January Sketch Crawl at Tyler Village

The Tyler Elevator Company was one of Cleveland's largest companies. Today, the complex that use to house the company is home to dozens of creative companies from database development groups & design firms to artist lofts and studios.

This is an amazing location to sketch because of how large the complex is. The top floors have a unique view of the skyline and one of the buildings still has a replica of the elevator Tyler built for Buckingham Palace.

The Sketch Crawl will be the Second Saturday (January 9th) in January due to the New Year. We'll meet at the usual time - 10am - at the front of the complex off of Superior. We'll be walking through the complex, so bring something warm to wear. While inside we'll be warm, but we'll most likely have to walk outside between buildings. For more on the Tyler Village development, click here

MAP TO JAN SKETCH CRAWL

FEBRUARY CRAWL - we'll be sketching inside the Cleveland Metroparks Rainforest on February 6th. Mark your calendars for this unique Sketch Crawl opportunity.

December Sketch Crawl

This Saturday (tomorrow), we'll be sketching the incredible main Cleveland Public Library building. This building really is spectacular and full of amazing subjects to sketch.

We'll meet at 10am and sketch till noon. If you haven't spent time here before, be sure and check out the collection when you come down for the crawl.

See you then!

November 7th Sketch Crawl at the Brownstone Inn

For the November crawl, we'll be sketching a piece of Cleveland that is slightly off the beaten path...but completely full of history. The historic Brownstone Inn is located on a stretch of Prospect Avenue in MidTown Cleveland that still maintains a glimpse of what the city was like in the early part of the last century. Old historic inn is an old mansion that was built in 1874 and now operates as a bed and breakfast.

We'll meet at the entrance to the Inn at 3649 Prospect Ave. The Inn keeper has graciously allowed us to come into the Inn and do some sketching. Guests will be at the B&B, so we'll have to be mindful of them as we sketch. I'm trying to get us a small tour (as i always do), but we'll have to see how busy Robin is with preparing breakfast for his guests.

You won't want to miss sketching the inside and the outside of this historic home! There are a number of historic buildings along prospect that are worth sketching...i'll point some of them out during the crawl. As always, the Cleveland Sketch Crawl is from 10am - 12noon. See you there!

2009 - 2010 Sketch Crawl Schedule is here.....finally!
I have our new schedule for the next 6 months:

December 5th
Cleveland Public Library Main Branch
Downtown

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January 9th
Tyler Village
St. Clair Superior Neighborhood
Due to the New Year holiday, we will get together on the second Saturday

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February 6th
The Rainforest at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo

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March 6th
The Lofts at Tremont Place
(Gospel Press Building)

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April 3rd
St. Patrick's Parish on Bridge Ave
Ohio City

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May 1st
The Steamship William G. Mather Museum
North Coast Harbor

October Sketch Crawl - Tremont

This month, we'll be crawling through Cleveland's Tremont Neighborhood. Sorry for the late notice. I just heard that my original location for this month (Dock 32 and the historic trolleys) fell through. We weren't able to get anyone to open the warehouse for us. That is still on our radar though. It really is a great location and I am determined to get us in!

Anyway, back to Tremont! This is such a great neighborhood to sketch...so many great buildings and awesome stores to check out as well. We will be doing some walking for this sketch crawl, so be prepared.

We'll meet at the corner of Professor and College Avenues. We'll do a bit more of speed sketching for this sketch crawl (by speed i simply mean we won't spend an hour for each sketch). We'll start at that intersection and work our way down College towards Lincoln Park, then loop back down Starkweather and finish by walking back up Professor towards our starting point.

Points of interest that we'll see:
Lincoln Park
Civilizations Coffee
Visible Voice Books
Lilly's Handmade Chocolates
Luckies Cafe (great coffee and urban garden)
St. Theodosius

As always the Sketch Crawl is from 10am - 12noon, but you are more than welcome to stay and sketch as long as you like :)

By the way, if you want to be part of our mailing list, email me at jtaylor@dcacleveland.net

Detroit Superior Subway Bridge Tour

photo by Chris Rembold: Photo Challenge 2008

On September 5th, the we will be exploring one of my favorite locations in the city, the lower level of the Detroit Superior Bridge. Even though it is open about 3 times a year, this is still one of the most hidden places in the city. Amazingly...too many people have never taken advantage of these "open houses".

The lower level of the bridge offers some extremely unique perspectives of the river, warehouse district, Downtown and Ohio City. In addition to the views, there are several exhibits on Cleveland's street car past.

We will meet at 10am on the north side of the bridge, on the west edge of the bridge (just off W.25th). For a map of our meeting location, click here

Bring your camera along with your sketch book for this one! There are tons of great views. Not to mention that span of the bridge that is just see through metal grate....see through all the way to the river, over 100 feet below!!

Open Air in Market Square!

No, no, no....it isn't going to be snowing this Saturday! I just wanted to show a cool picture of the Market.

