All posts by Marsha McCloskey

Frequently Seen Sketching Each Other!

Tradewinds @ Jiffy, Eugene, OR

It was a little cooler here this week, so all 18 of us sketched inside!

      Wanda, Marsha, Bev; Jim, Laura, Hugh, Ken; Penny, Barb So, Sandy, Satoko, Barb Sh, Laura. (Missing: Ken, Lealan, Serge, Jane, Daisy.)

        Wanda is new to our group, and came with photos to draw. She may be new to us, but she clearly has developed skills!

      Marsha is really branching out in her sketching – this is not a simple object.  Her sketch of Jim and Hugh within the context is alive!

      Speaking of alive, Bev’s succulent sketch is sure alive, nicely complemented by her sketch of the people beyond Jim’s back.

        Daisy is having such fun with continuous line sketching. She also brought an “add a page” book for travel sketching – neato!

      Jim astonished us with his quickly done sketch of the refrigerated case in front of him, then on to a landscape sketch from a magazine.

     Hugh’s still askew, doing an interior sketch at a diagonal slant – wow!

    Jane borrowed Katie’s squares format to do little vignettes of what she saw around her, then a background of the logo. Does it work?

        Serge did two very different sketches of the scenes at Tradewinds, borrowing the squares idea for window frames. Yes, it works here!

       Barb So resorts to a favorite sketch topic – the people around her!

        Barb Sh had an Elegant Writer sketch, then a folded two-way sketch. Then she began a delightful sketch of another sketcher – Sandy!

       Penny took the opportunity to sketch the items on the table in front of her, including Lealan’s hat and sketchbook. Love that hat.

      Laura sketched what was on the table in front of her, and then began a mystery sketch…you’ll have to come back to see what it was!

         Sandy did a sketch of Laura behind plants at the table, and then of Hugh and Erik. Did I say we frequently sketch each other? Oh yes.

      Satoko is fast at capturing a bit of a scene around her, and includes values hints, too. We love having her sketch with us.

        And here’s what Erik, Ken, and Lealan were sketching. Clever folks.

It’s all a matter of process – sketch on!

Tradewinds @ Jiffy, Eugene, OR,

“Outside” sketching (with the heat blowing on us): Bill, Ellen, Jim, Ken, Erik, Barb Sh., & Jane behind the camera. Wonderful sun on us.

Inside sketching: Marsha, Katie, Bev, Jude (& Daisy later).

          Ellen is new to the group. When asked if she usually works with pencil/graphite, she replied, “No. I’m a potter!” Great job, however.

          Bill had the perfect pre-stamped page to sketch a music conductor (wow, look at those hands!), then back to his favorite: portraits.

        Jim’s imagination took off on his fence stamped page! He showed us a trick to painting without dragging your hand through wet paint.

        Jane said, “I’m done!” “Oh, no you’re not,” said Ken. “Give me that thing.” And he proceeded to add trees in the negative space. Wow.

          “Here, you work on mine,” Ken said to Jane. So she added the logo and name to his chair sketch while he worked on hers. Fun time.

       It takes a lot of pressure to get the rich wax crayon coverage Erik likes. Why does he keep doing it? Because he’s terrific at it!

          Barb Sh wanted to use a dip pen, and found this gizmo to hold her ink bottle. Subjects: Erik & Ken. “Yep, that’s me,” Ken said.

         Marsha brought a doll in a Japanese kimono which she’d had for a long time, cautious about trying to do a drawing of it – ta dah!

        Bev drew the potted succulent on the table, the the Japanese doll from a different angle with her head turned. Delightful pages!

        Katie keeps adding little vignettes to her page of frames. The one today was the delicious scone she had. Next the store logo?

        Jude was mesmerized by the wine bottles in the shelf display.  The questions: do them all? what about the bottoms? Pure whimsy wins!

        Daisy started out doing a “blind” drawing (not looking at her page), then another looking, a loose watercolor, and the store logo. Yes!

Stamp & Spray Segue

Jane’s place, Eugene, OR

It’s become an annual event – bring your sketchbook and put stamps or spray swatches or patterns on pages ahead of your sketching! Here’s a view of the stamping table with the sprayers in the mirror.

