Sketchcrawl in Laurelhurst

It was a big group, with sketchers stretched for a block in either direction, on both sides of the street.  I'd gotten there late and found an unoccupied curb and sat down to do my own sketch.

And then, another sketcher just down the curb a bit.

Here's a photo of many, but not all of the sketchers who came out to sketch in Laurelhurst today. We had several new sketchers today, too. I hope everyone comes back again! Most of us sketched the church, but you'll have to wait for someone else to post a good photo of the resulting sketches.

Sketchcrawl in the neighborhood

Gregg was coming down from Seattle for the weekend, so Vicky organized a special sketchcrawl for him, in my neighborhood.

Most people headed towards Trinity Cathedral.  But I'd done the red doors (or at least one of them) recently and headed the other way, to William Temple House.  And, seeing how Oliver lived only next door, I stopped by to see if he was receiving visitors.  And he was.  In fact, he climbed up into my lap and took a nap.  And so, instead of sketching William Temple House, I sketched Oliver.


I got done with that before he showed any sign of getting up, so I picked the second most interesting thing I could see - the entrance to the apartment building across the street.


Halfway through that a black cat tried to sneak into Oliver's territory, and he had to get off my lap to evict him.  And then Kalina and John and John's dog, Trevor, showed up, looking for sketchers.  For Gregg in particular.  We chatted for a bit and I scratched the dog's ears, and then they went off towards Trinity.  And Oliver, who had been lurking nearby, came out and gave me a right what-for for having paid attention to a mere dog.  And climbed back up into my lap.

When I was done with the second sketch, and had shifted the cat, I wandered over to Trinity myself, and had time to do a quick sketch of the northeast corner of the cathedral.




Exciting announcements about the 10x10 Urban Sketching Workshops in Portland

Pete Scully's Masterful rendering of a complicated interior space 

We are at a midpoint with out 2018 edition of 10x10 Workshops–with 5 more workshops still happening through November. There are still a few spots open in each one. For more information and to register: http://www.portlandsketcher.com/p/workshops.html

This coming Saturday, August 10th I am teaching “All the World's a Stage: Finding your Perfect Story” where I will be showing students how to draw human figure and how to approach a large public setting as a theatre stage where people act as if actors in a play, how to find those stories and convey them using drawings.

Then on September 8 Andrea Matthews takes sketchers to the popular PSU Farmer’s Market to explore how textures, lines and color could be used to approach such a vibrant setting full of colorful produce, flowers, foliage, and people busy shopping.

On September 29th I am back teaching “Humbled but not Overwhelmed: Keeping your Sketcher’s Cool in Large Complicated Spaces” which will give students the tools to break down and simplify large complicated spaces in order to capture soaring cathedrals, train stations, stately museums while visiting foreign lands or sketching in their home town.

On October 13th during the “Drama Queen or a Great Manipulator: Making Sketches that Intrigue and Grab Attention” I will reveal a number of magic techniques and sketching secrets that are sure to lead to sketches that turn heads and force second takes. This workshop will take place in the gorgeous Lan Su Chinese Garden.

Then, the drumbeat please…. because for the closing workshop of the season we are bringing the amazing Pete Scully to Portland to teach “All Together Now and with Perspective: Fitting all Bits and Pieces into a Grid” (November 10). If you are not familiar Pete is a highly revered urban sketcher, teacher and author who is a master at capturing complicated interiors with fantastic detail and precision. Pete Scully has authored several books on sketching and if you haven’t seen his work his blog is one place to start: https://petescully.com/

Happy Sketching!

Shadows and Mists

The corner of SW Park and Jefferson seems to be a hub of activity--from tour buses, people on rental scooters and bikes, and all kinds of eccentric characters passing by! In the midst of the hubbub, the shadows played peacefully on the doors of St James Lutheran Church.

When it's hot in Portland, often it is cool at the beach.  We spent some misty, even chilly, days there recently and loved every minute of it.

Rail Museum and Oaks Bottom

I grabbed an orange bike to get to the Tilikum Bridge, which meant I got there way early.  Early enough to start with a sketch of the streetcar bridge over the RR tracks.

Headed towards the rail museum, looking for another sketch.  But found that the other sketchers were already collecting.  So I chatted for a bit, and then, leaning against the fence (with the westbound MAXes passing a foot behind my head) I did a car and caboose parked in front of the museum.

