Maude Kerns Art Gallery, Eugene, OR

Lona and Bill view a very traditional Dia de los Muertos altar at the gallery – candles, skulls, foods, photos, & flowers.

      Some famous local artists had altars made to remember them – Bev Soasey, Lottie Streisinger – an exceptional way to remember them.

   The staff had set up a table with chairs for us – here are Katie, Jim, Bill & Erik appreciating a comfortable work surface.

         Daisy sketches on her feet – a very unique altar in the other room which made you wonder about the stories, & bits of images/wisdom.

     And there in the corner was Ellen! Nice to see her again. She’s busy sketching the altar devoted to Maude Kerns herself.

      Lona was tucked in a corner of an altar to a local tarot card reader, but focused on the stained glass window, drawn to the color.

      Bev found a chair on the stage to record icons and images which were abundantly displayed all around her. Wonderful captures!

      Laura started out with the side room altars, but fell in love in the gift shop with all the designs of items available for purchase.

  Meanwhile, Katie was busy adding to her “Inktober” sketchbook challenge – today’s topic: “Legend.” Perfect for sketching here!

   Jim likes sketching in his large 9″ X 12″ sketchbook, so it’s an eclectic mix and he keeps them straight by dating each one. Good idea!

      Bill travels extensively, using his sketchbook as a combination journal and image collector – it makes for fascinating viewing.

          Erik started by examining an altar devoted to past pets. The colors led him to start sketching a semi-abstracted autumn trees series!

      Jane was happy to be back to using the frames format in her square sketchbook, & happy to leave the coloring to the viewer.

      What’s this! Daisy is showing her quilt squares with images from her recent sketch trip to Italy – she used Derwent Intense colored pencils, & set the color with a special gel. Now to put them together!

5th St. Market, Eugene, OR

As you can see, there was a bit of a to-do welcoming people back from the sketch tour in Italy, and trying to catch up with those who stayed in Eugene sketching. The unicorn “hat” Ken has on? Ask him!

   Sharing sketchbooks: Barb So, Bev, Ken, Erik, Bitty, Laura, Daisy; Katie, Daisy, Serge, Marsha.

     Lealan & Lona talk about photos taken in Italy, then Lealan shared her sketchbook with Serge.

    Barb So brought her Italy sketchbook from a couple of years ago, then got to see recent sketches Serge did (this on from Moscow).

    Katie was interested to see what Bev had been sketching – here’s a favorite of her from when they were at Camas Mill Bakery.

      Looks like Laura is sketching the hanging flowers outside – “Yes,” she said, “I’m kind of into flowers lately.” What a fun floral page!

        Daisy got right back into sketching using her wine colored marker. “Hmm, the shadow doesn’t look right,” she said, so she fixed it.

     Bitty and Peggy were busy sketching, too – those hanging flower baskets outside, and the tree in the planter. Interesting treatments!

Oakway Mall Courtyard, Eugene, OR

  This is one of our favorite spots for sketching – lovely diversity.

     Barb So, Lona, Katie, Sandy; Daisy & Bev.

   Erik, Hugh, Marsha; Sandy & Jane.

     Jim, Bill, Bitty; Laura, Lona, Ken, Katie.

   Peggy & Beth; Sandy & Satoko.

And now, sketch work in alphabetical order by artist’s first name:

   Barb So.

      Beth

   Bev

   Bill

    Bitty

     Daisy

      Erik

      Hugh

   Jane

   Jim

      Katie

   Laura

      Lona

      Marsha

      Peggy

      Sandy

Pardon the lack of commentary, but the webmaster is busy packing for a sketch trip to Italy. More after Oct. 2!

Saginaw Vineyards, Saginaw, Oregon

We wanted to see the Plein Air Painters show here, and enjoyed everything about the place, too!

     Sandy & Hugh enjoyed using their sketching tripods, while Laura and Marsha appreciated the awning shade available on the lawn.

         Jane’s attention was demanded by the resident cat, while Daisy got intrigued by the grape vines, and what was Lona looking at…

      Sharon was early sketching in the field, then came back to sketch the cat, who, while charming, wasn’t a very cooperative model.

      Sandy started sketching Sharon in the field with the barn beyond, then got diverted by the scene of Daisy in the vines. Nice color!

        Hugh quickly did a contour sketch to the scene (with Sharon in it!), then added color from his water soluble wax crayons for liveliness.

      Laura was delighted with the old stove in the bushes, then moved on to the front of the barn with its charming entry.

         After a preliminary pencil layout, Marsh uses her wine colored ink Copic pen to outline, then Prisma colored pencils – great effect!

         Here’s what Lona was looking at! She did a list pencil outline, then ink, and finally layers of paint – this isn’t done, it will be intense!

