Sorrento Hotel Lounge

Last week I went to the Sorrento Hotel to have a drink and sketch in their Lounge.  It is a wonderful cozy place.  Especially decked out with Christmas greenery.  Here are some sketches I did while have a Mocha Bailey's Irish Creme.

Brooklyn

I visited family in Brooklyn a couple of weeks ago. Didn't manage too much sketching. Between the rain and cold and immediacy of my companions, it just wasn't conducive to much sketching. 

I did manage this quick sketch of a church in Park Slope. 

Hospital

Visiting my 93 yr old grandmother in the hospital after she took a spill and cracked her pelvis. I drew this while she ate lunch (such as it was, holy crap, what junk) and watched Cash Cab with the captioning on because her hearing aid was on the fritz. She was otherwise in fine fettle, though.

Cocktails atop the Westin

Our friends Nat and Steve fell into a night in the Rainier Suite at the Westin.  They kindly shared their good fortune by inviting a few friends up, and while the others sipped wine, I sketched the view from the 39th floor.  This is looking down at 5th Avenue...off to the right was the waterfront and ferris wheel...tough to decide which view to do!

A big congratulations to Gabi for the full page spread in today's Seattle Times!!!
Beautiful sketches, as always, and they tell such interesting stories...really great.  We look forward to seeing what you'll discover in 2013...

Cameron Catering, Fremont/Ballard, Seattle

Inspired by the more complicated arrangements of Piranesi, I used a bigger tablet and drew the basic shapes in pencil before inking. Took about two hours just to finish the linework on site, another hour to ink it at home (I was watching Family Guy at the same time, so maybe I could have been a little quicker).

Happy Holidays

Orphans

I'm a quitter. From time to time I lose interest in the middle of a drawing. I get cold or the scene changes. Or the composition is lopsided. Somebody parks in my sightline or I realize I am only drawing what's in front of me because of inertia; because I haven't drawn anything yet today and it's getting late. I feel bad for these stunted drawings. It's not their fault they are ugly. They didn't ask to be born. So here is their one and only glimpse of light, though it's only the unnatural light of a scanner. Okay, dry your tears. Back on the shelf you go.

Vintage Viking Lamp

Another experiment with lighting. I've built up so many layers of diluted India Ink I don't think the paper can take any more. You can see to the left of the chair it's just pooling up. The shadows above the cat and whatever that tan thing is weren't really there, but I thought it would help the effect, so I cheated and put them in. The line work was done on site, but all of the color work was done at home from a reference photo.

Piranesi: Urban Etcher.

I came across a reference to this guy in the book, Yoga For People Who Can't Be Bothered To Do It, and Googled him. I'm in love. My drawings look lame beside his etchings, but one can see why I'd be excited to find him.

More EMP

The structure is overwhelming to draw. The colors were appealing and intense. I can hardly imagine how Gerry et. al. drew up the designs much less how the builders interpreted drawings for construction. I really like the building though. 

Too bad the guards are so fastidious. I wasn't admonished personally, probably because I hugged the wall and the railing after hearing of the lack of welcome.

Inside EMP

I was also booted out of my spot on the floor, so I moved into the cafe.  
Two feet to my left was Frank Ching and 2 feet to my right was Gail Wong...  Inspired?  Intimidated?  You betcha!

In attempting to get the right shade of purple in the distance, I managed to overwork the color.  But looking up into the building's intestines was very interesting...

From the Upper Lobby

I sat in the upper lobby but didn't have any of the staff try & move me or my stool. Maybe I was out of their sight lines?? My first sketch I looked almost straight up into the confluence of the different ceiling forms and spaces. The yellow lighting coming from the windows and hanging fixtures gave everything a warm glow, but also made it difficult to differentiate between objects in my sketch.

As I was waiting on colors to dry I started on a lower view of the plywood structure and the yellow light fixtures.  I introduced green into the sketch to differentiate the steel girders holding up the plywood forms.

I loved having a big rail wall next to me to place my wet sketch books.  I like working between multiple views so that could spend the whole time drawing and painting.  I get impatient waiting for the paint to dry.

 

In the end I had to draw Lynn because she was so patiently holding her pose sketching away in my foreground.  In the second view I ran out of paper at the bottom to include her... poor planning on my part.  Great day to sketch indoors and wonderful to see another large group of sketchers.



