Bridge Party

I got up early this morning to walk to Burnside, to join the people milling around waiting to parade up to the new bridge on the Wildwood Trail.  We were led by an honor guard of elders from a few nearby-ish tribes, followed by a marching band (who started with a song called, appropriately enough, 'Walking').


The parade ended with a party under the bridge, with pancakes and coffee.  And no actual access to the bridge itself.  The portions of the trail that used to come down to the roadway have been excised - blocked off, draped in burlap and covered with branches.  So I parked myself underneath the bridge and sketched it from below.



I'm not happy with the result.  But I'm not going to throw it away.  Cause I'll never get another chance sketching from the middle of Burnside.

Fall trees and the Broadway Bridge

Many thanks to the owners of the parking garage for allowing us to use their place for this month's sketchcrawl. And to Deb for arranging it! While some people stayed outside and painted in the sporadic rain, several of us went into the garage where we had views from the upper levels.

Broadway Bridge

Deb had wrangled permission to use the parking garage near the train station.  I found a spot partway up the stairway and did a sketch from there.



By the time I'd finished that, it was dry - sunny even - and I thought I'd chance another one from the pedestrian bridge on other side of the train station.  But, of course, it started raining by the time I got there.  I looked for shelter nearby, and ended up under the bridge, looking up at it.

Lower Macleay Park

Another good turnout for the September sketchcrawl, a little chilly but no rain. I brought a long piece of paper folded into an accordion, but not too long to make it unwieldy.

Construction

The endless sewer maintenance work seems to have moved into the Pearl.

Balch Creek Sketchcrawl

I walked a laborious two blocks to meet a bunch of other sketchers at the Macleay Park Trailhead.






I found a vantage point to do the underside of the bridge, with a simplification of the trusses that hold it up.












And then walked up the trail to do the waterfall, where I got some relief from the all-encompassing green around me.



I stood on the footbridge that spans the creek.  Which bounces when people are walking on it.  Good thing I didn't need to draw any straight lines.

September Sketchcrawl: Lower Macleay Park

Saturday's rain held off and we had a beautiful day for sketching in Lower Macleay Park. 

Prior to sketching, we were asked what  personal sketching goal we had for the day. Several people had concerns about how to deal with all of the green. Looking at the results, it didn't appear to cause any undue problems. The sketches are wonderful! Sketching while sitting trailside, hearing the birds and the creek and the footsteps and voices of hikers, and breathing the fresh air all made this one of my favorite sketch crawls. Thanks everyone, for coming out and joining in!

October 19th 2019 Sketchcrawl: Broadway Bridge

Continuing our bridge theme we will sketch the iconic Broadway Bridge which was built in 1913. The Broadway Bridge is a bascule bridge and was the longest span for this type of bridge at that time.

Schedule: 
10am: Meet at Starbucks (see map below). 1102 NW Lovejoy
10:30: Walk to Broadway Bridge
12pm: Sketchbook throwdown TBD
12:30pm: Optional lunch at Laughing Planet and Hot Lips Pizza at the Ecotrust Building, 721 NW Broadway


Getting There: easily accessible by public transportation.

Climate Strike....downtown Portland 9/20/19

There was an awesomely large crowd that gathered downtown across from City Hall today.
I found a spot a little down from the park for the first couple of sketches and then moved up a little when the crowd started to travel down to the Hawthorne Bridge.

I used a larger format than my usual sketchpad and had pre-colored some pages. That way I could just use my pens and waterbrush with Lexington Grey on site. Later I added some additional color.

Pacific Coast OrigamiUSA Convention

Just a few of the models in the public exhibit.