          Daisy started with plums, then apples, then vines, and finished off the page with the Saginaw Vineyard logo – wonderful page.

        With the cat off her lap, Jane was able to do some quick little sketches in (& out) of the frames format. It was great fun.

    And then we had lunch there – fabulous soups, a great plate of cheese & crackers, olives &  pickled herring. Let’s come back!

University of Oregon, Eugene, OR

    We gathered & then spread out – Laura, Peggy, Bitty, Marsha; Hugh, Sandy (& their ever present bikes), Marsha.

   Laura and Bev captured random images around campus.

     Daisy’s images all came from the Museum of Art – fun overlay!

     Jane came with an idea in mind, then went wild with campus icons.

   Peggy captured the window of the office where she used to work.

   Marsha kept adding incredible buildings to her page, reminiscing.

   Bitty decided her sketch was a bit to bright, so added some glazing!

     Hugh was into buildings, too, but Sandy saw a sculpture – nice work.

Forest Haven, Oregon

Deep in the woods amid vineyards and farm lands west of Eugene, we went at Mike & Danita’s for sketching and lunch, too!
Hugh, Sandy, Bev, Barb So., Danita, Marsha. More of us elsewhere.

And here’s Mike at the barbecue, getting lunch ready for us!

      Hugh sketched the view of their house (built by Mike’s architect father), looking through the mossy tree (& sketchers, of course).

     Sandy (a potter) focused on the fero-concrete sculpture Mike made just beyond the barbecue – it was quite a wild creation!

     After quick sketches to capture the essence of the place, Bev said she just went crazy with “blind” contour drawings of us.  WOW!

     Barb So sketched some of the people in the forested context, but then had to put up with the people moving – no respect from models.

     When Danita wasn’t touring us about, or fixing lunch, she finished her sketch from 5th St. Market, and started a new watercolor.

    Marsha was intrigued with the view of the house seen through the trees, too. No reason not to use tools when you want straight line!

          Brooke, Danita’s jeweler friend, joined us – no surprise that she fell for the texture of the tree – a terrific sketch job. Sketch with us again.

      Jim made a successful leap from doing architecture based sketches to doing b&w ink sketches of trees, mushrooms, and ferns. Wowza!

      Daisy, on the deck above him, chose the same subjects, but in watercolor, & watercolor pencil heightened by water brush touches.

           And Jane? When she wasn’t running around taking photos, she was doing little vignettes of what she was seeing at Forest Haven. Nice.

Then there was lunch. What a fabulous treat. Thanks so much!

University of Oregon campus, Eugene, OR
We met in front of the Knight Library, and ended up at the EMU.

.     Marsha, Peggy, Daisy; Sandy, Hugh; Lealan and Marsha again!

      Marsha was showing Lealan a previous sketch full of lively color. Her view today was frustrating in its overwhelming detail.  What to do!

      Lealan wasn’t wild about her previous sketch in watercolor, then went on to do a lightening quick ink sketch of all of us at the EMU!

      Peggy is a plein air painter used to big brushes and lots of pigment, so a sketcher’s world is a challenge for her. Great b&w ink sketch!

        Jane sketched from the library looking across the quad, then did a bit of old Villard Hall, ending up at the EMU with students & flags.

     Here’s Jane’s view of Villard Hall, and Bitty’s watercolor and ink rendition.  The ink on top of loose watercolor really makes it pop.

        Daisy sketched the Lillis Center, then went into the library and tackled a curving staircase – wow! what a challenge, & in red marker!

        Laura and Bev were downstairs in the library, too. What a difference color makes in a sketch – Laura using colored pencils, Bev markers.

       Sandy was outside the library with a view that included a delivery cart, her bicycle, and the Lillis Business Center in the distance.

      Hugh had a similar view, but had a very different style – of course, color makes a difference, and Sandy says just wait for hers!

Then we all met up on the patio at the EMU to spread out our sketchbooks, sharing what we’d done. Ken showed up for that part!

Thistledown Farm, Junction City, OR

   Daisy, Jim, Marsha, Peggy; Daisy, Hugh, Jim, Bev, Kate, Sandy, Erik, Sharon. But wait, there are more of us scattered about!

          Daisy started right in on the flower cart, then segued into a portrait of Sharon surrounded by the flowers. Nicely done!

      Sharon was looking the other way, but the barn was cut off by an intervening building, so she walked through to get the whole deal.

      The cutoff barn didn’t bother Jim, who proved Ken’s “power of the fragment,” and then created a whimsical font for the farm name.

      Marsha shared her finished sketch of their barn from our  last visit, then took on the challenge of the flower cart (color yet to come).

