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.