Saturday, August 29, 2015

Wednesday, September 16th Sketch Outing - Stadium District


Wednesday 9/16 Tacoma Sketchers Outing – Stadium District

10 AM Meet up @:
Tully's Coffee
Tacoma, WA 98403

Sketch attractions:
Rankos Rexall Drug – vintage store front
Chinaberry Hill – Victorian B&B
Victorian mansion with antiques-filled rooms & suites, plus a carriage house.
302 N Tacoma Ave Tacoma, WA 98403
705 N 5th St   Tacoma, WA 98403
restored Italianate mansion


The post-sketch sharing destination will be announced at the morning gathering.

Thursday, August 20, 2015

To quote a Wise One, "Loosey-goosey makes it juicy."




This morning I enjoyed the latest entry in Thomas Kitts' blog . I've learned quite a few helpful things since I subscribed to his blog some time ago, and also I have also regularly appreciated his sense of humor. I mention this because I like to tell artist friends about blogs I think are enjoyable and helpful to artists!

Today, Thomas mentioned that he has noticed GREAT painters switch mediums..say from oils to watercolors...with facility. They seem able to produce very good paintings in both mediums. 

Recently, he decided to try watercolors again after a 20 year hiatus. I resonated with his angst about moving out of one's comfort zone and trying new things....or, old things once more.  Thomas recently did a couple of little plein air watercolors, posted them in the blog... AND...

He was timid.   
He was uncomfortable.
He self-critiqued with crippling great haste. 
He confessed he had the urge to hide his watercolors from artist friends, perhaps committing them to a landfill.

I KNOW those feelings and behaviors. I've been stepping outside my comfort zone recently. I'm experienced with drawing and with values, but fairly new to using color in any medium.  Recently I began trying to both sketch and paint while simultaneously trying to be looser in my rendering. I've often skipped pencil under-sketching and painted first followed by drawing directly in ink on top of the color. I'm been experimenting with using water-soluble ink which can sometimes have a mind of its own. I'm trying out the experience of being faster and more slap dash (though ingrained drawing skills are still present) rather than being a VERY slow perfectionist.

Thomas offered some other great handy-hints and ideas in his blog today--which I leave to you to go see...AND, he offered a mental note to self  that made me chuckle:  "Looser is better. Looser is okay. Loosey-goosey makes it juicy..."   Take a peek at Thomas Kitts' blog. If you do, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

O.K. FRANCES! LIGHTEN UP!  HAVE  FUN!

(First: Rebecca's Coffee Shop--One of my coffee hang-outs during the 3rd Annual West Coast Sketch Crawl in San Diego, CA 8-9-15)
(Second: Van Lierop Garden Market during our monthly Third Wednesday Sketch-out--Downtown Sumner WA 8-19-15)




(Frances-Loosey-Goosey-I-Love-Urban-Sketching-Buckmaster)

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Van Leirop Garden Market

Our Wednesday outing was to Van Leirop Garden Market in Sumner.  It's a delightful small garden shop.  They were very gracious in hosting us today.








At least one person left before the photo.  So the group was 18-20 people today.  Not bad for a Wednesday morning.



Sharing sketches:



A group of us shared a delightful lunch at Sorci's Italian Cafe next door.  I gave them a half hour "warning" and they did a good job serving us.  The food was delicious and the company excellent.  There were many good conversations and ideas shared. 




There are a few more photos here.

Monday, August 17, 2015

First Saturday Outing, September 5th


Morning Sketch-out: 10 am – 12:30 pm    Meet at the Brown’s Point Shopping Center no later than 10 am to join the car pooling to Brown’s Point Lighthouse Park.  There is very limited parking at the Lighthouse. 

Browns Point Diner
6620 East Side Dr NE
Tacoma, WA 98422






We’ll return to the Shopping Center after Sketch Sharing and Group Photo. Parking is extremely limited at the Lighthouse location .

Lunch break : Bring a lunch to enjoy in the park, or, buy lunch at the Brown’s Point Diner in the Brown’s Point Shopping Center. We always have groups doing both options.

Afternoon Sketch-out (A summer-time optional add-on) : 1:30 pm – 4:00 pm.   We’ll sketch  fascinating, gritty scenes along the edges of the Port area, along Marine View Drive. Watch for favorite locations to suggest on your way to our morning sketch outing. 

Friday, August 14, 2015

Reverent gifts.

Candle snuffers
7x9 watercolor + micron pen for fine line work
   The day had begun rough following a hectic/sleepless night. I had a time slot in Seattle at 2 for the printmaking studio and I was rushing to get packed. Having been distracted for my 9:30 "leave the house" opportunity for the Urban Sketcher event, I rustled around past 10  and decided that an hour of sketching would be better than nothing.
   I went to the Annie Wright School and found this behind the chapel scene of candle snuffers begging to be sketched. I plopped myself onto the cool floor surrendering myself to the healing possibilities. Sure enough the reverent energies mixed with the gift of art turned my day around 180 degrees... and not a bad study (for me), for using watercolor medium.

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Sketchbook Project 2015 exhibit is coming to Seattle this Friday

   For those of you, like me, who love to look at sketchbooks, the New York based project is coming on tour Seattle this Friday August 14th between 11-3 at the Olympic Sculpture Park (through the SAM)  http://www.seattleartmuseum.org/summer .
    The traveling library has been to 7 major cities across america and is carrying over 4000 sketchbooks from around the world to look through. Although my project was not all Urban Sketching everything was done from life either in studio or in plein air on this project and yes... you could say it shows my world one sketch at a time. (Shameless plug) Anyway, take your sketchbooks and make a day of it... I plan to.

Tuesday, August 4, 2015

August's Wednesday outing

Wednesday August 19


Van Leirop Garden Market
1020 Ryan Avenue in Downtown Sumner

Meet at 10 am just outside the entrance to the market.




There is so much to sketch here.  Even in the unlikely event of rain, there is shelter. 


We'll gather again at 12:30 to share sketches.  For those who would like to lunch together, there are options in Sumner.