2014 Convocation at University of Washington

I missed last weeks sketch outing because I was at the 2014 Convocation ceremonies at the University of Washington to help our son Matthew celebrate the beginning of his 4 years at University of Washington.  Not to pass up the opportunity to document this day, we got there early enough so I could grab a sketch of the ceremony,  sketched the entrance to the Presidents Picnic tent while waiting in line to get in and sketch inside the tent while enjoying our lunch.

2014 Convocation Ceremony

Waiting to get into the big tent while being entertained by the marching band.

Inside the Presidents Picnic Tent

Panorama

Having sketched at the Olympic Sculpure Park a number of times, I was searching for a new viewpoint when I came upon this panoramic view from the south end of the park.

Bedlam Coffee, Belltown, Seattle.

Too wet to draw outside, Donna and I took the bus to Belltown to draw at Bedlam Coffee, a favorite place to draw. I've drawn here a couple of times before:

Friday Ad Hoc

The Urban Sketchers Seattle Friday ad hoc met at Jefferson Park.  It as raining heavily as I drove there but I hoped for the best. Soon after our 10am meeting time, it stopped raining.  The Luck of the Sketchers!

However, it was still a bit chilly, especially after our hot summer.  There was quite a breeze, too, so I needed to clip my sketchbook pages down.

I sketched the lookout tower from the hill above the playground.  I was tempted by the slides but resisted.  It is the enclosed slide that is in the foreground of this sketch.



Then I walked up the hill to sketch the cairn  (definition:  a mound of rough stones built as a memorial or landmark, typically on a hilltop or skyline.")  I also knew them in North Yorkshire and the Lake District of England as directional indicators.



The group of six brave sketchers:


Kate (me), Ben (visiting from Hong Kong Urban Sketchers),  Gwen, PeggyH, Tina, Robin

Breezy Jefferson Park

9/26/14 Jefferson Park skateboarding sculpture

Under breezy rainfall, only six diehard sketchers showed up at Jefferson Park this morning for our Friday ad hoc outing, but by the time we started sketching, the rain was barely spitting. Underdressed (my head is still in Brazil, I guess), I got chilled sketching this bright red sculpture, which doubles as a skateboarding structure. Apparently boarders aren’t as hardy as sketchers, because none came to use it while I was there.

After walking around the park twice trying to find a place that would block the wind while I sketched, I didn’t find anything, so I settled for a view of some wind-tossed trees. Using a twig and India ink again, I added a touch of color this time.

We welcomed Hong Kong urban sketcher Ben Luk, a first-time visitor to Seattle, who joined us. “Is it always like this here?” he asked about the weather. I let him know about our nearly-record-breaking beautiful summer that apparently ended on Monday.

9/26/14 wind-tossed trees sketched with a twig

Icons and secret pockets

So many times when I get to our monthly sketch outing I feel the pressure to find something quickly to focus on and start! I hear the voice of those monkeys that follow me around, "You only have 2 and a half hours and you've got to produce something." 

So last Sunday I decided to take an easier pace, walk around, scope out the place.  So I started drawing a walking map, something I've never done. I got half way down the path when I noticed a little path I'd never seen before. And there sat hi-tech chrome plated frames tipped at different angles, Perre's Ventaglio III by Beverly Pepper. The frames sit in the middle of a walking path surrounded by plants and trees. I just liked the contrasts -- natural greenery/chrome; organic shapes/geometric rectangles; light/shadow. 

Then, with another hour to go, the map idea forgotten, I decided to sketch an icon--the Typewriter Eraser, Scale X by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen.  The shadows were really strong that morning making the eraser all the more dramatic. 



 It was a beautiful day - a tribute to a beautiful summer. 

Face to face with Echo

It was great seeing new and familiar faces today, including this giant one, the Echo sculpture by Catalan artist Jaume Plensa. I had first sketched it for my Seattle Times column when it was being installed back in May. Today, I was excited to draw the complete head.

Olympic Sculpture Park

We had a wonderful summer day here in Seattle before the start of Fall on Tuesday.  It was a good group for our September Sketch Crawl at the Olympic Sculpture Park, quite a few new-comers and some that we haven't seen for awhile.  For my first sketch I wanted to capture some of the diagonal lines that are integral part of the design of the park.