By the time that was done the museum was open.  We went in and browsed a bit, then most of us got on the excursion train to Selwood, leaving only Deb to work her way through the old engines being refurbished in the museum.

We put-putted our way down along the Springwater Corridor getting  off at Oaks Bottom, and I found my way into the amusement park.  And was drawn to their new roller-coaster, the Adrenaline Peak.

It's a short ride, but an intense one, with the passengers being shot up and down and around and twisting about in a corkscrew.

Monster Drawing Rally IV

This is the yearly party at the art museum, where scores of artists sit down in the courtyard and create artworks that are sold to support the museum's youth programs.

I started out just sketching the crowd, which means doing whichever person happened to be in my line of sight.


I noticed that many of the women were wearing little black dresses.  In fact, at least three of them were wearing the exact same little black dress, with a halter top tied in the back and a flouncy skirt.











There was also a Darth Vader-ish person.

He was actually much more intricate than I was able to get down.  Cause he got up and left, going out into the crowd.











The first shift was ending just about then.  I walked past the tables of adult artists, and found, in the sculpture garden, a model posing for a bunch of kids.

Sketchcrawl in Ladd's Addition

Deb had organized an impromptu sketchcrawl for a visitor from Hamburg.  A few of us met in the coffee shop at the center of Ladd's Addition, and then scattered through the neighborhood.

I headed vaguely towards the south, where Deb had said there was an interesting church-like building with statues.  And found it.


I read the first part of the name as Greek characters.  But when I got home and asked google, it said that this was the "I AM" sanctuary.

August 25, 2018 Sketch Crawl - Old Laurelhurst Church and Laurelhurst Park

AUGUST 25, 2018 Sketch Crawl - Old Laurelhurst Church & Laurelhurst Park

Let's go to Laurelhurst and sketch the Old Laurelhurst Church.  There are so many things to sketch

around here, including Laurelhurst Park.

Delaying this sketch crawl by a week to the 4th Saturday, because I most likely have a conflict.

• 10:00am - Meet at Oblique Coffee Roasters (3039 SE Stark St, Portland, OR 97214) for introductions, coffee, and snacks.
• 10:30am - Walk over to Old Laurelhurst Church (3212 SE Ankeny St, Portland, OR 97214) and sketch around there.
• 12:00noon - Optional lunch at Pied Cow (3244 SE Belmont St, Portland, OR 97214) - time for sharing sketchbooks.

SketchCrawl - Trains and Roller Coasters

Saturday, July 21

11:30 am

Oregon Rail Heritage Museum
 2730 NW 31st Avenue, Portland


This sketchcrawl takes in two destinations - the Oregon Rail Heritage Museum and Oaks Amusement Park! This includes an optional ($10 round trip) ride on the Oregon Pacific Railroad, from the Oregon Rail Heritage Museum near OMSI to Oaks Amusement Park. If you prefer not to ride the train, you can drive between the two locations or join us for just one segment of the sketchcrawl.

Both the rail museum and the amusement park have free entry. We can also take in Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge which is immediately adjacent to Oaks Amusement Park.

Since we'll be moving around a lot, this will be a great day to work small or loose or both!

 By Tedder - Own work, CC BY 3.0

Our starting location is near the OMSI MAX Station on the Orange line. Parking is available under the 99E viaduct, off SE Caruthers.

Since the rail museum doesn't open until noon and there aren't any cafes in the area for a leisurely meetup, we will be starting a little later than usual.

See the train schedule for alternate departure/arrival times if you'd like to customize your sketching day.

By Steve Morgan, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link

Schedule:

• 11:30am: Meet in front of the Oregon Rail Heritage Museum, 2250 SE Water Avenue (see map below). We'll start by sketching this interesting area of crossing rail lines and freeways.  Since we aren't starting at a cafe, please take care of your urgent food, caffeine, and bathroom needs before we meet!
• 12:00pm: The Oregon Rail Heritage Museum opens, at which point we can buy tickets for the 12:30 train
• 12:30pm: Take the train to Oaks Amusement Park (~20 minutes)
  
• 12:50pm: Sketching at Oaks Park
• 1:50pm: Gather for the train
• 2:00pm: Take the train back to the Oregon Rail Heritage Museum

We'll share sketchbooks along the way, perhaps on the return train.

Hope to see you there!