Sunday Afternoon at Manoa Park

Posted: April 7, 2015 | Author: Sebastian | Filed under: USkO | Tags: Manoa Park, pen, watercolor | Leave a comment

AJ: Today I realized that I haven’t sketched since the first week of January! That’s deadly … especially for a beginner. My hands felt out of control and I got overwhelmed by the detail in front of me. I decided to be practical and focus more on the experience than the art with the hope that future outings would go smoother.

This afternoon, Manoa Park was rather windy and there were even a few episodes of light rain. Two teams were facing off on one of the baseball fields. I wanted to sketch some outfielders with their generous stationary moments … but the teams were finished after we had only observed one inning and I had not even put pen to paper once.

Next, we aimed for a playground structure to capture the action, shapes, and colors there. Again, I mostly observed my surroundings and only placed a few lines (“chicken scratches”) on my paper. It was great to observe my surroundings and I plan on heading out again this coming week to gently get my momentum going.

Harald: Never one to be intimidated by insurmountable challenges, I tried out my brand new mini-watercolor set. First lesson: watercolors need practice. I initially wanted to create a very abstract view of the playground, but a combination of too much attention to detail and profound ignorance of the medium resulted in something that is perhaps better described as naive art. I thoroughly enjoyed the exercise though and shall keep trying.

Sebastian: Even though intermittent rain and high wind presented challenges, I managed to at least outline the scene at the baseball game before it wrapped up. With the vibrant colors of the baseball team’s jerseys and the playground nearby, I had the opportunity to use some undiluted, unmixed colors straight from my set.

I used watercolor and pen on dry-media, acid-free, heavyweight 9x6in. paper.

Manoa Marketplace Farmer’s Market

Posted: March 31, 2015 | Author: Sebastian | Filed under: USkO | Tags: market, pen, watercolor | 2 Comments

With slightly overcast skies and a pleasant breeze, this morning brought out friendly faces and a small, but vibrant farmer’s market.

Although trying to capture the layout and architecture of the marketplace was a good challenge, I regret not having focused more on the people mingling between the stands. On future excursions I will first take a look at what the most important elements are that I want to show. I will ask myself a few deliberate questions: How much time do I want to spend or have? What is the subject, and what are the key elements that accompany it? What medium or media would best depict this subject? What do I want to challenge myself with?

I used watercolor and pen on dry-media, acid-free, heavyweight 9x6in. paper.

Woolsey Place Fire

Posted: March 27, 2015 | Author: Sebastian | Filed under: USkO | Tags: crayon, fire, fire station, house, pen | Leave a comment

The sounds of sirens and horns filled the valley as first responders attended to a two-alarm fire in Manoa last week Wednesday. Thanks to a swift response, nobody was hurt and the fire was quickly contained. The damage to the home’s top floor was still considerable though. Last evening, I tried to sketch the residence and Manoa Fire Station. I used a standard black ballpoint pen and a pack of crayons on 9x6in, heavyweight, dry-media paper.

A New Year

Posted: January 24, 2015 | Author: Sebastian | Filed under: USkO | Tags: crayon, pen, San Francisco | Leave a comment

For New Year’s Eve and early January, I was in California. While there, I was able to meet up with San Francisco Bay Area Urban Sketchers for their monthly Sketch Night which was held at Whole Foods in Berkeley.

Flowers, fruit, and vegetables are three products many stores place near their entrance to entice consumers. The variety of colors and textures at Whole Foods was very appealing, and I could not resist sketching a shelf of vegetables.

After finishing the first sketch I realized something could be improved. I was using a pen and pack of crayons – outlining basic shapes with my pen and filling in those shapes with bright waxy crayons, thinking that the crayons would nicely accentuate the produce. Instead of limiting the use of crayon to the vegetables though, I got carried away and started filling in the shelves. This counteracted my original intention of making the vegetables stand out. I decided to do two additional close-ups with the refined method – using crayons for the vegetables and crosshatching the shelves with pen. This created the distinction I was looking for.

Encountering this problem drove me to think about using more than one medium per sketch. Does one medium communicate the character of an object or scene better than another? What combinations are possible? Could you combine crayon and watercolor; pastel and ink; charcoal, pastel, and watercolor? A mixed media sketch is something I have not tried yet.

A big thank you to Cathy and the SF Bay Area Urban Sketchers for their warm welcome and for an enjoyable evening sharing sketchbooks, approaches to sketching, and interesting Bay Area sites!

Happy New Year to all!

Night Sketch

Posted: January 20, 2015 | Author: Sebastian | Filed under: USkO | Tags: night, pen, watercolor | Leave a comment

Usually, I sketch during daylight hours and stop when it gets dark. However, there are also great scenes at night. This was my first attempt at a night sketch. I found it challenging to capture the intensity of the darkness in the valley, the contrasting bright streetlights, and the subtle colors of the surrounding residences with my watercolor set. Although the watercolors allowed me to meld scenes and colors together to create a somewhat abstract atmosphere, I would like to try a different medium too – perhaps pastels – to express a different quality of these nighttime scenes. A series of night sketches using different media would be interesting. How would a different medium communicate the mood or subjects in the same scene?

Winter

Posted: December 23, 2014 | Author: Sebastian | Filed under: USkO | Tags: pen, watercolor, winter | 3 Comments

Winter solstice was last Sunday. The temperatures have dropped into the high 70’s during the day and high 60’s at night, and strong winds and rains are hitting us; it is winter.

