Keep It Simple With Earth Day Sketches

Posted: April 20, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: USkO | Tags: , , , , | 1 Comment

Every time I’m in Kaimuki, I think why don’t I visit here more often. The community is bustling with quaint coffee shops, vintage stores, and trendy eateries. Today, we got to sketch one of those unique little boutiques on busy Waialae Ave.

Keep It Simple is a local retail and refill store. You refill your own containers with common household products therefore reducing the waste of thousands of one-time use plastic bottles in our landfill.

Today, they celebrated Earth Day with an Earth Day Festival. This was our chance as Urban Sketchers to sketch their storefront.

It was just the three of us sketchers but it gave us time to talk and enjoy each other’s company.

It’s fun to share our love of our community through our sketches. That’s the heart of urban sketching.

It was an honor to meet Keep It Simple store owners Hunter (left) and Jill (right). Next time you’re in Kaimuki, be sure to check out this unique shop.

Earth Day is Monday, April 22. As artists, how do you celebrate Earth Day?

SAVE THE DATE: May 1, 2024

On May 1, we are participating in International Urban Sketchers Week. More details to come.

How Do You Sketch Earth Day? (updated)

Posted: April 8, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: USkO | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Earth Day is actually on Monday, April 22. But since we usually meet on Saturday, we will be sketching on April 20 in Kaimuki.

UPDATED: Let’s meet across the street of Keep It Simple on Waialae Ave. If you’ve never been there, Keep It Simple is a cute boutique shop with a mission to provide “Vegan, Cruelty-Free, Non-Toxic, Reef Safe products,” according to their website. Address is 3466 Waialae Ave.

On April 20, the store is doing a little Earth Day Festival with sustainable vendors, crafts, music, food, drinks and fun. Bring your empty containers to refill with daily household products!

As Urban Sketchers, I thought it would be an interesting twist to sketch their cute storefront in historic Kaimuki. You can also choose to sketch the busy Waialae Ave or neighboring shops. Kaimuki is full of historical charm so there is a lot to focus on. We will meet at 10am and share our sketches as a group at 11:30.

Parking is available on the street. If attending, RSVP by Friday, April 19 at uskoahu@gmail.com. I hope you can join us.

Happy sketching,

Terri

How Do You Sketch 20,000 People

Posted: March 30, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: USkO | Tags: , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

When I planned Urban Sketching at Kawaii Kon, I thought it would be pretty casual. We walk in. Get a comfortable seat on the upper level where there is plenty of seating and sketch away. I was wrong.

Security has been upgraded to TSA screening. And with metal detectors at the front door, the line, or should I say the mob of young people formed endless lines in every direction. It was impossible for us, Urban Sketchers to enter the convention center.

Thank you sketchers who braved the traffic, weather, and crowds to sketch what we could. As Urban Sketchers, we tell a story, a snapshot of today. And that we did proudly!

The questions of the day to ponder was: Why is art important to me? What’s an early event that first interested you in art? We love hearing how art influenced you at such an early age. And how art is critical thinking or stress-relieving. How would you answer those questions?

Save the Date

Pencil April 20 for our next Urban Sketchers event. I don’t have an event or location yet, so email me with suggestions.

Sketching Holiday Cheer

Posted: December 9, 2023 | Author: | Filed under: USkO | Tags: , , | 2 Comments

Thank you to all the amazing sketchers who attended this morning’s sketching event at Honolulu Hale. It’s an annual tradition to sketch Shaka Santa and Tutu Mele or the festive grounds in every December.

This year, we were blessed with the art supplies thanks to the generosity of Hawaiian Graphics!

Thank you @HawaiianGraphics for supporting local artists. We will definitely make good use of our new tools into the new year!

Happy Holidays to all!

Terri

Happy Earth Day!

Posted: April 22, 2020 | Author: | Filed under: USkO | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

It is even more important when you’re staying at home to be thankful for what you have and give back to our planet.

Every little thing helps: recycle your water bottles, conserve electricity, or reuse what you already have.

Fifteen years ago, Bill gave me a worm composter so that we could turn our food scraps into rich soil for our garden. It’s a 3-level simple home for hundreds of red wigglers that munch on potato and carrot peelings, eggshells, and melon rind. We have much less waste and dark, nutrient-rich compost to amend our herbs and fruit trees. It’s a little thing but it feels good to reuse and recycle what we already have.

Happy Earth Day.

Stay safe and happy sketching,

Terri

worm composter

What to sketch from home? Here’s a list of 20 prompts to get started.

Posted: April 9, 2020 | Author: | Filed under: USkO | Tags: , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Hope everyone staying at home is safe and healthy! 

Every month, I look forward to our Urban Sketching outing. I sharpen my pencils and pack my bag the night before. But now that we are adjusting to our new normal of social distancing, I have embraced the new direction from USk of sketching from home.

For inspiration, browse through Instagram and you’ll see hundreds of sketchers around the world sketching from their windows. From Rome to Tokyo, it’s really quite inspiring. Honestly, some people have amazing views from their apartments!

Instead of feeling restricted, take this time to be creative. Look around your surroundings and find beauty in the ordinary. Even the kitchen sink can be fascinating.

Here is a list of prompts to get your creative juices flowing:

1. Look out your window. Sketch what you see. 

2. Sketch your front door. Don’t forget to include your slippers.

3. Are you spending this downtime watching a lot of Netflix? Sketch from your sofa and include your feet!

4. What does your backyard look like? If you have a garden, sketch your garden.

5. Are you working from home? Sketch your home office. Include your laptop and your morning cup of joe. Embrace the mess.

6. Sketch your lunch. Your lunch probably looks different now that you are eating at home.

7. Do you have a pet? Sketch them watching you draw.

8. You can tell a lot about a person’s interests by looking at their bookshelf. Plus, books come in so many different sizes and colors which makes them fun to draw. Sketch your bookshelf.

9. Look inside your closet. Here’s another place where you can play with textures and colors. Sketch your clothes on hangers.

10. Are you doing a lot of baking? So many people are! Sketch your chocolate-chip cookies or homemade bread baking in the oven.

11. Love your hands! They are our tools for all we do. Sketch your hands sketching.

12. Everyone has a junk drawer. Sketch what’s inside. Paperclips, rubber bands, pens, etc.

13. Laundry hanging in the yard is somehow beautiful and nostalgic in the sunlight. Be sure to include your face masks drying in the sun.

14. Draw your spouse working from home.

15. Pay tribute to our essential workers. Draw your postman or woman delivering your mail.

16. Are you exercising? Sketch your exercise routine. Are you not exercising? Sketch your shoes lying on the floor.

17. De-stressing with puzzles and games? Family game night has become an everyday routine. Sketch your family having fun.

18. Spending more time playing an instrument? Sketch your guitar, ukulele, or banjo…

19. Doing a lot of online shopping? Sketch yourself browsing the merchandise from your phone.

20. Look at your home at night. The mood and surroundings change dramatically when the lamps are on. Sketch your life in the darkness.

Whatever you choose to sketch, have fun and enjoy the process. Don’t forget to post your “Stay at home” sketch every Saturday in April at https://www.flickr.com/groups/uskoahu/

Stay safe and happy sketching.

Aloha,

Terri