Norma Pfeiffer Park, Coburg, OR

Another beautiful day for sketching in the park – Peggy (behind the tree leaves), Sandy, Hugh, Marsha, Daisy (Jane behind camera).

      Here’s Peggy! She really got into the detail of the neighborhood scene, and what a difference ink makes!

      Jane discovered that her two water soluble inks (brown & turquoise) when blended with a water brush make green! What fun.

Sometimes it’s hard to tell what Marsha and Daisy are doing, when the conversation revolves around quilting…

      Daisy’s found a great combination – sketching on what will become quilt blocks! And she still makes time for some loose watercolor.

   Marsha is back to colored pencil (which she uses so well), and says “It’s not done yet!” Colored pencil does take time – check back.

      Hugh focused on his iPad today, using both his right and left hands – can you tell? A shaggy dog (Jane’s Tutti) made a perfect model.

      Whatcha doin’, Sandy? Sketching Tutti, but he won’t stay still! So she ended up with a whole collection of “gestural” sketches of him.

      Sandy shows her sketches to the model, who seems vaguely interested. OK, now, let’s pose for the camera!

And it’s time for show & tell – Peggy, Hugh, Daisy, Marsha, Sandy. (Tutti on the ground, Jane behind the camera.) What a nice day.

Norma Pfeiffer Park, Coburg, OR

We’d planned to meet at the Pavilion, but adjacent to it was this great park with tables! Above: Daisy, Helga, Marsha, (Tutti), & Laura.

      First the check in & catch up – Marsha with Helga, then Laura.  Daisy tried the great new gold pigment by Fine Tec that Laura brought.

      What caught Marsha’s eye? A charming house across the street behind a huge tree. And she’s back to colored pencils – so delightful.

       Helga looked the other way across the street, intrigued by a trellis covered with sweet peas. Quite a perspective challenge.

      Laura’s become a daily sketcher (great way to build skill). The play equipment here was overwhelming – she got those swings swinging!

      Daisy has one sketchbook just for watercolor ( getting loose!). She took on the challenging play equipment, too. Nothing regular here!

      Jane did a bit of everything, using the Tombow fudenosuke brush pen, and TWSBI fountain pens with water soluble ink – Color Verse “Coffee Break,” and Robert Oster “Lake of Fire.”

Cortesia Sanctuary, Eugene, OR

We cherished our time sketching at Tricia’s – sketch review by Helga, Satoko, Daisy, Laura, Tricia, Marsha (Jane behind camera).

      Helga found an interesting spot in the garden – a view from one end, then a view from the other. She’s  enjoying doing them in graphite.

      Daisy’s in the garden, too, but she prefers to work with watercolor. She doesn’t even use any pencil before going to watercolor! Nice.

      Tricia’s a big picture gal, doing a two page spread, direct to watercolor, too.  But where’s the focal point, she muses….

      Jane does it all – pencil pre-sketch, ink (both water soluble and permanent), & watercolor from her tiny palette. Too much fun!

       Marsha is in the garden, too – trying wax crayon, then black ink lining for definition.  She even got a sketch in of…Laura!

      And here’s Laura. She does  ink sketches in the garden, then gores to wax crayon (which she says is a challenge in the warm sun!).

      Ta dah! Satoko! She loves sketching the trees with wet-on-wet watercolor. It sure works for her – what wonderful sketches.

Mt. Pisgah Arboretum, Eugene, OR

We were pretty scattered around the place sketching at first.

      Here’s Katie getting set up while Barb Sh heads out for the hinterlands. Katie did such a sweet sketch of the landscaping.

      Marsha appreciated having the picnic table to spread out all her art tools. And didn’t she do a nice job of the dense forest view!

      Jane was looking at the pavilion beyond Marsha, and had fun exploring the effects of the water soluble ink in her new TWSBI pen.

      Peggy (with Sandy & Hugh beyond her) had a great set-up with the little folding travel table she’d made – super tree sketch, too!

      Hmm, Sandy seems to be thinking, then adds another layer of watercolor to her brush only sketch – look at those terrific trees!

      Hugh had a bit of an elevated point of view – that splash of roof color made a difference, as well as his wife’s colorful garb. Nice sketch.

      Laura made the most of the trees – both sitting in the shade of one, and capturing the grace of a limb & nearby nature. Sweet!

