For this one, begun on the Esplanade, I finished up the background city-scape after I got home, but making myself add only about 5 minutes to the exercise. I'm thinking that doesn't violate the principles of urban sketching too much?

You all did a terrific job of organizing the event, and keeping your flock in order. Thanks!

Bike & Sketch!

Got to Ladd Circle a bit early this morning to meet folks rolling in for the Bike and Sketch ride. This pair was tidying up the intersection as I settled in to draw. * Llegé temprano a Ladd Circle esta mañana para reunirme con la gente que quería participar en paseo de dibujar en bicicletas. Estas dos personas estaban limpiando la calle mientras yo dibujaba.

More than 20 people came out for the adventure, and about 17 of us were getting around by bike. Our stop along the riverfront had lots of shady seating, but Tad made a great model as he stood to draw in his tiny sketchbook. * Más que 20 personas vinieron en la aventura, con alrededor de 17 viajando por bicicleta. Nuestra parada al lado del rio tuvo muchos lugares para sentarnos en la sombra, pero Tad era un modelo fantástico al pararse para dibujar en su libro diminuto.

My husband Chris did this sketch of the Hawthorne Bridge. I am impressed with his ability to make sense of the complex steel struts! * Mi esposo Chris hizo este dibujo del Hawthorne Bridge. ¡Su capacidad de entender el logico de los puntales complejos es tan impresionante!

Next stop--urban goats! We were super luck to arrive just as one of the caretakers was wrapping up his morning goat feedings. The goats, in the meantime, had a great time exploring all the sketching supplies with their curious mouths. * Proxima parada--¡las cabras urbanas! Tuvimos la gran suerte de llegar justo cuando uno de los cuidadores de las cabras estaba terminando sus tareas de la manana. Y las cabras tuvieron la gran suerte de explorar nuestros heramientas de arte con sus bocas curiosas. 

Last stop--Lone Fir Cemetery. It's easy to settle in to this quiet, shady, historic place...was hard to tear ourselves away after just 30 minutes. * Ultima parada: el cementario Lone Fir. Es tan fácil instalarse comodamente en este lugar tan quieto, sombreado, y historico...fue difícil irnos despues de solamente 30 minutos.

It was great to see old friends as well as to meet so many new people! Very glad that so many folks could join us on this ride. * Que divertido, ¡ver a los amigos establecidos y conocer a la gente nueva! Me alegra que tanta gente podía participar en este paseo.

Pioneer Courthouse Square

Rose Festival and the great weather brought me downtown last week ....so I spent some time at Pioneer Courthouse Square and did two sketches...For the building I used pencil first, then ink done on site and the watercolor added later. I found it harder to do the quicker figure sketch in ink.... think I got the figure too dark and a bit out of proportion.....but had lots of fun in the process !

Hope to get to the Bike and Sketch on Saturday.....at least for part of it!

I also went to see the great showing of Allen Say's illustrations at the Main Library ...a really worthwhile show that is in the 3rd floor gallery until June 30th. I have three of his books and had him sign them at the reception on Sunday!

New fountain pen, new gray sketchbook, white gel pen, white Pitt Pen

I did these sketches this weekend, doing my own bike & sketch.  Looking forward to Saturday!

I am a little late with this...

I have just learned how to post from my iPad.Thank you,Les, at the Apple Store!

Bike and Sketch, Saturday June 15

On Saturday, June 15, the Urban Sketchers of Portland will be hosting its first ever Pedalpalooza event!

Bike and Sketch is a slow-paced, low-traffic loop through southeast Portland, with long stops to sketch local landmarks. Our vision is to introduce folks in the "bike fun" community to the awesome world of urban sketching, as well as to give our team of sketchers a chance to play around on bikes together. Oh--and we'd love it if folks got inspired to dress as their favorite artists, to increase the fun quotient!

Of course, not all of our sketchers are bike-users. Therefore, we've carefully mapped out the route in advance and timed out the distance between stops to create a schedule for our departures and arrivals. Bike-less sketchers are welcome to head to any of the sketching spots by whatever means is convenient, and greet the roving group of cyclists with sketchbooks a-blazing.

Here are the details of the event:

• 9:30 am: Gather at Ladd Circle for intros and warm-up sketches. (Need coffee, snacks, or a bathroom stop? Factor in some extra time to swing by Palio!)
  
• 9:50 am: Ride departs for the Vera Katz Statue on the Eastbank Esplanade.
  
• 10-10:30 am: Sketch on the Esplanade. (Need a bathroom break? There's a cluster of port-a-potties under the overpass.)
  
• 10:30 am: Ride departs for SE Taylor & 10th.
  
• 10:40-11:05 am: Sketch the goats in the field! Oh, such adorable goats.
  
• 11:05 am: Ride departs for Lone Fir Cemetery. (Note--anyone who wants to wrap the ride up early, whether your bike seat is getting uncomfortable or you need some time to put on your Storm Trooper costume, can easily head back to Ladd Circle via 16th Ave.)
  
• 11:30 -12 noon: Sketch at the cemetery. We will enter and exit from the main gate at the east side of the cemetery, but folks are welcome to explore the grounds from there. (Need coffee, snacks, or a bathroom stop? Try a short detour to Happy Sparrow at the corner of Belmont and 30th. Note that they close at noon.)
  
• 12 pm: Ride departs for starting point at Ladd Circle.
  
• 12:30 pm: Share sketchbooks at Ladd Circle.

(Click to see full details of the route map)

A few extra tips:

• If the weather stays this sunny and lovely, we'd advise sunscreen! (Learned that the hard way after our recent test ride of the route, whoops.) Water bottles are also useful, since there aren't a lot of drinking fountains along the route.
• If you haven't been on your bike in a while, we'd highly recommend that you pump up the tires and give it a test spin a few days before the ride to make sure it's working well. It's no fun to have a mechanical glitch in the middle of a fun adventure! 
• Our goal is to set an easy, mellow pace for the bike rides between sketching locations. We'll have a designated "head" and a designated "caboose," and will encourage folks to stay in a group and not get too spread out as we ride.
• New to sketching? Bring whatever art materials you're comfortable with--pencils, all kinds of pens, colored markers, and watercolor paint are common choices. Our sketching stops will be just 20 to 30 minutes long, so make sure whatever tools you bring don't take too much time to set up, and that they don't need a lot of drying time. Most folks in the group draw and paint in portable sketchbooks, but office-paper on a clipboard works fine too. You don't need to spend lots of money on materials to have a great time doodling in the city.
• How does one carry art materials on a bike? Simplest approach would be to tuck a ballpoint pen and a tiny notebook in your pocket, then you're ready to roll! But you can cram all sorts of art materials into a backpack or a purse if you want a variety of options on hand. (Trust us, we know.) If you are feeling extravagant, you could engineer a fancy mobile easel that is rigged up on the platform of a cargo bike...now that would be a fun photo opp! No matter which end of the spectrum you lean towards in terms of how much sketching gear to bring along, it's always a good idea to take it on a spin around the block before the ride itself to make sure everything feels comfortable and secure when the bike is in motion.       

We're looking forward to this adventure! Feel free to leave any questions in the comments section below.

Tall Ships

Here's my version of the tall ships.

And here's a view from the Red Lion at the Quay of the I-5 bridge.

I am also excited to tell you that just tonight I received a super fine fountain pen in the mail.  I'm ready to put it to work.