EMP Lobby

Here's another view of the EMP Lobby. I mentioned to a couple of people—half kiddingly, half seriously—that I thought the space was easier to draw since there were not many straight lines and the pesky subject of perspective wasn't an issue. I started with the vertical column and then worked my way through the curved surfaces and lines, one by one. The hard part was trying to maintain a sense of space and not let the steel and plywood sheathing from dominating.

EMP Lobby

This is the Lobby from the 5th St. Entrance at the EMP.  I had the same problem as Steve...although they didn't tell me to move until after I had finished drawing the sketch.  I wasn't to block the ticket sales.  Of course I wasn't even close to it and there was no one in the sales' line. 

To finish the watercolor portion.  I would move back and forth between the cafe (where my paints were) to the spot I where I was originally standing. I needed to be able to see the reflections and shadows.

Challenging space to draw in more ways that one!

Robby the Robot - EMP

I decided to pay admission for the EMP rather than stay in the lobby.  I love music and this was a great excuse to spend the day in the museum.  I really enjoyed the Nirvana and Jimi Hendrix London exhibits, as well as playing with the guitars and amps up in the sound lab.  I spent more time in the exhibits than sketching, but had a great day.  Like Steve, I tried to sketch the "If VI were IX" guitar sculpture.  I sat on a bench by the elevators and the staff completely ignored me.  Turned out I did not have the patience of Steve and quickly decided I had bit off more than I could chew.

Down in the Science Fiction wing, I found Robby the Robot.  He predates me a bit, but was quick and fun to draw.  Much simpler than the guitar sculpture!

"Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss."

In the Experience Music Project, a Seattle Museum dedicated to Rock and Roll, there is a tornado-like sculpture made of guitars. This morning, the for-pay area was empty as I unfolded my tiny tripod stool to sketch. After twenty minutes, a guard came over and said my stool was a safety hazard and made me put it away. Another twenty minutes later he told me I couldn't sit on the floor because now I was the hazard. Twenty minutes later he came to where I was standing and scolded me because I'd put my admission sticker on my sketchbook, not on my coat. Three more guards approached me in turn asking to see my sticker, even though they were otherwise standing together in a clump chatting. I thought, Not very Rock and Roll of them. The Rock and Roll Museum staff have become 'The Man.'


Jackie was disappointed that the guitars weren't in color. Here ya go, Dr. H.

View from Macrina Bakery, Seattle

View from Macrina Bakery, Seattle

 

I've been really busy with non sketching projects lately so I took a moment while my husband finished his breakfast to sketch the view. That white sky? That's December in Seattle.

Smash Bar and Bistro

An experiment. I drew the top of this very dark bar as usual, in black, but when it came time to shade it, I thought it would be easier to draw the highlights, since the whole scene was so dark. So I painted everything in reverse, darkening only the shiny places, kind of like drawing on a chalkboard, then inverted the scan.

December Sketch Outing this Sunday!

December Sketch Outing

Experience Music Project Lobby and Seattle Center House Winterfest

Sunday December 16, 10:00 AM

Meet at the main entrance to the EMP on  5th Ave N.

http://www.empsfm.org/visit.aspx

Photo courtesy of The West End's Flickr stream

Photo courtesy of Seattle Center

End of An Era Exhibit at Bauhaus Coffee and Books

Opening reception of an art exhibit on the the changing landscape of Capitol Hill.   Come if you can.  I have one of my sketches exhibited.  This building which houses Bauhaus will be demo'd sometime in June?  Many of the businesses are leaving beginning of the year.  It was unclear how long Bauhaus will remain at this site.  So if you want to see the space and do a last sketch before they leave...you need to go soon. 

KRob Award for Travel Sketch to India

I found out about a month ago that one of my travel sketches from a trip last year to India won an award in the 2012 international KRob architectural delineation competition sponsored by the Dallas AIA.  I am so excited and very honored!

If you want to see the categories and other images that received awards, go to
http://www.krobarch.com/winners.asp?winner_year=2012
The competition received around 350 entries from around the world for all the categories, including student and professional, digital and hand images.

India was an amazing place to visit and even more amazing to draw.  I was able to fill 2 Moleskine watercolor books with mostly pencil drawings during the 3.5 weeks my friend Nancy and I traveled.

Sketching in India and Nepal was very challenging most of the time, as people were very curious and within seconds, there was a crowd (literally) looking over my shoulder. And we were constantly on the go so I had to draw fast, usually sitting in the dirt!  For this sketch, we were visiting Fatehpur Sikri, Akbar's palace compound and mosque outside of Agra.  I found a spot on a platform up high where I could sit and draw without interruptions.   Looking at it now, I can remember the sounds of birds, the heat and dust, the Hindi being spoken around me.  I loved it and would go back to India in a heartbeat.

