Though we are not going out these days many of us are having fun Zooming. We have been Zooming for several months now and getting a little board sketching our kitchens. For inspiration a few of us have started participating in Inktober. For those who are not familiar with Jake Parker’s challenge briefly; there is a different prompt for every day of the month of October for you to sketch in ink.
We are still not sketching on location as the Governor has asked us to stay home whenever possible. We would appreciate any and all comments on this subject, you can send your thoughts to spaderart@gmail.com.
Our next Zoom will be Saturday October 17th at 10:am. If you would like to join our Zooms please request an invite by emailing spaderart@gmail.com
We truly hope you are all well and still sketching. Here are a few photos from our last Zoom. If you are sketching and would like to have a sketch posted, snap a photo and send it to the same email.
Several things to cover today. First we have been Zooming and there will be photos as usual at the end of this post. The Zooms are changing from every weekend to twice a month, the first and second Saturday of the month. The meeting times are still the same 10:am till noon. We are taking a break and we will not be Zooming on holidays so our next Zoom will not be until the 19th of September. As always if you would like to be included in our Zoom meetings please send an email request to spaderart@gmail.com.
Nextly we are all getting a little tired of being inside. I know for myself I am beginning to feel a list to the port side starting to develop. With that a couple of our members have expressed a desire to start meeting on location again. We are for the most part adults and have every ability to social distance and wear face masks and act responsibly but there is a problem. The governor is still requesting that we not meet in groups larger than five. My wife is a teacher and they are teaching, at least thru the month of September and part of October, on the internet. Without going into too much detail here as an administrator I feel we should strive to be part of the answer and not part of the problem. If we are to error it is imperative in this instance that we do so on the side of caution. So for now we are still not going to be meeting as an official USK group.
For those of you who would like to meet in groups a little smaller than our usual 20 we have an alternative. If you would like to meet-up with other USK members you can send an email to spaderart@gmail.com giving us permission to pass your contact information to other members who are looking for someone to sketch with. Be sure to include your contact info and method of contact you prefer eg. text, call, email. We know that some of the members have been meeting this way and having a good time with it.
Your input on this subject is welcome at spaderart@gmail.com or you can comment on the website.
These photos are from Zooms the past couple of weeks. The screen shot, with thanks to Malinda, was taken two Zooms ago. If you would like to share a recent sketch of yours please send it as an attachment to spaderart@gmail.com and we will include it in the next post.
Thanks so much for your patience during this trying time.
Hope all is well where you are and that you are finding a way to keep sketching during this in home opportunity.
As our time with C-19 rolls on I will be slowing down to one post every other week. The Zooms are still happening every week, except Saturday the 1st of August as I will be unavailable on that date. Last week’s Zoom was a lot of fun, we even had a visitor from out of state. There are a few photos following the post. For those of you who have not yet tried a Zoom with us we would love to see you there for the next one. It will be Saturday August 8th at 10:am and run until noon. As always if you would like in on a Zoom please send your request to get on the list to spaderart@gmail.com. You will receive a notification for every Zoom we have from then on.
We have had a few problems with photos sent in from Google Photos, they are a link to a file not an attached Jpeg file. If you would like your sketch to be in the next post please send it as an attachment in your email. The easiest way I have found is to snap a photo with your phone and send that to spaderart@gmail.com.
For those of you who are running low on ideas to sketch here are a few from several sources. Try sketching and painting with only a primary set of colors. To avoid groups maybe try sketching something you like while sitting in your car. Sketch with your other hand, it makes for a looser sketch. Sketch someone you know or something you both know then have them hold up your sketch, take a photo and send it to someone else. Do a sketch with pen or pencil then put color only in your center of interest.
This weeks Zoom was a lot of fun. There were only a few of us but we had a great time. Next week’s Zoom will be at our normal time, 10:am Saturday morning. If you would like in please email spaderart@gmail.com and let us know. Also, don’t hesitate to send photos to the same email of current sketches you have done so we can post them.
This coming week we will Zoom sketching from our photographs and or things around the house. Hope you can make it.
There is an art show July 11th thru September 27th at the Open Space Center, 6500 Coors N.W. One of our own, Margy O’Brien, is a participant in the show. Please check out Open Space Visitor Center on line to make sure they are open before you go.
Keep safe, keep your spirits up and keep sketching.
Spader
Here are a few photos and one from the last outing that didn’t make it in last time.
Bike in Coffee was a lot of fun. There were barns and bicycles. There were trees, shade, old trucks, lots of people and lots of bicycles. Everyone had a great time and it was so good catching up with folks. People were social distancing and wearing masks.
As I say there were lots of people at the Bike in Coffee, though we were able to social distance several of us chose to sketch behind a barn as it was easier to stay apart from one another. Bike in Coffee is a great location for sketching and lots more. That said we will not be announcing a new sketch out for the near future as the C-19 numbers are going up in both the country and the state. So once again we will be taking a wait and see approach and continuing to Zoom.
This Saturday we will not be Zooming as it is the Fourth of July. Our next Zoom will be from 10:am to Noon on Saturday, July 11. If you would like to join the zoom please send your, one time, request to spaderart@gmail.com and say “I want in” or something to that effect. We will put you on the email list to receive an invitation and password for the next Zoom.
Stay safe and I hope to see you Saturday the 11th for a fun Zoom.