We'll be sketch crawling through Market Square, which is directly across from the West Side Market. We will meet at the corner of Market Ave. and W.25th at 10am. For this month, Karen Sandstrom will be leading the crawl. As many of you know, my wife and I are expecting our first born and the due date is actually August 1st! From the looks of things...we might not make it to Saturday. So...Karen has agreed to lead the crawl.

As always the Cleveland Sketch Crawl takes place the first Saturday of every month, from 10am - 12noon.

Next month, on September 5th, we'll be crawling through the lower level of the Detroit Superior Bridge. We've done this location for the crawl before and it has been a huge hit! The Cuyahoga County Engineers open this lower level of the bridge up 3 times a year to the general public. It really offers some unique perspectives of the city and the river. Plus there are exhibits from Cleveland's Street Car past.

check out more about these tours here

On September 12th, the 7th annual Sparx City Hop will be taking place from 12noon - 12midnight. Over 8 different neighborhoods around and in Downtown will be connected by free trolleys! This is a perfect time to sketch crawl through the city and explore.

You can park once and explore the Warehouse District, Gateway District, the Quadrangle, St. Clair Superior, Asiatown, Midtown, Tremont, Ohio City, and the Old Superior Viaduct in the Flats!

check www.cleveland.com/sparx for more information

July 11th Sketch Crawl Rained out

Due to the severe storms and torrents of rain this morning, the sketch crawl has been cancelled. If anyone went to the E.14th and Euclid entance to Ingenuity, I was there till about 12:20. I hope I didn't miss you. Of couse, now it's sunny out side... Ahh Murphys Law of summer.

Next month the Sketch Crawl will be at the West Side Market. Open Air in Market Square will be taking place...it should be a great crawl!

We will be back to our normal time (10 till 12noon) on the first Saturday of the month.

See you then!

-- Post From My iPhone

Sketch Crawl at Ingenuity

First - I need to start off with the "I-can't-believe-i-didn't-update-my-blog-on-the-July-Sketch-Crawl-date-and-location" apology. So.....i'm sorry for my delay in letting you all know.

Just for the month of July, we have bumped our Sketch Crawl to the second week of the month (which is tomorrow). The Crawl will be taking place this Saturday at a special time, from 12noon - 2pm. We will be sketch crawling our way through the Ingenuity Festival! Those participating in the sketch crawl will receive free admittance into the festival. This will provide a unique and challenging environment to sketch in...more than just stationary items....crowds and activities as well!

Meet at the entrance to the festival at the intersection of E.14th and Euclid (near Star Plaza in PlayhouseSquare).

To check out the festival and all there is to see and draw...click here

Environmental Sketching at Wendy Park

I am really excited about this Saturday's sketch crawl. Not only is Wendy Park a unique and relaxing location, but it is one of those hidden locations that feels like you are a part of something special because you are there.

The park represents one of the key portions of parkland along the lakefront that will be connected by the Ohio & Erie Canal's Towpath Trail. Wendy Park itself has a master plan for redevelopment, but it still offers a completely different view of the skyline than most Clevelanders have seen and is an interesting contrast to the industry that surrounds it.

Getting there
As I mentioned, Wendy Park is hidden. Click on the map below to get a view of how to get there.

Sketching the USS Cod

The USS Cod was a great location to sketch. Intimidating, but a great location! It is hard to believe that so many men would patrol on that sub.

Paul Farace and some of the "crew" graciously hosted us for a tour of the sub and told us the history and background stories of restorting this WWII relic. I spent the majority of my time sketching the Galley (that's kitchen for all ye land lovers). Don't ask me my I just lapsed into Pirate.

It seems like I've been posting more pictures on this Cleveland Sketch Crawl blog than sketches. I promise to change that. I have to scan in my sketches. Which reminds me, if any of you that have attending the Cleveland Sketch Crawl haven't sent in your sketches, please email them to me so that we can send them along to the locations we've been. I know that Paul from the USS Cod would love to see our renditions of the COD.

Cleveland's floating WWII musuem!

This Saturday, May 2nd, the Cleveland Sketch Crawl will be touring the USS COD...the World War II Submarine that is docked near Burke Lakefront Airport. As always, we'll meet at 10am. The COD is located off North Marginal Rd. Get off the shoreway at E.9th and then turn towards the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame, you'll want to turn right onto North Marginal Road. You'll see the COD on your left hand side.

The USS COD is a great tour if you've ever been able to take it. If you haven't, you should definitely be part of this month's Sketch Crawl....because that is were we are going.

The USS COD is a WWII Submarine that had 7 war patrols in the Pacific Theater. The 312 foo submarine is a perfect example of the type of submarine manurfactured during the war in order to aide in the war effort. She was launched on March 21st, 1943. To find out more stories on the sub...you'll have to make sure you are a part of the May 2nd Sketch Crawl!

Next Month's Cleveland Sketch Crawl: June 6th
We'll be touring Wendy Park on Whiskey Island. This is a bit of a different location for sketching because it is more of greenspace than an urban location. However, there are great views of the skyline (from a very unique perspective), you can sketch the old Coast Gaurd station, the yaht club and the ships coming into the river. It really is a unique place. Click here to find directions to the park

As usual, the Cleveland Sketch Crawl is from 10am - 12noon on the first Saturday of each month. Anyone who loves to sketch is welcome, no matter what your skill level. While the focus of the Sketch Crawl is drawing....we do have photographers and other artists that attend.

