44th worldwide & 2nd west coast sketchcrawl!

Over 100 sketchers meet in Portland 

Friday night was a meet-and-greet at a pub in downtown Portland.  We couldn't put away our sketch books for long though - the evening highlighted a Portrait party - speed sketching little portraits of each other - 5 minute time limit.  It was a hoot!  But, quite the challenge for our servers who were trying to deliver food and drinks to patrons playing musical chairs.

I haven't sketched in quite awhile - so my sketches were really rough!

Saturday we met at the Portland Art Museum

The museum provided tables for us to share our sketchbooks and, in a really generous gesture, gave us all a free pass to the museum for the day!

I've sketched downtown many times, but always find new things to draw.  This weekend, the park blocks were really hopping: Portland State was hosting a weekly Farmers Market, Directors Park was holding a Bastille Day Celebration, and a 'Zine organization was also holding an outdoor affair.  The park blocks were packed!

My first sketch was an overview of the Market.  I found a shady spot on the steps to the library, and made my sketch while listening to a classical violinist.  Since Portland is under a heat advisory, the shade and a nice breeze made my spot a perfect place.

Sideshow Bob's younger brother . . . .

While wandering around the Farmers Market, I spotted a young man lounging in the shade of one of the big park trees.  I was intrigued by his hair - looked just like the big mop sported by Sideshow Bob on the Simpsons!

Free Henna Tattoos at the 'Zine celebration . . . 

And finally, an iconic Portland moment!

Imagine Darth Vader . . .  in a kilt . . . on a unicycle . . .   playing bagpipes . . .  that periodically spout flames!  

Yes, this is Oregon (not Washington, where pot-smoking is now legal) and such folk are as much a part of the landscape as our salmon, our forests and our volcanoes.  

Doing their bit to Keep Portland Weird (and to document the process in selfies)