Getting Loose

I've really enjoyed looking at the loose style of many sketchers, so I bought a bamboo pen and decided to see if using that would loosen up my drawing.

This was my first attempt, in a Canson Mix Media sketchbook.  Drawing this, I felt like I was back in grade school. Sometimes, I just had to go where the pen wanted to go.

Next, I drew my new gym shoes, and again, I had to accept the changing thickness of lines and having less accuracy. (You can't pause too long while holding a bamboo brush.) This sketch was done in a Holbein Multi-Drawing book. The Noodler's Heart of Darkness ink didn't dry as quickly as when it comes out of a Lamy pen, so it ran a bit when I added watercolor.

The next one is Picasso with bread rolls for fingers. It's drawn from a postcard I've always loved: a 1952 photo by Robert Doisneau, 'Picasso and the Loaves.' I've got to say, I did have fun with this, but was it the pen or the topic?

This last one is kind of a mess on Yupo paper, complete with smudges from my inky fingers,  but it shows the bamboo pen. It's taking forever to dry, but when it does, I'll fill it with color and distract you from the crazy lines!

Here are a couple more, drawn with my familiar Lamy pen, perhaps a bit looser than usual.

By this time, I added some cheat lines (pencil) and used the Lamy again. I think I needed some more control after all that looseness! I'll finish it up and add some color and see how it compares.

Tacoma Sketchcrawl

I joined some other Portland Urban sketchers and rode the train to Tacoma to sketch with  other NW Urban Sketchers. It was a fun trip: hearing about the symposium in Santo Domingo, sketching, talking with other sketchers and perusing the sketchbooks. I'm definitely a little fish in a big pond (or in this case, a big bay), but it was inspirational seeing the works of so many terrific sketchers, including Portland's own! Here are my attempts, but be sure to check out the other Portland sketchers' works as well as posts on the Seattle Urban Sketchers Blog.

Sitting on a bench in the shade of the glass bridge, I sketched the Museum of Glass. After seeing the dramatic contrasts others had, I tried to darken my darks at home, although I'm not sure it made much of an improvement.

These giant glass sculptures, near the entrance to the glass bridge, were really beautiful in the light. If I were to try these again, I'd place them in their setting.

My attention span for drawing buildings is about three windows, and that held for this sketch.

The light on the Museum of Glass was gorgeous at the end of the day, so I decided to just focus on that.

It was a very enjoyable day and I got a lot ideas to try to work on, but mostly it was just a pleasure to sketch and visit with our friendly sketchers to the north. I'm looking forward to when we host them next in Portland. In the meantime, I'll keep working on some of the things I'm learning from others. 

Bastille Day in Portland

Yesterday, I sketched the Bastille Day Festival with some of the Urban Sketchers. It was held in Director Park and featured music, food, drinks, and displays and activities from French schools and organizations. We had a terrific table in the shade, near the stage, where we were able to sketch lots of different people who appeared in front of us, becoming our models.

Many people wore their hats, stripes, and red and blue.

This little girl stopped and painted for a bit. 

I'm afraid I made her look about a decade older than she was.

 The waiters raced right by our table, but I'm not quick enough to have sketched them and the wonderful shadows they created.

This waiter looked like he was having the best time!

I wasn't speedy enough to get the race, but I was able to get a quick sketch of Joseph, who was wearing a great red bow tie along with his French blue.  (I added more color at home.)

   

It was a perfect sketching day: other friendly sketchers, sunshine, good food, music and celebration. 

                                            Vive la Revolution Francaise!

Sketching Around Portland

Now that our summer weather has finally arrived, I've been getting outside to sketch. Here are some miscellaneous sketches from around town.

I had a delicious egg sandwich while I sketched this foodcart on Mississippi Avenue.

The Portland Farmer's Market in the park blocks by Portland State University, is a great place to eat, to buy flowers and produce, and to sketch!



At Edgefield, in east county, there are gorgeous flower beds. This one actually has an old bed frame in it. It also had some birds perched on the flowers and a bunny rolling in the dirt.

Today, I did a warm-up sketch of some flowers in a cafe...

and then sketched a couple of my fellow sketchers,

                                                    outside in the sunshine--at last.

Sweet Peas

We went to the Farmers Market in the Park Blocks on Saturday. I bought a bunch of Sweet Peas and the friendly farmer gave me an extra bunch for free. They smelled wonderful and they were fun to draw and paint.

I couldn't get the color quite right on the scan, so here's a photo of the flowers and the beginning of the sketch. I wish you could smell them, too!