Irwin's Neighborhood Bakery and Coffee Shop.

A long time friend just started working here and introduced me to a rare coffee shop I hadn't drawn yet (I've avoided $t@rbu¢k$ so far). I have a new biking or walking destination not far from home. Thanks, Erin!

Upcoming Urban Sketching Workshops

If you can't make it to Singapore for the Symposium consider doing one of these workshops.  Mix traveling with sketching.  There is still room in these workshops and they look great!

Journey into Matter with Ink and Watercolor

June 24-28

Tuscany, Italy with Simo Capecchi & Caroline Peyron

 

 Pushing your Sketching Boundaries

July 8-11

Oxford, UK with Isabel Carmona, Miguel Herranz and Swasky

 

 Sketching the Wild Atlantic Way

September 2-6

Galway, Ireland with Róisín Curé

 

 Painting in Ischia island around Aragonese Castle

October 8-11

Naples, Italy with Simo Capecchi, Caroline Peyron and Kelly Medford

More Good Bones in Seattle

This past Memorial Day weekend was yet another workshop on perspective sketching! Friday and Saturday were spent in a crazy crowded Pike Place Market, and Sunday we met in the morning to sketch at King Street Station.
It was a great group, they asked really challenging questions!  I'm always amazed to see how different each group is...

Here is almost everyone (minus 2) and also a few of their sketches:

 And I promised them I'd post this sequence I did the last day...

 Thanks all, it was a great group, great fun too!

Jack Block Park

On a very early sketch crawl, years ago, the Seattle Urban Sketchers met at Jack Block Park. Donna had the idea to visit there on Memorial Day, as she'd never been. It was cool and breezy and perfect for sitting for a couple hours in the zone.

Folklife Saturday

Romanian Brass Band, Buskers, Blues, Contra Dancing well just about anything you can think of. It's at the Folklife Festival in Seattle. This year they had a Gig Poster exhibit that was cool.
This is a sketch of one of the venues.
Folklife has happened every year on Memorial Day weekend since 1972.

Keeping the Sea out of Seattle

I had an opportunity to sketch the Seawall Construction site and here are my Sketches.

Bothell Country Village

There was a lot to see on this May morning at Bothell Country Village. I walked around checking out the area. My first impression was that it was a collection of cute shops with an old farm motif. Once I learned it was originally an actual farm village that has been re-done to house contemporary shops, I started to get into the story and appreciate the evolution.

I started with this store situated close to where we met. The dragonfly adorning the rooftop caught my eye.

I wandered a bit more and fund the caboose and windmill. One day I'll get the knack of scaling things down to fit all I want on the page. One day.

Friday at Folklife

You just never know about the weather for Folklife Festival. Two years ago it was too hot and sunny. Last year it threatened rain but turned sunny.  This year it was cloudy and chilly the entire sketch outing.  This was the USk Seattle Friday group's second annual outing to Folklife.  We go when it first opens so it's not as crowded as later in the weekend.

My route included bus, lightrail and monorail.  These sketches were done on a page in my pocket sketchbook while on the lightrail from Tukwila to Westlake Center.



As usual, I arrived early.  I had a coffee to keep warm and sketched this sculpture outside the Armory.  It's a sculpture with the base of the Space Needle in the background, above.



My preference would have been the Trad Stage, with traditional Celtic music.  But it didn't start live music until 1600.  So I opted to attempt a sketch of the Spruce Street Marimba band at 1100.  It was the opening act on the Fountain stage.  There was a lot of action!  These are 5th graders and performed a half hour show without sheet music. They had it all memorized!  I've heard them before and they are fantastic!  Their teacher is on the left.



I did some wandering and looking at the various vendors.  I stopped to listen to these buskers and did a quick sketch.  The dog seemed bored with it all.  They are the Dunghill Rooster Strutters.   



There were just 6 of us today.


Thanks to John for the group photo.   Kate, Anne, Gwen, Evelyn, Kathy, Susan

Sketches from Southern California

Frank and I had a great workshop in Laguna Beach and San Juan Capistrano.  You can check out what we did with the Line to Color Group.  It was great fun and we made a some good friends.
Here are some sketches I did while I was there.

San Juan Capistrano

San Juan Capistrano

Main Beach Park

Lumberyard Plaza

Abandoned House

This house, two blocks away, caught my eye soon after we moved to our new place near Greenlake, but I waited for a sunny day to draw it. It's clearly abandoned and overgrown, yet it's on a prime corner overlooking Green Lake. Curious as to how such potential just goes fallow.

late afternoon

Our afternoons in Seattle have been lovely; 

my focus was to begin to catch the late afternoon light in the backyard.

My Sunday's are busy with teaching; 

I seem to miss those sketch outings with all the talented urban sketchers!

I will aim to attend more in the future.

I wanted to sketch everything!

Once again, Urban Sketchers Seattle met at a place I'd never been: The Country Village Shops in Bothell.  There was a scene I wanted to sketch everywhere I turned.  I'd go back every day if it wasn't 30-90 minutes away (30 min on Sunday; 90 minutes the rest of the week!).

The property started as a farm, with the original farmhouse built in 1901.  Since then, the property has had a checkered existence, declining to a "den of thieves" in the mid 1960's.  It was saved by Rod Loveless, a residential land developer, in 1979. 

When I looked at the site on the internet, I knew right away my first sketch would have to be this crazy chicken!  It was built in 2006 when Rod decided the Village needed a mascot.  It is made of recycled chunks of styrofoam and fiberglass.  The chicken is 16 feet tall.



Though it looks old, the Courtyard building was completed in 1994.

 

I had just 10 minutes before meeting back up with the other sketchers.  I dashed off this sketch of the frog fountain in my pocket sketchbook.



There were several new people today.  We shared our sketches and then had a group photo.







I have more photos of sketchers and from around the property here.

Bothell Country Village

The secluded bench was tucked within a lush section of the village under a mature maple and next to a bubbling fish fountain. I couldn't help but appreciate that the bench was on axis with the clock tower. 

This shop, The Chic Boatique, made my day. It had a way of reminding me to laugh a little and to not take life so seriously. 

Country Village Outing

The first sketch I drew was of one of the passenger cars.  It had been turned into some kind of office space out in the back parking area.

The train car wheels were laying nearby instead of under the train.  This area was next to the miniature train depot where the young families were waiting for the depot to open for rides..

Finally I captured one of the wind mills and the Fabric Shop on the main road into the village.

Bothell Country Village Mall

An overcast day so the lighting wasn't optimal, but a great turn-out with many new faces, including students from both my classes at Gage, and from my on-line class.

May Sketch Outing

Sunday,May 17
11:00AM - 1:30
(Shops open at 11 on Sundays)

Bothell Country Village
23718 Bothell Everett Highway
Bothell, WA 98021

Meet just outside the Village Eatery and Tea Company