Sketching at the Rodeo

Not pictured is Shaw who caught up with us after lunch

A trip to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is always fun. A trip with the sketchers to the show is mind-boggling. As Michael put it at one point "too much information". There are all the animals in the livestock show, the booths, the petting zoo, the pony rides, the judgings, the carnival. As you can imagine, there was a lot to cover. I always go more than once actually.

Shaw caught that feeling you get when you first walk into the grounds in her sketch which you see in the header. The signs, the people in western attire. What will you see? Where will you go first?

Our group this time was small, but we did manage to cover a lot of ground. New sketcher, Royce, caught the spirit of the event in his pen and ink sketches. There is a definite sense of humor in the giant cone and the people in the other sketch.

Royce

Michael headed right for the AgVenture area to draw animals. The teens preparing their animals for the show ring were good subjects. "They hold still longer," commented Michael.

Here is Michael hard at work, sketching the cow you see in the sketch below. Michael found a rare place to sit and watch all the animals going to and fro to the judging ring.

Later he found the goat getting his blow-out and "do" for his judging. Again, he lucked onto a place to sit. No place for sketchers on stools in the hall.

Michael

Chris

I chose the children's exhibit in the front where a pig never blinked at all the people staring at him. The sheep, however, are always a nervous bunch. And when the animals and the people move that much, a pencil sketch is always a sure bet.

Chris

Later,  I found a nice, calm cow getting some attention from her handler. Watercolor first, then a little watercolor pencil to bring things into focus.

Jeff

Jeff

Jeff bravely tackled the newborn chicks in the education area. Talk about drawing a moving target! But he did it and got a nice group in his sketch. He also visited the large cows and got a peaceful watercolor scene. Lastly, there's the Rodeo logo which sits out front.

Robert

Robert cleverly avoided the problem of "too much information" out in the color-mad carnival. He focused on one area and used gray marker and black ink. Minimal lines give you a sense of the background.

AM throwdown

We had two throwdowns. One in the morning just before lunch.

PM throwdown

By the afternoon, Shaw had caught up to us just in time for another throwdown.

It was a great and busy day. By the afternoon the grounds were mobbed and we were glad to be taking our leave. But I know I will be going back. There's just so much there to draw!

If you are in the Houston area and have been enjoying our posts, please join us for the next sketchout and check out our presence on Instagram and Facebook. 

THE POST

 

The Group

Downtown's newest attraction is the renovated old main Post Office building, now known as Post Houston. The inside of the building was gutted right down to the concrete supports and turned into an indoor shopping and entertainment venue with a lovely rooftop garden. This outing drew our largest group yet- over 20 sketchers showed up!

As you might have guessed from this month's header, we were also treated to a celebration of the Lunar New Year. A local troupe did the lion dance all through the food court of the mall and Juliette captured that in a sketch. Her unusual perspective and spare colors make for a very graphic image. She also used her skills in ProCreate to draw one of the restaurant kitchens.

Juliette

In fact, restaurant kitchens was one of the favorite themes for sketchers. Bruce used ink and watercolor for his.

Bruce

Shaw picked a similar view, but her focus on the bright, red stools makes her drawing pop.

Shaw

Peggy liked the architecture and the unique graphics.

Peggy

Judith moved back and took a more expansive view of the cooks bustling around the kitchen. Simple pen and ink at the scene, but she added a few pops of color later.

Judith

And Thomas looked up to draw the large expanse of the entire food court with tables of people below. The builder added skylights and you can get the sense of sun pouring through them into the court.

Thomas

Francisco caught a family having a meal together.

Francisco

During the renovation, several unusual staircases were installed between the first and second floor. Several people took these on as a drawing challenge. And a challenge they were!

Mary M

Mary McJunkin took on the spiral stair with the clear panels. Those would complicate any drawing! She kept the color minimal and used it to define light and shadow.

Michelle took on the staircase which crosses itself in a series of X shapes. She opted for plain graphite. Her patience paid off.

