Beating the Heat at Sawyer Yards

So what do you do when it's August in Houston and the temps are near one hundred every day? It's too hot to be sitting out in the heat and humidity trying to sketch. In the past we've sketched in museums, we've sketched in shopping malls and even coffee shops. This time, we were invited by the owner of Local Pho in Sawyer Yards to come in and sketch before the place opened. The plan was to sketch each other away from the pressure of a public presence. That, plus the air-conditioning must have appealed to a lot of people because the turnout was excellent. Although there is something very meta about the sketchers sketching the sketchers.....

Michael chose the broad view of the service counter and kitchen that you see in the blog header. He used green tones to tie together the two-page spread.

Francisco

Francisco also chose the wide view and caught the cook at work.

Britt

Britt's version gives you the unusual angle on the service counter and captures the depth of the space. He also included a couple of people.

Jenna

Jenna turned that view around and caught sketchers hard at work and the view out the front window. A little splash of red or green really livens up the scene.

Judith

Of course, Judith had to sketch the counter area and one very distinctive customer. But when it was lunchtime she sketched her lunch as well. Recording something of the place makes the experience memorable.

Lisa

Lisa also included a person, but her focal point was the portrait of the chicken and those light fixtures. The composition makes this interesting to look at and the chicken is whimsical.

Amy

Amy stuck to the mission of drawing people with two sketches which are very different in both mood and materials. The trees and cars in the background on the right put the sketch in a very real space.

Joel

Joel's choice of simple line and a limited palette makes these sketches of the sketchers very effective. 

The group in the back of the restaurant found a lovely air-conditioned view of the Houston skyline to draw.

Bruce

Bruce also stuck to a limited palette and simple line. He worked on capturing the distinctive shapes he saw at the top of each building that give the Houston skyline its character.

throwdown

Of course, there was a throwdown where we shared our techniques and materials and then some lunch at Local Pho. Yum.

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