A Morning at the Menil

Sketchers hard at work at the Menil

We were lucky to have a sunny day that didn't get hot too early along with some lovely shade outside the Menil. Normally, when we visit the Menil Collection, we draw the galeries and art inside. This time, our sketchout in cooperation with Watercolor Art Society Houston was on the grounds and in the neighborhood.

The Group

This was a well-attended sketchout. I counted 30 people. That might be a new record.

Richard

 

 Richard gave a brief demo for anyone who wasn't   familiar   with the tricks   and tips of   urban   sketching. It's always interesting to hear how   different sketchers work.

  Then the group spread out over the grounds and   around the neighborhood. The result was that we   got  a little bit of everything in our throwdown.

 

Of course, there were people who wanted to try the building itself from different angles. You can see Karen's sketch in this month's blog header.

Richard

Richard challenged himself to a corner perspective. Always tricky.

Bruce

Michelle

Bruce and Michelle concentrated on the center of the building and the entrance. Two very different views of the same subject.

Shakti

Shakti zoomed right in on the people going into the museum. The different surfaces are handled really nicely.

Peter

Peter picked an unusual side view of the building and caught some sketchers at work.

Sketchers at work

Here are Peter and another sketcher hard

at work in the generous shade. Always nice to

have some cover available.

Many of the sketchers chose to draw the trees. There are so many really old, beautiful trees on the grounds.

Svetlana

Svetlana worked in colored pencil to draw the lovely, enormous Water Oak that anchors the corner of the lot.

Susan

Susan brought the same tree to the front of her sketch and put the building in the background.

Emily

Emily framed the view between two of the enormous branches in soft, almost abstract watercolor.

Chris

I loved that same perspective with the large branches dripping with Resurrection Fern. I found Cathi Bruhn hard at work.

Barbara

Barbara drew one of the Magnolia trees.

Laura

Laura picked the younger tree for color and the older tree for that bark texture.

Paul and Sabrina went over to the Menil Drawing Institute and drew that building.

Sabrina

Paul

A few sketchers wanted to include the sculptures scattered around the grounds.

Doreen

Cathi Bruhn

And oh look! While I was drawing Cathi, she was drawing me.  

My first sketch was of the Broken Obelisk in front of the Rothko Chapel. A peaceful spot I had all to myself.

Chris

Another group moved out into the neighborhood to draw the various buildings and small cottages.

Teagan

Mary M

That's Michelle on the porch of the bookstore.

Joel

A contrast of the old and new from Joel.

Siao

Cottages and cars under the Sycamore trees from Siao.

Jacklynn

A small cottage with a tricky roof angle drawn by Jacklynn.

We did a throwdown and some of us went out to lunch.

throwdown

We welcome the WASH members to join us anytime on our sketchouts. If you are one of the over 100 people on our email list and you have not been to a sketchout in a while, what are you waiting for? Details will be on Facebook and on Instagram. Please pass the link to the blog along to anyone you think might enjoy it. Until next time...