Dog sketches - Miki

Over recent months, I've ended up with a collection of sketches of our new dog, Miki. Miki is a really interesting looking little guy that we think may be part Chihuahua and Shibu Inu. He's not as small as a Chihuahua but he has those buggy eyes. His ears are really large so that sometimes, he looks like an arctic fox. He's a rescue dog and was listed as an American Eskimo mix. We looked up Inuit words and decided to call him miki, which, according to the internet, means small ice flow.




When he's awake, he doesn't stay still for very long, so I have to have several sketches going at the same time, hoping that he'll return to a pose I've already started to sketch.

It's easier to draw him while he's sleeping, but, of course, he usually settles into the same sleeping pose, so I end up with a lot of very similar compositions.

Still Life with Telephone and Scanner

Cowboy Up Cafe

I spent a few days driving around North Central Oregon last weekend. The sketch above was done in Condon Oregon. Condon is a tiny town of about 700 people in the wheat growing country and near the Painted Hills. The sketch is of the Cowboy Up Cafe and the Roundup Room Lounge. The Lounge closed for business early this year.

It's very beautiful country out there. I'd love to go back on a painting trip.

Here's a peak inside the cafe.

Osa

This is our very sweet dog Osa. She's such a good dog that she actually sat for this drawing. I had to talk to her constantly but she patiently sat for about 15 minutes for me to get most of this down.

Osa was rescued from some kind of terrible farm/puppy mill where most of the animals were neglected. Some had died. She was taken better care of, apparently, because she was a breeding female. She had 2 litters before she was 2 years old, which is how old she was when we got her. She was underweight and her coat was raggedy and the slightest noise or unexpected movement would send her flying, at first. She rarely left my side.

We've always had dogs and they've always been good dogs (except Cooper, but that's another story), but Osa takes the cake on goodness. She learns quickly and has always been very obedient. It took about 3 or 4 years to coax her out of her shell but she has blossomed into a great companion. I can't believe she's 7 years old already.

Willie

This is Willie, my daughter's 18 year old Ausie/Cocker mix. We've had him since he was 5 years old. His eyesight is severely impaired and he's deaf. He can't do the stairs anymore but hates to be left alone when everyone is upstairs.

He's actually much cuter than he appears here or sounds from this description. He's better looking than I am, certainly.

We love Willie.

in the studio

SE 20th and Madison

Typical corner in the SE, one block north of Hawthorne. I did this while waiting for my wife to have a shiatzu treatment. Lots of bike traffic here.

Tony's Salt & Pepper

We've had these shakers for almost 30 years. They were a wedding gift from a dear friend and wonderful jazz pianist, Tony Zano. He passed away many years ago and I still think of him whenever I see these shakers.

Urban Sketchers Class Oct 31

This is my first day back to class after missing 2 weeks for vacation. We drew inside because of rain.

Urban Sketching Class week 4

This week, Kurt led us on the streetcar to the downtown area. I've never done any sketching in this busy part of Portland.
This is the Arlene Schnitzer Concert hall, home of the Oregon Symphony. When I moved to Portland in 1981, this was the Paramount Theater. It was renovated and reopened in 1984 as part of the Portland Performing Arts Center. The sign that had the name 'Paramount' was retained but the lettering was changed to read 'Portland.'
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This is one I posted last week with a little lipstick and rouge added.

Urban Sketching Class week 3

For this week's class, we stayed right outside the PNCA building. My tendency, when sketching, is to find something that interests me and start drawing, adding to the composition as I go. Kurt encourages us to compose before we start. The first hour is for sketching everything in with pencil, making sure everything is placed correctly. The second hour is to complete the work with ink.

I'm being forced to look more carefully.



This is more typical of my way of working. I sat down and thought about what to include in the drawing for a minute then said, screw it, I'm just going to draw the car. Once I got to a certain point with the car, I started to observe what was around it..

David Friesen at Jimmy Mak's

Last weekend I went to see the wonderful bassist David Friesen and his quintet.

David Friesen

John Gross

Dan Balmer

White Eagle Saloon

I went to the White Eagle Saloon Friday eventing to hear the Reverb Bros band. It was a fun show with the lead singer's family there to wish him a happy birthday.


The crowd sand Happy Birthday as the band ended their second set.

View North From 2 Rooftop Parking Garages

View north from the rooftop of the East parking garage at St Vincent Hospital.

View looking north from the rooftop of the West parking garage at St Vincent Hospital. Our house is on that hill there, somewhere.

Towne Storage