American Visionary Art Museum (too fast!)

During a trip to the east coast in May, I visited the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore, MD. Only had a short time to check it out before I scrambled to catch the train to DC, but it was worth the visit for sure.

No photography was allowed inside, so I just caught a few glimpses of my favorite moments in the sketchbook. (Yay, sketchbooks!)

Really compelling stories of self-taught artists doing impressive work that brought more than one tear to my eye. Hoping I can go back some day soon and dig in deeper.

National Aquarium

During my spring visit to the National Aquarium in Baltimore, Maryland, I was so amazingly glad to have a sketchbook on hand. So many amazing critters to admire!

Even paused to draw one of the many historic ships on the harbor. Really interesting town, soaked in history and culture. Would love to explore more of Baltimore.

Out and About

We've been using stretchy cloth chest-carry wraps to schlepp the baby around town, whether on foot or by public transit.

A couple of times now I've tried sketching the view of the baby, snug in the carrier an layers of winter clothes, napping against my chest.

By contrast, when she's out of the carrier and wiggling around, it can be a lot harder to sketch her! I attempted this doodle with my non-dominant hand, while the baby was sporadically kicking that arm as she nursed, no less--adorable chaos.

Cape Lookout

Yesterday I grabbed 110 colored pencils; ten pounds worth of field guides to plants and birds and mushrooms; a sunhat and a sweatshirt; and I went out to the Oregon coast. Having soaked up some of those impressionist paintings at the art museum the day before, I was all set to sketch the landscape at Cape Lookout. * Ayer agarré 110 lapices de color; diez libras de libros de identificación para plantas, hongos, y aves; un sombrero para el sol; y un suéter para el frio, también; y viajé a la costa de Oregon. Haber admirado las pinturas impresionistas en el museo de arte el día antes me ayudó mucho en hacer bosquejos del paisaje en Cape Lookout.

The contrast between those stiff trees and the vague and delicate light of the ocean and the fog was very dramatic. * El contraste entre los arboles rígidos y la luz tenue y vago del océano y la neblina era muy dramático.

As night crept in, the sunset took me off guard: a big pink ball was floating in the middle of the gray fog, like a giant balloon that some child had let go. Incredible. * Al atardecer, la puesta del sol me sorprendió mucho—era una bola rosa en media de la neblina gris, como si un nino había perdido su globo rojo. Increíble.  

Piedras Blancas

I thought that I'd posted all the drawings from my visit to San Luis Obispo this summer, but it turns out there are two more to share. At the end of June, my family and I drove to a beach near Hearst Castle to see the elephant seals. These enormous beasts spend a lot of time studiously napping, but then they can leap into pretty ferocious wrestling matches to impress the ladies. They're quite impressive. 

Pensé que había terminado con los dibujos de mi visita a San Luis Obispo, pero ya descubro que todavía faltan dos bosquejos más. A fines de junio, mi familia y yo conducimos a una playa cerca de Hearst Castle, para ver los elefantes marinos--animales gigantescos que vacilan entre una siesta enfocada y batallas feroces para establecer dominancia. Son increíbles.

It was a very windy afternoon, so I went back to the car with my grandma and from there I painted the "Piedras Blancas" rocks which rise out of the water just past the elephant seal beach. The fun thing is that I discovered a painting of the exact same rocks hanging on the wall of my grandmother's house that afternoon--my grandpa had painted it years before. His version was a stormier day, more muted colors, painted in oils...but it was a fun to find that link nonetheless! 

Como había mucho viento en el momento de visitar, regresé al auto con mi abuela, y yo pinté la vista de la Piedras Blancas que salen del océano en este lugar. Lo divertido es que, al regresar a la casa de mi abuela, descubrí una pintura de las mismas piedras que mi abuelo había hecho, desde hace varios años. El lo había pintado en óleo, en un día del invierno con el cielo más gris con las nubes, pero todavía era divertido encontrar esta conexión.  

