NaSkeDraMo Days 21-28

I have fallen way behind, so this will include a lot of sketches.  I have kept up with the Sketch a Day project and have done one a day....though I fell behind on posting them!

These are not being posted in order, for reasons I will explain shortly.  The "Shooooz" above were the sketch for Day 27.

Day 21:

I did a pretty complicated sketch of a small sculpture of "Blind Justice" that is on Louisa's mantel in her home in Washington DC.  It's about 12"tall.  I have not been able to get a good jpeg image of my sketch, but am posting what I have.

Now is a good time to say why I didn't want to go chronological on this posting.  I think this sketch will not show up well on the Facebook thumbnails, and I have learned that most of my friends and followers use the Facebook as a trigger to have a look at the blog.  I am thinking that if I have something that can't be seen very well, no-one will take a closer look!  The "shoooz" are more dramatic in thumbnails!  Tell me if that is silly.  All in all, my "Justice" rendition is a good drawing, but not necessarily something that "shows well."

Day 22:

July 22 was, for me, a moment of personal history as it was the maximum temperature I have ever experienced.  It was so hot.  It was 120 degrees when you take the temperature and the humidity into account--called the "heat index."  My grandaughter Sophia had indicated an interest a few days earlier in making a sketch of the soccer coach's cooler.  I was impressed then that she had picked up on the importance of shapes because the shapes are what make the cooler "cool."  I made a sketch of the cooler that day and it was a total failure. When it was so hot that we had to stay inside on July 22, I had the idea of making a new sketch from a previously failed sketch and my memories.  I wanted something "cool."  Above is the result.  I found the exercise helped me simplify a lot.

July 23:

Well, this was a big day for me because I returned to Portland.   My friends Celeste and Carrie joined me at the Horse Brass Pub in Portland.  We made quite a a few sketches, but this is the one I posted for "NaDraSkeMo."  It's a table and chair at the pub. 

Day 24:



The first thing I saw when I came home was the beautiful begonias on my front porch in a big pot...so they were the logical sketching choice.  I ended up with a watercolor effect, and I like it a lot. 

Day 25:

I had sold some cards at the Trail's End Art Association Gallery in Gearhart and they have an annual show coming up, so I took the opportunity to drive over, pick up my money, and put a painting in the show.  One of my favorite places on the way to Gearhart (and back) is Camp 18.  I stopped on the way back, ordered a Marionberry cobbler a la mode and requested a table with an interesting lamp. I got all that, and more!!!   I was travelling solo and intended to make a sketch...and I did.  I'm thinking:  You need to ask for what you want...and enjoy it!

Day 26:

 On Tuesdays, we (Portland Plein Air and Studio Painters) have breakfast at O'Connor's in Multnomah Village near my home and then some of us (usually Carrie and Celeste) come to my house to do some simple sketches.  Carrie had sketched the my storyteller bear before, but I had a strong urge to do it myself.  It was fun.  We made many sketches, but this is the one I chose to post for the Sketch a day project. It's a bear with a story-teller and children hanging on to hear the stories.  The bear is happy to support the activity.

Day 27:  It's the shoes....they're seen at the top of this post!

Day 28:

I have an amazing clematis vine in bloom.  This is just a brief glimpse into the glory.  They are really spectacular, and this is only a small part of the show.  I hadn't used gouache for awhile and used it for this.  It was a little difficult, but I want to get back into that...at least sometimes. 



NaSkeDraMo Days 18, 19 and 20

Day 18:  "Toy Bug Needs Repair--Toy Flatbed to the Rescue"

Day 19  Toy Woodie and surfboard  "Wouldn't it be nice?"  Wooden it be nice?  Haha

Day 20  Fire Chief on the Way!   I feel like I should have drawn in the hill he's headed up!  He has a rumble seat, and on the tool box at the back it says KEEP BACK!!!

I think that does it for toys....Don't know what I will sketch tomorrow and Friday.  Saturday I will be joining up with Celeste and Carrie at the Horse Brass Pub....we might get in a sketch or two there.  I will keep the project up until the end of July.

NaSkeDraMo Days 15, 16,17

Day 15:  Three Georgia O'Keeffe-inspired pens

Day 16. Hillwood Estate Gardens.  Waiting for a program on 18th-century fan and napkin language--and dancing...common courtesies for a royal wedding.

Day 17 My coin purse/wallet

Still on track with Sketch a Day.







NaSkeDraMo Days 12,13,14

I'm still in Washington DC and still challenging myself to a sketch a day during the month of July--NaSkeDraMo.   It is hard to keep it up, but I think I will enjoy looking back on the work.  Day 12 was a Tuesday, and those who read my other blog www.carolynstravelog.blogspot.com will know that we always go to Mr. Henry's for dinner.  It's kid's night...the kids eat free and watch a movie while the grownups enjoy some time to visit with each other.  I got there early, and had time to sketch the table setup. 

