Cathy’s backyard, Eugene, OR

Ken’s friend Cathy invited us to come sketch in her yard – you can barely see her here, coming from opening up the door for the chickens to get out to play! She was the best host – lovely setting, lovely treats & drinks, and very unobtrusively let us do our thing!

         Here are two of the chickens, and here’s Jan sketching them, with results in process below:
         

       Erik’s the sun lover in our group, & Ken went out to see what he was drawing – totally distracted from what had been in his mind before!
    

         Jane did a quick sketch of the bird feeder, too, and leaf vignettes.

      Here are Heidi and Barb So getting ready to sketch – the arbor!

       Can you tell Heidi was an architect? And that BarbSo loves chicks?

Sandy & Ken are eagerly into sketching…what to choose…

     Ken took advantage of our favorite model – Erik! As did Sandy:    

    One of the things we appreciate  is sharing art work in progress, whether paintings or sketches, or just talking art.      

And we enjoy talking about upcoming trips – this one to Sicily! Satoko, Penelope, & Barb A are busy planning this trip together.

    Satoko and Penelope still found time to sketch in this beautiful backyard. Thanks so much, Cathy, for your wonderful welcome!

Eugene, OR

Ten years ago there was a sketch trip to Italy with Ken O’Connell:

When we came back to Eugene, we formed Top Drawers, and have been meeting every Tuesday morning to sketch together ever since.

TEN YEARS! That calls for a party! We invited the original group plus new friends who have joined us over the years – celebrate!

From our first group art show at Full City Coffee/Palace Bakery.

Friendly St. Market, Eugene, OR

Jane, our blog editor, was off this week helping at a workshop at Emerald Art Center, so members of the group stepped up to do the picture taking for the blog.

As you can see, no one was taking this too seriously with Ken behind the camera – Jan, Sandy, Satoko, Penelope.

Then Jan was pressed into photo taking, apparently with lots of commentary from the peanut gallery (see below):

    Penelope & Ken crack up at a quip, then Penelope gets to appreciated the decorated envelopes Ken created.

Satoko & Ken share a thoughtful moment – guess it wasn’t all laughs.

   And Erik didn’t get so carried away that he couldn’t add to his sketchbook – what a trooper!

Friendly St. Market, Eugene, OR

Erik and Jan can get very intense when they come to Top Drawers.

      Erik is frequently the first to arrive, and he already had this image in him mind, so it didn’t take long for him to get it down on paper.

       The flowers & guy at the table across from us caught Jan’s eye; she used Erik’s colors and Jane’s water brush for her terrific sketch.

    There were pots of delicate begonias on the table, which Jane couldn’t resist (no surprise there!).

      Penny started out with ink, lifted some watercolor, and ended with a loose splash of the sunflowers from across the street – wow!

    Barb So. only had a short time to devote, wondered how much she could get done, zeroed in on getting the right color and shazam!

Cortesia Sanctuary, Eugene, OR

Just Jane & Tricia were able to go sketching together today, as the others were busy with commitments or travel. But we enjoyed it.

        Here are two of the little welcome statues that greet you when you explore the Cortesia Sanctuary grounds, Tricia’s pride & joy.

      When Jane mentioned she didn’t bring her brush pen, Tricia showed her a sketch she had done with one, & both agreed the line was very bold. Then Tricia said she’d decided to start using her fold-out book.

         Jane tried not to get overwhelmed with the place (& with her tools – she used her Lamy pen with water soluble ink, an Elegant Writer felt tip pen (water soluble) with watercolor, then her trusted Micron Pigma permanent ink pen, and watercolor on graphite outline).

       Tricia confessed that she’d avoided doing the fold-out sketchbook thinking she’d never finish it. Now she’s thinking she’ll do one for Spring & Summer at Cortesia, and another for Autumn & Winter!

Here are two new structures at Cortesia (courtesy of Tricia’s husband Forest) – an arbor into the garden, and a “tool shed” – really! It’s going to have a viewing platform on the top, too. Delightful.