"Upcoming Events"

Happy New Year, Everyone!

Now is a good time to update particpaters, readers, interested parties, hangers-on, etc., as to what we are up to now that the new year is upon us; and to emphasize, once again, that anyone who has something to draw with and on is welcome to join us.  Age is not a factor, experience is not a factor.  We do this because it is fun and we enjoy each other's company. 

1.  We continue with our "during the week" sketchabouts, for those who can get away, on Wednesday mornings beginning on Jan 2nd, 2013, at 10am at the McDonalds on Road 68.  We will sketch there for a couple of hours, share our drawings and maybe have a bit of lunch. 

2.  The "Third Saturday Sketchabouts" will continue on each third Saturday of each month.  We will begin the series this year by joining up with other artists from around the world with the "38th World Wide Sketchcrawl" on January 19th.  We will meet at 9am in the Food Court at the Columbia Center Mall to sketch the people, things, places, and other items having to do with the Mall.  We'll share our work at 11:30 in the Food Court, and for the really hardcore folks, we'll continue on until about 3pm making this a Marathon sketch session, as the WWSk's are actually intended. 

3.  The "4th International Urban Sketchers Symposium" will be held this upcoming July in Barcelona, Spain.  Having been to the "3rd Int'l USkSymposium" in Santo Domingo last summer I highly recommend this event to anyone interested.  If you follow the Urban Sketchers online, you'll meet some of the real movers and shakers in this movement as well as pick up a lot of ideas, pointers, and fresh ideas on how you do your thing.

Don't forget to check us out on our FACEBOOK page for updates on the Weds and Third Saturday Sketchabouts ("friend" us if you haven't), and of course, this BLOG is our online base. 

"Warming Up with the Subordinate Hand"

Nathalie Ramierez made a suggestion last summer in Santo Domingo about a technique that will, "let you feel like what it feels like to be looser when you draw."  Since I struggled with "tightness" from when I first started doing art, I tried it. 

After returning home and posting more images, many contacts commented on how my art had changed since going to the symposium.  I felt it too. 

Here is a sketch I did a few days ago with my subordinate (left) hand:

And here is the one I did afterwards with my dominate (right) hand.  I still fight tightness, but I have learned that by ocassionally using my left it reminds my brain of what it feels like to be loose.  Here it is:

"6th Avenue Art Gallery at Mercery Winery Open House"

 

 

 

Carol Ashby of the "6th Street Art Gallery" in Prosser, WA., invited us to participate in the Gala Christmas Open House at Mercer Winery.  We took loads of pictures and did some sketching while there.  These are two of my contributions to the blog.