New Day Bakery, Eugene, OR

       Jane and Sandy take turns trying to get the whole gang in the photo.

We enjoyed being outside on the patio – Jean, Ken, Barb Sh, Hugh, Bev, Penny, Barb So, Heather, Sandy, & Erik.

        What’s Barb Sh showing Ken? One of her marvelous folding 3D visual collages taken from photos she took!

      Hugh’s photo was a little more mundane – a dryer hooked up in an alley – now there’s a surprise! Ah, the eye of the artist.

      Penny’s on a bird blitz – look how this one is going from a simple sketch to layers of color. Check back to see this one finished.

                  Barb So picked an ever popular subject – food!

     Ah shucks, Sandy just had to do it, too. (Notice the empty plate.)

      Heather took a break from the Whitaker Printmakers, and joined us to sketch with charcoal – what? A vanilla cheesecake! YUM>

   Erik invited his friend Jean to join us. She worked on flowers, he on the view across the courtyard (yes, that’s Heather!).

       Jean slowly builds up depth in her sketch with colored pencils.

    Ken explains his multi-media approach to Jean, much to Erik’s approval – whatever works! Pencil, marker, pens, watercolor…

   Bev had her eye on the fellows for models – first the guy on his computer, then gestural studies of the workers laying pavers. Wow.

    Jane and Ken captured the workers, too, and decided we definitely have to come back to admire their finished work. Great patio!

Friendly St. Market, Eugene, OR

Does this look like a group who does everything the same? No. Lealan, Hugh, Sandy, Phyllis, Penelope, Ken, Jane, Tricia, Barb Sh.

         “I’m not late, am I?” Barb A. brought down the house.

       Jane brought copies of some artwork by French artist Marie Stricher who used watercolor wash swashes of color before she sketched.

   Here’s Jane’s previous attempt to use color wash blocks, all in tidy frames. Ken had some air brushed colored spots which he uses.

    
Tricia tries Marie’s color wash swashes, and discovers that it’s  a lot of fun to play with. Lealan admits she just plain loves color!

        Penelope shares her work from a recent class on using cross-hatching. Ken showed her how to connect images with it . Ta dah!

    Meanwhile, Hugh is busy with opposite effects – trees in black ink on white paper, white ink on black paper. (Hope I don’t have to choose!)

     Sandy & Helga are doing a still-life sketch – of Sandy’s gloves!

    Nice renditions, gals! Sandy adds some color to hers to tempt Helga.

    Lealan takes on Bev’s usual subject – portrait sketches.  Anyone at the table is fair game for modeling purposes! Smile!

      Barb Sh starts adding a complimentary image to a previous sketch – a portrait with an elaborate headdress now! What a clever mind.

      And of course there is the ever popular botanical sketch – here done by Barb So, Jane, and Barb A just getting started with hers.

      Ken finds another spray of color in his sketchbook, and joins in with a flower sketch, too, with ink, watercolor, and colored pencil.

Friendly St. Market, Eugene,OR

      We enjoy sketching on the covered patio here. Around the tables: Erik, Barb So, Betsy, Barb Sh, Sandy; Barb Sh, Sandy, Tricia, Betsy, Bev, and Erik. And even more, as you will see!

        Barb A has such a nice loose approach to watercolor sketching, and the pots of dianthus on the tables are just the right subject matter.

    Jane, on the other hand, always starts with an ink drawing, then adds watercolor (& she likes doing selective close-ups).

    Erik has his own images in the file in his mind, and cracks the group up with his wit. It’s such a pleasure to have him with us.

     Barb Sh is off in another world, fascinated by an ancient arch.

  But back to the dianthus – Barb So with a delicate watercolor, and Sandy with an pen & ink version.

     Bev was intrigued by the dianthus, too, & plans to add some narrative words at the top of her finished sketch page.

     Helga is enjoying the definition she’s getting in her pencil sketches. Maybe she’ll try ink sometime in the future, she says.

        Tricia enjoys not only doing loose watercolor, but also incorporating her observations in her sketch – including the carrot soup she had!

