visions of vashon

This weekend, as y'all were drinking at the brewery, 5 ladies (including our own Swagatika and April!) and I were exploring Vashon & Maury Island on an overnight art retreat across the water. It was my first time on the island. Props to them for organizing such a good getaway, it was super fun and we saw a ton (including orcas in the Puget Sound!!) while also having lots of time to sketch/journal and relax. 

 

Arriving early, we had about 20 minutes waiting on the West Seattle ferry deck before departure. It was so scenic from there, it was difficult to choose a subject! I settled on a small view of the houses along the (private) beach and the long-trunked conifers surrounding them. I noticed a sliver of red peeking out....and realized this modern home was indeed flying the Confederate flag. It seemed really smug to me, waving to us from afar, and put me in a bad mood. I guess we should thank them for putting their racist flag outside so we can know what kind of people they are 🙃

I made several paintings on this trip, but I kinda like the quicker/looser marker sketches I did in my sketchbook more than the more developed watercolors. 

We spent a good long while at Snapdragon in central Vashon, and it had really good vibes. The prices were fair and the portions were extremely generous! 

Lately, I'm finding myself attracted to really blown out scenes; like, when the light is so bright outdoors that everything inside is reduced to near-silhouetted shapes with minimal detail, and the dark areas are very close in value. It's almost hard to look at, but it gives a very specific atmosphere. 

Just before we had to get to the ferry on Sunday, April, Swagatika and I stopped at KVI Beach for a bit, where I was compelled to capture the red and white radio tower. I subdivided divided my page into smaller boxes to fit the super-tall composition as well as to fit the limited time we had there. Looking around from my spot lying in the sand, I captured some vignettes of the scenery, and continued filling in the boxes until we reached the Seattle side of the water.

I recently bought a 48 marker set of Kuretake Zig Calligraphy pens (since apparently they're not sold in singles anywhere any longer...at least I can't find them). Having so many colors is such a luxury. I've been taking a few out at a time, somewhat at random, and making these limited color sketches. I like the simplicity of this system, compared to the infinite possibilities of watercolor.