Just a little reminder. This Saturday, the 27th, 10:am to 12:pm, is our “Welcome Back Sketch Out”. The location is the Bike in Coffee, 949 Montoya St. NW in Albuquerque. Please send your R.S.V.P. to spaderart@gmail.com, be sure to bring a mask, and of course, practice social distancing.
This weeks Zoom was fun. Lots of good conversation and sketching. There will not be a Zoom this Saturday the 27th as we will be at the Bike in Coffee. If you would like to be in on the next Zoom and you are not already on the list please send an email to spaderart@gmail.com and we will sign you up. Although we had a handful of folks attend the Zoom we There are no photos this week.
What wonderful news; on the 27th of June at 10:00 am we will once again meet on location. Bike In Coffee is the location, and social distancing will be the order of the day. Also, they would appreciate the wearing of masks while ordering from the restaurant.
To get there you can Google “Old Town Farm & Bike In Coffee”, or just Bike In Coffee. The address is 949 Montoya St. NW, in Albuquerque. Please RSVP by sending an email to spaderart@gmail.com and say I want to go. For the near future it is important that we have a count of those attending for C-19 safety reasons. We truly hope to see you there.
For those of you who prefer to stay home we are still Zooming every Saturday at 10:am with the exception of the 27th as we will be at the Bike In Coffee event. Thanks to all the Zoomers who met this Saturday, for there participation. And thanks to Cryptocat, Ed, Hilda, Richard, and Spader for sending in these wonderful sketches.
The big news this week is that we will start hosting “On Location Sketch- outs Again”. Donna is currently checking on the feasibility and availability of several outdoor locations. We are planning the first, welcome back meeting, to be held the 27th of June. As it looks now, social distancing and masks will be the order of the day. We will update the precautions next week when we are sure of the meeting location.
Those of you who do not yet feel it is safe enough to attend an on location sketch event or just want a little more sketching to do we intend to keep Zooming every Saturday morning at 10:am. If you would like to join the Zoom events please email spaderart@gmail.com and say “I want to Zoom”. And of course keep sending your recent sketches so we can post them in the Saturday post.
If you are still looking for more to do, this weeks challenge comes from Gabi Campanario, who as most of you know, is the person who started Urban Sketchers. He announced his challenge on this weeks USKTalks. Gabi suggest that with your next sketch try as he says , “Tell Me More” share it with an informative caption, maybe do a little research, or explain a little of the background story in your own words. Of course to hear exactly what Gabi said, you can go to USKTalks on Youtube.
Thanks to: Wayne, Michele, Anne Marie, and Spader for this weeks Sketches.
This Saturday May 30th we experimented with Zoom meeting. Several Sketchers showed up and we had a great time sketching and chatting. So now we are planning to keep Zooming Saturday mornings at 10:00 am. The next Zoom sketch in will be Saturday, June 6th and we would totally like to see you there.
This week we have only a few sketches to show. Next week I will try to capture the sketches done by Zoom participants and that will provide several more photos.
If you would like to take part in next weeks Zoom please email spaderart@gmail and say, “I would like to Zoom.” We are still posting photos so if you would like to share please send them to spaderart@gmail.com as an attachment.
My apologies to those who tried and did not get into the Zoom meeting. Thanks to Richard and Spader for this weeks sketches.
It has been so great to see several sketchers participating and sending weekly sketches. The past few weeks have been a terrific opportunity for introspection and sketching things we may not otherwise have sketched. Before we get to the photos this week there are a few items of business.
Two weeks ago I tried to encourage everyone to add a little context to their sketches. After being on a live chat with administrators around the world, I thought it might be appropriate to clarify our current sketching circumstances and essentials.
The president of USK attended the zoom meeting to wish everyone well and to answer this question. What is an acceptable USK sketch? In the USK manifesto there are some directives and those directives are like a mandate for USK.org. For us however, as individual USK chapters the rules are currently much less rigid. I tell you this to say: Sketch what you can, sketch often, and keep sending in your wonderful work. In line with sending in your work, this coming Saturday the 30th of May we will try a Zoom Sketch Out.
Zoom is an online meeting site which can easily be downloaded from the web onto your computer or your handheld device as an app. So if you would like to be in on a Zoom Sketch Out on the 30th at 10:am and running until 12:noon or a little before. Please send an email to spaderart@gmail.com and suggest you would like to be in on this event. Several of you have already emailed that you would like to try it. I will reply to your email with the invitation # and code by Thursday so send your request early. We will be sketching what we see and chatting. Bring your questions, comments, your joy and something to sketch with. This could be a chance to catch up with folks you have not seen for a couple months. At the very least it sounds like a lot of fun. Hope to see you all there.
Whether you make it to the Zoom or not we would still like to see what your sketching. Here are a few sketching ideas to help inspire you, not that you need it. From Shari Blaukopf comes the challenge: look out your window, find a subject and sketch it at different times of day, show the different lighting or colors. Matthew Brehm’s challenge is: look at a drawing that you like study some part of it that you like, practice that technique on cheap paper then include the technique in a sketch / drawing of your own. Here are a few random ideas to sketch. The ingredients for something you are cooking, a corner of your bathroom sink with the medicine chest open, or even your morning tea and carton of creamer.
Appologies for the long post. As always send your questions, comments and photos to spaderart@gmail.com. Stay safe and sketch something today.
Spader
Oh ya! Here are this weeks photos, contributed by: Martha, Hilda, Spader, April, and Mary.
