Musicians In The Neighbourhood 5

Hilary getting her bassoon ready

It's been a while since I went to my neighbour's place to sketch her music session with her friends. I finally wrapped up my temporary nanny job and I was so glad to be able to attend their session before I leave for Taiwan.

It's always good to sketch people playing music as they move but not fast. They also go back to the same position quite often for me to finish a sketch. The problem with Karen's group is they are not strangers and I get more caught up with capturing their resemblance. Oh well, still good practice though.

 Usually I just sketch quietly on the side. Today Hilary (the bassoonist) suggested that they should stand up for me so I could capture them playing flutes. It was new for us but pretty fun.

This might be my last sketch of the musicians in the neighbourhood, at least for a while. I'm heading back to Taiwan with James this Sunday for Chinese New Year with my family. While James will return in 2 weeks, I'm gonna spend a long holiday there to be with my nephew.

TACO in the new year

Terrible Adult Chamber Orchestra was on today. It was the first session in 2018. 

The music played by the group today was beautiful, and with very few starting-overs. Somehow my sketching process was smooth, too. Although I usually kind of tune out while sketching, I do think my ears/brain is listening. When the orchestra makes more mistakes, I tend to have more errors in my sketches as well.

 Due to the arrangement of seating, I usually end up with more sketches with violinists or cellists. I do try to move around but it's just not easy to sketch the musicians sitting in the middle rows. I went to the far back today to sketch two trumpeters.

These images will be donated to TACO for their cook books or note cards for fundraising. Hopefully they will have a good fundraising year to keep their good work going.

TACO and the Pop-Up chorus group

I went to the Terrible Adult Chamber Orchestra (TACO) to sketch the musicians again today. I did use my brush pen to do some gestural drawing as my warm-up. Somehow I still kept messing up the proportion of various body parts while drawing individual musicians. I wonder if it was because I was trying too hard on capturing the resemblance. 

As it was the beginning of TACO's holiday season today, there was a pop-up chorus group singing along with the orchestra. Most of the singers were family or friends of a musician in the orchestra. 

Anyway, I finished 4 sketches that I was happy with. One of them was not listed here as the trombonist's wife bought the sketch. Instead of paying me, I asked the wife to donate to TACO. She did point out (complained) that her husband isn't as chubby as in my sketch. I don't think I made her husband fat but he really isn't skinny to my Taiwanese eyes! Note to myself: remember to shave of a few pounds when sketching at TACO next time.

Musicians in the neighbourhood- 4

Another sketch session at my neighbour's place. Usually the music drifts in and out when I concentrate on drawing. I mean, I hear the music but I don't always hear the music, if that makes sense. Today the trio practice didn't go very smooth. There was more stopping and starting-over. At one point I could feel the frustration in the air. Interestingly, my pen couldn't move smoothly on paper either when the music wasn't flowing. I had a few sketches discarded halfway as well, which doesn't happen often. I guess my brain does listen to the music even I don't always hear it.

Musicians in the neighbourhood- 3

I know there are urban sketchers who sketch the same subject over and over again. Like Tina draws her maple tree and Shari Blaukopf sketches her wheel barrow in the backyard. I didn't think drawing musicians would be a thing for me but, hey, it seems that I'm collecting sketches of senior musicians in my neighbourhood.

I am definitely not complaining. After all, these musicians are great models- they don't charge me and they provide beautiful classical music. Unlike studio models, my models have no set time for a pose. They could stay in a pose for a while or just a few seconds, depending on if they are playing along or making mistakes. I have been focusing on capturing their gestures and hands, now also on light/shadow on their face and body. I did remember to shave off a few pounds on the ladies. They may ban me from sketching them otherwise! :)

Non-edible TACO, delicious to the ears

My neighbour invited me to sketch at her monthly orchestra meet-up. The group is called 'Terrible Adult Chamber Orchestra' or 'TACO'. Like Urban Sketchers, TACO is made up by adults who love classical music and want to play with a friendly group. People with all skill-levels are welcome to join in as long as they bring their own instruments, enjoy making music with the group and laugh at mistakes together. Although I didn't see any today, sometimes participants do bring their children or grandchildren to come along and play a piece of music with the group.

The first two sketches were done on pre-tinted paper. The guest conductor's hands made me smile. His left wrist moved in a distinctive way.

Cathy, who was a pianist in my sketch before, is the founder and conductor of TACO. I admire her commitment and hard-work to keep TACO running since 2011. There is a lot of off-scene preparation involved to accommodate 50-60 people play music together once a month. Thanks to her and many volunteers, TACO continues to provide social opportunities and musical education to the community. 

In my last sketch I decided to capture a few individual musicians just to show cast different instruments. The tricky part was to connect the subjects together without making the whole picture too messy. I decided to try some technique I saw in Charles Reid's video and I like how the sketch turned out.

After sketching intensely for 3 hours, I was exhausted. But the experience was amazing and no, TACO was not terrible at all! I'm hoping to make it to their December meet-up so I can sketch the orchestra with some choir groups. 

Another small concert at my neighbour's

Today I visited my neighbour, Karen, again. She hosted another music practice session at her place. It was really wonderful to listen to beautiful music and sketch the musicians. However, I found the minor issue of drawing people who are aware of being sketched. They don't like the sketches to look unlike them, nor do they want the sketches to look like them. Ladies, especially, are worried how they would look in the sketches. Maybe I should just focus on the head and hands with the musical instruments?

Musicians in the neighbourhood

I felt so bummed last night when I found out that I can't visit Seattle next week. Therefore when my neighbour told me that she and her friends were having a music practice session today, I asked if I could visit and sketch them. I thought doing a sketch would make me feel better, and I was right.

It was a flute, oboe, bassoon trio. Except for the flute, I don't think I've heard oboe and bassoon played so close to me. The music was beautiful, even though Karen, my neighbour, said they are just amateur musician.

I started with my Kuretake brush pen (with water-soluble ink) to warm up. That helped me get familiar with the gestures. Then another sketch was done with ink and watercolour.

This might be the first time that I sketched people who knew that I was using them as models. Luckily we were all preoccupied by our task at hand so none of us felt too awkward. Well, at least I know I wasn't!

After I came home, I realised that urban sketching has changed me in some way. I have always been a shy person ever since I was a child. I remember as a child I could not answer questions from the owner of an eatery where I was buying dinner. I ended up taking something I didn't order home that evening. My sister always roamed around the street on her bike with the neighbours' children. I, on the other hand, would be watching them. Partly because I preferred to read, but also because I didn't know how to connect with strangers.

After moving to Seattle, I joined the USK Seattle. The first outing was great and so were all the following outings. The network helped me connect with the people and city. It helped me settle and enjoy my life in Seattle. I guess I also learnt how to connect with strangers through sketching from there. When I go to a social event, and I don't feel comfortable making small talks with strangers, I sketch. Then I talk with strangers about my sketch, about the reason I sketch, about how I found Urban Sketchers and about USK Seattle. Like today. The childhood me would never believe that I talked with a not-so-familiar neighbour and two total strangers.