River View Café, RiverBend, Springfield, OR

Fourteen of us (& another in spirit – see last entry), enjoying sketching together in the sunlight at the hospital cafe.

          Helga kept her eye on the condiment island at the cafe, all in pencil.

        Penny J had the same view, started in pen, went to markers.

        Barbara So spotted a floral arrangement, pencil then watercolor.

        Penny J and Lealan compared sketches done at the park using Tombow markers, then Lealan sketched a guy at a nearby table.

          Jude, sitting in the window, did a quick sketch of the trees outside, then the clouds caught her attention – watercolor pencils, nice!

        Daisy started on the bright autumn leafed tree, tackled the curving ceiling soffit and hanging light, then back to the good old tree – ha!

        Jim brought his own view from the ghost town of Bodie – pencil outline, watercolor, and then pen (which really makes it pop!).

Erik always has an image ready in the view of his mind – nice start.

          Hugh enjoys interpreting photos from his travels – we had a great discussion about whether to leave parts of it white. Hmmmm…..

        Marsha usually uses regular colored pencils, but this time ventured out with her watercolor pencils for a loose watercolor look. Lovely!

        Katie is having a blast with her pages of pre-framed vignettes. It’s always so interesting to see what images catch her eye in a place.

        Serge always does such exquisite detailed work in black & white using ink, it was a fun surprise to see his watercolor wash with ink!

        Jane just had to memorialize her first almond milk latte (it was fantastic!), then the blasted soffit & lamp (this was her 2nd try).

And meanwhile, this just in from Ken in Newport, but thinking of us and sketching, too – looks like he mostly used markers (his “go-to”).

Café Yumm, 18th & Willamette, Eugene, OR

Two views of the group – total of 18 turned out, with two newbies!

          Amy’s back, having a break in her studies at Oregon State. You can see how her art training there translates into getting after it! Nice.

          Katie was intrigued with the flower (Thumbergia) that Amy brought in from an outside vine, and her page designs spun off from there.

          Jane was busy putting together a chart showing Derwent Graphi-tint pencils, dry & wet. Then she sketched the flower with them.

          Jim was using a photo of an old building as the basis for his sketch study – love what happened when he added watercolor.

         Bill dared to try out his Derwent Inktense  colored pencils (& water soluble ink), then back to a watercolor treatment for the portraits.

        Hugh sketched what was in front of him – Laura at the table in the window, and the scene beyond – look how that color popped!

        Here’s what Laura was seeing – that challenging braided trunk tree and the shop window beyond. The stamps worked well on the page.

          Bev’s pages are such a delight – wonderful images of what she sees around her,  special drawn frames, and rubber stamped images, too.

        Are those Café Yumm stamps? Such a nice border for Daisy’s warm detailed window display. That yellow background really works.

       This was Jude’s 2nd time with us, and look what challenging subjects she chose to draw! The sinuous lighting above, and that twisty tree!

        Barb Sh shared with us her last pages of recent events,  then continued to work on this fabulous critter – a moth? WOW.

      Speaking of fabulous critters, Lealan wanted to know which version we liked best (NO consensus!), then began a sketch of sketchers.

       Marsha brought some little white pumpkins – she really brought life and depth to them with her colored pencils, & shadows, too!

       Helga was intrigued with the white pumpkins, too, and look how her use of the pre-stamped page gives a sense of decorative fencing.

       Penny Mc was also fascinated with the store window display, starting with the bottom shelf and working her way up.  It all fits!

        Not everyone can work with graphite as successfully as Serge does (it often smears across the page for me!) – wonderful vignette!

        This was Deborah’s first time sketching with us, but she clearly has some prior practice.  Love the way that tree developed character.

        Ken (our teacher, mentor, friend) made a cameo appearance much to everyone’s pleasure. He adds so much to everyone’s experience.

Cafe Yumm, 18th & Willamette, Eugene, OR

    We like sketching here because we can move the tables around however we like. And surprise!  Jan & Satoko are back with us!

      Hugh was getting abstract, & started coloring in his doodle by choosing colors by order in his box. Jan explains her card making.

      Erik was really getting into the autumn leaf theme – great color contrast, as well as a little gestural drawing of a leaf raker!

           At the next table, Laura was getting adept at drawing on pages with pre-stamped designs – what a delightful spirit the sketches have.

        Bev caught Laura in action in her sketch. You can sure tell she has a background in design work – her pages are wonderful that way.

