Friday, August 30, 2013

Rocks

This summer, I went to our family cabin, where I drew the big rock in the river. I draw this every year and I never capture its essence. This year, it looks like a resting mammoth.


I also drew on some rocks..


I drew a little Native American design and then decided to draw some things that I would like to have with me on the beach...



We took a day trip to the Oregon Garden...






and I drew some more rocks...this time Columnar Basalt...





Little Symposium Sketchbook

I've really loved a little handmade sketchbook we were given at the Urban Sketching Symposium. Had I known how precious it was, I probably wouldn't have leapt in and used it for quick little gesture sketches, but once I had, there was no stopping. The paper is wonderful for watercolor and ink and it's just the right size for slipping into a purse. I've been trying to practice some of the things I learned at the symposium: sketching quickly, going across the whole page (including the center gutter) and using white space.

I've used it for drawing at the market...


...drawing around town...



...drawing flowers at home...





...and for doing quick still lives...






I'm going to be pretty disappointed when this sketchbook is filled--except for the fact that I have lots of good summer memories inside.


Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Summer in the City

We've been in several cities this summer: Amsterdam, Paris, Barcelona, and home in Portland. These sketches are from Portland, hopefully showing some of the looser style I practiced at the Urban Sketching Symposium.

On this quick car sketch, I started in the middle of the page and worked outward. The advantage to this approach (rather than starting at a side and working across the page) is that whenever you have to quit, the sketch still has a main focus and looks relatively complete. It's also good when the focus of your sketch is likely to move or gets blocked by something else.


The next sketches were made on a sketchcrawl with the Urban Sketchers from Portland. It was a cool, cloudy morning and it took quite awhile before there were some children brave enough to go in the Salmon Springs fountain.






In Inma Serrano's workshop at the Symposium, I learned to draw buildings very quickly, without worrying about straight lines, perspective or local color.  I've got to admit, this is way more fun than my usual, slower, controlled way or drawing buildings...
especially when the building is one like the Simon Benson House which can be overwhelming with all its detail.


Lastly, here are a couple vignettes from last Saturday when we went to the Farmers' Market in the Park Blocks by PSU.



Ashland, Oregon

Earlier this summer, I went to Ashland for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. We stayed at the lovely Winchester Inn, where I sketched the courtyard...



and a quick view from the bar and outside in the gardens...



I made this sketch during the intermission of Streetcar Named Desire, (adding the thick lines and watercolor later). I really liked the ironwork and the lighting in this set.




Saturday, August 3, 2013

Amsterdam to Paris

When we were on our vacation in July, Europe was having a heat wave. By the time we were in Paris, the city was pretty warm. Of course, visiting the d'Orsay Musem was plenty comfortable. I did a quick sketch of Degas' dancer.



Like thousands of others, we enjoyed spending some time in the shade of parks. We watched tourists taking photos eachother by the Eiffel Tower...


and people relaxing at sunset with friends and wine.


We enjoyed lounging inLuxembourg Gardens...




After spending the day visiting museums, the parks, or wandering the beautiful streets of Paris, it was sometimes just relaxing to hang out in the hotel at night...

and do things like contemplate how much our lovely hotel would charge to do our laundry.


When we go to Paris, we always have one or our last meals at our favorite cafe on the Place des Vosges. This time, I sketched the fountain. Not long afterwards, the grass filled with people enjoying the sum.



Then, it was on to Barcelona!





Going Back in Time: Amsterdam

Although the main purpose of our summer vacation was for me to go to the Urban Sketching Symposium in Barcelona, we tacked on an additional few days in Amsterdam and in Paris. I tried to get in as much sketching as possible while still visiting some of the places we wanted to see.

Our hotel wasn't far from the Rijksmuseum, so we wandered over and looked at the nearby park and fountain. There were some giant knot sculptures in the pond. They looked like they were covered with colored foil.


We had lunch in a lovely cafe near our hotel. They served me fresh mint tea (which always fondly reminds me of Morocco)...


...and I sketched the church across the street. I'm blaming the wonky cross  and entrance on my jet-lag.

While in Amsterdam, we visited the Rijksmuseum, where a bicyclists ride through right behind the arches...




and the VanGogh museum, and we wandered around our lovely neighborhood.







There were lots of roses and always bikes...



and the charming canals...

We had some excellent vegetarian dinners at a restaurant named Boef...



and I got in some sketching.



In Amsterdam, our hotel room had a picture of the Eiffel Tower. I wondered if our Paris hotel would have a picture of the Rijksmuseum.