Formal Application

These drawings come with a little story. It's been a busy month and try as I might, the closest I've come to location sketching is my own backyard. There is a little black-and-white cat who was adopted by my neighbor but she spends most of her time in my yard. She naps on my porch and my deck and drives my indoor cats crazy. She also hunts in my garden. Lately I've been finding little gifts waiting for me on the doormat. Earlier this week it was a mouse. I decided that this offering was a little crispy and rank to bring inside for sketching. The Katydid and the Monarch carcass, however, were perfect. I've started to joke that she is "formally applying" to be my cat. I'm almost afraid to see what I come home to next and she ramps up her campaign.

Live - Dead Music Capital Band

A recent weekend trip to the live music capital of Texas, Austin, to visit Mini Maker Faire.  The Maker Faire is a gathering of makers, everything from weaving, robotics, hackers, crafts, soldering projects, basically anything that you might find someone tinkering with in their shop. I liked the   large, adult-size rocking horses, that were styled more like the 4 horses of the Apocolyps, made by a woman that one day decided she wanted her own rocking horse. Then she made another, and then started to sell them. Of course we had to climb up and have a ride. I don't know why I didn't sketch them. This band marched into the faire and played for a good long while, the Dead Music Capital Band. They were scrungy, pale, bloody with ratty clothes.

Museum Day. Museo Sorolla-Madrid-Spain

On the ocasion of the celebration of the Museum Day , a group of Urban Sketchers were invited to visit the Museo Sorolla, and drawing the inside and outside.
Surrounded by a secluded garden, like an oasis in the centre of Madrid, the Museum holds the greatest collection of works by the Valencian painter Joaquín Sorolla (1863-1923)
Sorolla is often called the "Master of Light" but as attractive as his pictures, his studio and house are more or less as he left them when he died en the 1920s.

some more sketches in my blog

Madrid from the Sky. Ok, almost !!

Another saturday morning, cool and with some ugly clouds on the horizon, we chose the comfort of a cafeteria installed in a ninth floor of a well-known departament store chain with a unbeatable views over Madrid.

Gran Vía from Callao, in the rear the Plaza de España-

Teatro Real in the center, Catedral de la Almudena to the left and Palacio de Oriente to the right

Palacio de la prensa

Update on my March 10th Post.....

I posted the sketch of Broadway Church of Christ on the left back in March( http://urbansketchers-texas.blogspot.com/2012/03/finding-right-view.html )...a quick sketch just to explore composition, value, etc. 

The sketch on the left was done in the studio from the study....I apologize for this one-time violation of  the first imperative of the USK Manifesto(We draw on location, indoors or out, capturing what we see from direct observation), but I thought it was interesting to see the difference.  I think I prefer the looser and free-er feel of the original study!  My work tends to "lose something" when I labor too hard over it!  

Back to pure location sketching!

The Texians

Here are some more Sketchcrawl pictures from the reenactment at San Jacinto. The Texians had a little camp set up at the far end of the "mall" from the monument in a spot just across the road from where the actual Texians camped. People who do these take them quite seriously and the costumes were impressive. The cannon in the vignette is one of the famous "twin sisters". Judith and I wandered around quite a while looking at the camps and the various activities people were engaged in for the amusement of visitors. In one spot the soldiers would lead a group of little boys marching them like soldiers to carry out the "execution" of a traitor. (only to reprieve him each time at the last minute) I was told that some of the group camped there the night before, which must have been very soggy with lots of mosquitoes. The only anachronism became apparent when you got onto the levee separating the park from the wildlife preserve: just over the heads of the Texians you could see the tops of the cargo ships as they glided up the Houston ship channel just behind the trees.

The Madrid Railway Museum

Is located in a former station, one of the finest and most representative examples old Spanish industrial architecture. The museum contains a selection of vehicles and other railway-related exhibits.
On a cold and rainy morning, with a group of Madrid Sketchers, spent a few hours, drawing and chatting.
Was fun.

Some more sketchs of this day in my blog.

Sketch Crawl and Santa Anna

World Wide SketchCrawl 35. Fellow USkTX sketcher Chris F. and I met out at the the San Jacinto Monument for the reenactment of the Battle of San Jacinto. This was a great opportunity to capture a wide assortment of activities and the reenactors dress and gear was wonderfully varied. Quite a few people had questions about what we were doing. From the website www.sanjacinto-museum.org "The battle reenactment dramatizes the decisive battle where General Sam Houston led his Texian soldiers to victory over the Mexican Army eventually leading to almost one million square miles of Mexican territory becoming a part of the United States.  The reenactors  dramatically interpret the Runaway Scrape (Texians fleeing from the advancing forces of Santa Anna), the cannon duel and the final battle between the two forces."

