My Own Private NaNoDrawMo

A friend and I decided to try to do a drawing for each day in November, but we won't be posting them to the NaNoDrawMo site. Here's what I have so far (not counting the Japanese Gardens and Leaves that I already posted this month).

Young woman working in Caffe Destino

Ghost Ships at the Portland Art Museum

Museum guard, sketchers, visitors and ship parts

Warm up sketch on Ladd's Addition Sketch Crawl with the Portland Urban Sketchers

View of Ladd's Addition from window at Palio
(drawn one Saturday and watercolored the next)

Another view out the window of Palio

Miscellaneous sketches, Palio

Drawn in the dim light of Jimmy Mak's
 Mel Brown Septet playing

 I never quite know what these sketches look like until I look at them the next day in the light.

I've been practicing perspective. It's kind of like doing sit-ups.

When I see these larger, I can usually spot some of the flaws.

I tippy living room scene.

We put together some shelves. I decided to practice perspective before we put them both against the wall. We were better at  assembling them than it looks like in the sketch; the low one wasn't really that warped.

This isn't the first time I've drawn this wooden basket and it won't be the last. Maybe I'll get it right someday.

I drew these by freezing frames on t.v. It sure would be useful to freeze frame real life. I think it's time for a figure or face drawing class.

That's it for now. I think I'm going to make 30 sketches for November!

LEAVES

I'm enthralled with the leaves this fall and can't seem to get enough of them. Each time we go for a walk, I pick up a few more. I've been keeping some of them in a bag in the refrigerator and they keep pretty well. My husband, however, thought he was reaching for salad ingredients and was a bit disappointed to find maple leaves instead of butter lettuce.

These are pretty much like the leaves in the last post, but this time I added shadows.

The non-refrigerated leaves are starting to curl up.

Yesterday, the Portland Urban Sketchers went to the Japanese Gardens to sketch. The leaves, along with the sketchers were very refrigerated and the colors were spectacular. With frozen fingers and so much glorious scenery all around, I was a bit overwhelmed and went mostly for an impression of the landscape. I would need some extra intense pigments to get anywhere near the actual colors.

There were dozens of people taking photos yesterday and this woman was in my line of sight for quite awhile. Of course, soon after I decided to include her, she walked away, so I had to crop my picture at waist level. I tried to get my friend, Katharine, to model for me, but she was involved in her own sketch.

Here are a couple more scenes that I'd like to draw next time I go to the Japanese Gardens. I love those curly branches and the contrast of dark and light.

If you look closely, you may see some very cold Koi.

Leaves

Thinking of Andy Goldsworthy today.