A Return to Galveston

Urban Sketchers Houston in October

Sketching in the time of COVID is always a challenge, but with outdoor locations and basic precautions we are forging on. This month we went back to Galveston and were fortunate to be joined by several new participants. Always good to see new faces.

We started out at the docks. The morning had been foggy, but was clearing and the view across the harbor was a busy one.

Joel, left and Francisco, right

Joel and Francisco were interested in the little red tug hard at work.

Chris, left and Judith, right

I decided to take the challenge of the Elissa and found a great vantage point on the empty deck of a restaurant. Judith, however, was fascinated by her crew working high in the ship's rigging. Point of view is everything.

Martha, left and Robert, right

Martha and Robert headed over to the docks where the shrimpers and the dock area were their focus. They chose the black-and-white option.

After the docks, the group wandered the Strand and then over to Post Office street. 

Nancy, left and Magdalena, right

Nancy and Magdalena gave us colorful versions of the Post Office street buildings. I don't think we've ever had a sketcher work on canvas before.

right, Judith and Joel at work

It's always good to catch the sketchers at work. One building on Post Office Street caught many eyes. Here you can see Judith at work and Martha's sketch of Judith and her dad, Joel.

Chris, left and Judith, right

Here's the very complicated challenge that caught everyone's eye. I saw at least 4 of the group working on versions of this building.

Bruce's sketch

Bruce took on another challenge. There are many of these wonderful survivors seeing new life on Post Office Street, the Strand and along all the side streets.

Robetrt's sketch

Robert chose a corner view, always tricky for that perspective.

Francisco's street view

Francisco took on a panorama of all of Post Office street. Another tricky perspective challenge.

We had the throwdown at the end of the block, which you can see in the group photo and below.

Everyone split up for lunch and a smaller group met on 24th street for sketching of the historic Victorians in that neighborhood. You can see Judith's sketch in the blog header. 

All in all it was a succesful and socially distanced sketchout. There are always lots of interesting things to draw in Galveston.  I hope that some of our group that we haven't seen in a while will join us for the next sketchout. If you've never joined us, please do. We always have a good time.

A Day in the Country

 

The group at the throwdown

This month's outing was a trip to The Grounds. The grounds is being developed as a venue with studio spaces and a place for food trucks, art fairs and the like. It is a very quiet and peaceful country setting, but the colors are vibrant. Kathy Fediw captured that in the sketch you can see in our blog header. We were joined this month by members of the Conroe Art League.

Jeff immediately went to the far end of the property and quietly captured another hidden gem.

Cissy's sketch

Cissy was fascinated by that same piece of equipment in the trailer. Difficult to capture, she reports.

Karen's sketch

Karen's sketch hints at the ground fog that greeted us as we made an early start.

Barbara's sketch

Barbara liked the whimsicall chicken on this building.

Romana's sketch

Romana's sketch included the landscaping as well as the colorful building.

Judith's gouache

Judith's colorful gouache is a contrast in the warm tones of the building and the cool colors in the landscape.

Chris's sketch

The colorful deer on the building along the drive caught my eye. Later I noticed the homage to the Cadillac Ranch installation in West Texas.

Despite the early meet time and the more far-flung location, twelve sketchers showed up on Saturday representing the north end of our sketching area. We have lots of sketchers who live on the edges of the city and county. If you are a sketcher in Clear Lake, Ft. Bend, Baytown or Katy and have suggestions for new sketching locations, let us know. We're always looking for new places to visit.

A Visit to the Old Sixth Ward

Judith Butler Dollar

The old Sixth Ward was once one of the first "suburbs" in Houston. The neighborhood lies east of Houston Avenue and South of Washington Avenue and has some of the oldest surviving homes in Houston. Judith's sketch documents the corner in front of the old Dow Elementary, now a community center known as MECCA.

Robert James

Robert James captured the same corner from across the street and also a scooter parked around the corner.

Mary McJunkin

Mary McJunkin like the beer can Madonna in front of MECCA in Dow Park.

Richard Scruggs

Richard Scruggs drew the old grocery store on the corner of Henderson and Kane. It was recently opened again and serves food as well.

Susan DeCourcy

Susan found a charming old house on Lubbock Street.

