Pop Up Sketch Out

 Jenny Jing Zhang came to town on her way to Marfa and Big Bend. So we took this opportunity for a pop up sketchout.  First, a group of us met Jenny and her host Kai at Coffee Roasters. We sat and sketched there for a while.

Coffee Roasters Throwdown

Next, we moved on to Glenwood cemetery, which has a wonderful view of the downtown skyline. The weather was cooperating so we took the chance on an outdoor location.

Throwdown at Glenwood

Here's a selfie we took.

Selfie of the Glenwood grou[p

Sketching opporunties don't need to be during our monthly sketchouts. Join us on the next pop up. You are missing some fun.

Our next sketchout is coming up soon. Check out Facebook or Instagram for details.

The Galveston Trip 2025

Our group at the Galveston Arts Center

Galveston has so much rich sketching subject matter that sometimes it's hard to decide what to draw. Mary chose this view down the street (see the header) with a little bit of everything. We had a good turnout and good weather, so we were all set for a good day.

Carlos and Ken chose to draw the big cruise ship.

Carlos

Ken Roy

I chose one of the fishing boats over on Pier 21.

Chris

The rest of the group drew various places on or near the Strand. The Sealy Hutchins building turned out to be a favorite.

Joel

Joel added a clever touch. He took an impression in play clay from a plaque on the building, inked it and printed the result on his page.

Peter

Peter went around the corner and got the building from a different angle along with the building next door.

Fran

Fran celebrated finishing this sketch. She took on the whole front of the building.

Janelle

Here's Janelle's version.

Susan

Susan drew the produce building and the iconic turtle sculpture.

Megan

Megan gave her drawing some depth by placing the beer bottle in the foreground and catching the top of the cruise ship lurking over the building in the background.

Lucia

Lucia went to the corner of Market and Tremont and drew a corner view. She used a trick similar to Megan's by placing the table in the foreground. This gives the sketch more depth.

Richard

Richard and Judith both drew the Fadden building. 

Judith

Richard's view is pushed back and at a slight angle. Judith's is straight on.

Sharon

Sharon drew rooftops and the one was the top of a church.

Several people drew collages of a collection of images.

Kim

Jen Bui

Sharon

Then we have a few single images. A sculpture from Carlos and an interesting doorway from Chetna.

Carlos

Chetna

Lastly, I was able to get a sketch in of the Star Drug building.

Chris

Here's the picture of our morning throwdown at the arts center.

the throwdown

The plan was to sketch out near East beach, but that was way too hot and sunny, so a bunch of the group went to UTMB to sketch Old Red. At the end of the day they regrouped at Good Dog. 

the group celebrating the day

Next month we have some smaller events coming up and one big one. Please keep an eye on our Facebook group or check out Instagram for details. Please join us for one of these events.

Back at the Museum of Natural Science

 

Our group

Spendng a warm, September evening sketching in the museum is never a bad thing. And because there are such a variety of subjects, everyone finds something like to draw. This time, it was the Museum of Natural Science.

Eydie drew the shell in the header from the museum's extensive seashell collection. Simple pen and ink was made elegant with a little hatching.

Of course, the dinosaurs are always a big attraction.

Martha

Martha was busy not only looking, but listening to all the remarks. Take a close look at the speech bubbles. They tell their own story.

Judith

Judith had a similar idea. The T Rex is the biggest draw for little kids.

Michael

Michael stuck to ink and wash with the sketchbook turned the LONG way to accommodate the very tall dinosaur.

Chris

I decided to use two full pages for the saber toothed mammal. I noticed they no long label it as a cat. I guess it got demoted.

Joel

Joel also turned his sketchbook on end. He decided the animal looked a little lonely on the page, so he created a bit of habitat.

Eva

Eva kept it simple with ink and just a bit of watercolor.

MacKenzie

I believe MacKenzie said she used water-soluable colored pencil for her drawing.

Then there were the Egyptologists.

Jacklynn

Jacklynn drew mummies and  embellished her page with rubber stamps.

Emerson

Emerson drew the entrance to the Tut exhibit.

Abigail

And our young sketcher, Abigail, was also inspired by King Tut.

Mark

Mark drew a collection of animals from the different environments on display.

