Blossoms

Today, some friends and I went down to the north waterfront to sketch at the Japanese Historical Plaza. It is a memorial to civil rights and a reminder of a shameful time in US history when west coast Japanese Americans were sent to internment camps during WW II. Business owners, elderly people, families and children all had to leave their homes to live in the camps, removed from the rest of society.  Some families even had servicemen who were fighting for the US, while the families were treated like criminals. 

The stones have poems carved into them and there are sculptures as well. At this time of year, it is surrounded by the one hundred blooming cherry trees, their petals falling on the stones. It is a place of sadness, but also hope, that we'll never let something like that happen again.

Spring Skies

The other day, I went to Powell's Books to look at some art books showing how to paint clouds. 

Surprisingly, when I arrived on the art floor, I was floored to see a wall of cloud paintings by 

Heidi Keith. She painted 182 sky paintings, one each morning at 7 a.m.in Portland, every day from the winter to the summer solstice. It's a wonderful show and if you're in town, you should go see it before more of the paintings disappear.

 I didn't buy a book that day, but I took special note of the clouds. I especially like how this building was reflecting the clouds in the windows.

I've been practicing painting watercolor clouds today, and I've found them very tricky, but fascinating. I really enjoyed looking out the window and trying to record what I saw. I made all of these using combinations of Cerulean Blue, French Ultramarine, Raw Sienna, and Alizarin Red. I tried different sketchbooks and different brushes and different techniques.

I've got a long way to go. 

This is what the Portland sky looked like through my camera.

 I can see why Heidi Keith would want to paint the sky each morning.

I also took time to paint a vase of camellias while waiting for paint to dry.

Winter to Spring

When it was chilly outside, I was getting desperate to sketch something in the house that I hadn't already sketched...thus the sketch of the closet.

I finished my sketchbook of very small things...

Luckily, winter turned to spring and there are more flowers to sketch.

I can get away from doing car sketching so much...

and soon, I'll be able to sketch people who are outside enjoying he sun.

Happy Spring!

Practice

Coffee Drinkers

                                                           Bowls and Shadows

Sketchbook Pages

Last Friday was a beautiful springlike day and some friends and I headed for SW Portland for sketching. We started with coffee at The Hof, a friendly and cozy cafe in Goose Hollow.

When the sun warmed up, we moved outside to sketch the flower shop. Here, the proprietor treated us to Valentine's Day chocolates while we sketched. What could be more perfect for a sketching outing than sunshine and chocolate?

A delightful young woman on roller blades posed for us while sitting in the sun....

Saturday, the Urban Sketchers Portland group met in NW Portland. The day was chilly and turned rainy, so I preferred to sketch in Kiva Tea shop.

Fellow sketchers are always fair game for sketching...

Another day this week, the shadows on the Greek Orthodox Church caught my eye, while I was driving home.  I stopped to make a quick sketch and  realized how hard it is (for me) to make straight lines in a tiny hand-held sketchbook, even if the car was parked.

Like most Portlanders, I'm really hoping for some more sunshine. With all our rain, we are especially appreciative of sunny weather.

February Color

Centerpiece at Local Choice Market

Last weekend, I sat in the parking lot of the Old Church and sketched this church. Then the clouds moved in and threatened rain, so I finished it up at home with a photo as reference for those intricate windows and letters.

Portland Korean Church

A quick sketch of a pinecone souvenir of the wedding centerpieces.

Grab Bag

This post is made up of some sketches from the last month or so.

Our son got married recently. I sketched my very comfortable wedding shoes and a bag full of last minute supplies to take to the wedding: bandaids, safety pins, needle and thread, medicine, handywipes, extra pantyhose, and even more, including duct tape. Luckily, very few of the things were needed.

The Urban Sketchers Portland group had a sketchcrawl at Powell's recently. I sketched the sketchbook display on the top floor, ...

along with a few sketchers.

 

In the semi-darkness of Jimmy Mak's, I sketched some of the listeners...

and some of the Mel Brown Septet...

On a chilly day, sitting in the car, I sketched The Bakery Bar and colored it with markers.

And finally, today, I sketched a view from a window...