Going Back to School

Center Building, Lane Community College, Eugene, OR

       There are getting to be so many of us, it’s hard to find a venue that will hold us! But the 20 of us hit the jackpot today.

      Tomomi is one of our most recent to the art circle, and Barb Sh, Penny, & Marsha enjoyed giving her (& her family)  painting tips.

        Here’s Barb Sh capturing the scene with her pen & water brush.

       Bev interspersed new sketches with going back to complete a previous one (she says Ken gave her the inspiration to do that!).

         Marnie, Bev, Barb Sh, & Daisy hard at work – here’s Daisy’s sketch.

    Marnie took advantage of the student models in the Center.

     Hugh, his inner engineer coming out, focused on the contextual surroundings, with the people incidental.

        The models do have a tendency to move, however. Jane resorted to “making up” one guy, and taking white pen to the first guy. Better?

      Laura took on the challenge of the chairs – wow, well done!

    Katie & Lealan have an intense interchange, & here’s Katie’s work.

     Lealan did a montage of people sketches – yes, it did get crowded.

    Speaking of intent, Sandy is determined to conquer perspective, and tries to be appreciative of her husband’s help. No, really!

      Marsha is doing sketches on top of washes – and aha! using photos!

    Penny & Pat draw nearby models – oh, Penny did Sandy & Katie!

      Pat started with a little pencil sketch, then really got into drawing the carrot cake on the bag. Then took photos for still models.

Whew! What a great day! We may have to come back here.

Choose Your (Art) Tool!

New Day Bakery, Eugene

        

Here’s the gang, looking one way down the table, then the other, and then in the other room altogether! Many people, different tools, too.

      Helga is using simple graphite pencil, although she tells us she has actually ordered some paint supplies and looks forward to them!

            Sandy is using pencil, too, to work on the concepts behind perspective, with her husband Hugh giving her some pointers.

        Here you can see the results of Barb Sh using water soluble graphite, which becomes permanent when you put water on it – no smearing!

     Marnie was working on a portrait of Katie, using graphite, which delighted Katie so much she had to take a photo of it!

        Katie put masking tape down for borders, anticipating watercolor, but began her sketch with pencil first.

        Pencil first for Barb So, too, then watercolor to capture the color in her model’s sweater (Barb Sh was the unwitting model – thanks!).

         Laura does pencil first (good idea on a challenging perspective topic) then moves on to watercolor (see her little “makeup” palette).

        Danita is using watercolor “sticks” for the first time, trying different approaches and wishing at last for a sumi stick grinding stone!

      Marsha has a watercolor wash background all ready to go, and did her sketch of Jean (sitting across from her) in colored pencil. Nice!

    Jane, in a moment of rashness, went straight to ink, then watercolor.

      Hugh started out with wax crayons (ala Erik) on black, then on to ink.

      Erik’s mastery of the wax crayons is evident – look at that detail, too!

        Jean says she’s emulating Erik, but she does another technique, too, adding watercolor to her soluble wax crayons to blend & brighten.

     And then there’s Ken, noted for using whatever art tool is near at hand – pens, markers, watercolor backgrounds – WOW.

 

Cooking up sketching ideas at the bakery

New Day Bakery, Eugene, OR

This is almost everyone who showed up today – two long tables worth! Barb Sh, Barb So, Marnie, Bev, Ken, Lee, Laura, Hugh, Bev, & Erik.  Not shown are Helga, Jane, Sandy, & Lealan.

       Barb So shared what she’d done in her sketchbook since last time, then went on to add little vignettes of what was around her here.

Bev had been to the Chinese Gardens – lovely pages! And she did lovely pages of the surroundings at New Day Bakery today, too.

     Ken sketched some of the group, while Jane caught a worker in action loading the display shelves – the gold coins? See below*

     Marsha found the scene beyond the window interesting, and then added the people inside around the window frame, too.

        Hugh was a window sketcher, too, adding people and then going on to sketch a dramatic photo on black paper – see results next week!

       Marnie did a table top still life, then the display of bakery goods across the room.

       Laura tried drawing a picnic table outside (ack! the angles!), and then focused on the table top items, too.

    Helga started out drawing a chair on the patio (now there’s a perspective challenge for you), then added from her imagination.    Not all were sketching the bakery – Barb Sh brought a series of 3 tiny sea urchins – look, the larger one shows how they’re in rectangles!

      Erik’s visual memory never lets him down – incredible scenes!

      And the gold foil covered coins* were courtesy of Lealan, in honor of Fat Tuesday/Mardi Gras, and good luck coins for Chinese New Year coming up on Feb. 16.   Don’t you just love her celebration page?

“A convergence of elements”

Maude Kerns Art Center, Eugene, OR – http://www.mkartcenter.org

    There were 22 of us who gathered at Maude Kerns today to sketch their fabulous show – quilts, metal work, paintings, ceramics. There were lots of elements, for sure, including us!

        As you can see, there was a lot going on to sketch !

        Ken quickly sketched the sketchers. Satoko came in to share her recent paintings from her travels, then started sketching people, too.

      Lealan and Barb So got there early – here’s Barb’s sketch. The metal work sculptures were a real challenge, and she did them so well.

       Lealan was intrigued with the decorated table and chairs – so unique.

       Here’s Daisy’s take on one of the chairs and the table edge, with ceramic sculpture on beyond it.

            Laura, new to the group, dove right in, and when she was apologetic for her portrait sketches, Bev shared the sketch she’d done of Laura!

        Bev also did a series of quick vignettes, including a sketch of the people across the room sketching – recognize anybody?

        Katie filled her page with bits of what she saw: copper sculpture, ceramics, quilts, and even the lighting!

        Barb Sh’s technique with water-soluble ink really adapted itself well to the sculptures around the room. What a super effect.

        Hugh focused on scenes in the corners of the rooms – sculpture, and then quilts. Very different effects for very different kinds of art.

      Erik, a master with wax crayons, had a vision in his mind to sketch – Canada geese. This is going to be fascinating to see finished!

     Lona really brought the sculpture to life with vivid watercolors.

        Marnie loved doing a sketch of the organic metal sculpture.

        Sandy did a watercolor sketch of metal sculptures, then went on to capture the “standing stones” ceramic sculpture, too. Lovely!

    A combination of a metal sculptured basket, and two ceramic sculptures caught Marsha’s eye – wonderful colored pencil work.

      Jane was sketching the same items, different perspective & tools.

        Penny was quite productive – look how many sketches she got done, including a Native American doll sculpture from yet another room.

        Just down from Penny were Tomomi with her three children and her mother, all of them busy sketching. It was a joy to have them with us.

        

We had fun talking to them about different art tools – Barb Sh about her ink technique with a water brush, and Marsha about how you can use 3 colored pencils to do a whole color wheel (which one of the boys promptly did – way to go!).