NASA- A Unique Sketching Opportunity

The group at NASA (not pictured-Joel Walker, our host who took the picture)

Urban Sketchers Houston went to NASA on Saturday. Thanks to Joel Walker, who works there, we were given floor level access to the building where the training modules are located. You can see one of them in the top photo.

Seventeen people showed up to draw the very large training equipment from an up close and personal point of view. Here is the throwdown.

As you can see, everyone found something interesting to draw. 

Cara's view of the Orion capsule

Jen drew one of the EVA suits

Joel drew the nose of one of the Space Shuttles

 

Peter drew Rovers and the Robot Arm

   

Robert drew the Orion training capsule

As you can see, it was an interesting morning. Thanks to Joel and welcome to all the new sketchers who showed up. 

Summer Vacation

Judith in London

In the summer, when it's really hot, the Houston sketchers tend to stay in. Not always, but often. People are away on vacation and busy with their families. We'll be back together again in the fall. There's always lots to sketch.

In the meantime, some of our members have been posting interesting vacation sketches on the FB group. The first one is from Judith's trip to London. She reports that it was quite hot. She are her buddy Isabel were trying to get over to Amsterdam for one of the sketchouts at the Symposium, but had to content themselves with London. The sketch above is the Palace Theater.

Mary McJunkin in Arizona

Mary McJunkin went to Mesa, Arizona. One of her sidetrips took her to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon where she made this lovely sketch.

Ed Petit in Seattle

Ed Petit did a lot of traveling this summer. This is from his trip to Seattle to take Urban Sketching Weekend, a workshop with Gabi Campanario. 

Ed's sketch from the weekend

This is a house the group sketched in Bothell, Washington. Look for more of Ed's sketches on the FB group.

Richard Scruggs in Nashville

Who knew Nashville had a Parthenon? Richard Scruggs took a few trips this summer as well. This sketch is from his trip to Nashville.

Toronto's Old City Hall

Toronto's new city hall

These last two sketches are from Richard's trip to Toronto.

Peter Norris in Italy

And lastly we have Peter Norris's trip to northern Italy. This sketch was done in Verano.

Did you go someplace interesting this summer? Send me a jpg and I'll share it here on the blog.

In the meantime, happy sketching.

Project Row House- The April Sketchout

Back row: Meghan, Susan, Barry, Ed .     Front row: Peter, Robert, Judith, Barry

Eight sketchers showed up to sketch at Project Row House in the Third Ward on Saturday. In 1993, a group of Houston artists saw a group of shotgun row houses about to be demolished. They developed an idea to save them and to benefit the cultural, social and arts community of the Third Ward. This is Project Row House.

Barry's sketch

Robert's Sketch

Judith's sketch

Joel's sketch

The throwdown

Looks like fun!

Farewell Canino's Farmer's Market

January 26th was both the last day of operation for Canino's and the Worldwide sketchcrawl. We had a good turnout and the weather cooperated. Here we are for the group pic.

Here's our sketchbook throwdown. I think we got a nice representation of the front market, the back market and the general area.

Here's Robert's sketch of one of the stalls in the back market.

Mary chose a view down the alley between the old market buildings. Soon all of this will be gone. Oh, the market will still be there, replaced bit by bit by a more gentrified version.

Please consider joining us at future crawls.  You can subscribe to this blog and get all the new entries through a service like Feedly. I will be keeping this up more regularly for those who don't use Facebook. See you soon at the next sketchout!

A Sketchout at Phoenicia

The group made the best of a very rainy day by having the September sketchout at Phoenicia Market at its original location out on Westheimer. Judith had recommended this location for the very large machine that runs all through the market making Pita bread.

Here's the happy group.

And here are the results. Check out more if you are on FB. Otherwise, join us on our next sketchout.

Two New Sketchouts

In honor of Lapin's visit to Texas we had two great sketchouts over the last few weeks. First a trip to the Art Car Museum.

We sketched both outside and in.
Next, we made a trip to the Museum of Natural Science.

