Marsha, Jane, Danita, Laura, Bitty, Bev, Daisy, Hugh, Rita, Sandy.

          A cluster of rocks caught Marsha’s eye, and she had a wonderful time playing with them. Then she did a zoom meeting sketch. Fun!

     Reflections of Jane’s experience in the Sketchbook Design class can be seen in her sketching – lots more text, use of headings, & dates.

      Here are several of Danita’s pieces inspired by Sketchbook Revival – the 2 page spreads show how page one developed into an art piece!

      Laura enjoyed Sketchbook Revival, too – lovely watercolor sketches of such diverse topics and techniques. We enjoyed seeing her work.

      Bitty had wonderful work to show from our outing at Hendrick’s Park, and then a quick delightful sketch of folks eating a Tacovore.

    Bev is getting outside to sketch in Brookings. You can sure see her design background in the way she develops her pages – terrific!

      Daisy didn’t waste wait time at the vaccine clinic – sketching it of course! Then a wet-on-wet tulip, & whimsical owl from SR.

      Hugh’s really on a roll exploring his water soluble inks – fast & fun! He’s such a great role model for diving into an art exploration.

      Rita’s a Sketchbook Revival aficionado, too, finding inspirational quotes, collage with pockets, and fun with mark making. Love it.

      You can tell where Sandy goes on her walks, because she’s busy playing Urban Sketcher, with such interesting life captures. Nice!

While not all of us are participating* in Sketchbook Revival, we’re all being influenced by it and having a great time discovering.

*Laura, *Jane, Marsha, *Bev, *Daisy, Bitty, *Danita, *BarbSo.

          Laura had great fun loosening up with the single line drawings, & the pattern overlay challenges. Then the lovely sketch from Coburg.

  Jane borrowed the “sketch with twigs” idea from Sketchbook Revival for her blueberry limb, & dared to collage thanks to SR, too.

      Marsha’s been busy with family visiting for a birthday celebration, but dashed these off when we met in the park in Coburg Friday.

      Bev says she feels like a kid again, playing with ideas from Sketchbook Revival. Nice car dashboard sketch, & out the window.

   Daisy enjoyed the street crack inspiration for an abstract, and we enjoyed her next novel installment for the brownies!

     Bitty likes doing loose sketches in between her exploratory abstract sketches for her class. Nice break from writing science articles.

      Danita’s discovering how many art tools she has for the Sketchbook Revival exercises, and does she ever put them to good use!

      BarbSo is really into the SR prompts – having great fun sketching with sticks, doing blind line drawings, and doing collage. Yay!

PS – click on the Friday Sketch Group in the menu bar at the top of this page – yes, they’re meeting again, outside & masked! What a joy.

Bev, Jane, Laura, Marsha, Lealan (here with us taking a break from home remodeling), Danita, Rita, Hugh, Daisy, BarbSo, Sandy, Bitty.

      Barb So is one of several of us participating in Sketchbook Revival. She even made her own sketchbook! Lots of skills taught here. Wow.

      Daisy did the shoe exercise, too, as well as the “one continuous line” and then took it the extra step by making further art from them.

      Danita also did the shoe (grab available tools, 1 min. each!); then the take-off on the cracks in the road; and the playful owl with D’s raven.

      Bitty’s taking a different class, here doing some mark making and then developing them into an abstract painting. Sweet fawn lily, too.

          Marsha’s getting caught up in the water soluble ink trend, starting with the church view from FedEx (see, urban sketching here, too!).

     Sandy was testing out the effects of different inks using the wooden bowl from her dad. Then she shared her new terrific apple discovery.

      Hugh likes the effect water soluble ink gives to a sketch;  if he waits for dried ink (1 hour?) before water brushing, the lines aren’t lost.

        Jane’s still reeling from the design class, still trying 2 page layout, but not so rigid about doing all the design elements. Keep breathing!

         Bev says she was doing her part in just sketching! Delightful, too. And Laura drew first then watercolored, and reversed the process.

      Rita’s sketching what she sees around her, to a delightful effect. She tried splatter, but didn’t like it, and wonders what to do with bunnies.

Marsha, Jane, Bev, Daisy, Bitty, Danita, Barb So, & Hugh.

       Marsha has been on a monotone jag lately, pencil as well as ink.  But her drawings are so evocative,  they almost talk to you!

        Jane is done with her sketchbook design class. She’s sick of two page spreads, paying attention to the design of them! But nice, anyway.

          Bev keeps herself busy sketching even though she’s physically quite a ways from us. We certainly enjoy the scenes she captures!

