Mark Brown Featured in the Star-Advertiser

Did you see Mark’s photo in Monday’s Star-Advertiser?

So glad I can say I know a famous artist!

Anyway, just wanted to share.

What a Fun Day to Be Painting

What a great day to be at Magic Island painting with Mark Brown and his fine art group!

Even the sailboats wanted to be included in our artwork.

A huge MAHALO to Mark Brown who generously gifted 3 Urban Sketchers with blank canvases, oil paints, use of his easels, and art supplies. We so appreciated Mark’s time and talent as he demonstrated his skills and worked with us individually to improve our skills.

I couldn’t be prouder of Vicky, Wei-Hann, and Noah who put down their sketchbooks and tried their hand at oil painting. They had so much fun exploring a new medium.

Thank you also to Mark Brown’s group of talented artists. It was so nice to talk story with you and see your amazing work.

It was definitely a great day to be an Urban Sketcher-Painter!

Urban Sketchers & Mark Brown Combo Event!

I’m so excited for our upcoming event.

Last summer, we did our first Urban Sketchers/Mark Brown’s Art Group combo event at Kekaulike Market in Chinatown.

It was a nice gathering of fine artists and urban sketchers. Unfortunately, Mark Brown was recovering from surgery at the time and couldn’t join us on that day.

If you don’t know Plein Artist Mark Brown’s island paintings, you don’t have to look far. Mark has painted numerous murals all over Hawaii. Reproductions of his art grace the suites at Hilton Hawaiian Village, the Outrigger, and other hotels. You might have seen his paintings in the background on popular CBS shows such as “Hawaii Five-O” and “Magnum P.I.” Or maybe you’ll seen them hanging on the walls of your doctor’s or attorney’s office like I did a few weeks ago.

This is a great opportunity to meet Mark Brown and his Master class as we all paint together at Magic Island at Ala Moana Beach Park. I hope everyone can join us.

This event will be unlike our previous outings. We will meet 8-9am as a group while Mark will teach invaluable skills to capture lighting, colors, and movement on canvas. From 9 to 11:30, you will have 2 1/2 to draw and sketch. Then at 11:30, we will gather for sharing. Mark’s class is a structured class and we are guests so please take advantage to learn from a master and his students.

If attending, please email us at uskoahu@gmail.com by Friday, September 16th.

About Mark Brown

Named as one of the few Plein Air Artists in Hawaii, Mark has been painted for nearly 40 years. He is an accomplished award-winning artist and art instructor. To learn more about Mark, visit his website.

Fun Time at Ala Moana Center

It may be the world’s largest outdoor shopping center, but when you looked at our small group huddled around the tiny koi pond seeking shade on this hot day, you would think we were at the smallest shopping center in the world.

Remember the long koi pond with tons of hungry fish that went down the middle of the center? Well, this little pond is all that’s left. Sad.

Having a small group means we got to talk story while we sketched and that’s always fun.

Thank you Pam, Ivan, and Christine for coming out today. I know everyone rather be watching Hawai’i play in the Little League World Series but that’s what DVRs are for! See you next month.

Find your Center

I don’t think Urban Sketchers O’ahu has ever sketched at Ala Moana Center. So we should.

Did you know that Ala Moana Shopping Center is the world’s largest open-air shopping center? There’s plenty of free parking at 10 am. Lots of people and interesting designs to sketch. Lots of benches and other places to sit. And lots of shady spots. Public restrooms nearby. And lots of food choices if you get hungry.

Let’s meet in the green space near Bloomingdale’s. There’s a mini stage area near the escalator.

I saw a small pond of koi that is just waiting to be sketched. And cool lanterns on the 4th level that would look great in anyone’s sketch book. Or just choose to sketch the many shoppers walking around.

If attending, please email us at uskoahu@gmail.com by Friday, August 26th with your name and phone number. Please be considerate of others around you and stay home if you feel sick.

Looking forward to seeing you on Saturday!

Video: Drawing Demo Pt. 3 (June 30)

One thing I neglected to mention during the demo. What takes me 90 minutes to explain on Zoom should take approximately 10-15 minutes to draw in real-time. These are drawn fairly quickly, especially if you are only drawing the “wireframe” version of the animal. To fully render the drawing will take a little longer but no longer than 30 minutes. That is what you should aim for.

Another tip is to “warm up” with animals that don’t move. The reptile area at Honolulu Zoo is a good place to warm up, specifically the tortoises and snakes.

Updated info for July 2 Meet up at the Honolulu Zoo

A few changes for this Saturday’s 10:00am meet up. First off, I’ll be leading that day. Second, we learned something important last weekend about the zoo. A line forms well before the zoo opens at 10:00am. We were in line and didn’t get into the zoo until 10:30am!

That being the case we will still start at 10:00am but are changing the sketch sharing time from 11:30am to 12:00pm. We will meet for sharing at the huge lawn by the tiger enclosure. (See map)

Also I’ll stand in front of the zoo entrance at 10:00am up until 10:15am. If you arrive later and/or don’t see me assume I’ve already gone inside (or I might be in line). Just go ahead and go through admissions (bring Hawaii I.D. for $8 kamaaina rate), then go sketching to your hearts desire, and meet at 12:00pm by the lawn near the tigers so that we can share our wonderful animal sketches with each other.

As always send RSVPs to uskoahu@gmail.com with your name and phone number so we know you’re coming and can send you updates if anything changes. Mahalo!

Video: Drawing Demo Pt. 2 (June 23)

Wild Times at the Zoo

Long lines and a lot of miscommunication today but the three of us managed to get some sketching done today at the Honolulu Zoo. Sorry Ivan for the mixed up time. You were right, the line was sooooo long. That’s why we moved the meeting time to noon.

The Zoo is huge but the three of us wore our Urban Sketching t-shirts and found each other pretty easily in the crowd. Once inside, we split up and drew separately but amazing, we all drew the same elephant!

Next week Saturday will be at the Zoo again. What animals will you draw?

Monkey Around With Us 

Join us on June 25th and July 2nd at the Honolulu Zoo as we look for fun and interesting animals and/or people to sketch. Feel free to join us on both Saturdays or just one day.

Entrance fee for Kama’aina is $8. Driver’s license or State ID is required for the discount. There is metered parking available.

The Zoo opens at 10am on Saturday so we will meet at the Zoo entrance. 

If attending the group event at the Zoo, please email us at uskoahu@gmail.com by Friday, June 24th with your name and phone number. Please be considerate of others around you and stay home if you feel sick.

To prep for our sketching event, Christine is doing live demos on Thursdays at 6pm. Email us if you want to join and we will send you a link. If you missed the last one, Christine recorded the session and posted it in this blog for all to enjoy.

Looking forward to seeing you on Saturday!