Harald and I tried to sketch through the torrential downpours in Manoa yesterday from a sheltered spot. We had a nice vantage point from which we could see (or not see) the valley and downtown Honolulu. At times, the rain was so heavy it would almost have been more accurate to leave the page blank.

Harald: Being stubborn, I stuck to pen, although this might not be the best choice if the task is to capture a scene that is barely visible through layers of mist, clouds, and rain. I tried to convey the limited and variable depth of the view by adding detail and value solely to foreground objects, while trying to only hint at the expanse of houses along the bottom of the valley and the hills in the distance. I think it worked partly, but I am again unhappy with my inability to reduce a scene to the utterly essential. Not that this was crucial, but it is something I would like to be able to do. Resolution: sketch more!

Sebastian: I started off with a geometric pen sketch, using different crosshatching techniques and line consistencies, hoping it would impart depth and a feel for the weather. After recently trying crosshatching with watercolor pencils, I wanted to continue exploring the same technique with a traditional medium – pen. However, I found that watercolor depicted this windy and rainy scene best.

Challenges Embraced

Posted: December 10, 2014 | Author: Sebastian | Filed under: USkO | Tags: pen, pencil, residential house, watercolor, watercolor pencils | Leave a comment

In an attempt to capture the subject and challenge ourselves to use a different medium or technique, we visited the same residential house in Manoa Valley twice. Our sketches, although all of the same house, look quite different.

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AJ: Last time we sketched this house I felt very overwhelmed by the challenge of capturing the perspective, presenting the depth / value, and even sizing the various sections of the house properly in relation to one another. This time I decided to focus on one area (front entrance) to see if I could turn that into a productive learning experience. I chose to use pencil because I feel like it is the biggest challenge for me and something I have tended to avoid. I am not as satisfied with the result as when I use ink / watercolour, but I feel like I should try to work on the fundamental aspects of drawing a bit more!

Harald: I managed to ruin several previous sketching efforts (mostly pencil) by not knowing when to stop. I tried to do better this time by using pen and deliberately starting with only crude outlines of the most basic elements of our target house. Ultimately I committed the same sin again though and did more damage than good with ill-conceived cross-hatching. To end on a positive note, I quickly jotted down another very rough sketch in order to return to that earliest phase that I felt best about. None of the results are satisfying in their own right, but I was happy to have learned more about what I need to focus on in the future. Progress of sorts!

Sebastian: For my first sketch, I used my standard supplies – a pen and watercolor set. It is a combination I am familiar with and am trying to improve. I decided to go out of my comfort zone for the second sketch. I had, unsuccessfully, used watercolor pencils before and decided to give it another try. My sketch (initially flat and geometric) progressed toward a more three-dimensional depiction with cross hatching and watercolor washes. Instead of an hour-long sketch, it turned into a two hour project. I struggled with it and ended up with something very different from what I normally do.

5th Anniversary for Urban Sketchers

Posted: December 7, 2014 | Author: Sebastian | Filed under: USkO | Leave a comment

Manoa Valley Neighborhood Sketch

Posted: November 29, 2014 | Author: Sebastian | Filed under: USkO | Tags: pen, pencil, watercolor | 2 Comments

The three of us – AJ, Harald, and Sebastian – went out for a short sketch on Wednesday afternoon. We geared up and headed out to find a neat spot in Manoa Valley. We did not have to walk far before one of us pointed out a house, view, tree, or – even – bush of interest.

AJ: I chose to sketch the curbside area of a residential property that presented many different shapes to draw as well as a mixture of natural and man-made elements. In addition to the challenge of making the objects recognizable, e.g., the trash bags, I tried to preserve the lighting as accurately as my skills would allow. We were out on a windy afternoon so oftentimes the shadows would change quite dramatically.

Harald: I made a point of not looking for a particular scene. After all, rewarding sights to sketch are literally everywhere! So I took up position on a curbside bench and sketched what lay straight ahead: a hedge and bits of palm trees projected onto the outline of the mountains on the other side of the valley. Being frustrated by my recent attempts at using watercolor pencils, I kept it basic: 2B pencil. I managed to still be under-equipped though because I had not brought a sharpener. The depth of the scene, light and shadow, and the complexity and detail of the vegetation proved hard to capture. I think I shall try a different approach next time: less naturalistic and more abstract, perhaps even geometric?

Sebastian: I set up on a curb and started sketching an enormous tree arcing over the street. It provided an interesting pairing of shadows and lights – a challenge. My sketch did not capture the depth and contrasting values of the scene the way I wanted, so I am interested in returning to this spot to experiment with different media.

November Outing

Posted: November 18, 2014 | Author: Sebastian | Filed under: USkO | Tags: pen, watercolor, watercolor pencils | Leave a comment

Our chapter had its second event on Saturday afternoon at Iolani Palace. Although the night before and morning of the event were rainy, the weather was beautiful for our outing. It was great to see returning and new sketchers.

We had planned to do a sketch crawl to capture several historic and architecturally interesting buildings in the surrounding area of downtown, however Iolani Palace proved to be enough of a challenge and captured our full attention for the afternoon.

The 178th anniversary of King Kalakaua’s birth and the 51st anniversary of the re-creation of the Royal Guard were last Friday. This made the palace – even the day after – a spectacular sight to behold.

After sketching we shared ideas on how to use and make portable watercolor sets. Anita showed us her clever use of an empty gum dispenser inside an Altoids tin to create a very portable setup.

In the photo below (left), Carol is showing us the color chart she sometimes uses to figure out which watercolor pencils to mix. The photo below (right) depicts Anita, Harald, and Ricardo talking about value, the challenge of proportion, and fitting the subject on the page.