Manoa Valley Neighborhood Sketch

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.