Quail perch overlooking Amon Basin

My goal was to capture Patti G in her creative element.  The variegated bloom layers surrounding Cindy's yard were captivating to our Tri City sketching artists and to our Tri City squawking quail.  I mainly used a .05 micron pen and colored pencils for these sketches.  Amon Basin is an undisturbed nature corridor, which ultimately connects to the Yakima River and Columbia River confluence.

I have titled the lower sketch "The Bird's House". patti kirch

Fun Sketching

Dave Poynter
Great day and great setting. It is fun just to spend some time with people who make pictures out of almost nothing, just because they want too.

Urban Sketchers in a Garden?

 Not your typical outing for the gang but it was a great turn out.  Unfortunately Jim our fearless leader was under the weather. Hope you've rested Jim and are feeling better!

 Nancy, Gail & Patty G. honing in on some of the flowers.  I love how Nancy gets right on top of her subject ;)

Patty, Angie, & I went for some garden ambience with some structure.

The boys Jim B and Dave were drawing the house!

 While Jim M, Yichien and Patty went for peeps in the garden

We were also joined by Nancy Richter who photographed the garden (can't wait to see some of the pic's)  and Tina Gergly who I hope will pick up her sketch pad and join us again !

Richland Parkway

The Richland Parkway, Richland WA, lapoynte. I tried to put all the artzy stuff in one picture.

Skipping Work to Urban Sketch

Sunshine and the Richland Parkway were perfect reasons why it felt like I was skipping work to Urban Sketch.  Wednesday mornings are penciled in as "my" break away time.

As the book reads, the Tri-Citians are loyal customers to their farmer's markets, one of which is held in this Parkway on Friday mornings.  The shops are also fan favorites, including Frost Me Sweet, Bell Furniture, The Book Worm, Ariel's, Cheese Louise, Stone Soup... just to name a few

patti kirch

Sketching and Painting

I finally made the last two Tri City Urban Sketchers gathering last Wednesday and today. Last week I tried my hand at my 3rd ever plein air painting in oil.  Apparently it is a lot harder than it looks.  A friend of my suggested doing some watercolor sketches in the field to get the hang of plein air.  Well today I had much more fun doing my loose watercolor thing.  

Oil 12x16 Burbank ponds

Watercolor 5x7 Richland Parkade flower cart

 If your reading this blog and are in the Tri City area, you must come and join us.  Everybody but a few of the oldies are new and we are just giving this a go. Everyone that comes seems to enjoy themselves.  It was surprisingly peaceful at the Richland Parkade this morning and I think we all enjoyed some art therapy!

"Dave Sketches in Burbank" (titled for him by JB)

Weekly Urban Sketcher's Sketch Crawl. We had a great turn out and we sketched the Burbank Pond. I also sketch some people at the bar when I had lunch at the Beautiful Burbank Tavern, better know as the BBT by locals.

"Dave Sketches the Grain Elevator" (titled for him by JB)

My grain elevator for the weekly sketch crawl, 11 x 14 pen and colored pencil.

"Pushing Your Sketching Boundaries - Workshop" presented by USk

http://workshops.urbansketchers.org/2014/04/pushing-your-sketching-boundaries.html

Kennewick Grain Elevator Tagged

Clearwater Avenue Grain Elevator, across and a bit from the Flashcube building.  The top drawing was sketched with a micron pen then a sepia coloured brush pen and a blue/gray graphite water soluble pencil.

I used a mechanical pencil to sketch the lower picture.  I brushed art bars around for the spring sky, rusted pipes and aged plywood.


The owners had to stop Jim, Patty G and Dave from tagging urban sketchers on the "garage door", not really, but the aged plywood had that look!

patti kirch

5/7/14 - "Grain Elevator on Clearwater Ave., Kennewick WA"

Tri-City Urban Sketchers met at this grand old place in Kennewick this morning.  

I've been wanting to sketch this beauty for years, so am really thankful that the rest of the gang agreed to meet here today!

My sketch is a little broad and doesn't do justice to the true height of the grain elevator but I think it does represent the essence of the place.

 

"Grain Elevator on Clearwater"

We met this morning in the parking area around the base of this old grain elevator on Clearwater Ave., in Kennewick, WA.

I don't know much about its history: when it was built, or by whom.  This is wheat country and in the museums there are pictures of wheat harvests in the old days with the combines being pulled by teams of mules.  And of course the train tracks run just behind the grain elevator.

Sad to see our history disappear before our very eyes.  No longer a grain elevator, but now a cell phone tower. And no longer way outside of town, but smack dab inside the city limits.

Some of our sketchers ran into the owners this morning. There has been interest in placing a restaurant on top.  Not a bad idea.

"Franklin County Courthouse"

Franklin County Courthouse in Pasco, Washington. 

We met in Pasco this last Wednesday morning to sketch the Franklin County Courthouse.  Built in 1912 and remodeled a few times over the years, this is one of the few early 19th century structures in our area.

It is a gorgeous building, and it is difficult not to pretend, just a little bit, with that dome and those Romanesque arches and windows, and those two ionic columns supporting the portico, that you are sitting in the plaza outside St. Peter's in Rome when sketching it.

Of course the security guards don't dress in those snazzy Swiss Guard uniforms Michelangelo designed at St. Peter's, but they do carry guns.

The courthouse is tightly secured at its perimeter.  I guess it is the age we live in.  In the early seventies, a kid I knew in Prosser, sent Judge James Lawless a package in his offices here.  It was a bomb and it killed the judge.  The kid is now approaching his 65th birthday, still behind bars, always behind bars.  Good place for him.

Franklin County Courthouse - Inside!

  

4/30/14 - Franklin County Courthouse, the prettiest building in Pasco.

               

Such a warm, sunny morning and a beautiful, grand building!  A great day to be an Urban Sketcher!