Sketching at Smith Rock State Park

7" x 10" Watercolor and Ink

On a trip to Central Oregon, I spent a day at Smith Rock State Park, which is very popular with rock climbers. These formations are fun to draw and there were several groups of climbers scaling them as I worked.


Along the trail I came across this incredible view of Mt Jefferson framed through the cliffs of Smith Rock. The boulder between the two cliffs is probably about three of four stories high.

7" x 10" Watercolor and Ink

Break in the Weather

It's been very wet, even for Portland, so when I got up on Friday morning and could see my shadow, I grabbed my sketch bag and headed out. It was in the mid 20 degrees Fahrenheit, so I stayed in the truck but I thoroughly enjoyed getting some drawing done.

These were both done in the SE Industrial area a few blocks from the Willamette River.

The sketch above was done at the corner of SE 3rd and Ash.

This one was done at SE Salmon near 1st Ave. I'm looking toward the river showing the skyline of the SW downtown including the KOIN Tower and Wells Fargo Center with the West Hills in the background.

It was so nice to see and feel the sun.

Sketchcrawl at the Portland International Rose Test Garden

A couple of sketches from the Portland Urban Sketchers sketchcrawl today. Above is the Frank Edwin Beach Memorial Fountain in the Rose Test Garden. Below is a view of the US Bank Tower (Big Pink) from the garden near the amphitheater.

More from Eastern Oregon

A couple more sketches I did on my trip to North Central Oregon.

Palisades in the Clarno Unit near the Painted Hills

Just beside the John Day River

N Mississippi and Graham

It has rained almost everyday this month so, although it was still cloudy, there wasn't any water falling on Sunday morning so I grabbed my sketch kit and headed out to North Portland where there are a lot of old buildings and views of industrial Portland.

I sat in my car for this one and was eventually questioned by a security guard, worried that I was loitering near some construction equipment. It bothered me that I was questioned about sitting in my car on a public street. I suppose I would have looked less suspicious if I'd not been in the car.

The building in the foreground is sheathed with corrugated metal and the overpass is part of the Fremont Bridge over the Willamette River

27th WW Sketchcrawl

I haven't made it to an official Sketchcrawl in quite a while. Thanks to Alanna of Portland Urban Sketchers for organizing this last event. It was a beautiful day and it was fun to meet up with a lovely group of sketchers. I did the sketch above while sitting on the Morrison Bridge.

I arrived a bit early and sat in the park pictured above and drew theBridge. The spot I sat in to draw the top drawing is pictured in the drawing below.

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.

View of Portland S Waterfront from OHSU Hospital

I arrived early for a Dr appt so that I could draw. It was really cold sitting out on this deck and strange to see tourists from the tram wandering the hospital campus with cameras and tourist stuff.

Kauai

Sorry for the poor photo. I'm posting this from Kauai Hawaii where I've been on vacation with my family. I haven't gotten as much time to draw as I thought I might but it's good to be away.

Kauai is really really beautiful and there's lots to do, but, be warned, bring earplugs to block out the incessant crowing of the feral roosters that have overrun the island. They crow all day and night often from right outside our bedroom window.

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..

Centennial Mills from NW 13th and Raliegh

This was my ideal sketching experience. The weather was right and I was in an abandoned part of town so I wasn't self conscious or hurried. Only 2 cars passed the whole time I was drawing and one was a police car. I was able to relax and enjoy myself.

Urban Sketching Class

Centennial Mills from Tanner Springs Park in NW Portland

This is the product of our first day of urban sketching with Kurt Holloman's Urban Sketching class. Already, working with Kurt has helped me to focus more on accuracy. As you can probably tell, this isn't my usual sloppy drawing. Spending 2 hours on a single drawing is pretty new to me for work done on site. I usually focus on getting an impression down and develop the drawing more in the comfort of my studio.

Well, as I look at this again, it's still pretty sloppy, but better :)

SE 23rd and Ankeny

Beautiful evening in SE Portland. Watercolor, black and white ink.

I'm looking forward to a few months of regular Urban Sketching with sketchbook master Kurt Holloman. I've begun an Urban Sketching class taught by Kurt, who is an Urban Sketchers correspondent and featured artist in Danny Gregory's "An Illustrated Life".

Evening out

My wife and I went out for a bite at a local pub. I'm not a very good dinner partner since I just stare into my sketchbook until the food comes.

Diners at the Deschutes Brew Pub

After dinner we walked to another cafe and had a drink at a sidewalk table. I usually go sketching in places where there aren't a lot of people around and it was fun to be in the midst of a busy Friday night in a trendy part of town.

Big Pink from NW 10th and Couch

Digger

Economic recovery? The property across the street has been slated for redevelopment for over a year but no work has been done on it until last week.

NW Portland

I spent the morning trolling the NW Industrial area for sketches.

Esco Water Tower

Under the West side of the Fremont Bridge. This area used to be difficult to get to but, now that they're building condos all along the west side of the riverfront, there is a walk along the river that allows nice views of the river action.



This is on NW 25th and Wilson, looking up Wilson toward the old Monkey Ward, now Montgomery Park.

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.