St. Mary's of the Nativity-Plantersville

Our group

Carlos's lovely watercolor gives you some idea of what this tranquil spot is really like. Everyone commented on how quiet and peaceful this spot is.

For those of you not familiar with painted churches, they were mostly (but not exclusively) Catholic and founded by German and Czech immigrants to Texas. Many of them are southwest of Houston in Fayette County. I've heard two versions of why the churches were painted. One was that in the early days the congregation couldn't afford stained glass so the paint dressed up these simple wooden buildings. The other version is that the painting recalls the gothic splendor of European churches for which these immigrants were homesick. St. Mary's in Plantersville is a fine local example.

Everyone had their own plan for tackling this subject. The morning was cool-ish, so folks like Carlos went to capture the outside of the church.

Ken

You can see Ken Roy hard at work if you look at Carlos's sketch.  Ken did a fine job with a little ink and watercolor.

Susan

Susan chose a three-quarter view to give the church a more 3 dimensional look. She also got a bit of the history of the church from the historical marker. Imagine this country spot in 1873.

Rick

Rick did a closer look at the entrance in pencil.

Chris

I went over to the parish cemetery, which still has some of the old metal German grave markers. It also has live oaks that, I'm sure, date from the founding of the church.

Some people went right inside to attempt to catch the lovely painted sanctuary. To give you some idea how complicated that was, here are some photos.

The sanctuary, the altar and some paint detail

So, the only choice would be to greatly simplify. Kyoko did that very well with soft, luminous watercolor.

Kyoko

Britt

Britt focused on just the chancel and stuck to watercolor only.

Shaw

Shaw made a similar choice keeping her focus specific.

Susan

Susan moved a bit farther back and got a nice view of the ceiling and the painted posts.

Chris

I climbed into the choir loft and tried to get the entire sanctuary. Susan and I both found that we had to go to colored pencil for the smallest details. There was just so much to draw!

Cori

Cori tried a bit of everything. The interior, the entrance and a stone from the cemetery. She stuck to pen and ink.

Of course we had a throwdown on the church steps. Then a couple of us went off to lunch.

If you have not yet joined us on a sketchout, please join us for the next sketchout. We try to stick to indoor options in the summer and we are a friendly and nonjudgmental group. If you are interested, please follow us on Instagram or join our Facebook group by answering a few questions. We had some new faces this time and hope to see more in the future.

Jamail Skatepark at Buffalo Bayou

 At the very end of June, we got a second shot at visiting the Jamail skatepark at Buffalo Bayou in downtown. This time, there was no traffic, parades or closed streets to keep us away. For some reason, we missed a group photo this time, but the turnout was good.

As you can see from the thumbnails in the blog header, people bravely tackled people in action. It was a real challenge.

Carlos

Carlos took on the challenge.

Richard

Richard did a series of smaller studies.

Susan

Susan worked on the architecture of the ramps and added the skaters later.

Decha

Decha managed to catch the whole scene.

Judith

Judith used just ink and some colored pencils to work out her sketch.

Chris

I fretted a bit over getting the proportions of the figure just right. Then, I realized I needed to set him in an actual place. I kept that minimal.

Peter

Peter got the skaters, but he also was interested in the graffiti artist working nearby.

Joel

Joel was interested in the spectators as well as the skaters.

Richard

Richard spent  a bit of time studying that same graffiti artist.

Carlos

Carlos painted a graffiti artist as well.

Phillip

Phillip drew the food truck from the vantage point of the pavillion above.

The park at Sabine Street gives you a great view of the skyline. So several sketchers took on skyline views.

Judith

Judith worked in marker and made her sketch a study of line and value.

Peter

Peter did a small study first. That became a thumbnail within a larger sketch.

Miran

Miran was visiting us from Los Angeles. She decided to take on our skyline.

Susan

Susan got the reflective glass in the buildings just right.

Chris

I liked the view looking straight up from the Sabine Street bridge.

Phillip

Phillip did the smaller study on the left, before he began the full painting on the right.

Decha

Decha did two studies of foliage. One used a warm palette and one a cooler palette.

Judith

Judith's partial view of the skyline is focused on Phillip who was hard at work.

Miran

Miran was also drawn to Phillip's red cap.

We had our throwdown at the pavillion. Then we adjourned for lunch and air conditioning.

We always welcome new or visiting sketchers. Join us on our Facebook page (please answer the three questions) or check out our Instagram account. That's where we post information about upcoming sketchouts. Think about joining us.

The Bug Bash- Seabrook Texas

 

our group

We had a really nice turnout for the annual Bug Bash, put on by the Bay Area VW Club in Seabrook. The setting was El Jardin by the Sea, a park in Seabrook attached to a local subdivision. There were some great VW's there, not just bugs.

Judith

First, I want to show Judith's sketch because it is quite amazing what you can get done in a mere 15 or 20 minutes. Judith brough Marvy markers and did the sketch on location on the left. Then, she went home and used more marker to give those VWs a lawn to sit on and some saturated colore to improve the sketch. This is a reminder that while we ask that you sketch on location, you are welcome to improve the work at home.

Susan

Susan did something similar adding to the background and strengthening her color.

Cody jumped in and got right to work. Here he is working on his sketch.

And here is the result. Welcome Cody.

Joel

Joel drew a classic van and even included a couple of people!

Carlos

Carlos started in ink this time and then added the watercolor in soft layers.

Chris

I arrived super early in order to get a view of the shore before it got too hot.

Martha

Martha also drew a classic van.

Indah

Indah drew the OG bug in olive and the classic van in turquoise.

Fran

Fran did the same, but her van was a camper van with all the extra kit.

Kandy

Kandy liked drawing the vans as well.

MacKenzie

MacKenzie also got one of each and some folks appreciating the view.

Jeff Whit

Jeff Whit appreciated the VW dune buggy conversion.

Andrea

The Bug Andrea chose to sketch looks like it's ready to take off for somewhere fun.

Jeff(Kandy's husband)

Kandy's husband (also Jeff) stuck to pen and ink and bravely tackled people. 

Mary

Mary worked in pencil. She alsoo included some people.

Linda

Linda did a study of rust and side mirrors. 

Chris

I finished the seaside and tackled the camper van and the Jetta in colored pencil.

We had a throwdown before it got too hot.

Then we went to lunch in Kemah. It was a great day. If you want to join us on  future sketchouts, check out our Instagram page or join us on Facebook.