      Daisy had a terrific time sketching, first the tree branch, then… the hats we were all wearing! What a fun sketch for remembering us.

      Helga found a viewpoint in front of the old barn. She’s getting quite proficient at perspective, and this is a nice application of it.

      Then Tricia emerged from sketching on the river – what lovely sketches! She liked Barb Sh’s rubbings of the ceramic trail plaques.

      In addition to the rubbings, Barb Sh did a quick sketch of Helga with the trees in the background, then a barn sketch with her left hand!

Here we are gathered for the show & tell – Peggy, Daisy, Helga, Laura, Marsha, Katie, Tricia, Sandy & Hugh. (Barb Sh still sketching!)

Mt. Pisgah Aboretum, Eugene, OR

Despite threatening rain & last minute cancellation, three of our sketch group made it to the designated sketch spot, only to discover the place overrun with kids. But that didn’t stop them.

        An employee told Peggy about the barn south of the buildings where we were going to meet, and she found a cozy sheltered spot.

By the time Laura and Marsha got there, the weather had cleared a bit, and they were able to take advantage of the picnic table.

      Here’s Laura’s sketch of the park ambiance, Peggy with her sketch of nearby mossy trees, and Marsha’ sketch of a park building. Great!

Oakway Mall Courtyard, Eugene, OR

What a busy group! Sandy, Laura (under umbrella), Pat with Marsha beyond her, Hugh in the bushes in back, Katie, Peggy, Barb Sh, Tricia.

      Glimpses of the action – Barb Sh, Katie; Peggy, Marsha, Katie, Sandy; Marsha & Laura.  We never get too busy to check on one another!

      Barb Sh was so busy sketching the group of sketchers, she sketched them twice – one with her left hand, the other with her dominant.

      Hugh might have seemed above it all, but he took precautions when folks drew near, and enjoyed the perspective from his perch.

      Jane’s sketch was quite a departure for her – a pencil sketch of the architecture, then a brush pen, and then the duck got some color!

      We’ve missed Katie, but you can see what she’s been doing if you take a look at her sketchbook! Look at her sketches at the bottom.

      I almost missed Laura in the shade of the shelter – she picked up where she left off last week, adding more little vignettes around her.

      Marsha had a productive day – a sketch of  Barb Sh seated on the wall post, one of a couple at a nearby table, & one of Sandy, below.

      We were happy to have Pat back with us. She recently got a book she had given to a departed friend, & enjoyed sketching from it.

      Peggy is so quiet – what’s she up to? Sketching another pot of flowers in the courtyard, but she didn’t like their pot, so…nice!

      Sandy was sketching sketchers, too – here’s her ink sketch, then she added color when she got home. It makes a difference, she said.

      Tricia is a big picture kind of gal, and she didn’t mind staying awhile to get it all down – look at the size of that brush, and what she does!

      Finished sketches layed out for show & tell – Barb Sh’s two versions, Hugh, Pat, and Katie.

      Laura, Marsha’s sketch of Sandy (art prompt: graceful), Peggy.

.  Sandy’s second sketch of the sketchers, color added, too. Sweet.

Oakway Mall Courtyard, Eugene, OR

Who are these masked sketchers? Can you guess?      

If we did unmask while we sketched, we were at a careful distance.       If it doesn’t look like the right distance, it’s because the camera was zoomed, or the photo was cropped.  But careful didn’t mean no joy.

      At work: Barb Sh, Daisy (with Marsha in background), & Helga.

      Marsha with a sketch of…Peggy! Sandy with a sketch of Laura!

      Laura; Jane with yellow marker in mouth taking pics; Hugh.

      Sketches by: Peggy, Jane, Hugh, Daisy, ?; Barb Sh.; Sandy’s sketch of Laura, Laura’s sketch, & Marsha’s sketch of Laura!

     Finished sketches by Hugh, Jane (oh, that’s why the yellow marker!)

From the Gazebo at Owen Rose Garden, Eugene, OR

Nearly all of the intrepid sketchers: Bitty, Sandy, Daisy, Sharon, Marsha, Hugh, Katie – Jane behind the camera, Tricia yet to come.

      We all took a gazebo post to stay appropriately distance. Here’s Bitty deciding which way to look, then her sketch on toned paper.