Garfield Orchestra Sing-Along

Instead of painting sketches, I have been painting our house lately!
So it was great to see Gail at the Garfield Orchestra Sing-Along and sketch in between parts of the
Hallelujah Chorus!  (I was in the Soprano section, can barely squeak out those high A's anymore...)
I had never been to the First Baptist Church, it's lovely.

I finally got the Lamy pen and Noodler Ink (thank you, Gail, got it on sale!) and am trying pen.
I sketched this out in pencil first, then used the pen and had to paint later at home (had to concentrate
on the high notes to not totally embarrass myself.)  I like the pen, but still have to figure out how
to use it...

Makah Tribe Long House

Makah Tribe long house. Native American Tribe from the northwestern corner of the continental United States in Washington State. This house is made out of cedar pine wood shingles.

1111 Lincoln Road

1111 Lincoln Road, South Beach Miami, FL, U.S.A. It's an amazing building with a lot of cool things to discover. If any one goes to Miami it is a must see type of deal. Yeah it is a parking garage but it feels like a cathedral/sky park. It's the best way to view the city from above and there are parties that take place in here. Check it out.....

Garfield High School Symphony Orchestra Playing At Seattle First Baptist Church

It was a great concert on Saturday at Seattle First Baptist Church.  Garfield Orchestra played selected pieces from Handel's Messiah.  It would have been a really long concert if they were to play all the pieces.  This was a sing along concert. You could buy the score, bring your own copy or rent a score to follow along.  I was drawing and singing in my seat.  I had enough time to draw and paint on site.  What a nice way to open up the holiday season!

It's official! Barcelona to host our 4th International Symposium!

Barcelona to host 4th International 

Urban Sketching Symposium

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Mark your calendars for July 11-13

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Subscribe to mailing list to receive updates

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Workshops to be announced in January

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Registration to open in March

http://www.urbansketchers.org/2012/12/its-official-barcelona-to-host-our-4th.html

A couch by any other name...

Sofa, davenport, settee, chesterfield, divan, canapé... "It's just a couch!" as Kevin Spacey insists in American Beauty. And now it's just clutter in the basement of a downstairs vintage store in Fremont. Along with these lovely dolls with the photoprinted faces of someone's granddaughters and a purse made of buttons, a clock shaped like a life-preserver and an "I wuv you THIS much!" statue. American culture at its finest.

Friday sketch outing

Five Seattle Urban Sketchers got together today in downtown Seattle to sketch some holiday scenes.
We met first at the Fairmont Olympic Hotel to sketch the Teddy Bear Suite.  Two of us were there early so we both sketched the Santa statue in the lower lobby. 


Sketching the Teddy Bear suite didn't work out so well.  It is not very large and it was full of small children.  We walked through just to see it and then moved on. 

Our next venue was the Gingerbread Village at the Sheraton Hotel.  This was not just a village, it was a series of huge castles!  We settled in comfortable chairs in a part of the lobby looking on to the back of the castles.  I sketched the Beauty and the Beast Castle.



Before we all left, we took the traditional photos of our sketchbooks and the sketchers:



All in all we agreed it was a fun time and that we would arrange another outing on a Friday in January.  Stay tuned on the Seattle USK Google group.  I'll post a message there.

Sketch opportunity with music!

Messiah Sing-Along featuring Garfield HS Symphony Orchestra
First Baptist Church
Saturday, December 8, 2012 at 7:30pm

Tickets are $12 general, $6 for students. Bring your own score, or rent one at the door.

Seattle First Baptist Church is at Harvard and Seneca

More information

Vintage Coat

Another couple of hours sitting in this vintage mall. There's an endless supply of subjects, all arranged into still lifes just for me to sketch. I wonder how long until I feel I've been there, done that.

Jetsam

"Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated."      -Confucious

A rainy Sunday afternoon in the vintage mall.

Of all the different approaches to sketching, this is my favorite. Starting without any pencil or guiding marks, ignoring the hues, not choosing a focal point. It's more a meditation on contour and assemblage. The notion of "a mistake"- whether in perspective or proportion, omission or placement- becomes moot. A clutter of things I don't recognize and can't name allows me to see not "the thing," but rather "this bend meeting that point, and this line almost parallels that one." I don't stop until I can't see anything else to draw and then I'm sort of bummed to be finished- surprised that so little, or so much, time has passed.

Gage Drawing Jam 13