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.

Armand Bayou Nature Center

The Group

This month we had a great turnout for our trip to Armand Bayou Nature Center.  The center is a 2500 acre preserve in the Clear Lake area south of Houston. We welcomed one out-of-town visitor and several new sketchers. It's always nice to see new people.

Luckily, we were there on the weekend that the Houston Area Blacksmiths Association was having their get-together at the Martyn Farm. The Martyn farm reproduces farm life in early Gulf coast Texas. It includes a forge. This drew the majority of the sketchers as it was fun watching young people learned the skills of blacksmithing. You can see Martha's sketch of this scene in the blog header.

Joel's sketch

Her dad, Joel, also set up across the road and took in the wide perspective. 

Amy's sketch

New sketcher, Amy, zeroed right in on the people and the action.

Susan DeCourcy

Susan also sketched the broader view, but she points out that she managed to sketch the sketchers. That's Joel and Martha at the bottom right.

Robert James

Robert originally thought he'd sketch the same scene, but he was drawn back to the buffalo enclosure where he struck up a conversation with this big fellow.

Jason's sketch

Our visitor from San Jose, Jason, found a tranquil spot along Armand Bayou to do this watercolor.

Chris

I was determined to draw people. I started out with the sketch at the left of the smith working on his piece. But I remembered a quiet spot near the bayou from a previous visit. I set off down one of the trails and soon found myself in the woods. A black cloud of mosquitos descended. The mosquito repellant didn't phase them. Quickly, I took shelter in the interpretive center to rethink my plan. There was a platform nearby overlooking an algae-covered pond and a hungry heron.  Just maybe....But as soon as I settled to sketch the mosquitos were back. I took some essential photos and finished my work in the interpretive center. Sometimes you have to go with Plan B.

Carlos

Back at the forge, Carlos did a lovely watercolor of the men at work.

Michael

Michael used gouache to capture the smoke rising from the fires.

Linda's sketch

Linda liked the water tank and windmill which are part of the Martyn Farm complex.

Finally, we gathered for the throwdown.

the throwdown

It was very hot by the end of the morning and we were glad to find a cool lunch spot.

Next month we will be sketching indoors at the Menil Museum. Join us!

The Art Car Experience

 

The May Sketchers

A small, but dedicated group went to the Art Car Experience in May. Masks were in place and the crowd was really not much of a crowd at all. The outdoor experience near the Orange Show museum and Smithers Park gave everyone lots of elbow room. Our blog header this month was drawn by Robert.

It was certainly a different experience wandering around stationary Art Cars rather than the pre-parade or parade time crush of people and vehicles. But the advantage was lots of room and different perspectives for sketching. Robert and Judith were taken by the metal chicken.

Robert (left) and Judith (right)

Susan DeCourcy got bits and bobs of lots of different parts of the exhibit.

Susan's sketches

Carlos and I were both delighted by a very large car called "Pride and Joy" that featured Elvis at the guitar on top.

Carlos chose a head-on view

Chris tried a side view

And then I couldn't help capturing the large metal monster in all his rusty glory.

Chris

We did a throwdown, of course, when it was all over.

The throwdown

 The weather cooperated by being not too, too hot and the rain held off.

Our June sketchout will be at the Armand Bayou Nature Center. The old farm building, old farm equipment and lots of the natural world will be perfect for sketching. There is plenty of shade and plenty of distance, so if you haven't joined us in a while, please think about coming to this one.

Sawyer Yards

The Group

There was a good turnout for the Saturday trip to Sawyer Yards.  Judith picked the spot for the many architectural subjects and the raking light and shadows- especially on the silos. So, we have an interesting study in all the ways you can draw those silos.

Peter's sketch

Peter concentrated on the deep shadows.

Mary's sketch

Mary used a water-soluble graphite pencil and included some interesting scale achieved by including the trucks and small buildings below.

Susan and Joel

Susan and Joel both chose watercolor for their sketches, but the mood couldn't be more different.

Gwynne's sketch

Jenn's sketch

New sketchers Gwynne and Jenn were more interested in the large crane at work and some of the side buildings.

Carlos's sketch

Carlos's approach was to sit in one spot and first sketch in one direction, then turn and sketch the opposite view.