And a lot of us drew the dinosaurs.

Everyone had a great time and it was good to meet Lapin and his family.
Join us on Facebook. Look for Urban Sketchers Houston.

Sketchout at St Arnold's Brewery

Six members of Urban Sketchers Houston showed up at St. Arnold's on Saturday. We sketched everything from the production areas to the beer hall.

Here are the upcoming dates for future crawls in Houston.
Jan. 27, Sat. @ Menil Museum WORLD WIDE SKETCH CRAWL #58
Feb. 17, Sat. Open for suggestion - indoor 
March 4, Sun. - Houston Livestock Show @ NRG Center

Check our Facebook Group for details.

Tomball Bluegrass Festival

Two sketches from the Saturday outing to the Tomball Bluegrass Festival.

Houston Sketch Outing Sunday, Sept. 18 @ Rice University 1:30 - 3:30. 
Houston area sketchers are meeting Sunday, Sept. 18 at 1:30 p.m.  at the Brochstein Pavilion Cafe at Rice University. We'll meet at 1:30, sketch and then meet up again at 3 to have a sketchbook throwdown and group photo. Stay longer to have refreshments in the cafe and meet fellow sketchers.
Bring your own materials. Bring a friend, and if this is your first outing with us, welcome! A sketch outing isn’t a class, workshop or competition. It's an opportunity for creative people to meet each other, draw together, and share their sketches with each other and online. You can find parking info on Rice's website.
https://www.google.com/…/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x8640c07b…

What are the rules?

1.  There are no rules.

2.  Anyone can participate, be it to draw for 20 minutes or the full scheduled time.

3.  Any level of ability is welcome, from veteran artists to first time sketchers.

4.  Bring your own sketching gear.  A hat and sunscreen are a good idea.

5.  Kids under 16 must be accompanied by an adult.

Upcoming Fort Worth/Dallas Sketch Outing Dates

Upcoming DFW sketch outing dates. They are on 3rd Saturday of the month, unless noted.  Locations and other details are announced about 2 weeks before each outing.  If you are not on our email list, send your email to me at jim@townscape.com, and we'll add you.  Hope to see you there:

Aug 20

Sept 17

Oct 15

Nov 19

Dec 17

Jan 21

Feb 18

Mar 18

Apr 22 (4th Sat)

May 20

June 17 

Paddock Viaduct, downtown Fort Worth

This spot on the Trinity River, at the foot of the bluffs where the original Fort Worth was established as a U.S. Army frontier outpost, was a ferry crossing point prior to 1890s, when a narrow suspension bridge was built.  This bridge was built in 1912, and still serves the downtown area admirably.

DFW Sketch Outing May 21

Greetings sketchers!

This month’s Fort Worth/Dallas sketch outing will be Saturday, May 21, 2:30pm on the Trinity River on the north side of downtown Fort Worth.  This area offers myriad sketching possibilities, including the stunning Radio Shack Riverfront Campus (now shared with Tarrant County College), the Trinity Trails, a statue of Fort Worth founder Major Ripley Arnold, the decommissioned Fort Worth Power and Light Company Power Plant (circa 1912), the Paddock Viaduct (also known as Main Street Bridge, listed on National Register of Historic Places), and stunning views of the historic Tarrant County Courthouse and downtown rising above the wooded river banks.

We will meet at 2:30pm at John V. McMillan Plaza, located at the north end of downtown’s Taylor Street, where the street terminates in a cul-de-sac at the river’s edge.  This is also where we’ll meet for the sketchbook throw down and group photo at 4:30.  For those who can stay, we’ll pick a downtown venue for happy hour socializing afterwards.

There is limited on-street parking (free on weekends) in the cul-de-sac and on Taylor Street. There’s additional parking at the Panther Island Parking Lot, 395 West Purcey Street.  This link will take you to a map.   

Bring a friend, and if this is your first outing with us, welcome!  A SketchCrawl isn’t a class, workshop or competition.  It's an opportunity for creative people to meet each other, draw together, and share their sketches with each other and online. 