 

Chris Fitzgerald

I remembered this vista and walked over to Silver Street to catch the contrast between the old house and the modern skyline.

the group

The day was perfect for social distancing. Too hot for much else and lots of fresh air. Those who stuck it out in the heat gathered for a group photo and a throwdown.

The throwdown

 In spite of everything, Urban Sketchers Houston is still alive and well and out there sketching. Here's hoping we'll see more of the group at future sketchouts.

Virtual Vacations

Jay Robert Larsson

This summer, for most of us, vacation means a staycation. So it's fun to take a little virtual vacation from summers or even just vacations past. Jay Robert Larsson is revisiting Stockholm, Sweden, where he tells us he makes a yearly visit. Night sketches are not as common and this restful image in colored pencil is very calming.

Chris Fitzgerald

This sketch was done in San Miguel de Allende several summers ago. The Parroquia is a very complicated building to draw and I wanted to challenge myself.

Richard Scruggs

Richard Scruggs

Richard Scruggs went on a cruise pre-COVID and visited Cozumel. The unusual perspective in the drawing from the ship really grabs your attention. In Cozumel,  he found another lovely colonial-era church to sketch. 

Kathy Fediw

Kathy Fediw went to Hawaii several years ago and sketched these images on the big island at Mauna Loa Bay. Another tranquil place to rest our eyes.

Mary McJunkin

Mary McJunkin went to New Mexico and Arizona last year to visit friends and family. You can see her sketch of the Grand Canyon in our blog header. She also captured a pueblo at Almagorda, New Mexico and a classic old motel in Mesa, Arizona. Love the diving girls on the sign!

Fahmi Khan

Fahmi Khan is a teacher and got to travel during a Spring Break with the honor orchestra students as they performed all over Europe. Here we see a moment in a coffee shop in Prague and the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence. Most importantly, Fahmi notes that sometimes the group moved so quickly, she had only time for thumbnails. This is important to remember if you are journaling a trip. Sometimes thumbnails have to be enough. Enjoy the moment!

Judith Butler Dollar

Finally, there is Judith's trip to Porto, Portugal in 2018. She captured the bustle of the farmer's market at the moment and went back with Procreate to strengthen the image. A nice fusion of traditional art materials and technology.  She also captured the jumble of buildings in this hill town. Nice work.

I hope this little virtual vacation has given you some ideas for when we can all venture out again.

USK Houston Sketching in Quarantine

Working from home- Robert's wife at work

Living in close quarters and working from home has been the challenge for the past few months. And for urban sketchers it has been finding time and subjects for sketching....or at least things that somewhat resemble the mission of the group. But we have succeeded. Robert caught his wife hard at work in the sketch above.
I know that you can all relate by this point to Judith's comment on the right corner of the blog header.  Judith took refuge in her house in Galveston and gave us a view of the lovely garden.

Judith says, " I am very lucky to have my art supplies in isolation. Drawing 'the view from here' during times at home makes me take a fresh view of my daily vistas...A view from the front porch through the flowering Angel's Trumpet...when I'm filling my sketchbook there is no space in my brain for worrysome and stressful covid thoughts"

The stay-at-home order caught Mary McJunkin's extended family mid-move so she found herself on grandma duty with limited time to sketch.

Mary McJunkin

This restful domestic view reflects her limited time to draw. Mary says, "I'd watch the grandkids for several hours each day and had been trying to at least sketch a little with help from Danny and Koosje when I got a free moment." (Danny Gregory and Koosje of Sketchbook Skool)

Renata Lucia

Renata has been following along the Instagram videos from USK International. One of the assignments was to storyboard your day.

Joel

I guess I know where Joel has been spending his time. And in March and early April that fire pit would be nice.

Cissy Geigerman

How many of us went out "for groceries" and came home with something like an ice cream bar? Cissy captured the moment for us.

Cindy Chandler

It looks like Cindy got some fresh air somewhere by the bay.

Chris

I took on a more ambitious project. I sketched every day for almost thirty days and posted daily to Instagram. You can see the other sketches here. But on one of the very last cool afternoons of this spring I sat on the glider on my porch and enjoyed a good book.

Here's hoping all of you are well and still working in your sketchbook. When this is resolved we'll have some interesting lunches passing around our sketchbooks!