       Daisy started out amidst the roses, and when it started to rain she brought her sketches to show us. Lovely treatment for the roses!

     Hugh set up on the sidewalk until the rain forced him inside. His sketch showed the gardener who refused to be deterred by water.

      Jane’s sketch was finished at home. She had a good time adding rain clouds and the lyrics from Annie Lennox’s song to the page.

   Katie braved sitting on the floor, sketching the floor medallion, and then the roses above her on the gazebo trellis. Nicely done, too.

      Marsha tried the over the ear mask style set by Jim Hinton last week, but mostly stayed face masked, & did a delightful sketch.

      Sandy got right at it, sketching the sketchers. Later she added the colorful background context, and wondered if that helped…hmmm.

     And who sneaked in to sketch just beyond Marsha? It’s Sharon! What a pleasure to have her back sketching with us again.

      Tricia set up on the sidewalk, too, before the rain brought her under cover. Here’s last week’s tree sketch, and this week’s. Terrific!

So you can see we’re enjoying being together, still being cautious about physical distance, staying outside, and wearing a mask when appropriate. I think we’ll keep doing this if the weather cooperates.

Owen Rose Garden, Eugene, OR

This is our first get-together since the corona virus shut down. We were careful to wear masks, and stay 6′ away from each other.

   It was hard to take a group photo since we were so spread out. Here are Helga, Jim, & Katie. Then a glimpse of Jim sketching canna lilies.

    Helga came prepared for the weather – hat, mask, sweater layer. And it did get warmer, perfect for sketching! She did cannas, too.

   Ah, that moment of deliberation…Katie pauses, then gets right into it with her lovely watercolor treatment. See her work at the end.

   Jackie joined them, and did a nice sketch of the cannas within the garden setting. It’s so hard to choose what to draw here!

      And here’s Hugh! He set up his tripod shelf for his sketchbook, got out his clever container of crayons, then it was water brush and on!

   Sandy wandered on through one of the rose beds before settling down to do her sketch. It’s so great to be back with one another!

    Barb Sh found a cluster of red oriental poppies, and did she have fun sketching them. Look for her sketchbook painting at the end.

   Daisy loved sketching here so much she did two sketches! Her sketches just burst with color, very fitting!

   Laura gets the award for the cutest chair! But, hey, it worked. And she captured a whole variety of flowers at the garden in her sketch.

      Jane’s back at using the frames template – such a handy way to include all kinds of images on one sketch page.  Love the rose.

      Tricia came a little late, so didn’t get to share at the review because she was still painting. Look at the size of the brush in the middle.

Then we gathered (6′ apart) for a sketchbook review.

   Barbara Sh, & Hugh; Jane & Jim (lower right).

Oh you have to see that one! And around we go.

Katie, Jackie.

And everyone rotates around the tables to see all the sketches.

Sandy, Helga, Daisy, Laura.

And here we are, suitably attired for undercover work, and happy to be together sketching at last! Jackie, Sandy, Barb Sh, Daisy, Katie, Helga, Laura, Hugh, Jim. Jane behind the camera, Tricia at the tree.

Marsha’s yard, Eugene, OR

As we’re entering Phase 1 of safeguards for combatting Covid 19, we decided to try a limited gathering of the TDs – carefully keeping a 6 feet distance, deciding whether or not we need to wear a mask…

   Lona & Marsha, Marsha & Bitty; Jane behind the camera.

      Marsha is having fun playing with Caran d’Ache crayons on black paper, but always goes back to colored pencil on white. Lovely work.

      Lona starts with a line drawing in ink, goes to watercolor, then back to ink for definition. Marsha’s yard had lots of floral inspiration.

      Hair tied back, she’s ready to sketch. Bitty is having a great time with crayons on black paper, too – moves so smoothly, like butter!

      Jane took the opportunity to test drive all her fountain pens, making notes as she went. Then she made two quick sketches to show, too.

   Marsha & Bitty have very different styles, but same tools.

        Lona and Jane use ink lines very differently, too. Fun sketches.

Meanwhile, Bill was off sketching, too – he calls this one “Jerry and Dave’s I Scream.”

 Sandy was sketching in her own backyard!

While Hugh was reminiscing about a bike trip in France.