          When I said a heavier paper would keep the watercolor from buckling the paper, Bill said “Do you think it bothers me?”  Uh, no.

        Meanwhile, Jim was saying he would like to have more of Bill’s loose style all the while he was doing a detailed sketch of Cafe Yumm.

       Katie used a pre-stamped page to inspire her sketch of a sight in Taxco – look at how that yummy watercolor works with the stamp!

        Jane’s still into frame boxes – first on a watercolor demo for her son, then on a remembered vision of autumn leaves on Pearl Street.

      Barb Sh, just back from a travel trip to Europe, was recapturing the experience by making a fold-out sketch – she’s so clever doing this!

    Ken practices what he preaches – go darker! Look how those plant leaves reach out of the page with the dark negative space. Wow.

        Going directly to ink is catching! Here’s Serge’s multi-layered sketch of Erik sketching by the window with foliage in the patio beyond.

      Ken & Serge get a review of Satoko’s sketchbook from her recent watercolor workshop she taught in Tuscany.

Maude Kerns Art Gallery, Eugene, OR

    There was so much to see, all the detailed altars created to honor persons in the past. It was hard to decide what to sketch!

        Daisy did a whole page of images from various altars, ending with the difficult mermaid figure.

        Penny M started sketching the little sculptured figures in the glass case, then back to watercolor for her next sketch.

        Penny J drew boxed frames to isolate each of the figures she chose to draw – such an endless variety reflecting the person gone.

      Barb Sh showed Penny M one of her cross page sketches using metallic inks, then began the mermaid Daisy did – not done yet!

        Hugh did a riff on the skeleton images which were prolific.

       Marsha did a page of pre-designed box frames, playing with images across them and outside them for a great effect.

       Katie added altar images to a page she had already begun with a flower sketch. It will be interesting to see how this page develops!

       Jane tried using the box frames artist Pat Southern-Pearce utilizes, finishing with a text notation and a gallery watercolor sketch.

      Danita drew the arched windows of the building and tapestries below, then used special frames for additional altar images.

        Lona refused to be confined to boxes, overlaying her images in a colorful celebration.

        Bill & friend Jim at a table – Bill was finishing up some sketches of people he had done earlier with bits of conversation remembered.

      Jim, who does such fine architecture work, took on the challenge of whimsical images from a nearby altar – great success here!

     Bev sketched one of the special ornaments, then images from a multi-layered altar.

        Ken & Barb So shared thoughts about an altar, then Ken began sketching the interesting room construction, and Barb So an altar.

The whole experience was very rich, as we pondered the special things families had put together to honor the dead.

New Day Bakery, Eugene, OR

We took up three tables – yummy food, great fun together.

        We do enjoy learning from one another – Hugh & Erik compare crayon strategies, and Lona explains wet-on-wet sketching to Jim.

        Sharing projects: Barb Sh’s layered paper doll greeting card, Barb So’s completed Kokopelli, and Daisy’s sumi ink painting.

         Sharing techniques: Jane’s social survival sketch, Marsha’s tape removal of pencil lines, and Bev’s use of negative space.

     Barb Sh completed one sketchbook, and began a new one – hooray!

       Barb So and Penny frequently have to cut their time short with us, but see the lovely sketches they did today – what nice detail!

          Here’s how Bev’s sketch looked prior to painting negative space.  Then she did a tree sketch that someone said ought to be a stamp!

        Daisy dutifully sketched her food before eating, then did a template for her two watercolor palettes – which one will go with her to Italy?

        Erik was on a foggy morning roll – you can almost feel it!

        Hugh was eating his roll, but still did two sketches – a vibrant one on black paper, and a complex structure – not done yet, he says.

        Jane was doing her daily gratitude sketch – this from a Facebook post – first in pencil, then layers of watercolor, and finally ink.

        Jim launched right in on sketching what was in front of him and wow did he do a great job with perspective as well as detail! Feel no fear!

         Katie loves doing her sketches within frames, incorporating the stamps on the page. Here she uses a ruler to assist in perspective.

          The large jug on the piano caught Laura’s eye – love how the image develops from simple to complex with great color. Well done!

        This is how Lona does her wet-on-wet sketches – talk about vibrant!

        The secret to Marsha’s exquisite colored pencil sketches – keep those pencil points sharp! Look at that great sharpener she brought.