November's Sketchout at Trader's Village

The Group

Saturday's sketchout was at Trader's Village to watch the 31st Annual Native American Championship Pow Wow. Our last trip to this event I remember as rainy and cold. This trip looks to have been sunny and perfect.

I've mentioned before that different sketchers have different ways of working and for allowing for time to complete a sketch. Richard's sketch of the bird vendor in our header is one example.

Here's what he was able to complete on-site.

Of course if time allows, it's always great to add color in the moment. But this technique gives you a chance to capture things as they happen. Especially where there are people in the frame.

Jen is one of the people who made sure to include people in her colorful sketch.

Jen's sketch

Linda did a collage of various people and carnival attractions.

Linda

Michael was also drawn to the carnival attractions and the various booths. His sketches captured some people as well.

Michael

Michael

Robert's sketch

Robert enjoyed all the people and the food booths. The sketch is simple line but you get the sense of people moving and of foreground and background.

Richard and Francisco captured the native village. Francisco really solved one frequent problem. What do you do when a tree has dense foliage and many colors of foliage? Nice job.

Francisco and Richard at work

Francisco's sketch

Mary McJunkin

Mary also drew the "teepee village" with the grandstands behind. Brit drew the same area, with a slightly different perspective.

Brit

Judith also likes to draw a collection of images from any

event. She's got a couple of rides, some food and people moving through the space. Sometimes simple shapes capture all the information you need. I think I'll pass on the "Pharaoh's Fury".

Judith's sketch

Carlos drew right in his smaller sketchbook this time. He drew the teepee village to be colored later and part of the carnival. Loose watercolor provided just enough color information. Pen linework finished the sketch.

Carlos

Of course, the morning ended with a throwdown before lunch.

Throwdown

It's always nice to hear what materials other people use and what their thoughts were as they chose and composed their sketch.

All in all it looks like it was a great day for sketching.

An October Day in Galveston

The Morning Group

The Afternoon Group

Saturday was the perfect day for a sketching trip to Galveston. Not too hot or cold with a beautiful clear sky. Our turnout reflected that: we had over 25 people come to the sketchout this time. And it was an excellent group of enthusiastic people.

There is so much to draw in Galveston. The questions we faced were: What do I draw? and How do I render such complicated subjects? Galveston has a wealth of beautiful old buildings that can be a challenge to draw. Ditto for the fishing fleet and the Elissa. But everyone tackled these subjects with gusto.

After we met up, the group dispersed to various places near the Strand. The lovely old buildings are full of ornamentation.  Linda Pham used loose washes of color and ink work on the sketch in our header.

Lisa

Sometimes your materials force you to simplify. Lisa chose to work on black paper and in pastel. The pastel required paring down to the basics.

Judith

Judith used a similar strategy.

By working primarily in watercolor, the size of the brush  kept the amount of detail manageable. Small marks indicate ornaments like tile and trim without a lot fussy detail.

The windows are large blocks of color. Shadows give them depth. This lovely building is on Mechanic Street.

Carlos Chua makes this his standard approach. Large blocks of color create the building mass. A swipe of the brush adds a window. Sometimes he uses a little line work.

Carlos

Christiane

Christiane drew one of the old alleyways of 

Galveston. Again, simple washes, color wet-in-wet and sparse ink work give you the form without excessive detail.

Sharon
Sharon took a more "collage" approach. A collection of buildings in simple ink line and a literal "splash" of color.

Robert

How do you draw a moving object? Robert gave us this great tip. When the trolley went by, he marked the parameters on his page for the size of the trolley. He worked on the drawing around the trolley first. Then with each time the trolley passed, he was able to add more details and fill it in. Very clever.

Amy

Amy drew the rows of shops along the Strand with all the colorful signs and the deeply shaded overhang.

It really gives you a sense of the space.

Susan

Susan DeCourcy chose a simple watercolor of St. Mary's Basilica.

The limited palette is a nice contrast to the blue of the sky.

Terracota and green are a good contrast and really make this sketch pop.

Then there was the group that gathered in front of The Grand Opera House. What a wonderful old building. And the arch was the attraction here. Again, some different approaches.

Joel brought his friend Lucia, who got right to work.

Lucia at work

Joel and Martha Walker

The father-daughter team of Joel and Martha Walker are good examples of different styles. Joel liked the whole building and the funky little bar next door with its concrete ornamentation. Martha zeroed in on that elaborate arch. Her big shapes are simple, but all the detail is there.

Chris F

I couldn't make up my mind. I wanted a close enough view to capture the ornament, but I liked the historic light fixture and the little bar next door. I split the difference.

Aliona and Susan drawing on Pier 21

Again, there is always a question of how to simplify to the most essential elements. Especially when the tall ship Elissa has elaborate rigging and ropes and usually lots of people on her deck.