Old Stone Adventure

To say that Old Stone was amazing, would be an understatement. Beth Giuliano was the best tour guide (even if she didn't think she had all the stories down). I thoroughly enjoyed the day.

To start off, there was a choir practicing for Easter when we were in there (if you are new to reading this blog....yes,....i did say EASTER. I am one of those "Holy crap i forgot to post" bloggers), so the atmosphere was amazing. Beth started off the tour in one of the more modern chapels in Old Stone, but after that, we headed towards the basement of the old building....which was really cool. You could see the old stones from the original foundation (the first church on the site burnt down in the late 1800's). Very interesting.

But the most interested part of the day, was when Beth unvield the keys to the bell tower. At first we werent' sure if we'd be able to get up into the tower...because the key didn't seem to work. But one of the gentlemen on our crawl that day worked the key for a bit and was able to open the door. Eurika!!

From there, we climbed up a series of levels (i think it was about 5 different sets of steep stairs and laddars) till we reached the room with the clock mechanism. We weren't sure that we could make it to the clock though because some of the levels were pitch black. We had to wait for our eyes to adjust and then press onwards. All the climbing and exploring was worth it. We had some awesome shots of the Public Square and Terminal Tower....and just the ablility to explore such a historic tower was cool in itself.

Honestly, i didn't get much sketching done that day....i slipped into more of my exploring/photography mode. But hey....it's all good at the Cleveland Sketch Crawl.

Next month we'll be at the USS COD, right on Northcoast Harbor. Check out some pictures from the day.

Sketching Trinity Cathedral

Saturday, March 7th, Trinity Cathedral will be the location for our next Sketch Crawl.

The century old Church is one of the city's finest examples of cathedral architecture and is an amazing location for a Saturday morning Sketch Crawl. There are alot of amazing stories behind the construction of Trinity and hopefully we'll be able to get a brief tour of the building as well.

We'll meet in the front lobby of the church at 10am. We'll spend the entire time inside Trinity so it won't be hard to find us if you are a little late. The weather should be warm this weekend, so we should be able to sketch outside as well.

Make sure you put our next Sketch Crawls on our calendar!!

April 4th
Old Stone Church
The oldest building on Public Square is also the home to absolutely beautiful architecture and amazing stories. Don't miss an inside tour of this building!

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May 2nd
USS Cod (the Submarine near the Rock Hall)
What better way to kick off the summer than to take a tour of the USS Cod and sketch the unique compartments of this World War II Sub.

Tomorrow, Saturday February 7th, The Cleveland Sketch Crawl will be touring the amazing theaters of PlayhouseSquare!

We will all meet in the lobby of the State Theater (entrance off of Euclid Avenue) at 10am. From there, we'll have a short tour of some of the theaters with our very own PlayhouseSquare tour guide. Make sure you are able to be there at 10am so that you don't miss this interesting behind the scenes tour of the theaters. After our short tour, we'll start the sketching portion of the sketch crawl. If you come late the Sketch Crawl and we've already left the State Theater Lobby, you can either try to locate our group or just meet up with us at the State Theater staircase (pictured above) at 11am. You can join the crawl at that point.

There is a ton of history and stories behind these incredible theaters...don't miss this opportunity to sketch it all! You can read more about the history of PlayhouseSquare by clicking here

Make sure you mark your calendars for the next upcoming Sketch Crawls! We have some great locations planned:

March 7th
Trinity Cathedral
This is one of Cleveland's iconic churches and is the perfect location for a variety of interesting and challenging subject matter, for any sketcher!

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April 4th
Old Stone Church
The oldest building on Public Square is also the home to absolutely beautiful architecture and amazing stories. Don't miss an inside tour of this building!

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May 2nd
USS Cod (the Submarine near the Rock Hall)
What better way to kick off the summer than to take a tour of the USS Cod and sketch the unique compartments of this World War II Sub.

Ringing in the new year at the Market

2009 is finally here! Time to start the new year off with a sketching excursion to one of Cleveland's most recognizable landmarks...The West Side Market. 

Obviously the market is an amazing experience for shopping, but when you stop and take time to soak it in... actually pick a place and start to look around.... you'll be amazed at what you find, especially for a sketcher. 

The January Sketch Crawl will take place this Saturday, January 3rd at 10am. The Market is located at the intersection of Lorain and W.25th. We will meet just inside the W. 25th entrance to the produce stands; this entrance faces the little park across from the Market. The produce stands form an L-shape around the main market building. If you get there late, we will re-convene at 11am on the balcony overlooking the main market building, you can meet us there. 

There is a parking lot behind the Market where you can park for free, but it will be packed. Take time to find a spot. Sometimes it is easier to park on side streets (parking in front of a parking meter is free on the weekends). If the lot is packed, try W.28th (near the St. Ignatius football field).  

We'll sketch together till 12noon and then have a chance to share our work with each other. Look forward to seeing you all then.