PDX Union Station

 

A simple marker + watercolor sketch of Union Station in Portland, that time when I rushed to the station in an overpriced Lyft, only to discover the train was 90 minutes behind schedule. Well, like all delays it was a great excuse to sketch. I tried out some new calligraphy markers I got from Cargo (my fav store in PDX) and eavesdropped on some great conversations in the building's smoking area: folks in town from afar, crossing paths on long journeys.

PDX Trip

A few weeks back, I went to Portland for a few days — it's the first overnight trip I've taken away from the city in 2018. My partner and I were there to celebrate & hang with a dear friend for her birthday, and took a few days to explore the city, obviously sketching as much as possible. We were lucky to catch some genuinely Spring-y weather while in Oregon. It's not my first time in PDX, but it is my first time there after moving to the west coast. It really feels a lot like Seattle, especially architecturally — I definitely prefer our city, but PDX seems to have a better food scene (y'all can try to prove me wrong on this).

Yam Hill Food Cart Pod | After our bus dropped us off in downtown Portland, and once the sudden rainfalls abated, we did some sketching by a food cart pod. A really great use of a parking lot in a dense urban area. I would totally get lunch at every cart once if I worked nearby; your stomach could travel the world in this one block.

St. Johns Bridge | A lovely suspension bridge (in my opinion, not shared by my PDX host) from a lview we stopped to capture after hiking in Forest Park. Portland's hills are taller than Seattle's, but their mountains are much less dramatic (still very beautiful, just different!). The area across the river is super industrial, which I may have slightly edited away in this painting. St Johns was an important stop along the river during the lumber boom.

 

Willamette Boulevard | On the way back from Forest Park hiking & St. Johns, we passed this huge old Victorian house which i LOVED. So later, we came back here and I spent an hour or so sitting on the side of a busy road painting while sitting in the dirt. What else could you want on a vacation?

Paul Bunyan | As we were staying in the adorable Kenton neighborhood, we apparently had to check out this local landmark standing on a busy intersection. I appreciate the wonkyness of giant Paul at this intersection but his unfocused gaze and lack of neck definitely adds some uncanny aspects to this monumental sculpture. But yeah let's #keepportlandweird!

Tom McCall Waterfront Park | This was the first day all year that it felt like Real Spring (i.e. warm enough to sketch for a couple hours without my hands freezing) and Portland residents were out in force at this stretch of waterfront lawn. The cherry blossoms were also at peak bloom! It was a shame to have to leave to catch our train back to Seattle.

The Old Church - West Coast Urban Sketchers Gathering - Portland

This was the morning sketch done for the Noon sharing. This is 'The Old Church' located at SW 11th and Clay St. was built in the 1880's.

Pen and ink in a Stillman & Birn Beta watercolor sketchbook.

2nd Annual West Coast Urban Sketchers Gathering - Portland

With Seattle sketcher Gail Wong, I rode a Bolt Bus down to Portland for the day to participate in this annual event. It was my first real trip to spend any time in downtown Portland and was impressed with the architecture and culture of the city. I definitely will be back.

This building caught my eye because of the color around the windows of what seemed like a warehouse, only to be told by a passing mail courier that in 2012 it was the site of MTV's 28th season of 'The Real World', probably one of the original reality shows.

There were over a hundred sketchers attending the event and I met many great sketchers whose work I've enjoyed online and can now put a face to. I went back to Seattle that night on the bus, a bit much for one hot day (90+). Next time I'll stay for the weekend and why not, Portland has a lot to offer a sketcher.

Second Annual West Coast Sketchcrawl

Yesterday I had an all day adventure going to the 2nd Annual West Coast Sketchcrawl hosted by the Portland USk Sketchers.  Sketcher Mark Ryan and I caught the 6:45 am Bolt Bus down to Portland for a 3 hour ride down which got us in at 9:45 am.  We just missed 15 min opening of the event but found the group of over 100 sketchers gathered in front of the Portland Art Museum.
Sketchers of all along the West Coast of the US and Canada met for a day of sketching.  Some had gone down Thursday and Friday.  About 82 met up Friday Night for a Drink and Draw.

I met people from San Diego to  Vancouver, BC and even found out there were two sketchers from Montreal who came out to join us.  It had a small symposium feeling and so fun to meet sketchers from other parts of the country.  Next year it is in San Diego, CA so look out for the advertisement of this event.

Final Sketch of the Day under the huge Elm tree  next to Portland Art Museum Sculpture Courtyard.  PAM was founded in 1892 which makes is the oldest Art Museum on the West Coast.

Director Park was a hopping place Celebrating Bastille Day and having a waiters and waitress competition.  It reminded me of Barcelona and how the streets and plazas can be the life of the city. Opened in 2009 this urban park covers a 700-space underground garage and was designed by  Laurie Olin of the design firm OLIN, and the Portland-based architectural firm ZGF Architects

At the corner of  SW Park Ave and SW Jefferson, was St. James Lutheran Church the only building I found in good morning light.  The cornerstone for the present building was laid in May 1907 and this late gothic revival building  is listed on the National Register for Historic Places.

The 6:45 am Bolt Bus to Portland got us there at 9:30 am.  An inexpensive way to get down to Portland and back.

Vetrans Day sketching with the Stumptown crew

I was in Portland visiting a friend on Sunday and decided to meet up with the Portlanders on Monday while they sketched in the Belmont neighborhood. Thought I'd capture the city's namesake.

Portland revisited

Taking a walk down memory lane, revisiting the places we sketched at the first Urban Sketchers Symposium here in Portland. In 2010 the iconic Hung Far Low sign was still being rehabbed, so when we sketched with Lapin it wasn't here.

The Symposium was so filled with activities that there wasn't time to just sit by the river and sketch.  Still working on my sketch of the Steel Bridge, upriver from this view of the Industrial District. Of all the cool bridges here, that one feels like a sadistic final exam for some Line Drawing 101 class :)

teddy r.

Home from Portland

Whew! The Symposium was exciting, intense, tiring and very inspiring. Many talented people who were thrilled to be with so many others who also understand the joy of sketching. When we looked at the work displayed on the last day, there was that delightful recognition that we all had been in similar settings but expressed them in so many different ways. 

Many thanks to Gabi for organizing it all and the amazing instructors and correspondents, some of whom came many, many miles to be there.

Here are a few of my sketches.  Portland was a perfect setting with endless possibilities.

 

Yes, indeed, Susan and I did sneak off for  a visit to the Lu San Chinese Garden and it was exquisite. I settled for trying to capture the mood.

And this from a session on urban line drawing with Lapin in China Town.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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My lesson from the urban architecture session with Frank -"Think about foreground."

Back from the Symposium

The Seattle Urban Sketchers who went to Portland are home, with full Moleskines, great memories and new connections.

Big props to Gabi, who was everywhere and on top of everything. If I were him, I'd be ready for a vacation or a padded room, but at least on the train back to Seattle on Sunday, he seemed to be holding up pretty well and was already talking about Lisbon 2011 with the presenters (including Simonetta, Isabelle, Lapin and our own Frank Ching).

Our days were full with scheduled sketching sessions and presentations. Above is a photo of Peggy, as we played hooky Saturday morning to visit the incredible Lu San Chinese Garden. Below is a sketch from my first session with Lapin on Thursday morning. I took a set of alphabet stamps with me, here dipped in watercolor. Still trying to figure out how to incorporate them...


Looking forward to hooking back up with everyone at our August sketchcrawl!