Mes Amis Café, Eugene, OR

    We were surprised to walk into such a busy place, but people were kind to move on and give us a long table to crowd around.

        Jude brought her own models – wonderful colored pencil sketch of the persimmon and pomegranate. It’s nice to have her with us.

        Katie was working on a wedding gift using the design from their wedding announcement as inspiration – watercolor perfect for this!

           Marsha was intent on capturing her latte and the flowers beyond. She’s enjoying trying out her water soluble colored pencils, too.

      Bev is having fun taking a looser approach to sketching people, and look at that tree! She also incorporates pre-stamped pages.

Helga is getting masterful at using graphite pencils – nice models!

            Jane was looking outside for her sketch (& laughed that she’d never sit in that wonky chair!), then added the signs found indoors.

         Jim and Serge talked about wanting to get looser in their sketching (while some of us talked about wanting to get more accurate!).

      Well look who showed up! Ken, Hugh, & Laura. Here’s Ken’s sketch.

          Hugh’s mark making is becoming bolder – look how that sketch developed from a simple start. And then he’s on to the next sketch!

       Laura tackled the display case across the room, too, with an entirely different effect from Hugh’s, using pencil not markers. Very sweet.

RiverView Café, RiverBend, Springfield, OR

Here we are, back appreciating the big windows at the hospital cafe.     

        Lona, sitting across the room, didn’t need the window light because she had a photo to refer to – this is going to be a fun painting!

        Daisy, sitting next to Lona, finished her colored pencil chart, then sketched some of the sketch group! Recognize anyone?

        Helga (not in the sketch above) did the lamp outside, then gradually added the context of the autumn maple leaves, and the firs beyond.

        Jude (the blonde on the right in the sketch) was trying out her new Pentalic metallic colored pencils, finding patterns in the photo.

           Barb Sh was next (see Daisy across the room?) continuing her saga of adventures in her sketchbook. She’s a great sketchy traveler!

           Jane (between Jude & Barb) continued her lamp drawings from last week, then a chair (in pencil first!), and the bouquet on a table.

          Jim (next to Jane) sketched from a magazine photo.  “Been doing this long?” Out came the business cards – “Oh, a few years.”  Wow.

        Penny M (last in Daisy’s sketch) was sketching Helga at the table end, then one of the lights before doing watercolor. Lovely sketch.

          Erik (at the other end of the table) really captured the vivid experience of raking leaves, knowing there’s more yet to come!

        Satoko loosened up with a sketch of the trunk of the tree outside, began a sketch of Penny, and looked at Hugh’s sketches. Busy, busy!

        Hugh sketched the trees, too, & used a water brush on the crayons in the carrier he made (so clever). His completed prior sketch is great!

        Helga discovered Lealan in the corner sketching the trees outside. She also showed us her completed sketch from Friday – zowie!

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.