Richard

Richard picked the rather tricky Foucault Pendulum for his sketch.

The throwdown

Here we are all gathering for the throwdown. Watch the video below.

the throwdown

All in all a successful evening with a moderately good turnout. Speaking of turnout, our big outing to Galveston is coming up on Saturday, October 18. Plan for a full day of sketching.

We would love to see some familiar faces joining us. With luck it will be, well COOLER and great weather for sketching. Judith is coming up with a map and a plan. Follow us on Facebook (please answer the membership questions) or check out our Instagram account.

The Coffee Shop Crawl

 

The Group

In the dead of summer in Houston, the dilemma is always "Where can we go to sketch where it isn't blazing hot?" Since we've been together as a group for a while, this can be a challenge. Susan came up with a new solution: Montrose coffee shops. We visited three kinds of unique coffee shops on Westheimer in the heart of Montrose. Common Bond is your brand-new, modern, spare space that could be most anywhere. Agora has the classic Montrose vibe. You can see the bones of the home that it once was. The space is homey and more personalized. Brasil was once a small business and was converted into a cafe/coffee shop way back in 1992. It has a little bit of the modern and the old.  Let's see what the sketchers chose to draw.

First there are always other sketchers to draw, as Marcus has done in brush pen on the header. You'll see some other sketchers make appearances along the way.

Carlos

This was Carlos's view in Common Bond. Lot's of stainless steel and just a hint of color.

Richard

Richard focused instead of the customers, his fellow sketchers as it so happened.

Chris

I was feeling the black-and-white vibe and did my sketch in pencil.

Shaw

Turnabout is fair play. Shaw drew Richard and some other sketchers.

Susan

Susan drew her colorful pistachio pastry making sure to put it in context with the coffee cup and the sketchbook.

Fran

Fran drew the contents of the pastry case. She used a little white gouache to make that cream pop.

Michelle

Michelle chose a croissant. The Common Bond logo gives it a sense of place.

Jacklynn

Jacklynn's vivid green matcha certainly livens up this scene.

Anna

Anna's macaroons look yummy. I love the details like the pen and the order number sign. This gives the sketch real personality.

Paul

When we got to Agora, Paul chose a different tact. He drew what he could see across the street from the upstairs window.

Marcus

Marcus also went upstairs, but he drew the view looking down into the coffee shop.

Chris

I drew a different view looking at the coffee bar, also from upstairs.

Judith

Judith's sketch is a mash-up. In the bottom right you can see the sketch she began in Common Bond of Susan's pastry. In Agora she added the very busy area at the coffee bar and the barista.

Rebecca

Rebecca also did a mash-up, combining her salad with a view of the outside of the shop.

Jeff

Jeff combined sketches from all three locations. The top is Common Bond, the middle is from the patio at Agora and the bottom is the very odd display of crochet or yarn balls in Brasil.

Michelle

This is Michelle's view of the coffee bar in Agora. Sitting at the bar helped her narrow her focus.

Susan

Susan had a similar idea. The plants add a pop of color.

Carlos

Carlos enjoyed drawing the customers in Agora. I guess you could say it attracts a different crowd.

Rebecca

Finally, we landed at Brasil. Rebecca drew the view on the patio. For those wondering, this was pencil and blue Noodlers ink.

Judith

Judith was also intrigued by the crochet balls. The sticker gives the sketch a lively sense of place and nicely fills that empty corner. But a little journaling would do this too.

Chris

I would like to say that I had enough restraint to draw my tamale first and then eat. Alas! But the Jamaica tea adds some color.

There were several sketches where I couldn't quite identify the locale.

Janelle

Colorful bottles behind the bar. Possibly Common Bond?

Cody

Pastry and a coffee in watercolor.

Mary

More coffee and pastry in pencil.

Michelle

A couple of customers distracted by their phones.

Jacklynn

Jacklynn decided to do a group of thumbnails. A think this was all three locations.

We had the throwdown at Brasil.

A list of our upcoming sketchout locations had been posted to Instagram. You can also join

our Facebook group by answering a few questions. If you are new to urban sketching there are two tabs at the top of the post that will give you more information. Please think about joining us for future sketchouts. OH, and reserve the date. Our day in Galveston will be Saturday, October 18.