Tacoma

.I joined my husband on a business trip to Tacoma and then on to Seattle for two nights.

Here are a few quick sketches I did in Tacoma and about a half hour sketch in King Street Station waiting for our train back to Portland.

For those of you considering going to the sketch crawl in Tacoma...you won't be disappointed. There is so much to sketch there! Fantastic architecture could keep you occupied for weeks.

I'm not able to attend but just wanted to report that it is a fun place to draw! 

August Sketch Crawls

Normally we have our sketch crawls on the 3rd Saturday of the month.  But this month, Tacoma is having a great event, and that's nearby.  So let's postpone the Portland Sketch Crawl till the 4th Saturday.  See below.

Annual West Coast Sketch Crawl - Tacoma, Washington
Aug. 19 - Aug. 21

Schedule:
Friday Aug 19
6:00 pm, registration at Picasso Catering
6:45 pm, dinner & 5 minute portrait sketch party at Picasso Catering, $25

Saturday Aug 20
8:00 am,  registration + Welcome & Orientation at Auditorium Lobby, Washington State History Museum
9:15 am, depart for sketching from Auditorium Lobby, Washington State History Museum
11:30 am, sketch sharing & group photo, Plaza of the Museum of Glass, then lunch at area restaurants
4:00 pm, sketch sharing & group photo, Plaza at the Museum of glass

Sunday Aug 21
9:00 am, announcements, Tacoma Art Museum
11:30 am, sketch sharing & group photo, closing remarks, Tollefson Plaza (across the street from the Tacoma Art Museum)

Summary:
Join us in August, 2016, in another fabulous west coast city, Tacoma, Washington, for the fourth in a series of annual west coast urban sketchers sketch crawl events. We have been in the San Francisco Bay Area, Portland, and San Diego over the past three summers, and this coming summer we offer up Tacoma, the second largest urban area in the state of Washington. Tacoma offers an historically and architecturally rich downtown area that cries out for the sketcher/artist to pay it homage, and we are excited about sharing that opportunity with the global urbansketcher community.

Because we offer no workshops or demonstrations, these annual west coast events are FREE. Each is designed for simply a few days of pure sketching in another of our fabulous west coast cities with others who share the same passions about sketching in urban environments.

More info & registration:
http://4thwcuskskcrawl.blogspot.com/

4th Saturday Sketch Crawl - Saturday, August 27

Next Portland Sketchcrawl: Saturday, August 27. Let's crawl South Waterfront!

• 10:00 am: Meet in front of Bean and Tree Upstream Coffee for coffee and snacks: 0315 Montgomery St., #210, Portland.
• 10:30 am: Sketch boats, bridges, buildings, plants, dogs, the river, and/or people on the South Waterfront.
• 12 noon: Optional sketchbook sharing and lunch: Thirst Bistro Little River Cafe - 0315 SW Montgomery Street #310, Portland.

Regularly scheduled 3rd Saturday Sketch Crawl of September:
- Saturday, September 17.
Tentative: Sextant Bar & Galley - or close to there.  It's got views of the airport and I think Mount Hood.

3rd Saturday Sketch Crawl: Saturday, Oct. 15
Tentative:  Laurelhurst Park - should have nice fall colors.

"Urban" sketching

Following are a couple of sketches I worked on while visiting southern Washington's Gifford National Forest last weekend near Mt. Adams.  Scenes from Panther Creek and Peterson Prairie National forest campgrounds.

I've been working on landscapes, trees, distant mountains, etc.  Still struggling with water. Moving water especially.

NW Glisan at NW 18th

Wednesday was a beautiful day to do some sketching. I have always wanted to draw one of the brightly painted Victorians that line this block. It took longer than I thought so I only tackled one house.

I'd like to return and try the whole row from a different angle. I just love all the bright colors on these homes! They remind me of the Painted Ladies of San Francisco.

South Park Blocks Sketch Crawl

The weather was fine for this day - not too hot like I expected.

I finished my tiny sketch book:

Moved on to my other lightweight, small-ish, sketch book:

 

And topped it off with a big panorama.  Maybe I'll add color / shadows later.

