A Humid Morning of Sketching at Kewalo Basin Harbor
Posted: July 11, 2015 Filed under: USkO | Tags: boats, event, harbor, Kaka'ako, park, pen, pencil, watercolor Leave a commentDespite former Tropical Storm Ela passing the islands this weekend, we lucked out this morning with good weather at Kewalo Basin Harbor. Not that we were totally unaffected: we know of at least one person who was unable to make it because of poor weather elsewhere. The setting at the harbor was pleasant though, with moderate tourist activity, generally involving diving, parasailing, and pirate-ship tours.
We struggled again with attendance this weekend and had only six participants. Despite the low numbers we spent a productive 1.5 hours sketching a variety of scenes in the harbor and then shared our work with each other. Even with a small group, the post-sketch discussion always offers great opportunities to compare our various drawing styles, backgrounds, and equipment (micron pens, different pencil leads, and paper thicknesses).
Having experienced active and vibrant Urban Sketchers communities on the mainland and elsewhere, we remain committed to our goal of developing a similar group here. We hope former participants will keep coming and new / curious artists will check us out! Our next event will be on Saturday, August 8, so save the date on your calendar.
Event Tomorrow!
Posted: July 10, 2015 Filed under: USkO | Tags: event announcement 1 CommentPlease have a look at our event flyers, including the plan for our backup location (below) in case the weather foils our original proposal. Rain or shine, we hope to see you tomorrow morning!
Barge Shipment
Posted: July 7, 2015 Filed under: USkO | Tags: charcoal, conté, crayon, harbor, pen, port, shipping, truck, watercolor Leave a commentLast week I was at Honolulu Harbor helping ship two pallets to the Big Island on a Young Brothers barge. I intended to provide support, but ended up sketching at the main gate. This was my first time at the port to see the loading process and all the heavy equipment (forklifts, reach stackers … had to look that one up, and trailer trucks). I met very nice people – even made a friend of a security guard who requested a sketch of himself. He offered me a seat under a tent in front of the guard house – a welcome relief from the scorching heat of the day. Fortunately I had come prepared with a liter-sized water bottle… his was twice or three times the size.
Since I was unable to help, the multiple-hour visit meant I had many sketching opportunities. I used a set of liquid-ink pens and later applied crayons, watercolor, or charcoal with conté pencil. These different media/styles were spurred by a full sketchbook… I drew on spare loose paper, as well as the cardboard backing and other surfaces of my sketchbook.
“New on the Block”
Posted: June 22, 2015 Filed under: USkO | Tags: house, oil pastel, pen Leave a commentMost houses I have come across on the island have a subdued beige or grey/white hue. Exceptions can be found in the roof color where red or green make an occasional appearance. Recently though, I came across two residential houses in Manoa whose owners made bold color choices. In my sketch an aged and paled turquoise home can be seen on the right, and, on the left, a house that was just freshly painted in a new color. Originally a subtler hue like its neighbors, this residence now truly announced its presence.
I used a gel-based rollerball pen and oil pastels to portray the vivid colors.
Crossing Paths with SF Bay Area Urban Sketchers
Posted: June 5, 2015 Filed under: USkO | Tags: Bay Area Urban Sketchers, Pedro's Brazil Cafe, Westbrae Biergarten Leave a commentFor the second time this year, at least one of us was able to make it to the San Francisco Bay Area Urban Sketchers‘ First Thursday event. It was held in Berkeley at Pedro’s Brazil Cafe & Westbrae Biergarten and was attended / hosted by a very welcoming crowd, as usual.
After settling in, I looked for subjects that were challenging with regard to depth / perspective and began my work. For reasons that are still somewhat mysterious to me, some of the children playing in the outdoor area found me quite captivating, and I fielded many questions about what I was doing, when I would start my next sketch, and why I was not using colour. After some time the nearby parents rescued me (though I will admit that I enjoyed talking to the young’uns) and I continued with the mission at hand.
It was a pleasant evening with many subjects to focus on … from the swiftly moving to the stationary! One of the evening’s high points was the show-and-tell session; the sketches exhibited were impressive and intriguingly variable in the styles presented. As before, I left inspired and anxious to continue practising. Two of my sketches are included with this post.
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- Well-blended sketchers, patrons, bandeira do Brasil, and barrels.
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- Sketch of handle that operates the umbrella / sun shade.
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- Show and tell.
July 11 Event Update
Posted: June 5, 2015 Filed under: USkO | Tags: event announcement Leave a commentAs a fellow sketcher kindly pointed out to us, one of our originally marked parking locations is now a construction site. Apologies. The announcement has been updated.
Next Event: July 11 in Kaka’ako
Posted: June 3, 2015 Filed under: USkO | Tags: event announcement Leave a commentWe are excited to announce our next outing – with a little lead time. Save the date, tell your friends and family… and hope to see you there!
Memorial Weekend Sketch Event
Posted: May 24, 2015 Filed under: USkO | Tags: ala moana, construction, crayons, pen, pencil, shopping mall, watercolor pencils Leave a commentOur chapter held a sketch event this Sunday morning at Ala Moana Shopping Center. It was good to see a few returning sketchers, as well as newcomer Mayumi. The weather was great – occasionally overcast and breezy. From the top level of the parking garage we had a view of the shopping center in front of Ala Moana Beach and downtown Honolulu with the Ko’olau Range as a backdrop. Although chosen for just that reason, our location proved almost overwhelming due to the plethora and detail of targets. It was a challenge not only to pick a scene, but also to distill it while truthfully depicting the subject. This is a location with so much potential that we will have to return someday.
We jumped in at 9:30 and were yet again surprised by how quickly 11:00 arrived – time for show-and-tell. Pencil, pen, watercolor, crayon, and watercolor pencils all made an appearance. Given the similar subjects we chose (e.g., cranes, the shopping mall with scaffolding, and downtown Honolulu), it was interesting to see how differently the challenges of perspective, depth, and contrast were tackled. I came away with a greater interest in crosshatching and a desire to explore the technique more in my own sketches.
Hope to see everyone at our next event!
Urban Sketchers Symposium – Singapore 2015
Posted: May 14, 2015 Filed under: USkO | Tags: symposium Leave a commentRegistration is still open for the International Urban Sketchers Symposium in Singapore July 22-25.
Join the amazing faculty for top-notch programming open to sketchers of all levels, experience, and backgrounds!
Workshop passes and Sketching passes are still available – standard registration is open through May 31.
For more information about the Symposium including schedule and registration information, please visit http://singapore2015.urbansketchers.org/.
Evening Shopping Rush
Posted: May 14, 2015 Filed under: USkO | Tags: pen, people, shopping, watercolor Leave a commentIt seemed as though I joined every valley resident at the Manoa Marketplace last Wednesday. 5:00 p.m. is the magic hour – everyone is getting home from work and is either shopping for dinner or dining there.
For this session I decided to sit down in front of Safeway to do quick drawings of people passing by, walking in and out of stores, and dining. My two sketches are time-lapses of everyone I saw over the course of an hour. I made an attempt at a fisheye view of the entire strip but found it to be a more challenging perspective to draw than I expected, due to the strongly curving lines. Instead, I settled for two standard, undistorted views in opposite directions. In terms of composition, I wanted the focus to be on people so I decided to leave the color out of objects I did not want to draw attention to.
AJ Tauber
Harald Ebeling
Terri Dux
noah kutaka
Susan Li
Sebastian
uskoadmin
Urban Sketchers O‘ahu 