Combo Event with AIA

Urban Sketchers O’ahu is teaming up with American Institute of Architects (AIA) to honor Architecture Month on October 22nd.

Let’s meet on the corner of Pohukaina and Cooke Streets under the big monkeypod tree. There should be metered parking on side streets.

Note: We are starting at 9am, instead of 10am. Sharing our sketches will begin at 11:30am.

If attending, please email us at uskoahu@gmail.com by Friday, October 21st.

Happy sketching,

Terri

Christine’s Sketching Debut on Hawaii News Now “Sunrise”

I hope you woke up early and caught Christine’s sketching segment on Hawaii News Now (HNN) this morning. She was awesome! This is what she had to say about the experience:

Todd (spokesperson for American Institute of Architects) and I arrived at the news studio at the same time. We were escorted inside by none other than Billy V himself! He was very welcoming and led us through a maze of corridors and set spaces including the main Sunrise set which we walked behind of and could hear Grace Lee and the others filming on the other side.

Billy took us to a conference room. He turned on a big tv so we could watch the show, saying we had about 20 minutes before our segment would be filmed. He left and a few minutes later he was on tv with the others. I was amazed with how fast paced everything was. One minute he was leading us through the studio, the next minute he’s on TV!

During the 20 minutes in the conference room I started doing some drawing warm ups. In the middle of my warm ups another guy came to tell us we’re up. He led us through the maze of the studio including the little room where “This Is Now” is filmed. I saw a glimpse of Jonathan Jared Saupe sitting inside, no sign of Ashley Nagaoka though.

We ended up in this smaller separate set with couches. They cleared the furniture and set up a white board for Howard Dicus and my easel. This was our little set for the segment.

Here we met the segment producer Keith and our camera man Joel. Joel is someone I went to high school with. What a nice surprise to see each other on a news set! Keith instructed us on what’s happening and tells me I have 3 minutes to draw on camera, which shocked me. I can draw fast but not that fast. But he says I’ll have time after the segment to finish the drawing and then they would film Howard’s sketch and my drawing side by side.

Keith wanted me to have something drawn by the time they start filming the segment so I started drawing before Howard arrives.

But once Howard does arrive everything happened quickly. Howard goes over what he wants to do and we start filming. I’m in that haze we all go into when we’re in deep drawing mode which is good because I wasn’t feeling nervous, just totally focused on finishing the drawing. Howard and Todd have their back and forth interview and I’m slightly aware of Joel moving around with the camera. And then in no time it was done, Howard goes back to the main set. I spend the next 15-20 minutes finishing the drawing and chatting with Todd. When I’m done with the drawing, Joel films it one more time. And that’s it. Keith thanks us for coming and leads us through the labyrinth of the studio and shows us how to get back to the parking garage. And it’s just 8:30 in the morning.

Way to go Christine! Thanks for representing Urban Sketchers O’ahu!

Watch HNN “Sunrise” this Friday!

In honor of Architecture month in October, Christine will be sketching on Sunrise on Hawaii News Now this Thursday, October 6th. The show is being taped and will air on Friday, October 7th. If you are an early riser, tune in and watch Christine’s sketch unfold on TV.

Also, save the date – Oct 22nd for our next Urban Sketching event in Kakaako. More details to follow.

Happy sketching,

Terri

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!