October 2026 in Galveston

 

Our group

We are always fortunate to be able to gather for our throwdowns in the classroom at the Galveston Arts Center on the Strand. They are always very generous with us. Thank you.

We were very lucky that the threat of really bad weather mostly held off on October 3rd. The threat was heavy rain, but except for a few sprinkles, we were in luck. However you can see the glowering skies in Judith's piece from the cemetery tour and in Peter's sketches.

Because of the weather, we revised our plans a bit and stuck to places where there was an indoor alternative. Carlos, being brave, went down to the waterfront and captured this scene of a shrimper.

Carlos

Jeff was most interested in that signature top of a cruise ship in dock.

Jeff

David drew oil equipment near the docks.

David

Jorge went to the waterfront and caught this view.

Jorge

The group spread out along the Strand and the surrounding area. Joel was struck at the contrast between the old and the new. A very unique view.

Joel

    Susan walked around the corner and worked very hard on this view of the Trueheart-Adriance building. Susan describes this challenge as "a beast". I agree.

Susan

Rebecca and Yvette did street views.

Rebecca

Yvette

Monica also took shelter under a portico and caught an entire street spread.

Monica

Alicia found a couple of buildings that she liked.

Alicia

Judith also found the shelter of an overhang and drew a view down the Strand.

Judith

I walked around the corner to the front of The Grand. I love that doorway.

Chris

Peter went to two very different locations. The first was Kemper Market.

Peter

The second was the beach site of the Old Galveston Orphanage. It was destroyed and 90 lives were lost during the 1900 storm.

Peter

Sharon drew the Mardi Gras arch and buildings along the Strand.

Sharon

After the lunch time throwdown, people went to various locations for afternoon sketching.

This is the group who went to the Rosenberg Library.

The library group

The Rosenberg- Monica

Museum exhibit- The Rosenburg- Jeff

Star Drug-near the Rosenburg- Susan

Unfortunately, due mostly  to weather, only two people made it to the end of the day and the Broadway Cemeteries tour with Kathleen Maca. But Judith was one of those and you can see her sketch in the header. Here she is, hard at work.

Judith at work

Here is the video of the throwdown at noon at the Galveston Arts Center.

Join us on our next sketchout! All are welcome. You can keep track of our sketchouts on Instagram or join our Facebook  group.  Become a follower and always keep track of the places we've been. There's a place to become a follower in the right column of the blog.

Houston Bird Week

 Saturday was a bonus sketchout for Houston Bird Week. The Audubon Society is now Birds Houston. They invited us to be at their fundraiser at Frost Town Brewing Company. I must mention the logo created by Javier Salas used in the header. Thank you. 

I will keep this short and sweet and just post photos.

Levy Park

Our Group

For our September sketchout, we chose Levy park, a small park tucked into the Greenway Plaza area. It is surrounded on all sides by skyscrapers, apartments, condos and businesses. I'm sure the neighborhood appreciates a bit of green space. You can see Monica's view in the header above the blog. We had several new sketchers again this time. Welcome.

One of the things that fascinated our sketchers was the big, red bus to one side of the park.

Andrew

Michelle

Peter

Kirby

Sofia

What makes these unique is that each sketcher did something a little different. Different points of view, different distances from the subject, different media (Kirby used gouache). This is what makes urban sketching and the throwdowns fun.

Joel and Kim liked the brightly colored food stand on the opposite side of the park.

Joel

Kim

Sketchers spread out over the park and captured pretty much everything.

Susan

Susan wasn't the only one who like all the big red umbrellas.

Carlos

Anna

Chris

The little figure in the corner was the teacher of the Bollywood dance class, which was going on on the other side of me from this group of friends enjoying a coffee.

Peter

Peter caught them in all their wonky, out-of-step glory.

Astrid

Astrid's focus was that swooping overhang. But you can see the dancers in the foreground.

David, Mary and Ignacio went over to the children's playground.

David

Mary

Ignacio

I spent some time in the dog park. I decided drawing dogs and people might be a challenge.

Chris

Violet and Jorge drew in other parts of the park.

Violet

Jorge

We had the throwdown, the group photo and then some lunch.

throwdown

Don't forget that next month is the annual trip to Galveston. We have some great things planned, so keep on eye on Facebook and Instagram for more details. Save October 3 on your calendar.

West End Coffee House

 

Our group

People always seem to enjoy our trips to local coffee houses. This was no exception. We had several new sketchers this time. Welcome. As to the coffee house, this is the creative use of part of an old church that has found new life near the Washington Avenue corridor. You can see a photo and Candace's sketch in the header.

So in a coffee house, you can draw the architecture as Candace did outside. You can draw the environment, as several sketchers did, or you can draw people. Some did a combination of all these things.

Paul Shain

Paul found a seat on the balcony and drew a table of other sketchers below him on the main floor. An interesting perspective.

Joel

Joel also went up onto the balcony and drew the people busy at work on their computers.

Michael

Michael also drew from an angle. That same group of sketchers Paul drew are in the lower right.

Indah

Indah managed to get in the room, some people and her coffee in front of her on the left. Nice use of scale.

Sharon

Sharon found a small patio out back and drew that.

Several people drew the activity at the counter.

Michelle

Susan

Chris

Anna

Yvette

Lots of sketchers were just interested in the interesting people around them.

Mary McJunkin

Shaw

Monica

Emily

Mary P

A few sketchers included a bit of the architecture of the building.

Daniel

Heather

Tanya

But after drawing outside in the heat, Candace was all about the sweets.

Candace

We had a throwdown, of course. And took our group photo.

The throwdown

If you are reading our blog for the first time and want more information about urban sketching, there is a separate page on this  blog which outlines what makes an urban sketch. There is also more information about urban sketchers and OUR MANIFESTO in the right column of the blog page. Connect with us on Instagram or join our Facebook group by answering a few questions. Then join us next month for a sketchout.