Fahmi's sketch

Fahmi went around to the other side of the Winter Street building and her sketch shows all the new construction in the neighborhood.

Francisco got a slice of the same view from the railroad crossing. Mary walked along the mural wall in Art Alley and found some artists at work.

Francisco and Mary

And Judith ran into the classic sketcher's problem. What do you do when you have your scene started and along comes a large van? She worked it out.

Robert is responsible for this month's blog header. Then he turned around and blocked in some simple marker shapes to show all the construction.

Finally the throwdown.

Lots of challenges in this month's sketchout. Please share the blog with anyone who you mind think would be interested. Everyone is welcome. We will continue outdoor sketching until the weather gets warm, then look for less crowded indoor venues.

The Sugarland International Art and Kite Festival

 

The Throwdown

As you can see from the blog header and the throwdown, Urban Sketchers Houston went to the Sugarland Internationl Art and Kite Festival in Brazos River Park on Saturday. Carlos's large watercolor captures the overcast day, the green spring setting, and the hopeful kite flyers in the park. As always, the throwdown shows all the varied points of view.

The efforts to launch kites were slow at first, but by midday, the sky was full of colorful kites and the ground was full of watchful parents and enthusiastic children racing around and enjoying the day. Robert's sketch was made during the early efforts. He explains my presence in the bottom right corner saying, "Chris appeared in my very first urban sketch." His spare line and minimal color capture the scene perfectly.

Robert's sketch

Susan's sketch contrasts the colorful kites against the brooding gray sky.

Susan's sketch

Fahmi wanted to collect a little bit of everything going on. She sketched the kites, the crowds, the booths, the entertainment, and the spectators.

Fahmi's sketch

Bruce was interested in the collections of onlookers.

Bruce's sketch

Judith walked around to the back of the event area to include a wide sweep of the whole scene and a large tree that caught her eye.

Judith's sketch

As always, we gathered at the end for the throwdown and a group picture. It was nice to be with our group again. And it was especially nice to have new participants.

The group

Look for urban sketchers out and about more often as we look for new, interesting, and safe places to do group sketching and show off our Houston area.

A Return to Galveston

Urban Sketchers Houston in October

Sketching in the time of COVID is always a challenge, but with outdoor locations and basic precautions we are forging on. This month we went back to Galveston and were fortunate to be joined by several new participants. Always good to see new faces.

We started out at the docks. The morning had been foggy, but was clearing and the view across the harbor was a busy one.

Joel, left and Francisco, right

Joel and Francisco were interested in the little red tug hard at work.

Chris, left and Judith, right

I decided to take the challenge of the Elissa and found a great vantage point on the empty deck of a restaurant. Judith, however, was fascinated by her crew working high in the ship's rigging. Point of view is everything.

Martha, left and Robert, right

Martha and Robert headed over to the docks where the shrimpers and the dock area were their focus. They chose the black-and-white option.

After the docks, the group wandered the Strand and then over to Post Office street. 

Nancy, left and Magdalena, right

Nancy and Magdalena gave us colorful versions of the Post Office street buildings. I don't think we've ever had a sketcher work on canvas before.

right, Judith and Joel at work

It's always good to catch the sketchers at work. One building on Post Office Street caught many eyes. Here you can see Judith at work and Martha's sketch of Judith and her dad, Joel.

Chris, left and Judith, right

Here's the very complicated challenge that caught everyone's eye. I saw at least 4 of the group working on versions of this building.

Bruce's sketch

Bruce took on another challenge. There are many of these wonderful survivors seeing new life on Post Office Street, the Strand and along all the side streets.

Robetrt's sketch

Robert chose a corner view, always tricky for that perspective.

Francisco's street view

Francisco took on a panorama of all of Post Office street. Another tricky perspective challenge.

We had the throwdown at the end of the block, which you can see in the group photo and below.

Everyone split up for lunch and a smaller group met on 24th street for sketching of the historic Victorians in that neighborhood. You can see Judith's sketch in the blog header. 

All in all it was a succesful and socially distanced sketchout. There are always lots of interesting things to draw in Galveston.  I hope that some of our group that we haven't seen in a while will join us for the next sketchout. If you've never joined us, please do. We always have a good time.