Michelle

Barbara liked this staircase as well. Simple shading in pencil and colored pencil give her drawing nice volume and clarify the shapes.

Barbara

But of course the idea of a roof garden with views made many of us very happy. For years, one of the postal workers maintained a garden on the plaza in front of the post office. Now the garden is on the roof....and oh! the views!

Michael went right to work on his easel with gouache. He likes that you can just paint right over your mistakes in gouache.

Michael

Here's Jeff Mills sitting happily in the sun on the lawn drawing what he sees all around him. Jeff and his family were first-time sketchers. Welcome!

Arthur prefers to work large and in water-soluble graphite. He says he would "clean up" this sketch later in his studio. I think what many of us liked were the unusual views of downtown. These are not the postcard skylines!

Arthur

Liz took a similar approach. I believe that's the U of H downtown Bayou Building.

Liz

I also went over to the far edge of the roof to draw the north end of downtown. You can just see the Nellie Esperson building peeking through.

Chris

Francisco's skyline is just slightly to the right of mine. That's the back of the Wortham on the right. Like me, he enjoys ink and watercolor.

Francisco

Becky and Amy both focused on the garden itself and kept the skyline as a backdrop. People and activity are part of the scene, but the garden is the focus.

Becky

Amy

The pressing crowds and congestion made our traditional lunch impossible, but we all sampled the food court,  watched the Lion Dance and drummers and did our throwdown.

The throwdown

Here is a small sample of the entertainment we enjoyed.

I hope many more people who have been following us on Facebook and here on the blog will join us on our next sketchout.  

"The act of sketching makes you an urban sketcher, not the results. " -Nishant Jain -The Sneaky Art Podcast.

November's Sketchout at Trader's Village

The Group

Saturday's sketchout was at Trader's Village to watch the 31st Annual Native American Championship Pow Wow. Our last trip to this event I remember as rainy and cold. This trip looks to have been sunny and perfect.

I've mentioned before that different sketchers have different ways of working and for allowing for time to complete a sketch. Richard's sketch of the bird vendor in our header is one example.

Here's what he was able to complete on-site.

Of course if time allows, it's always great to add color in the moment. But this technique gives you a chance to capture things as they happen. Especially where there are people in the frame.

Jen is one of the people who made sure to include people in her colorful sketch.

Jen's sketch

Linda did a collage of various people and carnival attractions.

Linda

Michael was also drawn to the carnival attractions and the various booths. His sketches captured some people as well.

Michael

Michael

Robert's sketch

Robert enjoyed all the people and the food booths. The sketch is simple line but you get the sense of people moving and of foreground and background.

Richard and Francisco captured the native village. Francisco really solved one frequent problem. What do you do when a tree has dense foliage and many colors of foliage? Nice job.

Francisco and Richard at work

Francisco's sketch

Mary McJunkin

Mary also drew the "teepee village" with the grandstands behind. Brit drew the same area, with a slightly different perspective.

Brit

Judith also likes to draw a collection of images from any

event. She's got a couple of rides, some food and people moving through the space. Sometimes simple shapes capture all the information you need. I think I'll pass on the "Pharaoh's Fury".

Judith's sketch

Carlos drew right in his smaller sketchbook this time. He drew the teepee village to be colored later and part of the carnival. Loose watercolor provided just enough color information. Pen linework finished the sketch.

Carlos

Of course, the morning ended with a throwdown before lunch.

Throwdown

It's always nice to hear what materials other people use and what their thoughts were as they chose and composed their sketch.

All in all it looks like it was a great day for sketching.

An October Day in Galveston

The Morning Group

The Afternoon Group

Saturday was the perfect day for a sketching trip to Galveston. Not too hot or cold with a beautiful clear sky. Our turnout reflected that: we had over 25 people come to the sketchout this time. And it was an excellent group of enthusiastic people.

