Wade Lagoon

Met a new sketcher at Wade Lagoon (behind the Cleveland Museum of Art) today, and it was a great morning. She picked this location, behind the mermaid statue, and it was a great decision. I wouldn't have chosen it on my own. The sun was bright, but not unbearable. The temperature was warm, but mild. I was shocked on my way home to see that it was in the 90s, certainly didn't feel like it was.

It was fun to watch the geese play around. They certainly seem to have cliques that they like to stay in. Every once in a while, several would decide to fly low on the water, almost skipping/running on the water. But, there was one that just couldn't do it and kept taking a nose dive deep into the water. Poor guy.

Come Sketchcrawling, Sunday, July 31, 2011

Come sketching at the lagoon behind the Cleveland Museum of Art at 9am on Sunday, July 31, 2011. We'll meet near the side of the lagoon that is closest to the museum. If the weather is rainy, we'll post an update here very early Sunday morning. So, just check this blog out before you leave your house, or simply look out your windows.

All artistic levels are welcomed.

There is plenty of free parking on East Blvd. and MLKjr on either side of the lagoon. There is also free parking on Sunday at any meters you see around Wade Oval. If you would rather, there is a paid parking at the Cleveland Museum of Art, The Cleveland Botanical Garden, and the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. Bring snacks & water/juice/soda, so you can enjoy working on your sketches for most of the morning.

Post any questions or comments to this blog posting, and we'll answer ASAP for you. If you plan to come, it'd be great to post on this blog that you're going, that way, we know to expect you.

See you there!

Edgewater Sketch

Edgewater Sketch, a photo by Maroonic on Flickr.

In honor of WW Sketchcrawl 32, I brought my Moleskine sketchbook with me to the North Coast 24 training run and captured this view across from Edgewater Park. Close to the finish, the wind really kicked up, the sky behind the buildings grew dark, and the lightning started.

Walnut Wednesdays

I took enough time to draw this, that the lines had gotten way too long for me to stand in the hot sun to get lunch. This wasn't stopping all of the people from the business buildings that surround Walnut Ave, though. They were in long lines. You often couldn't tell which line someone was in. This demonstrations the eternal truth about Clevelanders, "We love good food." We don't care if it's in a fine restaurant, a deli, a dive, an old warehouse, a food truck. . . . If you make good food, we will come to eat.

Walnut Wednesdays happens from 11:30-1:00pm weekly. About 8-10 food trucks set up on Walnut Ave to sell for lunch hour. There are a lot of people who show up, so if you plan to go, go early.

I sketched first, and by the time I was done, the lines were far too long for me to stand out in the hot summer sun. I'm upset, because I had planned to get a shrimp po'boy from Zydeco Bistro (I haven't tried them yet). But, all was good, because I didn't see them there anyhow. Maybe I'll catch them next week.

Taste of Tremont

Noreen and I went and sketched (and ate) our way around the Taste of Tremont this past weekend.

We ate a lot of food, and fortunately, they had smallish servings, and we did a lot of sharing. We started with chicken paprikash (when in doubt, get chicken paprikash). Then, Noreen got mac and cheese from Lolita, and I got nachos from Grumpy's. The nachos had 3 kinds of beans, great cheese, and a salty/sweet taste. Then, on our way to Lilly Chocolates, we stopped and got wonton chips with bacon quacamole from bac. Then, to Lilly Chocolates where we sat in the a/c and had ice cream floats. I had orange cream soda with malted vanilla bean ice cream. Very good as always, thanks Amanda and Lilly girls! Then, we hit Cookie and a Cupcake. Now, I just figured that all I'd heard about them has been hype. Buy, no way! I got just the normal yellow cake with chocolate cream frosting, and boy, it was the best yellow cake ever.

As if that wasn't enough, I got a cabbage roll to take home from the booth for Prosperity Social Club. We also strolled through the shops and St. John's church. All in all, a great 4 hours or so spent outside in the gloriously hot day. The only thing that could have made it better is if Tremont had set up misters to spray the crowd. That would have been awesome.