Tiny Houses for Earth Day

The big hit at the Earth Day festivities at Dallas' Fair Park was the "Tiny House" exhibit--tens of thousands waited in 30-minute lines to check these out.

Spring break in the UK

Train ride to Stirling outside of Edinburgh, to visit Stirling Castle. Spring break coincided with a business trip my husband had to make to Aberdeen. So my son and I went to the UK to visit my Urban Sketcher friend Isabelle, in London and then meet my hubby in Scotland for a little exploring - and of course sketching.

My sketch shows just a part of the gallery at Holyrood House Palace in Edinburgh, Scotland. 

The Great Gallery at the Palace at Holyrood House, the largest room in the palace, links the King's Closet with the former Queen's apartments in the west range. The gallery is decorated with 110 portraits of the Scottish monarchs, beginning with the legendary Fergus I, who supposedly ruled from 330 BC. The portraits were all completed between 1684 and 1686 by Jacob de Wet.  The palace as it stands today was built between 1671-1678 in a quadrangle layout, approximately 230 feet (70 m) from north to south and 230 feet (70 m) from east to west, with the exception of the 16th-century north-west tower built by James V. Sir William Bruce designed the 3-storey plus attic Baroque palace for Charles II upon the restoration of the monarchy. 

Back to the Rodeo

Yesterday was the official sketch out for urban sketchers in Houston. Carolyn and I wandered around the Reliant Hall livestock exhibit first. Then we wandered out into the carnival, which had not only amazing rides, but equally amazing foods. Deep-fried Nutella, anyone?

I have never been over to the Reliant Arena where the horse competitions are held. Carolyn was interested in the llama and alpaca exhibit. The center animal, who looks like a dissipated rock star, is an alpaca. He barely registered my presence. The animal on the lower left is a llama. These animals are very alert, curious and responsive. Most exhibit animals ignore the viewers. This one followed every move I made. Llamas aren't know to be particularly friendly, but they are apparently pretty smart. One of the events is an obstacle course for llamas. Think a combination of the horse jumping and the dog agility trials. The young people showing the animals take this very seriously.

This is the last weekend of the rodeo, so that's it for another year.

DFW Sketch Outing March 19th!

Our next Fort Worth-Dallas sketch outing will be 2:30 pm Saturday, March 19^th at Continental Bridge in Dallas!  Plan to meet at Gateway Plaza West on the west side of the bridge. Parking lot can be accessed just off of Canada Drive. Do not park at Trinity Grove. Continental Bridge has some stunning views of downtown Dallas and the Margaret Hill Hunt bridge designed by Santiago Calatrava.  The weather should be cool enough to enjoy a great afternoon of sketching. 

This month’s outing will be hosted by Lisa Horne, a long-time USk Texas regular who hosted last year’s very successful outing in West Village.  We will meet to the west side of the Continental Bridge for introductions and an overview of the afternoon (15 min), then disperse to sketch singly, in pairs or in groups as you wish.  We’ll reconvene at a couple of hours later to share sketchbooks and for a group photo.  Bring a friend, and if this is your first outing with us, welcome!  A SketchCrawl isn’t a class, workshop or competition.  It's an opportunity for creative people to meet each other, draw together, and share their sketches with each other and online. 

Questions? Contact Jim Richards at jim@townscape.com

Let's Rodeo!

Today was my trip to the livestock show to get in some sketching time. Of course, I had to go over and  watch the very patient ponies hauling little kids round and round.

Some were curious about the very large sleeping pig. Some, not so much.

This Brahmin and his kin were as patient as large dogs waiting for their turn for judging in the show ring. The drawing doesn't begin to convey the size of these beasts up close.

The sheep don't like the noise, the crowds, the kids. They most kept a wary distance at the far side of the pen. This was in the birthing area and there were several wobbly little lambs among them. The large female in the foreground watched me intently as I drew.

The little goat was just sprouting the buds of his adult horns. He slept peacefully and ignored everyone.

All in all it was a very fun day.