16 Tons Café, Eugene, OR

    You have to keep your eye on the musical chairs! Left: Barb So, Penny, Bev, Marsha; right: Daisy, Barb So, Helga, Bev, Marsha.

       And in this corner, Lona and Erik, soon joined by Satoko!

      Barb So doesn’t need a musical chair game to keep moving – here’s a persimmon done at home, a quick tree and a person  sketch, too!

      Bev is on a roll with preparing her pages ahead of time with stamped patterns, and then look how she incorporates them in the sketch.

     Marsha does an inked line drawing and then does she ever get into color! Who needs three hands when you have so many fingers.

     Daisy was fascinating with the paintings on the wall at the café, and imagined one of them on her coffee cup!

            Helga zeroed in on one of the paintings (see middle photo), too, then let whimsy take over the rest of her sketch. What fun.

        Lona used a photograph as inspiration for her signature style – so vivid and full of life.

     Erik (remember him in the corner?) was kept busy doing color value studies.

      Satoko said, “This is what you do when you make a mistake (in ink).” What used to be the beginning of a person, becomes a structure!

         And meanwhile, Jane was playing with two different water soluble ink pens. Bev tried the Elegant Writer – yes, it’s juicy!

16 Tons Cafe, Eugene, OR

          We like this cozy cafe, where we can spread out – Hugh, Erik, Sandy, Bev; Ken, Marsha, Danita, Daisy, Lealan; Danita, Barb Sh, Katie.

       Hugh was really cranking them out – a new coversheet for a new sketchbook, and he was off! Nice black on white sketch, too.

     Erik tempted Sandy with the whipped cream on his lemon curd crepes, but it didn’t slow down her sketching of mini portraits.

        Here’s how Erik’s sketch evolved – love those colors!

        Bev got a lot of sketches done (including one of Erik in the middle).

       Jane’s sketches were of her new favorite dish – avocado on toast!

        Marsha chose the same topic, but used colored pencils instead – what a lovely rendition!

       Ken’s sketchbooks are never “done” – he keeps going back and adding new depth, a new study, a new use of a previously done wash.

      Daisy almost forgot to sketch her food before she ate it all, but managed to do her all time scope of sketching anyway.

      It’s so interesting to see how Lealan’s sketches evolve – wow!

      Danita looks at Barb Sh’s finished sketch page done at her toy store, and then Barb Sh is off on a new page spread sketch.

        Danita worked on adding layers to a previously started sketch, and then shared a sketch she’d done recently at a performance.

        Katie faced the dilemma of what to do first – sketch or eat? And she solved it by taking a photo of the food. Ha!

The Dancing Weasel Toy Shop, Eugene, OR

        Danita invited us to sketch in her toy store – here she is showing a recent watercolor sketch, and chortling at Ken immediately at work.

          Ken said he only brought a yellow marker, so his sketch choice was dictated by something yellow – a fun choice, as it turned out!

We fit right into the space – in front are Sandy, Hugh, & Ken.

        Ken checks with the group in back – Barb Sh, Barb So, Danita & Bev; & Hugh welcomed Erik to the event – where to begin to sketch!

   Sandy & Barb A enjoyed the scones Danita provided for us, then Barb A chose a gorilla costume arm for her sketching subject.

      Sandy focused in on two darling little dolls – turned out well!

      Hugh’s enjoying the drama of white on black for his sketches.

     Erik found a little doll house scene to sketch.

        Barb Sh was intrigued by the articulated wooden dragon.

    Jane sketched a smaller dragon, then tried some new metallic pencils with a sketch of some of the large lego blocks on the table.

        Barb So found the little alligator to her liking – nice sketch!

        Bev, never one to shirk a challenge, took on the hanging wall display, and did it ever turn out well.

        Lealan saw the little cookstove, and that was all it took to get going.

      Daisy couldn’t just do one item, they were all too tempting!

      Finally Danita gave herself a break from hostessing to sketch the row of large stuffed toys – she wanted to do the pineapple, she said.

And did I mention music? The wheels on the bus go round and round. The itsy bitsy spider went up the water spout. OK, so we sang along!

Café Yumm, 18th St., Eugene, OR

     Marsha, Lona, Daisy, Penny, Erik, Bev, Hugh, Katy, Barb Sh, Ken; Katy, Ken, Marsha, Lona, Penny, Erik, Bev.

     Erik, Bev, Hugh; Katy, Ke, Barb Sh, Barb So, Marsha, Lona.

Then Annie and Judith stopped by on their world travels to say “Hi!”

      Bev came in costume! The Barbs show each other their sketches.

Barb Sh finished her sketch of a recent concert at the mausoleum.

    Penny quickly did an inside sketch, and Bev sketched the outside of the cafe. Nice!

     Daisy sketched the counter, and a pig toy in a nearby store window.

       Erik was working on a moonlight picture, while Hugh captured the new planting box outside the cafe.

     Sandy was working on a loose watercolor sketch of birds on a rail.

     Katy was baffled about how to finish her page – Ken suggested she add some words, and so she did!

    Marsha started working on a colored pencil drawing – see what she did in a recent class. What a wonderful autumn leaf rendition!

       Lona used her pencil lid to get some straight lines, and Tricia continued her exploration of loose watercolor.

         And what Jane did was share an interesting sketch done by Urban Sketcher Tarek Souissi from Tunisia. Here are the tools he used.

5th St. Market, Eugene, OR

    We love the tables in the window – Hugh, Sandy, Barb Sh, Daisy, Katie, Erik, Bev, Penny & Hugh again (with Jane behind the camera).

        Hugh was busy sketching the whole time! First the outside structure, then the memory of a neighbor’s tree, and the last page!

        Jane said she bought the fruit Danish purely for modeling purposes (but it also gave her an incentive to finish the sketch!).

      Sandy did the same with a great looking Bear Claw.

        Barb Sh found elegance in the mundane, as she added cafe chairs to her existing sketch. Look how they came to life with color!

        Daisy took the conversation about Urban Sketchers to heart and started sketching the heating vent above us – wow.

          Katie had a colorful page to show us, then went on to add a sketch from outside the window and started adding color there, too. Nice.

          Bev had pre-stamped her page, added the corn, and then the little toy Erik brought. “It’s not a squid! It’s an octopus,” he said. Oh.

              And on closer examination…Erik’s sketch starts to emerge, too.

     Penny started by finishing a sketch from home, then couldn’t resist the octopus, too, and the fascinating reflection on the table.

But wait, there are more! Satoko, Tricia, and Penelope (in constant movement) commandeered a table for sketching, too.

        Penelope brought her sketches from the forest fire in Central Oregon (the black was from burnt wood in her yard), then set to.

        Tricia caught us up on past sketches (including the twisty glass jar from Perugino), and then began an autumn watercolor sketch.

          Satoko showed Barb Sh photos of her Tuscany workshop site (next fall), then started sketching nearby people at the tables.

Then Barb Sh wowed us with the design she created to show off postage stamps that were just too interesting to throw away.