         Ken was the master demonstrator with the compressed air sprayer using Copic markers for pigment. Yes, we’re all fascinated!

        Most of the rubber stamps were background texture, with some patterned stamps to add for page decoration. Oh, what to do!

      Daisy brought some stamps, too, and the curiosity  stamping was on!

        Jane closed her book after spraying a stencil using a Tsukineko spray bottle – oops, easy to get too wet, as Erik saw, too. Penny did better.

       Penny also tried the pressurized sprayer, as did Barb So after tips from Ken.  Tricky to get the right distance & keep the stencil on.

        There was a whole lot of action going on – Hugh & Sandy did teamwork on one, then Lona did one on a postcard. How clever.

       Marnie had a previous sketch done which she decided was just right for stamp action – nice design going there! Hugh tried that, too.

        Jim and Lona took their stamped/sprayed pages and utilized them for background and framing for  a sketch – so unusual and fresh.

          Then Sandy discovered a new use of marking pens and stencil – wow! Barb Sh showed Erik her dimensional paper journal, and Penny J reverted to (gasp!) plain old sketching. What a morning.

Intrepid Sketchers on January 1st!

We had been assured that Tradewinds was going to be open on January 1st, but when folks arrived they found it wasn’t so. Did that stop them from sketching? No! “Begin the year as you wish to continue,” Marsha said!

     Daisy and Marsha headed for Market of Choice. Daisy wants everyone to note that she started the year eating vegetables: spinach and kale pastry! Marsha faced “fear of the blank page” with admirable accomplishment – sketch what’s in front of you! Great!

      When Jude and her friend Wanda showed up, they solved the problem by going to Hideaway Bakery, and sketched an antique store item Wanda brought with her. Nicely done!

Sketchers like these are clearly resilient and determined. Way to go!

What Storm? What Rain? Sketch on!

Public House, Springfield, OR

    It’s hard get a photo of us all, because people keep coming and going (getting coffee, coming from an appointment, etc.). 1st – Jude, Marsha, Ken, Katie, Daisy, Hugh, Jim, & Laura. 2nd –  Laura, Bev, Bill, Jim, Daisy, Katie, Marsha, Helga, Sandy, Hugh, Ken, Jude.  Below are samples of sketches by all of us, in alphabetical order by first name (because the editor is too rushed to figure out the story otherwise):

        Bev not only does a sweet sketch, she frames it with what’s around – a trellis, and the table! Then on to the stained glass windows- oh boy.

     Bill has a fascination for faces, and what interesting ones he collects!

        Daisy’s getting very adept at drawing and laying in color with colored pencils, but she’s also wondering what she can do to “go darker.”

         Helga starts with the main arch of the wall, then expands it into detail and definition. You can tell that the door is set back from the arch!

        Here you can see Hugh’s clever setup for his water soluble wax crayons – he goes directly to them with water brush, then to paper!

          It’s no surprise that Jane started with the botanical. Then she added a penciled outline of a couple of chairs, & the name of the place above.

        Jim did a quick outline in pencil of the building façade & people in front of it, then watercolor – look for what he doesn’t do…

        Jude was looking at a different wall, caught the lights; worried about the angle of the roofed pier, but Jane said the shadows will make it ok.

          Katie started out with a continuous line drawing – oops, no room for the rest of the flower! But it all turned out just terrific anyway!

      Ken said he just found this old watercolor set so decided to use it! Then he brought out his recent ceramics to show us the glazing.

          Laura started out with one head (Jude), added another person (Sandy), then another (Ken) and the building background – what fun!

        Marsha sent these pics in – sometimes people across from you are just too tempting not to draw! Here’s Jim, Daisy, and Jane. Oblivious.

          And here are some of Marsha’s sketches – didn’t she do them well!

        Sandy was sitting across from her sweetie, Hugh. She says she thinks this is the best she’s ever done of him, and she’s done lots! Yep.

     And Satoko’s back from Japan! She’s so quick – a sketch of the flowers before her, and another of a nearby sketcher (Helga). Way to go!