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!

On the Portland Waterfront: Bridge, Benches, and Boat

A couple of weeks ago, the Portland Urban Sketchers went downtown near RiverPlace to sketch. I didn't have my watercolors with me, so this week I went back and added some color and made a few more sketches. It was one of those perfect days complete with good sketching friends, baristas who posed for us, celebrating dragonboaters, friendly tourists, and absolutely gorgeous weather. We actually had shadows in Portland! Here are some sketches from the two days.

Sketch of Urban Sketcher

Same sketch but with color added later. She had to have her red hat!

A quick sketch of Urban Sketchers

In the shade of a cafe-watercolor added later

Dragon Boat head--I made a quick pen sketch of this and  later went over the lines and added watercolor. I took a few liberties with reality--but then, I guess I always do.

Portland's Festival of Flowers

Every year for the Portland Rose Festival, there's a display of flowers in Pioneer Courthouse Square. This year, Bill Will designed 'You Are Here', a map of the world using 20,000 plants.  This sketch shows South America, looking northward. The plants that were used included marigolds, impatients,  tomatoes, mint, camomile, salvia, begonias, and more. Later this week, the plants will be on sale, so I'll be back again for some good bargains.

The next sketches were made at Jamison Square. Sometime I'll post a drawing of the fountain where people watch the toddlers play, but it's a perspective challenge that is really difficult for me.

There are always lots of boats and ships around for Rose Festival. Recently, the Portland Urban Sketchers spent a lovely sunny Saturday sketching at Riverplace. The boat in the foreground looks like it would be really fun to zip around in, but it wasn't really that short.

This last sketch was done at Kennedy School in the Courtyard Restaurant. The McMenamin's restaurants and inns are filled with art in every nook and cranny. I especially like the lamps in this room.

We're hoping for less rain and more sun in Portland. My sketching friends and I are all eager to be outside drawing.