Lloyd Center Skaters

Another great turnout for our February meetup. We knew it would be challenging. While some sketchers managed to take in both the rink and the skaters, I could only muster small tries at the individuals. According to strict Urban Sketching rules I should have included some context, but hey, sometimes a dispensation is required.

The classes changed every half hour to give us a new group of skaters. I loved the little kids the best!!

First Presbyterian Church

I think it was a record turnout for our January meetup at the First Presbyterian Church. The space was incredibly beautiful and overwhelming. This is as far as I got. Though I had good intentions of nudging it further along after I got back home, it looks unlikely that that will happen.

Sketchcrawl: Lloyd Center Ice Skaters, February 15

Join us at Lloyd Center on Saturday, February 15, to sketch the morning ice skating lessons. It will be challenging but hopefully have enough repetitive movement to make it possible. If constant movement is not your thing there is always the food court and other sketchers and shoppers who may stay motionless for longer periods of time.

Saturday, February 15

10:00 Meet at Starbucks Coffee, 925 Lloyd Center #C114Inside Lloyd Center near the skating rink) Portland OR

10:30  Begin Drawing
12:00 Throwdown TBD
12:30  Optional Lunch and sketchbook sharing in the Lloyd Center Foodcourt.
How to get there: Lloyd Center is easily accessible by bus and MAX.  There is also free parking at Lloyd Center.

Sea and Shore

One of the things I liked best about sketching by boat was the chance to draw things on land or in the water. There was so much life out there that I didn't have to look far for things to capture.

Here I sat in a little cove watching dolphins pick off schools of fish while lion's mane jellies (Cynea capillata) pulsed gently below. They were about a nine inches in diameter and maybe two feet long.

Other days I got off the boat and wandered through forests and streams sketching huge trees or the intricate patterns of mushrooms.

My favorite living subjects were the invertebrates. The more I stared at the lacy tentacles of a sea cucumber or the tiny suction cups on a sea star, the more amazed I became.

Sketching the Inside Passage

I was lucky enough to have a three month sabbatical from work August through October. I took my little sail and oar boat to British Columbia where I quietly rowed, sailed, and sketched my way from the north end of Vancouver Island south to the Seattle area.

I kept a journal/sketchbook. Here's what a raw page looks like.

I wrote every day. I sketched most days, sometimes multiple pages. Some days I was so overwhelmed with the vastness of the scenery or the awesomeness of nature, that I didn't draw it all. I just soaked it in.

-Bruce

Pioneer Courthouse Square

There'd been a plan to shift into Pioneer Place if it was raining, but there was enough shelter around the square that everyone found dry spots and stuck around.  Some did the tree and others the courthouse, and some, like me, did the weather machine.

I'd been expecting to see the dragon because it was so wet, but the heron was up again.


I joined some of the others for lunch and came back afterwards, when the dragon had replaced the heron.


The Pioneer Pioneer Court House

We were lucky to find a dry place to sketch outside. It was cold. I did not want to pull out my water color set up, so I chose to mostly work in pencil and focus on proportions and value.

Sketching in Pioneer Courthouse Square

We had a nice turnout for our meetup this month. Cold and rainy but we found shelter and drew the square.

January 2020 Sketchcrawl: First Presbyterian Church (indoors), Saturday, January 18

For our first sketchcrawl of 2020, we have a special opportunity to sketch inside First Presbyterian Church in downtown Portland! Just a few months ago we had an impromptu weekday sketchcrawl inside this space, and it was such a joy to sketch, we wanted to schedule a regular Saturday sketchcrawl as well, to enable more of us to attend.

The Church has also expressed interested in displaying our sketches in the Chapel Gallery during a concert on February 9, as part of their free concert series celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Jaeckel Pipe Organ. Please consider participating. Our contact at the church will talk with us further about this during the sketchcrawl.

Note: We'll be heading out from our gathering spot earlier than usual this time, to make sure we have time to gather and enter the church together. We will be inside the church from 10:30am onwards.  If you arrive late, please visit the church office at 610 SW 13th Avenue to be escorted inside.

Sketch by Linda D'Amario

Sketch by Ali Corbin

Schedule for Saturday, January 18:

9:50am: Meet at Case Study Coffee, 802 SW 10th Ave, Portland, OR 97205.
10:20: Start gathering outside First Presbyterian Church, 1200 SW Alder St, Portland, OR 97205. We will enter by 10:30.
12:15pm: Sketchbook throwdown on the main floor
12:30pm: Optional lunch at McMenamin's Ringler's Pub, 1332 SW Burnside St

Getting There: Easily accessible by public transportation.

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