Sketches from the Seattle Center Outing

My Sketches from the October Sketch Outing to the Seattle Center.  

The weather was beautiful for a Seattle Fall Day!

The back entrance to the Armory Building (formerly the Food Circus during the 1962 Worlds Fair).

With a peak-a-boo view of the Space Needle.

The Key Arena before they start renovation for the new NHL franchise (formerly the Coloseum during the fair and when the Sonics played there).  This past year home to the WNBA champs, Storm.

Inside the Armory I sat at the Blue Water Bistro and watch the Huskies on TV, ate lunch and did a sketch.

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Finally ended my day at the International Fountain, watching the kids in the water, listening to the music from the fountain and sketching the activity while sitting in the beautiful fall sunshine.

Weekend sketches

Last Saturday  I was in Magnolia, an area of Seattle that I'm not so familar. Wide streets, tall, deciduous trees glowing gold despite the gray skies panoramic views--it was all lovely and impressive.  Most of the 10x10 teachers met to begin planning for next year's 10x10 classes. Yep, 2019 will be here before we know it. After the meeting I Yelped for a nearby restaurant and fund Mura Asian Eatery. It was between lunch and dinner so the restaurant was quiet. I had few distractions while I made these quick sketches. 

The next day, Sunday I want to the Farmer's Market in Olympia where the fall colors were just as evident and the people just as enticing as they waited  for their lunch. 

Green Man Bun and Other Excitement at SoDo Reserve

10/26/18 Man-bunned fire marshal

Although our outings are always fun and exciting in an urban sketching sort of way, none of us expected the kind of excitement we had this morning at the Starbucks Reserve SoDo store and café. I had arrived a few minutes early, so I was still in my car when hundreds of people suddenly started pouring out of the buildings and onto the parking lot. I was afraid we had chosen to sketch there on the same day as a major convention!

I soon learned that a fire drill was taking place at Starbucks headquarters. Waiting outside in the wind and rain, a few other sketchers and I watched as the fire marshal attempted to keep people from entering, sometimes ineffectively. We decided that his bright green man bun added nothing to his authority.

Eventually we were allowed to enter, and I was grateful that the only fire was the one burning in the cozy fireplace in the center of the store.

10/26/18 Tony sketching by the cozy fireplace.

The first time I sketched at the SoDo Reserve last March shortly after it had opened, a bright red slicing machine had caught my eye, but I couldn’t find a clear view of it then. This time I shared a table with Kathleen, which gave me reasonably good view (except for the continual stream of customers at the counter that I had to dodge). My intention was to simply make a ballpoint InkTober sketch of the retro-looking machine, but I ended up being fascinated by its mechanical workings as a deli worker sliced ham for the sandwiches she was making.

10/26/18 Sandwich maker slicing ham

Another great turnout of the Friday sketchers!

Diwali - Festival of Lights; Feast of Color

I've always grouped Diwali with the other autumn/winter festivals - Hannukah, Christmas, Kwanzaa - but I've never had any direct experience with the event. As soon as I entered the Seattle Armory I was delighted with the color and vitality that was just beginning to build. The armory stage was the main focus. I saw the performers but soon I spotted the staging area where performers waited for their turn. I was enthralled. Sitting on my fold-up stool against the concrete walls of the armory I could watch, unimpeded and largely unnoticed as a rainbow of performers chatted, stretched, practiced, watched and waited. 

Later I went upstairs and found cooking lessons, a delightful puppet show, an art room and an enthralling view of the light-filled kandeel (lanterns). 

Hindus in earlier days set kandeels afloat high, a gesture to invite the spirits of their ancestors moving around to come back home and be with them during the festival time; hence the name akasha deepa (lantern of the sky) or AkashaKandil. Wikipedia

As the sunlight flooded the banners it looked to me like they couldn't help but fulfill their purpose. 

Three USK 10X10 workshops in October Part #2: Jane Wingfield and Eleanor Doughty

[Read  Part 1 of this series, on Andika Murandi's workshop]

The second of my three Fall 10x10 workshops was Jane Wingfield' People in Places, scheduled for October 14 in the Pike Place Market.