With the last two, the bright colors and the shapes of the Eagle and You Are Hear, were what attracted me to these sculptures.  I also got to sit in one location to sketch both.

Channeling My Inner KK at the Sculpture Park

9/21/14 Calder's Eagle at Olympic Sculpture Park

We’ve all heard of the proverbial artist who can create a masterpiece using only a toothpick and ketchup. I haven’t seen a demo using those media yet, but the one I saw in Paraty last month came close: Ch’ng Kiah Kiean (better known as KK) wielding a twig and Chinese ink. After his inspiring demo, I gave it a shot myself, vowing to try it again later at home. This sunny morning at the Olympic Sculpture Park, which got a huge turnout of Seattle Urban Sketchers (welcome to all the newcomers!), I had an opportunity to give my twig a better workout.

I didn’t have Chinese ink at home, so I used India ink. KK’s trick is to place a piece of medical gauze in a small jar and pour only enough ink into the jar to saturate the gauze. This trick addresses two issues: It keeps the ink from spilling (especially important when wearing a white sweater), and it allows the twig to pick up a very small amount of ink, which results in KK’s signature “dry” ink look.

9/21/14 Space Needle from Olympic Sculpture Park

Once I picked up my twig, I had to dispense with a few things immediately. The first was the illusion of control. The second was my penchant for details: twig sketching is all about big shapes. The third was color. The latter was a tough one – who doesn’t want to put a big splash of red across the page when sketching Calder’s Eagle? (It helped that I’d already been to the sculpture park with a sketchbook several times.) Once those were out the window, I had so much fun sketching with that most primitive of sketching tools. A big benefit of twig sketching is speed. I finished five sketches during the two-and-a-half-hour sketch outing, which may be a personal record.

During KK’s demo, participants kept asking him questions about the types of trees his twigs come from, the angle at which he cuts the tips, creating sort of a “nib,” etc. Although he answered the questions, it became apparent by watching him that his magical sketches have very little to do with the twig. They have everything to do with the hand holding the twig.

9/21/14 Olympic Sculpture Park

9/21/14 Elliott Bay from Olympic Sculpture Park

9/21/14 Richard Serra's Wake at Olympic Sculpture Park

Seattle Busker Week Finale

9/20/14 Jim Yun

After a week of special events around the downtown area, local buskers turned out for a grand finale performance this afternoon outside EMP. Seattle Busker Week was the 40^th anniversary celebration of an ordinance that made busking legal in Seattle. In 1974, busker Jim Page became a local hero when he took on the city prohibition that made performing in the streets for money illegal.

“Busking is based on the principle that if you can talk, you can sing,” Page said, giving anyone an opportunity to perform for an audience. An original song he performed today was a lampoon of Bertha, the expensive tunnel-boring machine which has been stuck for months.

Ukulele player and singer Jim Yun, a Seattle busker who had been in Chicago for a while, began his performance by complaining about that Midwest city’s highly restrictive busking laws. “This is an awesome city for creativity and creative expression,” Yun said, praising Seattle and its liberal busking policies.

Since I’m a frequent sketcher of buskers at farmers markets and street fairs, and it’s my personal policy to put money in the hat of any busker I sketch, it was a surprising change to see today’s buskers performing without their hats out. But as a celebration of Seattle’s liberal ordinance, it made sense: They gave back to an appreciative city with a free show.

9/20/14 Bob Crosby and Jim Page

9/20/14 Katy Keenan

9/20/14 (didn't catch this guy's name)

Washington "staycation" fieldsketches

My sketchbooks are full of our adventures this summer from Friday Harbor to Winthrop to Omak and Wenatchee to Washougal and the Columbia Gorge to Ocean Shores and to Salt Creek.  Sketching vacation memories is priceless, but finding ideal conditions to sketch outdoors can be a challenge.

The sketch at the picnic area at Sunrise on Mt. Rainier was a very windy challenge, but fortunately no equipment blew away!

We hiked on the Bluff Trail from Salt Creek campground to Crescent Beach where I met a half dozen painters whose easels were set up on the beach every 20 feet.  They were part of a two-day acrylic painting workshop out of Port Angeles.  I continued past them and walked around the rocky headland to sketch this scene.  I quickly completed the sketch in ink and watercolor before the incoming tide cut me off!