        Sandy launched right into sketching with ink (Ken would be so proud). The cart & flowers are sketched in, now come the wheels.

        Hugh has gotten into a rhythm of doing a colored sketch on toned paper (black here), then a quick black & white ink study. Way to go.

      Jane got as far as a pencil sketch of the cart, but due to running around taking photos, she had to finish her sketch back home!

         Bev started out in the patio area, then visited the animals, ending back at her original sketch taking water to make color more vivid.

      Peggy, a plein air painter, is accustomed to taking her time and being very precise, so each of her small sketches are exquisite.

      Meanwhile, Erik was busy exploring the garden offerings, saying he was having a lazy day. He enjoyed pointing things out to Satoko.

      One of the fascinated workers stopped to chat bit with Tricia, who was doing another loose watercolor of the landscape of the farm.

      Satoko joined Tricia – look at the size of that brush! And look at the careful areas left of white for the buildings to emerge. Super work.

Thistledown Farm, Junction City, OR

   We loved sketching in the sunny (& shaded) courtyard: Barb So, Erik, Marsha, Lona; Peggy, Joe, Tricia, Bev.

     And a few more join in: Katie, Lona, Sandy, Marsha, Erik, Barb So; Bev, Tricia, Daisy. Sometimes it’s hard to tell who’s here.

      Jim sketching Daisy; Hugh checking the sketching rig he made for Sandy; Barb Sh feeding dandelions to the goats. What a crew!

      Katie’s the instigator for using a frame format for dealing with a complicated scene, narrowing it down to special bits. Super!

          This was Peggy’s 1st time with us – what to draw! She said she liked the frames for simplifying complicated scenery. Great job, too.

      Lona drew frames to fit what she wanted to draw from what she saw around her – a container of peaches, and she couldn’t resist flowers.

          Jane tried to make a new frame pattern based on a comment Marsha made about seeing one with an oval, then gave up & reverted back.

          Jim typically divides a sketchbook page to sketch a scene in front of him – all pen and watercolor – wow. Can you see Daisy at the bridge?

      Daisy sketches out of the box – loose watercolor, and even tried some new fluorescent pencils (better for black paper, she decided).

      Barb Sh found a shaded place to draw with the bunnies for company, but tackled the donkey & pony (note last image for strategy).

      Bitty did the bunnies, then found a shady spot for a lovely loose watercolor of the landscape beyond the farm.

            Barb So had to leave early, but you can imagine by her previous watermelon sketch what effect she has planned for her barn sketch.

       Erik zeroed in on the peak of the barn along with the windmill vanes. He always uses such precision, even with this challenge.

       Marsha used a two page spread to conquer the barn, and brought in details from the foreground – wine colored ink and colored pencils.

     Jude was across the courtyard, lost in the incredible bounty of flowers, not forgetting the context of the surrounding background.

      Bev can always find something interesting to sketch – the elephant ear plants, negative space in the umbrella stand, weeds in the crack!

      In between painting details and layering colors, Tricia succumbed to temptation and bought flowers for her home garden at Cortesia!

      Wonder how Sandy did with her sketching rig…look at that two page spread! Wonderful detail and perspective. Way to go, Sandy!

      Hugh made a sketch support for himself, too, and put it to good use – he even included Erik in his sketch of the courtyard at the farm.

Tuesday Farmers Market, Eugene, OR

  The line-up: Hugh, Sandy, Jim, Jane & Bill; Marsha, Bev & Laura.

     Hugh was doing across the gutter 2 page sketching, using the water soluble wax crayons in his handy set up box – he got a lot done!

     Sandy did a 2 page spread, too, but used a water brush with her travel watercolor palette. She got such a rich vibrant scene.

      Jim started with light pencil before inking. Then he used some random neon markers he had on hand, perfect for tie-dye t-shirts!

      Jane was determined to conquer the tent line, using a two-color toned paper spread and gel pens. Different tools needed, she said!

      Bill had lots going on – a quick people sketch, a fern leaf impression, and a scene from a Western movie with people at the bar. Wow.

      Marsha decided that black ink was just too harsh, so she was sketching with a Copic pen with wine colored ink – nice effect!

      Laura agreed with Marsha, and used PINK ink to sketch, then added colored pencil to her scene and the pink ink quietly disappeared.

        Bev moved over with Daisy – here are Bev’s sketches, done with Pitt marker pens, which are not water soluble making sharp definitions.

        Daisy started with a pen contour drawing, then went to watercolor. Barb So joined the gals, doing a combo ink and watercolor sketch.

       Bitty was around the corner doing wet on wet on cold press paper. Then she changed to hot press paper for a very different effect!

      Here’s Tricia tucked away in another corner – look at the size of that brush, doing very loose watercolor, with added narrative text.