    Daisy’s continuing to illustrate the online mystery novel (with yummy recipes), as well as design fascinating quilts (with pockets?).

      In between Bitty’s exploration of abstract mark making with watercolor, she found time to sketch birds near the river. Cute!

      Danita added more color in the sketches of trees she began at the Rose Garden, and did a charming sketch about creativity – do read it!

      Barb So’s sense of charm & whimsy comes out in these sketches – a frog in flowers, a doily crocheted by her mother, and her sweet dogs.

      Hugh managed to get photos to show six of his sketches in his allotted space for three – interesting notes on them, too.  Good job!

We had Hugh call Sandy into the Zoom room so we could sing happy birthday to her (taking her away from busy tasks). Bitty show up as  a name on black due to iffy internet connection (soon to be fixed).

      Hugh’s enjoying his continuing exploration of soluble ink along with wet color, but back to black for a dramatic night scene! Zowie!

      Rita keeps expanding her scope of topics and styles – charmingly framed cups, a visit to canyon trails, and flowers floating in crystal!

      This sketchbook design stuff is rubbing off on Laura. She put the color swatches she used on the left page, & she did on the right, too!

      Danita is into “meander” books- start with a full page, fold, cut part way through either other fold, she did butterflies one side, flowers on the other. You open it up & twist to get to each section. WOW.

       Barb So’s sketches range from a delicious quiche, to crocus, to a story of how she started sketching & all her sketchbooks in a box.

      First Bitty had a pastel sketch of the Snake River, then a loose watercolor of it, and finally a venture into abstract mark making!

      Daisy is illustrating recipes from an online serial novel! She decided to making cooking & recipe illustration her “Pandemic Project.”

      Bev demonstrates what happens when you’re on your own and wonder what to sketch! Nice little text additions, too. Read them!

      Jane has just about had it with planning 2 page spreads. It’s interesting and challenging, but…she’s back to one page with frames.

      Marsha used #8 pencil doing 5 min. sketches (nice darks!). Then listening to Heather Cox Richardson she sketched her, of course!

Marsha, Jane, Laura, Danita, BarbSo, Hugh, Bitty, Daisy, Bev, Rita.

      Please click on each of Rita’s sketches above – they each carry a message as well as an evocative and effective sketch. Well done!

        Bev has her artist’s eye busy, and her fingers busy capturing natural treasures she sees around her. Her design background shows.

        We were all delighted with Daisy’s negative background sketching, the “no-line” vase edge, & scone. Laura recorded the colors  and tools she used to bring her desktop treasures to life – clever idea!

      Bitty sketched what was in front of her – sewer pipe replacement! And then she rewarded herself with an eye-grabbing crocus sketch.

      Hugh is really enjoying exploring fountain pen ink – here in blue, brown, & black – both water soluble and permanent. We like it, too.

      Barb So creates such delightful sketches, whether a scene of walking the dog, or a still life of perfume bottles, or a lemon on a plate.

  Danita’s sketches this week have been incredibly informative, both in sketch and text. I think we were all taking notes and planning….

     Jane is still caught up in doing 2 page spread design, some of which works out better than others! It’s time consuming, but satisfying.

     Marsha’s sketches reflect what she’s been learning in class – both different approaches to same topics, & different uses of same tools.

Marsha, Jane (with Tucker the mini Aussiedoodle pup), Laura, Bitty, Danita, Hugh, Barb So, Bev, Daisy, Sandy, and Rita.

      Marsha is already so adept at botanicals (watercolor, ink), so she’s now working on doing portraits (using water-soluble ink). Great!

  Jane’s still learning from her class with Liz Steel on sketchbook design – here an early planning sketch followed by the next step.

        Laura sketched architecture of an old house, then shared a card she made with Valley Calligraphers Guild – leaving that white edge!

     Bitty tried two approaches to a watercolor sketch of a red feather. But what we all loved was her landscape impression of the valley.

         Danita shared  a lovely sketch of the beach with dune grass, as well as a photo of her pastel set up. Oh boy, now she’s set up! Watch out.

      3 viewpoints from Hugh: Ireland, out the van window, and at the dentist getting his teeth cleaned (that one definitely won the day!).

    Barb So captured scenes inside and out. Delightful contrasts, and both of them so inviting. I want to be there!

      Bev continues to explore and sketch her new surroundings, and decided that since she lives at the coast she really should do a boat!

   Daisy agreed with Jane that doing a 2 page spread with design elements in mind is not easy. But look at those boots! Charming.

    Sandy & her husband, Hugh are avid birders, and she was delighted to find these two “lifer” birds which she enjoyed sketching. Then she received a photo of her brother-in-law & friends fresh from kayaking in the snow – what a wonderful sketch that turned out to be!