I started the morning by getting lost in the labyrinthine market with all its small shops, stairs, hallways, alleys, which don't seem to follow any meaningful spatial organization. I had to stop at a shop and ask for direction. The shop owner didn't seem very impressed with my capacity to follow his instructions (go to the end of the hallways, pass the glass door, turn left, cross the alley by the gum wall, find the wood staircase and so on), but I finally made it to the Atrium.

Jane had prepared nice booklets with the course handout and a folder with Manila paper for each of us, so that we could freely and loosely sketch people without feeling concerned about wasting paper or making a pretty sketch.

She started by showing us many examples of how other urban sketchers depict people in their sketches, from Suhita Shirodkar, to Jim Richards, Melanie Reim, Jane herself and many others.
Jane introduced several techniques to capture the gesture in posture and quickly sketch people with markers, brush pens, or directly with watercolor. After practicing for a while, we ventured in the very crowded Market to sketch people in context. Below are my manila paper sketches practicing Jane's instructions and tips.

A collage of my people sketch practice during Jane Wingfield's workshop. We tried several techniques and took inspiration from the many examples from Jane's printouts.

Below some pictures from the workshop, including our throw-downs and Jane fearlessly standing in a corner of the market for a demo.

Participants at Jane Windfield's workshop People in places and Jane during the demo

The last exercise was a more complete sketch of people in context. My sketch took quite a while. There were a constant flow of people walking around, never stopping, always changing. It was mesmerizing, distracting, and a bit overwhelming, but little by little, and switching between the buildings, the  people and back to the buildings, things started to make sense.

My final sketch of the People in Places workshop. Some of the watercolor wash was done at a later time.

As I did the previous week, I after the workshop I got lunch (a "crêpe du jour" at the Crêpe de France) then I walked around the area with my sketchbook ready. My attention was caught by the iridescent building on the left of the sketch below, as well as by the never ending constructions in downtown Seattle.

Buildings and construction at the intersection of 3rd Avenue and Virginia Street on my way back from the workshop

My third and final workshop was Eleanor Doughty's From Afar: Rendering Atmospheric Perspective in Watercolor. We met at the Lynn Street mini park in East Lake last Saturday. It was a foggy, moody morning, perfect for working on atmospheric perspective. It was also humid and unexpectedly cold.

The goal of the workshop was to learn about atmospheric perspective and practicing rendering it in watercolor using composition and differences in contrast, details, tone, edges, and color temperature. Eleanor had included several examples in her handout of how talented sketchers and illustrators represented space and distance and composed their scenes.

Eleanor illustrated many of those techniques in her demo, then it was our turn to apply them to our sketches. My first sketch was a bit of a mess, but I used what I learned from my mistakes (too much water, not enough water, too many colors, colors in the background too bright, muddy mess) to make a much simpler second version.

My (second) watercolor sketch for Eleanor's workshop on atmospheric perspective. I used Daniel Smith Blue Ultramarine and Transparent Red Oxide on Arches cold press watercolor paper.

By the end of the morning the sun had come up and it was much more pleasant to stand outside. I had a chat with Eleanor, which told me about her recent trip to Japan, Taiwan, and Vietnam, then walked to East Lake avenue. While I was waiting for my husband to pick me up, I sketched the view from this spot, to which I later applied a watercolor wash.

Waiting for my ride in front of the Voxx Coffee, at the intersection of Eastlake Avenue East and Lynn street.

This is all for my 10x10 Fall workshops, but if you are interested there are still 3 workshops in October and November that you might be able to attend (and if you are not in Seattle, there is a chance that similar workshops are scheduled in your area). I'm sure you'll find them fun and inspiring.

Three USK 10X10 workshops in October Part #1: Andika Murandi's Sketch 'n Chill

Back in June, I signed up for three of the Fall USK Seattle 10x10 workshops. They usually fill up very fast and I didn't want to miss them. I didn't realize until the first one that they were back to back on the first three weekends in October. It has been an intense period of sketching and learning.

I got in a routine: prepare my sketching bag with the right supplies the previous evening; the morning of the workshop get up, eat breakfast, and travel to the workshop location. After the three hour workshop, get some lunch and take some time to walk around and sketch some more. I know what you are thinking: poor you, all that sketching...

