The Coffee Shop Crawl

 

The Group

In the dead of summer in Houston, the dilemma is always "Where can we go to sketch where it isn't blazing hot?" Since we've been together as a group for a while, this can be a challenge. Susan came up with a new solution: Montrose coffee shops. We visited three kinds of unique coffee shops on Westheimer in the heart of Montrose. Common Bond is your brand-new, modern, spare space that could be most anywhere. Agora has the classic Montrose vibe. You can see the bones of the home that it once was. The space is homey and more personalized. Brasil was once a small business and was converted into a cafe/coffee shop way back in 1992. It has a little bit of the modern and the old.  Let's see what the sketchers chose to draw.

First there are always other sketchers to draw, as Marcus has done in brush pen on the header. You'll see some other sketchers make appearances along the way.

Carlos

This was Carlos's view in Common Bond. Lot's of stainless steel and just a hint of color.

Richard

Richard focused instead of the customers, his fellow sketchers as it so happened.

Chris

I was feeling the black-and-white vibe and did my sketch in pencil.

Shaw

Turnabout is fair play. Shaw drew Richard and some other sketchers.

Susan

Susan drew her colorful pistachio pastry making sure to put it in context with the coffee cup and the sketchbook.

Fran

Fran drew the contents of the pastry case. She used a little white gouache to make that cream pop.

Michelle

Michelle chose a croissant. The Common Bond logo gives it a sense of place.

Jacklynn

Jacklynn's vivid green matcha certainly livens up this scene.

Anna

Anna's macaroons look yummy. I love the details like the pen and the order number sign. This gives the sketch real personality.

Paul

When we got to Agora, Paul chose a different tact. He drew what he could see across the street from the upstairs window.

Marcus

Marcus also went upstairs, but he drew the view looking down into the coffee shop.

Chris

I drew a different view looking at the coffee bar, also from upstairs.

Judith

Judith's sketch is a mash-up. In the bottom right you can see the sketch she began in Common Bond of Susan's pastry. In Agora she added the very busy area at the coffee bar and the barista.

Rebecca

Rebecca also did a mash-up, combining her salad with a view of the outside of the shop.

Jeff

Jeff combined sketches from all three locations. The top is Common Bond, the middle is from the patio at Agora and the bottom is the very odd display of crochet or yarn balls in Brasil.

Michelle

This is Michelle's view of the coffee bar in Agora. Sitting at the bar helped her narrow her focus.

Susan

Susan had a similar idea. The plants add a pop of color.

Carlos

Carlos enjoyed drawing the customers in Agora. I guess you could say it attracts a different crowd.

Rebecca

Finally, we landed at Brasil. Rebecca drew the view on the patio. For those wondering, this was pencil and blue Noodlers ink.

Judith

Judith was also intrigued by the crochet balls. The sticker gives the sketch a lively sense of place and nicely fills that empty corner. But a little journaling would do this too.

Chris

I would like to say that I had enough restraint to draw my tamale first and then eat. Alas! But the Jamaica tea adds some color.

There were several sketches where I couldn't quite identify the locale.

Janelle

Colorful bottles behind the bar. Possibly Common Bond?

Cody

Pastry and a coffee in watercolor.

Mary

More coffee and pastry in pencil.

Michelle

A couple of customers distracted by their phones.

Jacklynn

Jacklynn decided to do a group of thumbnails. A think this was all three locations.

We had the throwdown at Brasil.

A list of our upcoming sketchout locations had been posted to Instagram. You can also join

our Facebook group by answering a few questions. If you are new to urban sketching there are two tabs at the top of the post that will give you more information. Please think about joining us for future sketchouts. OH, and reserve the date. Our day in Galveston will be Saturday, October 18.

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.