Finally, our trip took us to Fort Flagler where we hiked more than a mile on the beach from the lower campground towards the east around the point where the lighthouse is.  There we met patient salmon fisherman as well as a juvenile gull hoping for bait.  Skies were gray and spitting rain, but I was able to finish the ink sketch before the squall forced us to hike back along the beach.  We looked up in time to see a Trident nuclear submarine being escorted by several coast guard vessels including HOS Arrowhead and HOS Eagleview, the two marine supply vessels we saw daily over the Strait of Juan de Fuca from Salt Creek Recreation Area.  Unfortunately, the rain and wind prevented me from sketching the submarine escort.

September Sketch Outing

Sunday, September 21, 10 am to 12:30 pm

Olympic Sculpture park.
2901 Western Avenue Seattle, WA 98121 

We've been there before but there are two new sculptures to see and sketch.  Meet just outside the entrance of the PACCAR Pavilion at the corner of Western Ave and Broad St. 

Download a pdf map  page 5 has a map of the park with sculpture locations but doesn't include the new ones.

Edmonds, WA

Pet-sat in Edmonds over the weekend, and drew this during a coffee break near the central fountain.

Along the Ship Canal

Isn't Seattle astonishingly beautiful lately? Yes, fall is sneaking in but after so many pretty summer days, it feels like frosting on the cake. I spent a quiet morning sketching one day this week. There is a convenient bench on the east end of the canal before the Fremont buildings begin.

South Lake Union

 

Donna's parents visited from Connecticut and stayed at the Residence Inn on South Lake Union. I drew the view from their balcony as we watched the sun set.

Confidence

9/12/14 

The sky was bright blue, but the wind was stiff at Fisherman’s Terminal, where the Friday ad hoc sketchers gathered this morning. Now that it’s September, we’re back to meeting twice a month instead of weekly, but on a beautiful day like today, it seems like we cut back too early!

When I was at the terminal a few months ago, I wasn’t in the mood to sketch a boat, so I took on the Fisherman’s Memorial instead. Today, with the colorful little boats of Paraty still fresh in my mind, I was in a boatier mood. I had a gazillion to choose from . . . then this blue trawler caught my eye. When I saw its name, I decided it was challenging me to sketch it.

From left: Gwen, Chloe, Michele, Susan, Tina, Gordon and Elizabeth

We welcomed a couple of newcomers today, Chloe and Gwen, as well as Elizabeth, who was visiting all the way from Windsor, Ontario. Members of Plein Air Washington Artists happened to be there this morning too, so the terminal was full of sketchers and painters. As it should be!

Seattle Architecture Foundation Exhibit Opening

Kay, Gabi, Tina and David attended the exhibit's opening reception (not pictured is
Mark Selander, who showed up later). (No, I'm not seated -- I'm apparently 3 feet
shorter than David.)

The nonprofit group Seattle Architecture Foundation invited Urban Sketchers Seattle to participate in its annual model exhibition. With the theme “In Process,” the exhibit is ideal for showing sketches of construction sites and other constantly changing projects in the Seattle area. A number of Seattle Urban Sketchers contributed sketches for the show. In addition, Logan Bingle, Kate Buike, Gabi Campanario, David Chamness, Mark Selander, Kay Tyllia, Jane Wingfield, Gail Wong and I all donated original sketches for the silent auction to raise funds for the foundation. Thanks to David for getting us organized and managing all the digital images for the show! Gabi gave a brief talk to the crowd about Urban Sketchers and the value of hand-drawn images.

Here's part of Urban Sketchers Seattle's exhibit of sketches.

At the opening reception last night, I was fascinated by the many creative 3-D models of real and imagined buildings and environments. While video and other digitally displayed models are cool to view, I was most impressed by intricate models that were hand-cut and assembled the old-fashioned way. Call me a Luddite – I like paper, pen, cardboard and glue!

Urban sketchers were encouraged to sketch during the reception, so I stood at the top of a short stairway to get a view of the mobbed exhibit room, but all I managed to sketch was a lot of backs!

The show is still on through Oct. 3 at 407 Union Street, so check it out!

9/11/14 Sketched at In Process exhibit opening reception

9/11 tribute

I just happened to be on the Valentino Pier in Red Hook, Brooklyn where there's a spot-on view of One World Trade Center when it occurred to me that today is the thirteen year anniversary. Here's my small tribute in memory of all those who lost their lives in 2001. 

by the way, this is literally a small tribute-- about 2 x 6 in. 