My first workshop, on October 6th, was Andika Murandi's Sketch 'n Chill: No-Stress Interior Sketching. We met at the Grand Central Bakery on Occidental Square in Downtown Seattle, a beautiful space with plenty of seating.

Andika started the workshop discussing the importance of line quality and making us practice drawing straight lines in all directions, then he showed us how to look at different types of interior perspective and simplify them into big shapes. He demonstrated those concepts by sketching the Grand Central Bakery atrium starting from the large shapes and working his way to the details.

With all that information in our heads, we spread around the Grand Central Bakery atrium to work on our first sketch; after a throw-down, we divided into two groups and moved to different local coffee shop for a second sketch.

My first sketch of the Grand Central Bakery atrium, looking straight at the entrance towards
Occidental Square in one-point perspective.

After the first sketch, half of the attendees moved to Caffe Umbria. This was a more complex space and we were able to practice more of the tips and approaches that Andika discussed in his demo. You might be able to spot other urban sketchers in the room.

I loved the workshop. Andika was clear in his explanations and generous with his time and tips and I learned a lot from the exercises.

After the final throw down and some food, I decided to take a walk downtown. It was a beautiful fall day, unusually sunny and warm for Seattle. I wanted to get to Westlake Park later in the afternoon, and on the way I passed the Seattle Art Museum with the huge Hammering Man sculpture. I loved the light, the colors of the buildings, and the perspective, so I decided to stop and sketch the view. For the non Seattleites, the Hammering man is a 48-feet, 26,000-pound kinetic sculpture created by Jonathan Borofsky and installed in 1992 to honor the working class men and women of the world.

The corner of 1st Avenue and University Street.
On the left, the Hammering Man sculpture in front of the Seattle Art Museum.

Here I am in WestLake Park, where a protest had been quickly scheduled after the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. I arrived early enough for a sketch an empty WestLake Park,  follow by a sketch of some the people at the rally.

Westlake Park, on 4th Avenue between Pine and Pike streets. The first sketch was done first, when the park was almost empty, and the second during the protest rally after the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.

What a beautiful, satisfying, and exhausting Saturday.

[Part 2 with workshops from Jane Wingfield and Eleanor Doughty can be found here]

Color and Dance at Diwali Festival

10/20/18 Dancers at Diwali festival

Although I had heard of Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, I didn’t know that Seattle held a festival for it until last year, when I saw correspondent Ujjwal Mahajan’s sketches of the event. As soon as I did, I put the festival on USk Seattle’s calendar so we wouldn’t miss it this year. Held at the Seattle Center’s Armory last Saturday, Diwali was full of color, music, dancers, food and everything else I enjoy about festivals.

I spent most of my time near the main stage, where small groups of women performed traditional dances wearing vibrant, colorful costumes. Capturing their fast, flowing movements was a fun challenge.

When I needed a break, I went upstairs, where quieter activities were taking place, like a cooking demo. I missed the names of the dishes that were being prepared, but they involved simmering onions, beans, other vegetables and lots of spices. It was difficult to concentrate on sketching with the delicious smells coming from the demonstrator’s pots. “Whatever you eat should have lots of colors,” she advised, and every dish “should have six tastes.”

10/20/18 Cooking demo

10/20/18 Applying henna

With a few minutes left before the throwdown, I stopped to sketch a young woman applying henna in intricate patterns to the hands and wrists of other women and girls. The henna came out of a small tube like the kind used in cake decorating. The patterns were so beautiful that I was tempted to have my hand done too, but she had a huge line of people waiting.

This festival was so much fun to sketch that I would love to see it become an annual fall event for USk Seattle!

Eleanor Doughty Sketches from Afar

10/20/18 Ellie gives a demo at tiny Lynn Street Mini Park.

On a chilly, foggy morning, I went out to what must be Seattle’s tiniest park ever: Lynn Street Mini Park on the east shore of Lake Union. That was the location of Ellie Doughty’s USk 10x10 workshop, From Afar: Rendering Atmospheric Perspective in Watercolor. Stopping by for a quick sketch and a few photos, I couldn’t take the workshop myself, but from all reports, it was an inspiring, well-organized experience for her students. And she couldn’t have picked a better day to focus on atmospheric perspective: Boats and buildings on the near shore were in marked contrast to the foggy landscape on the opposite side of the lake.