      Phyllis lives in the neighborhood, so stopped by for breakfast and a quick sketch (of the dianthus, of course – see next week for it).

Penelope asked if someone had taking Jane’s photo for the blog, and so Jane & Penelope posed with sketches from their sketchbooks.

      Then Penelope succumbed to the lure of the dianthus, too!

Hideaway Bakery, Eugene, OR

And here we (mostly) all are, taking advantage of the cozy inside room. From the left, Penny, Hugh, Sandy, Barb Sh, Lealan, and across the room near the fireplace are Ken, Erik, & Bev.

      Hugh, Mr. Diligent, tackles a reverse color outline, and still manages to get the color of the sunset glowing on the paper!

      Sandy, sitting across from Lealan, begins a series of portraits.

      Lealan showed us her finished sketch from 5th St. Market, a woods scene, and then went on to sketch Hugh & Sandy across from her!

        Penny was aghast at water soluble ink all over her hand & blobbing the page. But look at how she (& the sketch) recovered. Nicely done.

     Barb Sh. typically begins her sketches with water soluble ink, & uses it throughout the sketch – look how Pegasus emerges!

   Buddies Erik & Ken frequently sketch together, but what’s that Ken is using to fill out tree foliage? A multi-colored pencil! Wow.

     Looks like Erik has taken up abstract art…no…wait a minute! That’s the  Rocca (fortress) in Assisi from Ken’s postcard beside him!

    Jane got caught up in sketching the end of the room, then tried her hand at a portrait of Helga sitting across from her. Oh well.

              Helga explained how she was trying to refine her perspective, sketching the beams in the room, & Hugh amused Penny with his sketch from the view  inside of a plane.

     Bev got exasperated when her portrait model had the gall to leave, so she resorted to sketching herself in reflected in the mirror.

       Barb A and Sandy bookmark the mirror view. Barb says she came to see the book of memories about Anne, our dear sketch friend,  that Jane put together (shown on the table with Erik, Ken, & Bev).

Hideaway Bakery, Eugene, OR

It’s pretty well acknowledged that we tend to select sketching sites contingent upon two factors: accessibility of coffee, and accessibility of bathrooms. Today we added a third – heat overhead on a patio!

Sandy, Barb Sh., Ken, Hugh, Erik, Bev, Barb So. (& Jane behind the camera). As you may be able to tell by outerwear, it was nippy.

      Jane came prepared with a print-out of a page by Urban Sketcher Miguel Herranz from Barcelona, & utilized a similar layout to sketch the items in the nearby sandbox on the patio.

     Sandy zeroed in on the lineup of  three TD guy friends – Ken, Hugh, & Erik – and then couldn’t resist Penny’s fig bagel.  Another attraction!

        In between snacking on her treat, Penny sketched the quince flowers Sandy had collected on her walk. Lovely design ensued.

       Barb had her water soluble ink pen going, adding her dog to the cat sketch, and then the St. Francis Basilica door demon. Whatta combo!

      Ken sketched a  tree across the way, starting out with his left hand to keep the lines loose, then building up the sketch with color.

       What are you up to, Hugh? Oh, color charts! See, one with and one without adding water so he can easily choose the effect he wants.

     Erik drew what he saw in front of him – a dad playing with his son in the nearby sandbox. He really captured a charming scene.

      Bev looked up and sketched the ceiling fan, string of lights, and then added the edge of the doorway and bamboo plant. Fun angles – wow.

Then we had to add another table & some chairs at the end, because Penelope and Helga came to sketch with us, too.

       Penelope had a travel scene on her iPad that she was working on, adding careful layers of watercolor to bring it to life.

      Helga spotted the bamboo plant just beyond Barb Sh & Ken, then included the wooden gate next to it. There’s a lot to see in this spot.

       Bev said to show this sketch of Hugh & Barb Sh instead of her fan sketch, so I’m adding it. And Penelope asked if anyone had taking a photo of Jane to include, so here is one with apple blossom sketch.