Sophia did one, too.  I drew a quick pencil drawing and she filled in the pen lines.  She noticed I date my drawings, so she did, too.

Day 13 was flowers in a mottled blue glass vase:

Day 14 is crinkly olives in a bowl.  I am a little disappointed in it, but may try it with color. 

NaSkeDraMo Days, 9, 10, 11

Wow...a Sketch a Day isn't too hard, but posting it in the Sketching group and then here has been a challenge.  I am up to it though!

Day 9:

 

Saturday, July 9,  the DC Sketchers (including me, owner of the Plum Gallery) went to the New York Trapeze School, which is not in New York, or even on New York Avenue, but was founded by New Yorkers.  We started off with slow contour sketches and then kept speeding up until we were working with only 30 seconds to complete the sketch.  We never could get fast enough to draw the students, though.  It goes fast and is very distracting.  We had some free time, and I eventually settled on this sketch of one of the parents watching her daughter's routine.  I don't know what I did in the neck area, but I liked the overall feel and gesture of the figure..it was about a 5 minute sketch.

Day 10:

I took a lot of time with this one and it was fun.  The sunflower really was that red, including the stem.  It was from a florist and I think they put it in dyed water to soak up the red color.  Another thing that was fun was using a steel quill pen and sepia ink.  It didn't work too well, and I had to use a marker, too...but it was fun.

Day 11:

Just experimenting....roses we got yesterday from Trader Joe's.  They had a bright pink edge.  It was quick and I didn't do them justice, but so far I've done 11 sketches in 11 days.  





NaSkeDraMo--catching up

I've kept up the Sketch A Day project, and posted one for each day in the Washington DC SketchCrawl group, but haven't kept up posting them for the Plum Gallery.  The SketchCrawl group is a "closed" group, so the postings aren't public.  Now I know.

Day 4 was the 4th of July.  The guy above is waiting for the Capitol Hill neighborhood parade to begin. There were a lot more people, but the view from my very comfortable chair in front of Starbuck's became blocked....so I had to just call the one guy  and the lamppost he stood by "it."

The sketch for Day 5 was a white lily in a bouquet I had bought for Louisa a couple of days earlier.  It's watercolor on one of the Strathmore watercolor cards.

On July 6, it was a sketch of Capitol Hill Day School, near a park where Sophia and I sketched from a very comfortable bench.

I was inspired by a bottle of basalmic vinegar for the July 7 sketch....and then added a bottle of olive oil from Italy, too.  Cooking note:  Good basalmic vinegar comes from Modena, Italy.  This one is proudly from Modena.

Day 8 already, and this is a line sketch of my new sketch kit.  I love it...it stretches around my sketchbook...and actually I can slip in one for Sophia, too.  We are all set to "Do Art!" sharing pencils and erasers (we have a very popular pink one and a white one).

In the SketchCrawl DC Facebook group, there is a diversity of artists, which is great.  Some are sketching totally from their imagination, some are working from photos or memories, and some are working from life.  So far, I am happy to report that all of my sketches have been from life....and I definitely have a bias toward that process.  Thanks to my Portland Plein Air and Studio Painters group for showing me that path.

Sketching at the Zoo

NaSkeDraMo Day 3.  At the Zoo, I made a sketch of an orangatan in the "Think Tank."  It was indoors, and a little dark, where the orangatans have some challenges to think.  The sketch was quick, because they are very active.  They even do somersaults and back flips!!!  They arrive by using an "O Line" from the Ape House:

It is strictly their choice to move from one of their facilities to the other.  They just "hang out" at the Ape House, but have intellectual challenges at the "Think Tank."  When they arrived, there were food treats hidden and they found them.  Then, two of them fought over a blanket--finally, the keeper brought another one, but the "blanket games" continued.  Then Kyle, who is essentially a teenager, demonstrated his memory and matching skills, as explained by one of the scientists who worked there.  We also saw many other animals, including pandas.   They were pretty docile because of the heat.

Goin' to the zoo today.....





NaSkeDraMo Day 2





This was the second Saturday (for me) of the DC Sketchers class, led by Kent Gay.  We went to a park near the National Botanical Gardens and sketched there.  We are still working on contour drawings, but this one is a modified contour and was done in twenty minutes.  Modified contour is working like blind contours, but you can look at the page you're drawing on....you just can't draw while looking at it.  It's my second sketch (Day 2) for National Sketching and Drawing Month (NaSkeDraMo), a project of the Sketch Crawl Group.

NaSkeDraMo

I'm in Washington DC and spending lots of time with my almost four year old granddaughter Sophia.  I decided to take a sketching class and...one thing leads to another...became part of an Urban Sketchers Group.  The group proclaimed July as National Sketching and Drawing Month, or NaSkeDraMo.  The idea is to do a sketch every day.  This is my July 1 post, Sophia's pink croc....left foot. 

Today is my second sketching class, and we are going to the National Botanic Gardens.  I'll get plenty of sketches there, and so will surely have a post for the second day of July and for this Plum Gallery blog.