A great morning for atmospheric perspective.

Not Diwali

We rearranged our usual schedule to attend and sketch the Diwali Festival at Seattle Center Armory.  Except I didn't sketch the festival...more on that below. 

As I often do, I traveled by light rail into Seattle. While parking was no problem at the station, the train was standing room only, crammed with University of Washington fans headed for the game. So it was a sea of purple.



When we arrived at noon, though it was the start time for the festival, almost nothing was set up. The welcome and dancers on stage did start on time and the lanterns were hung from the ceiling.  




Since the festival wasn't fully underway, I decamped to sketch something I'd had in the back of my mind. Typewriter Eraser, Scale X is a sculpture of a large-scale typewriter eraser by Claes Oldenburg. I sketched it in it's previous location in the Seattle Art Museum's Sculpture Park. A couple years ago it was moved here, in front of the Frank Gehry designed MoPop (Museum of Popular Culture, formerly the Experience Music Project and the Science Fiction Museum). Just to add a third Seattle icon, I included the Space Needle.



At that point, I could have gone back to the festival. But, since I still had over an hour and I'd brought my MoPop membership card, I decided to zip through the Marvel exhibit. I knew there were a couple sculptures that I might want to sketch. This Spider Man photo op had a convenient bench right in front, so it's the one I picked. I got to see some people doing cute and funny poses with it. This little one was the best!




Our sketch throw-down and our group photo:




 

More photos of sketch outing.
 
Photos from the MOPOP Marvel exhibit

RIP Twin Victorians

When I ride my bike home from Capitol Hill, I always pass these dilapidated Victorians tucked on the very end of a street ending at the I-5 cut cliff. I thought they were the same, but when I started drawing them I realized they were quite different from each other - still twins, just not identical. I sketched them in April. Each time I passed by after that, I noticed slight changes to the houses – new tags, more windows boarded up or broken.

Someone on Etsy bought a print of this, and let me know that she used to live on the second floor of the one on the right & sent me a photo of her former living room. She had this to say about it:

"it was a pretty cool house, pretty dumpy but it had lots of charm. It was built in the 1890s and it was one of the first houses built on that side of capitol hill. (They didn't even have roads back then, just horse trails!) The houses were converted to triplexes, and I rented the middle unit from a older lady who had inherited the property from her family. She recently died, and I think her daughter sold it to developers. All of the tenants were evicted last November so they can tear it down to build a 40-unit building."

process pic - watercolor over loose graphite sketch

Well, you can probably guess where this is going. When I biked past this spot last night, there's nothing there - the houses are gone. Demolished at some point in the last two months. Apparently some squatters started a fire in the right side house, which sped up the process. I'm sure yet another boxy ~modern~ apartment building will be shortly erected in their place.

But thanks to sketching, I won't forget what was there before. I can only imagine how the view out of those bay windows changed over the 120 years they stood on Capitol Hill, looking over South Lake Union. They predated roads on this part of the neighborhood! I mean, the city itself hasn't been around much longer than these houses were.

A Colorful Afternoon at Japanese Garden

10/16/18 Gray heron at Japanese Garden (with a koi swimming by)

With the weather forecast predicting today’s sunshine, we took a chance last week and scheduled a sketch outing, even though it was still seven days away, when conditions could easily change. I kept my eye on the forecast, and our optimism was rewarded. I think it may have been USk Seattle’s most colorful outing ever!

As I entered the garden, I overheard people chatting about a gray heron in the pond, and I assumed it would be gone by the time I got there. To my surprise, he was still taking his time preening atop a rock, so I couldn’t resist grabbing him first while I could. Amazingly, he stayed the whole time I sketched.

After that I walked around the whole garden to take in all the color lighted by the low afternoon sun. A weeping willow growing nearly horizontally over the pond was challenging but, again, irresistible.

Expecting to have only my usual 15 or 20 minutes left before the throwdown, I was surprised to see that I still had a half-hour. Plenty of time for a third sketch! A stone lantern by the path was filled with shadows ideal for hatching. I’d already done an InkTober sketch for the day, but what the heck – I could get a head start on tomorrow.

For a short-notice weekday, we had a great turnout!

Have you ever seen so many colorful sketchbooks?