      Rita has a large range of sketching skills, from landscape, to up close botanical work, and including her mother’s vintage perfume bottles.

Sketching wherever we are:

Marsha, Jane (still in virtual Italy), Bev (still in actual Brookings), Rita (still in sunny California), Bitty, Danita (still in Forest Haven), Laura, Daisy (in a quilting frenzy), Barb So, Hugh (still in virtual Machu Pichu), Sandy, and Lealan.

      Marsha’s been using different tools to sketch the same still life – white gel pen on black, wax crayon, water soluble ink (her favorite).

           Jane’s still taking Sketchbook Design, so she wonders about leaving the negative space white. How will it balance with page 1? OK, black.

      Bev sketched her lemon tree, did several sketches of her cat, and then completely out of her mind (too to speak) Lunar New Year!

      Rita enjoys sketching her yard, family artifacts for her daughter, and her daughter’s cat – “how do you paint black”, she asks! Wow.

      Bitty warmed up with a b&w sketch of counter items, then b&w still life  followed by a series of color versions (yellow bottle invented!).

      Danita started with 2 page spreads in a “meander” booklet that she turned into an accordion style featuring travel scenes – delightful!

        Some people are just too busy to post their work, but Laura took on the challenge of nearly black tulips, which have now given up petals.

    Barb So started with the ever popular sketch of her hand & tools, then her yummy breakfast, and a little salamander at her door!

       Hugh’s having a great time using “Coffee Break ” water soluble ink for 5 min. sketches, but prefers watercolor & bold black ink line.

      Sandy’s still determined to use up her blue water soluble ink, and when she made a scribbled mess she sketched Hugh over it in black!

Real life was interfering with art for a couple of us, so present today were just Marsha, Jane, Daisy, Danita, Bev, Laura, & Hugh.

      Marsha was busy testing white mark makers – her first sketch was with Uniball Signo, and the last with Art n Fly.  Different effects!

     Jane is still looking for the perfect sketchbook – one makes a pre-sketch in pencil a graphite mess, the other absorbs paint.  Hmmmm

     Daisy took a class on painting snow on a virtual trip – that looks like it was fun! Then a sketch to show a quilting technique – WOW.

Danita’s on a mission to represent all of Oregon’s trees.  Here’s a start (she had enough for several pages!), and isn’t it delightful!

      Bev is out exploring on the coast, capturing vignettes wherever she is. What a wonderful diversity of sketches and thoughts, too.

   Laura’s playing with people sketches while watching tv, but saves her “serious” sketching for real objects right in front of her.  Well done.

      Hugh’s still seeing what water soluble blue ink will do, then a memory trip back  to Amsterdam, and time with soluble black ink!

      Somehow the changed time email missed Bitty, but she didn’t miss sketching this week, all 5 minute sketches in a new 5.5″ square book!

        Barb So missed the meeting too, but didn’t miss sending in her charming sketches from this past week. Ziva is her son’s dog.

  Rita had a doctor’s note for her absence, but she turned in her homework – what a pleasure to complement the art with poetry.

   Here we are again – Marsha, Jane, Barb So, Sandy, Bitty, Danita, Laura, Hugh, Rita, Bev, & Daisy. Laura starts with water soluble ink!

.   Hugh’s exploring water soluble ink, too, but in between he revisited a place he & Sandy visited in Europe – lovely work either way!

      Sandy got blue water soluble ink with the fountain pen she bought, and she can hardly wait to use it up! Great gestural studies.

      Marsha wanted to see what watercolor on top of water soluble ink would do, then back to her class work, getting more dramatic now!

     It’s hard to know what Bitty will use next – crayon, watercolor, ink…
whatever, she’s having fun exploring and we are in seeing her work!

     Jane is taking a design class – first “closed” compositions, which have defined containment, no overlapping. Oh boy. This is a struggle.

          Daisy’s taking the class, too, at her own pace, several things on the page, 2 page spread, adding receipts as a collage related to it. NICE!

   Danita showed us how she builds the 4 page spread in a folding sketchbook – first b&W, then watercolor & gel pen highlights. Wow.

      Rita has a bounty of fruit in So. CA, so she tried her hand at the interesting bowl where she’d put some oranges – hmm, maybe if…

   It was raining in Brookings, so Bev resorted to sketching…clothing hanging in her closet! What a great idea! Interesting clothes, too.

       Barb So. finished her sketch of Amanda Gorman from tv, then included the rain with the bird outside, and her sweet puppies!