42nd Annual Prince Lot Hula Festival

Posted: July 21, 2019 | Author: | Filed under: USkO | Tags: , | Leave a comment

Gripping performances of hula kāhiko took centerstage today at the morning session of the 42nd Annual Prince Lot Hula Festival, held again this year at ‘Iolani Palace. Hālau hula featuring accomplished dancers of all ages were celebrated by a receptive audience, which included a dozen sketchers who often felt overwhelmed by the fast-moving and large ensembles (at one point close to 40 performers were on stage). We strived nonetheless to capture the spirit of the day, from the elegant and expressive flow of dance movements to architecture, flora, and fauna of the surroundings. Even a disruptive helicopter that forced the program to pause twice, as it noisily moved material at a nearby highrise construction site, could not distract from a fantastic morning of Hawaiian culture.

As always, don’t forget to check out our sketches on Flickr and upload your own!

Make sure to stay tuned for our next event!

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Next Event!

Posted: July 14, 2019 | Author: | Filed under: USkO | Tags: | Leave a comment

By the Tracks

Posted: June 22, 2019 | Author: | Filed under: USkO | Tags: , , , , | 5 Comments

The futuristic, driverless light-rail car we toured today stood in stark contrast to the narrow-gauge trains we visited and sketched in our event of April 2018 at the Hawaiian Railway Society! Instead of sugar cane and cattle, it is now commuters (up to 800 per train) that will travel along the Ewa plains. Introducing us to this totally novel mode of transportation (for the islands), the friendly and knowledgeable staff from HART (Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation) and Hitachi (the train manufacturer) went out of their way to make everyone feel welcome and left no questions unanswered at this morning’s “community train day”. The HART facilities next to Leeward Community College were open to the public, who could learn about the project’s status and experience firsthand one of the rainbow-adorned railcars. We sketched all aspects of it, including the wheel mechanism, interior (sporting bicycle and surfboard racks!), and sleek exterior. Sheltered in a tent kindly set up for us by HART, show-and-tell featured challenging perspectives, a certain sketch-worthy, mustachioed participant, and – for once – no chickens, cats, or birds.

Thank you, Lena Kamae, for hosting us!

As always, don’t forget to check out our sketches on Flickr and upload your own!

Make sure to stay tuned for our next event!

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Event Tomorrow!

Posted: June 21, 2019 | Author: | Filed under: USkO | Tags: | Leave a comment

We hope that you will join us to sketch the rail tomorrow morning!
Here is the link to our flyer (map included).

In case you are not able to find us, give us a call.

Next Event!

Posted: June 16, 2019 | Author: | Filed under: USkO | Tags: | 2 Comments

Need to scratch that sketch​ ​itch?

Posted: May 27, 2019 | Author: | Filed under: USkO | Leave a comment

For those interested, we were alerted (thank you, Mike​!​) that the first bon dance of the season will be held on the evening of June 1st at Hawaii Plantation Village in Waipahu. Sounds like a fun time for anyone who needs their sketching “fix” prior to our June 22 event with the Hawaii Authority for Rapid Transportation.

Singing – erm – sketching in the rain!

Posted: May 4, 2019 | Author: | Filed under: USkO | Tags: , | Leave a comment

Despite a somewhat rainy morning, a few of us (thank you Bill and Terri for braving the outdoors) gathered to sketch the Hawaiʻi Book and Music Festival today! From the Mayor’s Office of Culture and Arts building, we captured views of vendor tents and downtown scenery. Also, for our airplane enthusiasts, we were treated to a close look at commercial jets following their Kona-wind landing pattern. The location provided us with shelter and featured delightful architectural details to draw – what a perfect segue from last month’s activities with the American Institute of Architects!

As always, don’t forget to check out our sketches on Flickr and upload your own!

Make sure to stay tuned for our next event!

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Event Update – See you soon!

Posted: May 4, 2019 | Author: | Filed under: USkO | Tags: | Leave a comment

Looks rainy this morning. There is shelter at the Mayor’s Office of Culture and Arts (the Mission Memorial Museum Auditorium). See you all at the new location soon!

Next Event!

Posted: April 28, 2019 | Author: | Filed under: USkO | Tags: | Leave a comment

Punahou’s Middle Field

Posted: April 20, 2019 | Author: | Filed under: USkO | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

April 2019 was our fourth year of collaborating with AIA during Architecture Month, and today’s event (at Punahou School’s Middle Field) was as enjoyable as before. Observing the weather earlier in the day, we were wondering if we would get washed away, but the skies cleared in time. AIA representative and long-time USkO sketcher Mayumi started us off with a brief overview of the history and architecture visible from our venue – also passing around an old map of campus – before we dispersed to sketch. Dillingham Hall (where hundreds of student dancers performed in elaborate costumes this morning), Castle Hall (scheduled to be demolished soon), a lively softball game (Punahou played Kamehameha), and several other sights on campus made appearances in our sketches. Show and tell was a great opportunity to get to know our fellow sketchers, whose styles were as wonderfully diverse as their backgrounds (including architects, planners, writers, editors, and scientists), and several of whom shared their personal connections to and memories of Punahou.

We ended the event with a giveaway of sketch supplies kindly and generously provided by
Hawaiian Graphics and AIA.

As always, don’t forget to check out our sketches on Flickr and upload your own!

See you at our next event on May 4!

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