Greetings from Madrid.

During the trip to my hometown to participate in the Rock 'n' Roll Madrid Marahton, I attended the 35th SketchCrawl with a group of Madrid Sketchers, to a park where it could see beautiful views of the Madrid skyline and its sierra,  and spend a fantastic hours chatting and drawing.

SketchCrawl Saturday - Austin

Austin sketchers will also be celebrating World Wide SketchCrawl 35, as we meet-up at the SFC Austin Farmers Market, Downtown; 400 W. Guadalupe, Republic Square Park @ 9:00am.   From there we'll meander and have lunch in the 2nd St. district then quite possibly crawl over to the South First Street bridge for some afternoon sketching and a bird's eye view (and sounds!) of the Austin Reggae Festival @ Auditorium Shores.  We'll regroup later and round-out the day with an evening @ Threadgill's, an iconic Austin food/music venue, from 7:00pm - till ?   We'll be relaxing, sketching the scene, and enjoying while listening to Seth Walker (w. Carsie Blanton)  @ 9:00 pm croon the night away.

So, if you're in Austin please join us for all or any part of this sketch adventure.  Hope to see you there!

33rd World Wide Sketch Crawl | Auditorium Shores Gazebo w. Austin skyline @ South First St. Bridge
sketched on an iPad 2, w/ ArtRage software, and my index finger  :)

bscott@shaevel.com
www.shaevel.com

Change of plans - maybe?

Tomorrow is the re-enactment of The Battle of San Jacinto.
There will be a battle re-enactment at 3p.m.
Starting at 10 a.m. there will be Mexican and Texan camps set up for visiting.
This would be a pretty cool opportunity and something completely Texas-y.
 I now change my vote from Discovery Green to San Jacinto Battle. What do you think?
The website: http://www.sanjacinto-museum.org/
We'll post the final location by tomorrow morning at 7:30.

SketchCrawl Saturday - Houston

World Wide Sketch Crawl is this Saturday. Houston sketchers will be meeting at Discovery Green in downtown Houston. Meet at 9 a.m. at location marked with #4 on the map. (at the parking garage, with your back to the convention center, go to the garden area to the right of the garage entrance) We'll meet there again at 11 for anyone coming late. There will be lots of activity around, lovely gardens, and the skyline. Houston, I know you are out there. Please come join us, all skill levels and all ages welcome. See you there!

The Children's Room

I am captivated by the old Ideson Building as well. I knew they were doing a complete renovation and I hadn't seen the finished work. I have fond memories of the building, particularly the children's room. The results of the renovation are just spectacular and the Norma Meldrum Children's Room is restored to its former glory. They have relit the entire building so you can better appreciate the original architectural details....and they just GLOW. The antique books in this collection are a trip through time.
Inspired by Tómas I sat and drew the alcove. I think at one time this alcove housed the picture books.

The Julia Ideson Library.Houston.TX

The Kitty King Powell Gallery

Afther reading the entry  that Nadia made on his blog Dear Polia , I had that going for a walk around the building, and how to not make some sketch. Is beautiful both inside and outside, but the latter i leave it for another occasion.  Is A "must do" ,

Mrs. Kujawa's Paradise

I've had my eye on this little house nearby for a long time, but it's always been too hot to stop and sketch. Today was perfect. I had to edit for space and sanity. This yard contains an unbelievable amount of "yard art" or "garden junk". I couldn't fit it all in. She loves cows and chickens so there's lots of that. And also lots of "Texana". This lady obviously enjoys her garden as well. The flowers are all real and lovely. I wasn't there long before her live-in companion came out to check me out. Turns out there's a story here. Mrs. Kujawa is over 80 and in a struggle with relatives over the property. Her garden is her therapy. She invited me to come back and check out the back yard, which she says is "even better". Whoo boy!

Livin' large in Liberty

    This past weekend we took a short road trip to Liberty, Texas. We went camping at our friend's family ranch. If you are not from Texas you probably picture dusty, mountainy, desert with steers. This part of Texas is lush and green. Rolling pastures with big oak and other hardwood trees. Their ranch house is a single story house spread out with a library, game room, garage for bikes and cars and the dogs kennel. Even a small pool in the back. We camped across the field near the barn and work sheds. We arrived late in the day on Thursday, set up camp and headed into town for Tex-Mex and a margarita. Delisioso! 

