Day 1: Urban Sketching Symposium, Portland Oregon USA

I had a wonderful time sketching with fellow artists at Urban Sketching Symposium in July 2010. I drew so much that I decided to break up the posts into small chunks, which will be under "Urban Sketching Symposium" label here. More drawings from fellow sketchers at Urban Sketching Symposium are at their blog.
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Day 1: my first time in Portland!

I stayed at a great hotel called Mark Spencer in Pearl District - most of the other out-of-town sketchers stayed here, so we were able to mingle with each other during complimentary breakfast each morning. I did a quick sketch of the hotel, which is the building with two flags - I liked the cloud in the sky (a rare sight in my hometown of Los Angeles) and the big clock in the background, too.

My first session was on Urban People with Veronica Lawler, who suggested that we make thumbnails to help compose the scene. This advice came in handy once I settled in to figure out what to draw. We went to Powell's Books, which is filled not only with interesting books, but with interesting people as well - I noticed that nobody was wearing a suit or high heels, and only one person was texting on her phone - quite different from image-conscious, on-the-go Los Angeles! I like drawing people, so this was a great warm-up to the rest of the conference.

Next session was on Urban Nature with Jason Das. We went to Tanner Springs Park, where native plants are left to flourish within a city square. It was quite a challenge to draw grass without making them look repetitive - I have a lot to learn about drawing plants. I also tried different pen (Faber-Castell Pitt) than my usual Uniball Signo to change it up on one drawing - a good way to break my old habits.