Last sketches from San Luis Obispo

My goodness, you can tell it's a good sketching trip when, a month later, you still haven't gotten all the scans posted! Here are some sketches that I did while exploring San Luis Obispo and Paso Robles last month--focused on historic buildings and neighborhood scenes.

Híjole, es obvio que dibujé mucho en mi visita a San Luis Obispo y Paso Robles: una mez ya ha pasado y ¡todavía no he compartido todos mis bosquejos!  Aquí hay algunos dibujos que hice al explorar la cuidad, enfocados en edificios y vecindarios históricos.

Sketching Stroll

This trio watercolor sketches are from a walk we did with the "Ten Toe Express" group, who paired up with Muse Art + Design to inject an art theme into their normal neighborhood strolls. It was fun to be out with around 30 walkers, sketchers, and photographers, admiring the neighborhoods of SE Portland at an "artistic pace!"

The Hills of San Luis Obispo

Whenever I travel to the central California coast, I just adore the rolling hills that are dotted craggy old oak trees. As I came into town on the train this summer, my speed-sketching brain of course tried to capture some sense of that distinct and lovely landscape.

Waterscapes from a Moving Train

On my recent 25-hour train trip from Portland, OR to San Luis Obispo, CA, I had a great time sketching the landscapes as quick as I could as they flew by the train windows. This little trio was from when the train entered the northern section of the "Bay Area" of California, near the cities of Martinez and Richmond.

 The stumps of old piers that have long since rotted away are a visual delight.

Using a black brush pen and a gray brush pen really lets me get a scene established fairly quickly, with a degree of depth despite the speed.

Postcards from the Train

Last week I took a train ride from Portland, Oregon to San Luis Obispo, California. Some folks might find the idea of a 25-hour train ride to be daunting. I found it to be a great opportunity to sketch out a heap of little postcards to send to friends!

 See more after the jump...

A Two-Volcano Day

This weekend I went bike-camping! Toted tent, bedding, food, clothes, and all the other gear on my trusty old bike. Depending on your route, it's around 33 or 36 miles from Portland to Champoeg State Park. On the way down, I was pretty focused on the road; but on the way home today I gave myself some spare time to sketch the landscapes I was biking through.

Amazingly clear weather allowed for beautiful views of Mount Hood.

Another view of this lovely mountain from the back roads of Canby. It would be such fun to do a series of prints in the style of Hokusai's "36 views of Mount Fuji." (The two volcanoes share a distinctive stratovolcano shape, so it's not surprising that I make that connection when I look at Mount Hood.)

We had found a delightful historic path up on the bluffs above Oregon City that let us bypass some really nasty stretches of the highway, as well as getting a great view of the river and the city below. Paused to eat carrots and sketch the Willamette Falls on my way back as well.

Facing the other direction on the same bench, I realized I could see Mount Saint Helens as well! A two-volcano day, now that's fancy.

Notice that Mount St. Helens has an entirely different shape--one that is the result of having gone "boom" just a few decades ago! Interesting gallery of before and after pictures. Notice how the mountain used to be kinda pointy?

It was really nice to get out exploring. Hope I can do more of that as the summer progresses. 

Letterforms

Nice two-hour workshop at the IPRC tonight with B.T. Livermore, talking about letterforms, sign-painting, different tools for hand-lettering, keeping stroke consistent, being inspired by the past.

Edited to add: One of the surprises of the class was when four of us students at the south end of the table discovered that we all hold our pens & pencils "wrong" in the same way--with the pen braced against the first knuckle of the ring finger, rather than against the middle finger. I've never met anyone else who does that with their pens, to my knowledge at least--though it's not a thing that often comes up in conversation, it could be more common than I know? Anyway, it was a surprise and a triumph to discover that we were a "gang" of holding-pens-wrong-folk, all sitting next to each other! (Gabi was the most awesomely rebellious, because she does it left-handed.) Anyone else out there hold their pencils funny?