     The next day we headed over to the Sam Houston Regional Library and Research Center. On the campus of the library are a full size replica of the Texas Governors Mansion, the church (in the center of my sketch), a house and another building. We were lucky that the librarian took us around and opened up the buildings for us even though it was a holiday. It gave me a brief chance to sketch. It is good to have friends with connections. (top image is a composite of 3 of my sketchbook pages)

    The rest of the weekend we grilled steaks, the guys set up a shooting range to target shoot, and the teen boys had a huge amount of fun driving the "gator" on the gravel ranch roads. Sort of a golf cart for farms, perfect for 13 year olds. The weather was perfect and so was the company.

Brazos Bend State Park. Needville.TX

Spectacular  Park just a short 45 min.drive from downtown  Houston. This is a wonderful place to visit. Nature lovers, birders, hikers, campers and other outdoor enthusiasts, and of course sketchers will delight in an obervation tower on 40-Acre Lake trail and almost 35 miles of hiking/biking and foot trails, including an eight-mile equestrian trail system. More than 120 picnic sites with grills, water ans rest rooms.

Wildlife is diverse and abundant, more than 25 different species of mammals, Aprox 21 species of reptiles, but all them are overshadowed in general interest by the American alligator ( over 300 adults alligators make their homes in the park) Birds of 290 species have been sighted in and around the park.

Not to be missed.

Observation tower

Meet Texas Sketcher: B. Scott Shaevel

Hello!  I'm Brad Shaevel, a web application developer and urban sketcher, and I'm very excited to be your USk Texas correspondent from Austin, Texas!  This intro post comes on the heels of one of my favorite festival weekends in Austin ... SXSW (South by Southwest) music festival!    This year's event was no exception, bringing in a world of talented musicians and fans flooding into Austin for a slew of weekend-long block parties and musical showcases across the city.   I spent the weekend in one of my favorite SXSW spots listening to great line-ups of music, people watch-sketching, and just soaking up the festivities in the heart of Austin's SoCo (South Congress) area. 

My best-est sketching buddy, a rat-chi named Wiijet (pronounced "widget"), and I parked in front of Austin musical icon, the Continental Club, directly across the street from the picturesque Hotel San Jose for a couple of days.  Here we enjoyed front row sketching seats to the 2012 South by San Jose (SXSJ) block party. 

The sketch below is of the Hotel San Jose and Jo's Coffee shop SXSJ stage, and was completed on-the-spot over two days with final watercolor touches added back in the studio. 

2012 South by San Jose | SXSW,  Hotel San Jose and Jo's Coffee  South Congress Ave. Austin Tx | pen /watercolor, 7 x 20

So if you're ever in Austin, be sure to look me up and lets sketch, I know some great spots!  Thanks so much again for the opportunity to be a part of sharing the joy's of urban sketching, and the great city of Austin, one sketch at a time, through USk Texas!

b. scott shaevel
bscott@shaevel.com
http://www.shaevel.com

It was just a little building next to a grassy knoll

On my recent trip to Dallas, to participate in the Rock 'n'Roll Dallas Half Marathon, where I got my PR on this distance. Small chronicle here., I did this sketch from the Museum Store + cá fe across Houston Street, but curiously not draw the Little building ( Texas School Book Depositary in 1963), or the Grassy knoll, to the right of the image.
I found more interesting to draw the view that due to observe L H Oswald from the sixth floor window of the "little building", as well as the latest that would see JFK before his assassination, when his car was sent by Elm Street parallel to the  "grassy knoll" towards the tunnel under the tracks of the train.
The landscape has changed, the trees are much more leafy, and in 1963 neither the Reunion Tower (1978) nor the Hyatt Hotel (1978) they had built, but that is for the imagination. Even would have that see it in sepia color, which is how are most of the photos of that time.

Yes, Everything IS Bigger Here!

Returning to Fort Worth from Houston Sunday, I stopped to sketch the statue of Sam Houston on I-45 near Huntsville.  Like Dallas Cowboys Stadium and the hair of our beloved Texas debutantes, this thing is BIG.  David Adicke's sculpture is 67 feet tall and stark white against the dark green pines.  It's visible from a few miles away when approaching from the south, but I was struck by the closer view, revealing the contrast between the size of statue and the crowd of visitors around its base.