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...

The Menil

The Throwdown

How do you capture a trip to a museum in sketches? Do you draw the people? Do you draw the art? Do you focus on the architecture of the building? This was the question in front of Urban Sketchers Houston as we visited the Menil on Saturday. As you can see from the throwdown, everyone chose a different solution.

Carlos Chua

 

Judith Butler Dollar

Carlos and Judith chose broad, overall views of the galleries with museum patrons in view. Carlos's spare use of color and firm line work gives a different feell than Judith's colorful and more whimsical sketch.

Peter Norris

Peter's choices, on the other hand, put the emphasis on the art. His inclusion of the harsh, gallery-lit shadows anchors the people to the ground.

Amy's sketch

Amy's soft tonal sketch, with no people included, gives a sense of space and depth. Even the sharp angles of the walls and display cases are softened by her use of pencil.

Michael

Michael told the story of a family fascinated by the plants in the atrium. The sculpture and people are in grays and blacks, the plants in vivid greens.

Fahmi

Fahmi chose to document an object from the collection and provided text to describe everything in the sketch. Her layout and placement make this an interesting page to look at.

The African art was a favorite subject for the group; far easier to do justice to the masks and objects than paintings on the wall.

Linda

                                        

Linda also chose ink pen for her media and African objects for her subjects. We see severall sculptures and a mask 

Kathy F

Kathy explored the African objects, then caught a view of the plants in the atrium. 

Cathi Bruhn

Cathi Bruhn found two pieces of art and a museum patron who interested her.  Interesting to note that people in masks will firmly establish all these sketches in time when we look back  at our sketchbooks in the future.

The colorful weaving feels almost animated in this sketch.

Jeff

Jeff took a break from the heat and the people to visit the Rothko Chapel. (also part of the Menil complex) The ghostly images of the spectators leaves the emphasis on Rothko's monumental paintings.

We gathered for the throwdown and went somewhere local for a lunch. It was a nice break from the heat, and the dozen or so people who turned out were a nice group. Next sketchout will be in the Arts District near the Silos. Again, it will be an indoor venuue. Keep an eye on our Facebook page for the particulars.