There is so much to draw in Galveston. The questions we faced were: What do I draw? and How do I render such complicated subjects? Galveston has a wealth of beautiful old buildings that can be a challenge to draw. Ditto for the fishing fleet and the Elissa. But everyone tackled these subjects with gusto.

After we met up, the group dispersed to various places near the Strand. The lovely old buildings are full of ornamentation.  Linda Pham used loose washes of color and ink work on the sketch in our header.

Lisa

Sometimes your materials force you to simplify. Lisa chose to work on black paper and in pastel. The pastel required paring down to the basics.

Judith

Judith used a similar strategy.

By working primarily in watercolor, the size of the brush  kept the amount of detail manageable. Small marks indicate ornaments like tile and trim without a lot fussy detail.

The windows are large blocks of color. Shadows give them depth. This lovely building is on Mechanic Street.

Carlos Chua makes this his standard approach. Large blocks of color create the building mass. A swipe of the brush adds a window. Sometimes he uses a little line work.

Carlos

Christiane

Christiane drew one of the old alleyways of 

Galveston. Again, simple washes, color wet-in-wet and sparse ink work give you the form without excessive detail.

Sharon
Sharon took a more "collage" approach. A collection of buildings in simple ink line and a literal "splash" of color.

Robert

How do you draw a moving object? Robert gave us this great tip. When the trolley went by, he marked the parameters on his page for the size of the trolley. He worked on the drawing around the trolley first. Then with each time the trolley passed, he was able to add more details and fill it in. Very clever.

Amy

Amy drew the rows of shops along the Strand with all the colorful signs and the deeply shaded overhang.

It really gives you a sense of the space.

Susan

Susan DeCourcy chose a simple watercolor of St. Mary's Basilica.

The limited palette is a nice contrast to the blue of the sky.

Terracota and green are a good contrast and really make this sketch pop.

Then there was the group that gathered in front of The Grand Opera House. What a wonderful old building. And the arch was the attraction here. Again, some different approaches.

Joel brought his friend Lucia, who got right to work.

Lucia at work

Joel and Martha Walker

The father-daughter team of Joel and Martha Walker are good examples of different styles. Joel liked the whole building and the funky little bar next door with its concrete ornamentation. Martha zeroed in on that elaborate arch. Her big shapes are simple, but all the detail is there.

Chris F

I couldn't make up my mind. I wanted a close enough view to capture the ornament, but I liked the historic light fixture and the little bar next door. I split the difference.

Aliona and Susan drawing on Pier 21

Again, there is always a question of how to simplify to the most essential elements. Especially when the tall ship Elissa has elaborate rigging and ropes and usually lots of people on her deck.

Michael

Michael uses large chunks of acrylic color to completely break down the forms. You can still see ropes and rigging and people, but only in their simplest form.

Peter

Peter didn't attempt the whole boat. He tackled the people working in the rigging.

Aliona

Aliona used the gift of a long narrow perspective to create large shapes for the boat, the dock and the sails. Then she fleshed it out with penwork.

Francisco and Chris F

Of course, you can always draw just a small portion of the boat as Francisco and I did. Francisco drew the stern dockside and included some people. I draw a forced perspective from on the deck.

And the Elissa wasn't the only thing being drawn. The shrimp boats and their companions the hungry pelicans were subjects. Again two approaches.

Michael and Aliona

Michael put his acrylic technique to work.  The beaks and feet are all you need to read these as "pelicans". Aliona kept it pretty simple. No ink pen. Just simple watercolor and some perspective across the harbor.

And if the Elisa and the shrimp boats are just too much, you can do what I did at the end of the day. What is simpler than a cruise ship rendered in marker?

Chris F

Of course, there was a throwdown in the morning and again in the afternoon.

Morning Throwdown

Afternoon Throwdown

And after the crawl, the survivors went to Sharon Hendry's studio.

Sharon's studio

This trip to Galveston was very successful and I think everyone came away feeling good about our day.

Feel free to share our blog posts with anyone who enjoys sketching or might want to join us in the future.