Michael

Michael uses large chunks of acrylic color to completely break down the forms. You can still see ropes and rigging and people, but only in their simplest form.

Peter

Peter didn't attempt the whole boat. He tackled the people working in the rigging.

Aliona

Aliona used the gift of a long narrow perspective to create large shapes for the boat, the dock and the sails. Then she fleshed it out with penwork.

Francisco and Chris F

Of course, you can always draw just a small portion of the boat as Francisco and I did. Francisco drew the stern dockside and included some people. I draw a forced perspective from on the deck.

And the Elissa wasn't the only thing being drawn. The shrimp boats and their companions the hungry pelicans were subjects. Again two approaches.

Michael and Aliona

Michael put his acrylic technique to work.  The beaks and feet are all you need to read these as "pelicans". Aliona kept it pretty simple. No ink pen. Just simple watercolor and some perspective across the harbor.

And if the Elisa and the shrimp boats are just too much, you can do what I did at the end of the day. What is simpler than a cruise ship rendered in marker?

Chris F

Of course, there was a throwdown in the morning and again in the afternoon.

Morning Throwdown

Afternoon Throwdown

And after the crawl, the survivors went to Sharon Hendry's studio.

Sharon's studio

This trip to Galveston was very successful and I think everyone came away feeling good about our day.

Feel free to share our blog posts with anyone who enjoys sketching or might want to join us in the future. 

The October Sketchcrawl

 What is a sketch outing?

• Bring: your own sketch supplies, sunscreen, shade hat. Optional: camp stool.
WHAT IS A SKETCH OUTING?
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.
What are the rules?
1. There are no rules. Just drawing what we see.
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.
5. Kids under 16 must be accompanied by an adult.
6. All outings are free and open to all.
7. Each participant is responsible for his/her safety and well-being while abiding by the rules and those of the sites we are visiting.
Urban Sketchers Houston is a chapter of Urban Sketchers, an international non-profit committed to promoting on-location sketching across disciplines and around the globe. For more information, visit www.urbansketchers.org.

The Houston Farmer's Market

The Group

 The Houston Farmer's Market has been one of our sketching venues before. Back when it was Canino's, it was a riot of color and smells. Could the new, rebuilt market still excite us? Well, we needn't have worried. The beautiful new space has many of the same vendors, booths crammed with merchandise and tempting produce, and the thrum of busy shoppers. Our turnout was great. The only dilemma was how to capture it all on the page. Francisco's sketch, which you can see on our masthead, is the outside of the beautiful new building, with a nod to its use.

Arthur

Arthur Deatly brought his easel. He likes to work in water-soluble graphite and watercolor.

Jenna

Jenna's sketches show exactly what we were up against. How do you get all the produce, the shelving, the people that are crammed into every space? Well, you invariably have to simplify just a bit. The colorful background on the top sketch stands in for an even busier background.

Carlos Chua

Carlos also captured just enough to "read" as fruits and vegetables but he used simple watercolor shapes to represent all the produce.

Michael settled onto his stool and let the scenes come to him.

Joel

Joel liked the long view down one side of the narrow vendor corridor that gives you a real sense of the new space.

Chris

I wanted to focus on one vendor space and practice my people-drawing skills.

Bruce

Bruce picked just one section of a booth with an interesting background treatment to fill the space.

Jeff

Jeff simplified by indicating the architecture of the building but focusing on the boxes of produce.

Then there were those who were seduced by all the colors of the produce.

Linda

Linda chose vignettes of several things she saw.

Kathy

Kathy picked one interesting arrangement.

Nancy

Nancy grouped several colorful things in a sort of watercolor/collage approach.

Chris

I went looking for pumpkins (my personal favorite) and I found them! But then I saw all the lovely mangos shining in the sun.

Sometimes just getting it all on the page in the time we have is a challenge. Fahmi and Judith have their own solutions to this problem.

Fahmi

Fahmi sketches on location and goes back with reference photos and watercolor later. She likes to compose her pages with the date, captions, and a bit of writing.

Fahmi

You can see the resulting two-page spread before and after. The border "contains" the image and frames it in the space.

Judith takes a somewhat different approach. First, the bracket on the roof pole makes a handy place for the watercolor kit to rest. It also provides a bit of "cover" when you are drawing people.

Judith captures it all on the spot. Very often she works in watercolor or pencil on site. But she also goes home and pumps up the contrast in Procreate. It avoids the problem of overworking the page in the moment and causing the sketchbook page to buckle or pill.

You can see the "before" and "after" below.

Judith

the throwdown

Of course,  we did the throwdown and the group picture at the end. And that was followed by lunch together at a nearby restaurant.

Next month's sketchout will be in Galveston. The weather should be great and there will be a lot to sketch. If you are a USKHouston sketcher, plan to join us.