Favorite TV Show of the Moment (06-29-11)

Thanks to Netflix, I discovered a fun TV show called Pawn Stars. Based on a simple premise, - people sell things to get quick money -, the show give a fascinating insight into the workings of a pawn shop in Las Vegas. Expect the unexpected, and enjoy watching the store employees bicker constantly.

I did these character studies while watching reruns; they look like caricatures because the TV medium is static, allowing me to go over lines and keep the drawing "cleaner" than a sketch.

Well, that fantastical creature just appeared on the page...

The unfinished drawings show how this is done...

Dr. Sketchy Life Drawing Session (06-26-11)

A fun and challenging way to do life drawings of models in costume: Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art School. This takes place the last Sunday of the month at Crush Bar on Morrison St.

An unusually tall girl...

Moho Rising Party (06-24-11)

We went to check out the Morrison Hotel in SE, because I always I am game for a good time and I thought that G. might like the ambiance. It was pretty cool, because of the relaxed set-up, the cool Jim Morrison memorabilia and posters on the walls... The classic rock played by DJ Nate C was great, and they were offering Happy Hours Specials all evening.

Moso enjoying the food...

Cool open back paisly dress

Healthy Diet Workshop at New Seasons (06-23-11)

It's not that I eat poorly, - because I don't -, but I can't seem to lose any weight, EVER, and after a recent conversation with a massage therapist, I decided to make an effort at eating healthy foods and to start by attending one of the classes offered by New Seasons, to learn more about anti-inflammatory diets.

I tried to take notes but, as usual, I ended up drawing... Some pleasantly puzzling information I overheard (probably due to my not paying close attention) was that butter is good for you. Now, that was great news to me, since I've been feeling guilty all these years for slathering it with jam on sandwiches! Better not trust my ears though, and read the copious amount of information that was provided... 

At the Rural Auction (06-21-11)

...Trying out my Pitt brush markers...

What I like about the auction is that one sees all kinds of people, and not just hipsters or the usual city types as in Portland. Here, we have a sampler of humanity, from the well-dressed to the bedraggled, all as they are, mostly imperfect, but memorable.

Movie: The Illusionist (06-20-11)

Even a thoroughly stupid movie like The Illusionist has its rewards: for a few seconds, one could see an old, graceful farm estate at night. Another redeeming value for this movie: it was filmed in the Czech Republic, and a few scenes were even filmed inside the castle at Český Krumlov.

The World is a Strange Place (06-20-11)

Call me naïve, but I just found out that "Buffy Malone," the name I came up with years ago, the most outlandish made-up name I could think of as an example of an unlikely mix of Pop Culture and Italian ethnic, - a name I have extensively used in various humorous stories I've written, - is actually the name of a real woman on Facebook (...and she kinda looks the way I'd imagined my own Buffy Malone...)!

Roses in Bloom (06-20-11)

...Yeah, and it looks like this will be another year when I am going to forget to cut them... so there will be fewer blooms altogether. Still, so lovely...

Climbing Cécile Brunner in the background

Lovely in Springtime (06-20-11)

Here are some photos of the house at its best, when everything around is in bloom...

Hairstyles (06-17-11)

...Quick sketches to alleviate my haircut anxieties.

Thuy's Plants (06-17-11)

Going to Thuy's Hair Salon is an exotic experience: Vietnamese music videos blaring from a TV set near the ceiling, piles of old magazines, and Thuy herself, always in spike heels, ever so lithe and feminine, admonishing caution against some impending catastrophe... And of course, Thuy's plants, that thrive under her care, strike me as somehow exotic also.

One of Thuy's plants

Scene at a Trendy Bar (06-15-11)

Since I knew that the Portland Urban Sketchers group had planned to be there, I went to Produce Row Café with my friends Greg and Suzanne C.
Greg, who'd gone there in his younger days was dismayed that the place had gone the usual trendy route ("Coffee" stained woodwork, rich-looking patrons, expensive food, etc.). This is the way everything seems to go in Portland nowadays: posh and trendy-looking places, either for the hip, or for the well-to-do.
But we still had a pleasant time chatting and listening to great music. Greg wrote on his notebook, I finished this sketch, and Suzanne worked on her "doodle" book (for lack of a better word).

At the end, we took a peek at the other artists' work, and that was cool.

Drawing Portraits at Da Vinci (06-14-11)

I volunteered drawing portraits at Da Vinci Arts Middle School last day of school. It was a lot of fun drawing the sweet-faced young kids who lined up and patiently waited for their turn... This brought back memories of other like moments at Da Vinci, when my daughters were younger...

A quirky 6th grader...

And a pensive 8th grader...

Hairstyles (06-12-11)

I was surprised to see that some women attending the (Church) Stake Conference had relatively interesting hairstyles... (Who would have thought?)

Space-Age Bun and Bouffant Hair

Waterfront and Fun Center (06-11-11)

After the parade, I went down to the waterfront. As part of the Rose Festival, a fleet of ships comes for a week, an interesting scene, with bridges opening and closing, and lots of people everywhere.

Hawthorne Bridge

Essayons at waterfront

 I did a sketch of the U.S. Corps of Engineers' dredger Essayons (a very French name for a U.S. ship...).

Big ship details

Technical things are complicated to sketch, at least they are to me. I spent a good 20 minutes on this sketch of the side of the dredger.

Fun Center

As for the "CityFair" (Fun Center, Carnival, whatever), it was a chaotic scene, with people waiting in line for rides and greasy food. (Click on the link above for a nicely edited night video that someone posted online).

Grand Floral Parade (06-11-11)

It had been a few years since I had gone to the Rose Festival's Grand Floral Parade downtown, so I decided to go and draw a few sketches on the street.

Parade Details

On the left, policemen and one of those Rose Festival creepy old men with a white suit and cape; in the middle, a bicyclist, a cameraman, and a dancer with pompoms (I especially like that sketch); on the right, women at the Media broadcast table.

Chinese dog!

Throughout the parade, I had been working on sketching the street as a background, not sure how I could fill the foreground fast enough since the floats passed by too fast to draw them in their entirety, when, during a lull between floats, suddenly, as if out of nowhere, a goofy-looking Chinese dog appeared. A precursor to the Chinese New Year Dragon dancers, the dog was full of enthusiastic energy, so funny. I quickly drew it. (Click on the link above to briefly see the dog in a video someone posted online...)

Scenes from the parade

Here, I caught the elegant white horse from the Mexico "float" (possibly from the Portland Guadalajara Sister Association). It was just regal. (Click on the link above to see it in a video someone posted online...)

I enjoyed myself.

Craft Party for I [Heart] Art: Portland (06-10-11)

I was a volunteer at the Craft Party for I [Heart] Art: Portland held at the Museum of Contemporary Craft. Aside from the fun craft activities, there was good food, and there were so many of prizes, almost everyone got something also (although I didn't...).

Food table

The audience during the drawing for prizes

Good Grief: Another Delay (06-09-11)

Isn't there a saying to the effect that the wheels of Justice move slowly? Indeed, they do.
I almost laughed when I read the notification the court sent us, that the Small Claims hearing has been scheduled for... November 3!