Coffee Plant Roasters, Eugene, OR

There were some new faces joining us over coffee & sketching!

Amy Gibson, Barbara Shirk’s sister and Barbara, Barbara’s daughter Manda and her husband Ezra, and behind them Libby Masarie.  At the next table were Libby’s husband Fred, Sandy, & Heidi. What an interesting group! They are all artists of some sort (Manda & Ezra are part of the performance group, The Meriwethers), which made for a lively interaction.

Barb & her sister take a look at Manda’s sketchbook from Italy, then Libby gets a tour of Barb’s Italy sketchbook.  Wonderful memories.

Heidi has been busy – look at these marvelous sketches!

Fred, Sandy, and Heidi get after the sketching business – no chit chat!

Fred, Sandy, & Heidi were all sketching people “modeling” nearby.

And what was Jane doing (besides photos)? Sketching people, too!

Vero Coffee Shop, Eugene, Oregon

There were only five of us able to gather to sketch together today, but were were a lively bunch anyway!  Some started out with unresolved tasks, while the others found new challenges.

Barbara Shirk was busy selecting her three images to submit to the Watershed Gallery sketchbook show slated for December, and Heidi was committed to putting her shell in a watery sandy background.

Jane was tickled with the tiny Thanksgiving centerpiece she brought for inspiration – love that turkey’s attitude.

Tricia and Sandy started sketching the same tree out the window from slightly different viewpoints.

Then they start adding some color and definition…

Ta dah! Tricia adds her usual whimsical commentary, and Sandy is delighted with those mossy limbs with contrasting leaves.

Meanwhile, Barbara and Heidi began sketching Heidi’s gourds.

Here’s how far Barbara’s sketch developed, and here’s Jane’s finished Thanksgiving centerpiece.  We were busy, indeed!

Chase Café and Bistro, Eugene, OR.

The day started out overcast with sprinkles, and we started out at a new-to-us place: Chase Café & Bistro, off Martin Luther King Blvd. Nice atmosphere with murals of Italy (is that the Florence Duomo?), wonderful smells of pastries and quiches, good coffee. They were very welcoming.

The usual suspects: Barb Shirk, Tricia Clark-McDowell, Erik Johnson, Heidi Sachet above, and below Sandy Larkin, Barbara Aten, and a newcomer, Mike Maszk.

Barb Shirk was working on a lizard last week, started wondering what kind of background to put down, then thought about copying & resizing all the rubbings she did around Italy…the partial page on the left lifts off, and here you have it:

And of course there must be an identifying map for the rubbings!

Sandy asked what kind of drawing Mike does, and clever guy, he had samples of his wonderful bird sketches on his iPhone!

Erik brought some fruit to draw, and did they ever turn out well!

Heidi did some tweaking before she took on the challenge of a glass vase, and Barb Shirk continued sketching a fountain from Italy.

Tricia was adding some color to a quick sketch she started last week, but by the end of our time together a whole story of events evolved!

Heidi was mesmerized by the shell she brought, but was able to get quite a bit of color and depth to her colored pencil sketch.

Several of us took on the gourds that Heidi brought – here you see Jane’s ink sketch, followed by some watercolor.

Mike’s gourds started out innocently enough, but quickly devolved into Halloween fantasies! (See below)

Sandy and Barb Aten did the gourds, too.

Above left is Barb’s done in watercolor, then Sandy’s in watercolor pencil. So interesting to see the different effects between media.

Corvallis, OR

The Top Drawers sketch group seems to attract new-to-us artists.  Every time our teacher-mentor, Ken O’Connell, takes a group on a sketch tour, people migrate to our group on their return. We like it. And sometimes little side trips emerge. This last trip of Ken’s to Italy was no exception. Today Rita hosted some of the travelers in her home for a sketch session, followed by a trip to the nearby art center gallery, and after lunch to the plein air show at the OSU student union.  What a wonderful spin-off!

Carol started the morning off with her home made biscotti – how could we do anything but celebrate being together again!

Rita fortified us with tea, and the sketching began. Here are Sue and Rita at the kitchen table (what a great spot with great light!).

Carol took on the challenge of the colorful pitcher in the middle of the table, while Sue’s attention was on the clay mask in the window.

Here’s Jane’s sketch view of the middle of the table, and here’s Rita’s sketch from the opposite side view (watercolor vs. colored pencils).

Sue added a few pots next to the mask, while Carol did more detail.

Of course, we’re never “done” sketching – we just move on to the next thing.  In this case, Jane’s eye was caught by Rita’s art bag.

Then Sue started work on a plant in a clay dish, and Rita did a more inclusive sketch of the plant & window items.  How’s that?

Yes, we earned our lunch and art prowl!  Great fun.

– 5th St. Market, Eugene, OR

The most difficult thing we do each week is decide where we’re going to sketch the next week.  So it’s a pleasure to just go back to where we were the previous week!  Simple.

Jane & Barb Shirk appreciated the bright light in the window alcove.

Tricia and Sandy got right into their sketches, too.

Here you can see the tools they were using, and how Sandy’s sketch of the telephone booth (flanked by corn foliage) turned out.

Barb explains her “paper doll” sketches she did of costumes she & her daughter saw at the castle in Narni, Italy – she’s put them on magnet backing & made an interactive book about the story, using her daughter & son-in-law as the main characters.  How clever!

And all the while, Hugh was intent on the scene out the window.  Wow.

And who took the people pictures (since Jane left her iPhone at home charging on the counter)? Carol Schaafsma, one of the new comers from the Italy 2014 trip with Ken O’Connell:

Welcome!  (and thanks)