Saturday, June 30, 2012

More June Sketches: Ashland and Portland

Earlier this month, some friends and I went to Ashland for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival


We stayed at the Winchester Inn...


which has a bar for coffee in the morning and drinks at night...


It has pretty rooms with pillow-laden, comfy beds...


There's a lovely garden with a gazebo where some of us sketched while listening to explanations of the play we were going to see that night.


We saw several plays, but of course, I didn't sketch during the performances. Instead, later I drew some of the things I wanted to remember.



'Meda/Macbeth/Cinderella' was a musical mix of three plays (at the same time), full of surprises and confusion. There was a delightful fairy godmother (sorry you can't see the sparkly paint)...


and the expected wicked stepmother and sisters (neither of whom actually had and enormous head).



'The White Snake' was a Chinese legend with stunningly beautiful sets, clever props, and remarkable snake puppets on sticks. I'd love to see it again.



Another outstanding OSF play was Chekhov's Seagull--just brilliant!

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Back in Portland, here's a sketch of the William Temple House, sketched on an outing with the Urban Sketchers.


That's it for June!




Wednesday, June 27, 2012

By the River, Now and Then

A couple of weeks ago, it was a beautiful day by the Willamette River. At a picnic table with some other sketchers, breeze in the air, coffee at hand, I drew the Hawthorne Bridge.

Hawthorne Bridge

Almost exactly a year ago, on another beautiful day, I drew from the same spot. Looks a little grayer, though.


We went down to the docks to draw the dragon boats, but drawing more than one made for a busy composition. I tried to lighten the boats in back and emphasize the lines on the front boat, but it's still pretty cluttered.



Last year's attempt was much simpler:


I wonder how I'll draw them next year?




Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Sketching at Cannon Beach

Our weather has been erratic lately, and it was no different at the Oregon Coast.  Saturday morning was rainy, but by afternoon it cleared and the sun came out for the Cannon Beach Plein Air and More Festival.

Cannon Beach as seen from Ecola State Park
After seeing all the art, it was time to do some drawing myself. To warm up my sketching muscles, I started on some saltwater taffy...


and a hydrangea blossom from a garden in town...



The next day, inspired by the artists, I did some plein aire sketching of the tree of floats by the surf shop...


and the puffin sculpture...


and another sketcher...



Then the rain came back and we took cover inside for tea and toast by a fireplace..




Even with the rain, it was a wonderful weekend at the beach.
Sunset at Cannon Beach

View from Ecola State Park


Monday, June 18, 2012

Portland SketchCrawl

Saturday morning was perfect weather for sketching with the Urban Sketchers.

I sat down low by the Ira Keller Fountain, close enough to feel the cool air from the falling water.



There was a Benson Bubbler Benson Bubbler right across the street, so that sketch knocked off another scavenger hunt item. I wish I had been quick enough to sketch the crow that dunked his bread in the water.


On Sunday, my husband and I rode the aerial tram up to OHSU. (Sunday is a good day to go because it isn't very busy.) The ride was quick, but fun and the views were great, even on a cloudy day. Drawing the aerial tram is very tricky, because it's only still for a matter of moments. I drew the dock first and then raced to get the tram in before it disappeared.


Here's another view of the tram dock.


"Pill Hill" would be a terrific place to practice perspective drawing because you can see so many different views of buildings and passageways. Here's a one-point view that I took from the skybridge to the Veteran's Hospital. I'm glad it's not on the scavenger hunt list!




Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Scavenger Hunt: hydrant, bike pile, musician (with a little shoe distraction)

Here are some more sketches from the Urban Sketchers Scavenger Hunt. I drew several fire hydrants, thinking I would get a better one, but I think I just got more fire hydrants.






The most challenging item so far, has been the bike pile.


The best thing about the bike pile is it's near Fluevog shoes and they were gracious enough to let a few of us sketch inside. Their shoes, in all the different shapes and colors were really fun to draw, even if they weren't on the Scavenger Hunt list.



This next shoe, was designed by Urban Sketcher Correspondent,  Zaza . You, too, can enter their Open Source shoe design contest and maybe get a prize and a shoe named after you. I'm already imagining 'The Vicky', winning enough to buy a gorgeous pair of sandals that I have my eyes on.



We go out to hear a lot of live music, so I sketch musicians often, but I thought I'd post a slightly different one, and test the rules to this hunt.  I'm trying to learn how to use Brushes on my iphone and this is an early attempt.


The scavenger hunt has been fun because we search for certain items and then notice things that we wouldn't have otherwise. of course, sometimes we're taken down a path of distraction, and that can be good, too.