A “Family Reunion” in Paraty

8/27/14 Pizzeria da Cidade, Paraty

When I left for Brazil nearly three weeks ago, Seattle trees were showing only a tiny hint of fall. Coming home from SeaTac Monday afternoon, the first thing I noticed was that the trees were definitely turning orange and yellow – no more hinting. I feel like I’ve been far away for a long time – both physically and mentally.

Paraty was a delight – and full of surprises. When I had first started seeing images of the coastal village in southern Brazil – one I had never heard of before the announcement that the 5th Annual International Urban Sketching Symposium would be held there – I was immediately taken with its small-town charm. Unlike Barcelona’s spectacular urban vibrancy (which inspired and invigorated me even as it intimidated me), Paraty seemed more my pace. Perhaps I could leisurely walk its streets without being watchful of pickpockets!

As it turned out, I had to be as watchful as ever in Paraty, though not of pickpockets. Instead of looking around for thieves, I had to look down with every step – or risk tripping on the rough stone streets and sidewalks everywhere! Or if my timing was off, I might be trapped on one side of the street or another when the high tide came in and the streets flooded with a sudden, temporary river.

As small as the proverbial “one-dog town” (in fact, there were at least three, including the black one that was always asleep next to Igreja de Nossa Senhora do Rosário; if you look through the symposium Flickr group, you’ll see that the dog is a fixture in several sketches of the church), I could walk from end to end in a short time (though it always took me longer than I expected because I was trying not to trip). Despite its initial impression of being a sleepy town, Paraty is anything but quiet. I woke every morning to a cacophony of exotic birdsong and church bells. One day at 6 a.m., we were awakened by fireworks honoring a patron saint. Music was often playing, and the voices of local business owners and patrons filled the streets.

8/27/14 Our hardworking symposium staff at the opening reception.

Barcelona last year is the only other symposium I attended and can compare Paraty to, so I don’t have a broad range of reference, but to me Paraty was an ideal symposium location in several ways. Its small size made it easy to run (I mean walk – no running on those stony streets!) between the various symposium events, and it was so much fun to see other sketchers everywhere, anytime. The scale of the architecture was less imposing (can you say Sagrada Familia?), and I enjoyed the smaller workshops and activities more. In Barcelona, the culture was to dine late in the evening, so I missed most of the informal drink-and-draws because I was usually in bed by the time they took place. In Paraty, I could attend group dinners without losing beauty sleep. Stone streets notwithstanding, Paraty was more my pace.

8/26/14 Caramujo Restaurant, Paraty

The symposium structure itself keeps maturing and improving. This year I could choose to attend a mix of workshops and activities, giving me a broader range of experiences. For example, by opting to forego the Thursday afternoon workshop and attend a portrait exchange instead, I met a number of people who had not registered for the workshop pass, so I probably wouldn’t have had an opportunity to talk to them otherwise. Even better, I spent time with each one sketching their portrait.

Which brings me to the same conclusion I came to at the end of the Barcelona symposium last year: Regardless of the location or specific workshops (which were enormously useful), what I value and remember most about the Urban Sketching Symposium are the people I met or became reunited with there. I heard a number of attendees use the term “family reunion” to describe the atmosphere, and it’s exactly appropriate. I cherish the time I spent, both at the symposium and later in Rio, with people whose sketches I keep up with online all year round or just met and look forward to seeing again at a future symposium. Time and time again, I was moved by the communication that can transpire even without much of a common spoken language when we all share the common language of our love for sketching.

I could post here some of the many sketches of buildings and streets I made in Paraty (you can see them in the symposium Flickr group). But in honor of the many people who made the symposium special to me, instead I’m posting some of the sketches I made during the portrait exchange, informal drink-and-draws and the final symposium sketchwalk. Thank you, everyone, for a very special time in Paraty. I feel privileged to be part of this vast global network.

8/29/14 Cafe Do Fogo, Paraty

8/29/14 Cafe Do Fogo, Paraty

8/28/14 Sergio sketched at the portrait party

8/28/14 Marcia sketched at the portrait party

8/28/14 Fernanda sketched at the portrait party

8/30/14 Symposium closing sketchwalk, Matriz Square, Paraty. (There's Frank Ching at left, sketching while standing, wearing a hat.)