Dr. Seuss Sculpture Display

There is a traveling exhibit of bronze Dr. Seuss sculputres at Eton on Chagrin Blvd in Woodmere. It's up until September, and I enjoyed sketching there the other day. I just sat on the floor behind a plant to get this good angle of The Grinch. Not many people came through to bother my view, and anyone who cut through apologized for getting in the way. A family also stopped by and they all took their pictures in front of the Lorax.

I may draw another sculpture next week. The Green Eggs and Ham looks fun, and so does the Yertle the Turtle stack of turtles would be a lot of fun.

Slavic Village

Here's one from the trusty moleskine that has a little more urban flavor.

Cleveland Botanical Gardens

Went to the Botanical Garden with a friend on Sunday. We found this spot to sit and draw. I crew this structure and accompanying plants/flowers. My friend faced the other direction and drew the plants/flowers in that direction. Even though this was a deadend, once we sat down, it became the most popular spot in the gardens. And, since it was a deadend, people had to pass us twice. It was all fine, though. Not many people were at the gardens on Sunday, even though they are allowed to bring their dogs on the grounds Sunday.

Howdy!

I'm honored to be asked to contribute to this blog. This is the Post Office on Snow Road in Brookpark that is now closed. That's snow you see clumped next to the light pole and stop sign. The P.O. itself is to the very right of the drawing, a simple box shaped building. I think this was done in early 2007, but I didn't date it, so I can't say for sure. Thanks for inviting me on to Urban Sketchers Cleveland!

Alcazar Hotel, Cleveland Hts., Ohio

Maureen, you got me into this thing, I guess I have to at lease post one drawing to start out, it's an old one.

Shaker Square, Cleveland, Ohio

Cleveland Sketchcrawl

Here are my two sketches from the Cleveland Sketchcrawl this morning. The sketchcrawl was at the West Side Market, and anyone of any skill level is more than welcomed to join it. We will try to post the dates/times/places on here in the future, so you can join the next time around.

This blog has also invited a lot of the sketchers from the Sketchcrawl group to contribute on this blog. If you are a sketcher, and you didn't get an invite, just leave a comment on a post, and we'll send you an invite. Just check out the manifesto on our page to give you the rundown. We want this to be an active community, and we want to adhere to the Urban Sketchers guides, among them--sketches need to be done on location. Sketches can be done in any medium, so if you paint on location, that is perfectly fine!

See you all soon!

Cool Globes

It was a quiet morning down at Wade Oval. I'd gone down to do some sketching, and I was pleasantly surprised by several globe sculptures around the oval. There were some people walking laps around the inner oval (which isn't much of a walking track, only took about 4-5 minutes to make a lap). There was a group of 4 women using a big stone slab as a table for a game of Uno. Do to the holiday, none of the museums or gardens were open.

This is #9 of Get out and Play.  Hanging out on the Green at Oberlin College.  This is Bosworth Hall,  The inscription above the main door read: "But of all things truth bearth away victory".  #10 was Eastcoast Custard and once again....no drawing..just eating.

Beautiful day to be on the Green at Oberlin College sketching the surrounding historical buildings.  This is a sketch and wash of Finney Chapel.  It's a pity I did not have my paintbox with me to paint the wonderful Spanish style red roof.

Here I am at # 7 of Get out and play.  Coventry is  wonderful street full of odd shops and eateries. Lining the whole street are these wrought iron sculptures that wind around trees, benches and bike racks. It was a pleasure finding space and drawing them.  As you can see #8 was the Gelateria on Cedar.  No drawing...just eating....

Cleveland GardenWalk 2011

Went on the Cleveland GardenWalk. I only had time for two of the neighborhood, Hough and Tremont. This converted firehouse was in the Tremont area. Behind, it's a garden of green and ivy with a koi pond. It was great visiting all of the community gardens around the city, and seeing all of the great people revitalizing their neighborhoods.