Sketchcrawl in the South Park Blocks

I started out in front of the art museum, wanting to get some light and shadows on Teddy Roosevelt.  I found that his face was totally shadowed, which was a shame.  (Seeing how he's facing north, I suspect that I'll never see his face in the sun.)

Then I moved south, to the farmers market, and sketched one of a pair of buskers.  I had to add the color from memory, as they packed up and left before I got to that point.

Farmer's Market at PSU

Today I tried out a new marking instrument....a Konrad Brush pen from Noodler's.
I filled it only this morning with some purple Noodler's ink with the intention to try it out doing some people sketches. I have long admired other Portland sketchers people drawings....you know who you are...and the PSU Farmer's Market is the place for people.
My thinking was that since I was heading out to the symposium in Manchester soon and there I would be taking challenging workshops that I would warm up with something challenging on home turf. OK, maybe not so well thought out.

 

 I think I liked working with the brush...but it will take some getting used to. The paper had a little drag on it and the fragmented line was kind of nice. More practice needed!

After sharing with everyone at PSU Smith Center I returned outside to sketch some more. This time I reverted back to my old standby ink and watercolor and tried to capture a little more of the produce.

SE 20th and Salmon

A Sunday afternoon outing brought me to the Hinson Baptist church on the corner of SW 20th and Salmon. Although the building  has a wonderful entrance on the corner, I ended up sketching the southern elevation due mainly to the fact that there was a shady place to sit on that exposure.  The building corner stone states the building was erected in 1910.

I may have to return and attempt the corner entrance and or see if I can peek inside.

Some historical photos of the building can be found on the Oregon Encyclopedia website :
http://oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/hinson_memorial_baptist_church/#.V4pH3uhlCf0

Art Tour of New Zealand?

This looks intriguing.  But I'm already double-booked for Saturday, so I can't go to the session to learn about it.  Maybe someone else might like to check it out.

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PCC Community Ed Travel
Art Tour of New Zealand
New Zealand, or Aotearoa in Maori, offers some of the youngest, most diverse and utterly beautiful landscapes found on our planet. We will immerse ourselves in this majestic country as we draw, paint and explore our way across the top of the south island of New Zealand on this 14-day tour. We will savor a multitude of different landscapes when we visit the stunning beaches of Golden Bay, the inland mountains in the Nelson Lakes region and the otherworldly grandeur of the Marlborough Sounds. Join PCC art instructor and New Zealand permanent resident Michael Southern on this once in a lifetime adventure.

New Zealand, or Aotearoa in Maori, offers some of the youngest, most diverse and utterly beautiful landscapes found on our planet. We will immerse ourselves in this majestic country as we draw, paint and explore our way across the top of the south island of New Zealand on this 14-day tour. We will savor a multitude of different landscapes when we visit the stunning beaches of Golden Bay, the inland mountains in the Nelson Lakes region and the otherworldly grandeur of the Marlborough Sounds. Join PCC art instructor and New Zealand permanent resident Michael Southern on this once in a lifetime adventure.

Art instruction is for all levels and offered in a relaxed, friendly environment designed to enhance your time in The Land of the Long White Cloud.

In addition to our time in the landscape, participants will have the opportunity to explore art markets, visit New Zealand artists in their studios and discover the rural flavor of the small towns found in this temperate corner of the country.

Art Tour of New Zealand
CRN 34643
Info Session Saturday at 11 am
@ SE Campus Tabor 141

N.Williams and N.Fremont

Of all the new construction in our neighborhood this building stands out as a work of art in my opinion.

I enjoyed watching the progress on the construction and hats off to Holst Architecture for designing a beautiful building. I have been wanting to sketch this for some time.

On a clear sunny day I walked to the corner with my stool and supplies. I had almost finished the drawing when a fellow appeared from the corner grocery to advise me that this was a no loitering zone. I questioned this as there is a bus stop where I imagine passengers could be accused of loitering. Nope, that's the policy of the store owner. Now I know this shop has been there for many years and prior to New Seasons across the street.What threat could an over 65 lady sketcher pose?

I felt uncomfortable and soon packed my supplies and painted this at home from photos. The message in the window was installed after Orlando and appears to be hundreds of small squares of paper.