vancouver weekend

 Weekend in Vancouver 🇨🇦! I accompanied my partner Jonathan to VanCaf, the comics/illustration festival, where he was showing his comic.

The first day we spent wandering from Kitsilano to Granville Island, onto a ferry which was too cute to not ride, and eventually found ourselves on aptly named Sunset Beach. The waterfront atmosphere was so nice I had to try and capture it in watercolor... and like I always do, I regretted trying to capture the scene as the light was changing so fast (you know how it is). Well I tried! It was not entirely regrettable. The scenery is similar yet more grand than Seattle's, in its own way.

On the first day of VanCaf, I was looking forward to attending an inking demo by an artist I follow. The location was in the Central Library, 10 blocks away from the main space so I booked it (lol) up there to the 9th floor, where I realized that the workshop happened the previous day. But if I didn't make that mistake, I never would have found out that the library has a sweet roof deck with some great views down into the city!

We were staying across the water in an airbnb in Kitsilano, where 49th Parallel Coffee/Lucky's Doughnuts was one of the nearest coffee shops. We came for the espresso and stayed (and came back) for the doughnuts. The atmosphere was very calming and well designed. Soothing cerulean blues everywhere, lots of light.

On Sunday I went to the USK Vancouver meetup in English Bay. sadly they weren't too social; I was about 5 minutes late to the meeting spot and nearly everyone had already dispersed. and the views from the coffee shop weren't too inspiring, so I wandered around the area by myself until this high/low building cluster caught my eye. I enjoy the lanes of Vancouver — theyre somewhere between alley & street and make the city feel much more pedestrian friendly.

After the USK meeting I walked back to the beach recreation area to see the bay itself. It was a gorgeous Sunday before a national Canadian holiday so people were really out and about! I appreciated the sand beaches in Vancouver. The sand feels really out of place in the PNW but is definitely nicer than playing on stones, and there are the quintessential driftwood logs arranged as naturalistic seating.

 One evening we had a post-event beer with Jonathan's tablemate Brett Carville, a very skilled draftsperson and comics maker who was also very nice/chill to chat with. We stopped at one place on the big Yaletown row of breweries and restaurants with outside seating. 

this isn't even all that I sketched on this trip! it was a prolific weekend of drawings. 

Folklife Notes

Friday morning was so chilly I decided to bring an extra coat to the Northwest Folklife Festival Urban Sketch meet-up.   I was glad for my decision because even with a brisk walk to the Seattle Center I still felt cold under protective layers.  On my walk I paused to check out proportions of a sketch completed the previous night at Taylor Ave N and Aloha St. As in many parts of Seattle, the changing skyline in lower Queen Anne is fluid.  Notices of demolitions and proposed construction signs line the streets.  The new building (yellow cladding) and crane  behind Cycle Gear is on 5th Ave just north of the Space Needle. 

Lower Queen Anne Construction

Arriving at Seattle Center Armory, the Folklife Festival was in its early stages. The food trucks and clothing vendors were ready to go but I didn’t hear any music yet. 

I quickly discovered Betsy and the Balloon Man sitting in front of Key Arena making a balloon hat for himself.  His bright yellow  pants contrasted nicely with his rainbow striped jacket and Peruvian wool arm warmers.  He needed them today! He told me it was ok to draw him as long as I didn’t try to sell his image for profit.  After a while, he asked me if I would watch his balloons so he could use the rest room. He was concerned about an unnamed  balloon vendor stealing his balloons. I agreed and waited for his return. I would have defended his turf but thankfully there were very few people around and he came back soon enough.  Tina met the same balloon man at University Street Fair and had nearly the same experience as balloon guard!  It's a small balloon world. 

Betsy and the Balloon Man

After Betsy and the Balloon Man, I was on the lookout for musicians.  Tuning up on the Fisher Stage were two violin players from Portland, Oregon.  Called Varda, they played European and Scandinavian folk tunes.  Playing long enough for 3 sketches, both musicians had beautiful hair and good  posture.  I wish you could hear their music with my sequence of sketches from prep to finale. 

Varda

Varda

Varda

After Varda, a band called Jim Marcotte and the Breakthrough played on the Fisher Stage.  By that time, my fingers were getting numb from cold and it was time for the throw-down. The band sounded good so I stayed long enough to get a very quick sketch of the  two guitar players.  

Jim Marcotte and Breakthrough

Chilly Folklife

5/24/19 Saxophone busker

5/24/19 Erhu busker

If you enjoy sketching buskers and other musicians as much as I do, the Northwest Folklife Festival is one of the best events of the year. I have fond memories of capturing people entertaining crowds with their music during this popular Memorial Day weekend event that unofficially kicks off our local summer festival season (here are sketches from 2017, 2014 and 2013). Sadly, today’s memories are mostly shivery rather than fond, but at least I enjoyed the company of fellow urban sketchers.

5/24/19 Inside the Armory

With the thick, gray sky foreboding rain, I managed to catch a saxophonist and a man playing an erhu (also known as a spike fiddle, according to Wikipedia). In between, I had to keep dashing inside the Armory to warm up. The most fun I had all morning was during the last 10 minutes before the throwdown when I tried to capture the postures of people queued up for food.

5/24/19 Queued up for food inside the Armory

The day did not result in my best sketches, nor did I enjoy being in the warm sun as in years past. But as I always say, a day of mediocre sketching is still better than a day with no sketching at all.

Chilly but happy sketchers!

cama beach

My parents came over from Virginia to spend a week out here with my partner and I. We spent 4 nights on Camano Island in one of the cabins on Cama Beach State Park. The beach area has been preserved to reflect how it was in the 1930s. The Center for Wooden Boats, my partner's employer, has an outpost on Cama Beach and we traded a few hours of volunteering for a free stay in the cabin — amazing deal! There was a lot to sketch just on the beach, like this old pump house.

although I think the brown paint of the cabins was basically the worst possible option for color choice, I still found some charm in the identical structures. we stayed in this one, #27. I loved the little white flowers that opened and closed throughout the day. note that if you're coming to stay here, you have to bring everything! every thing. linens, towels, blankets, etc. they did provide a coffee maker, a refrigerator, and toilet paper, all of which we appreciated. 

my mom's #1 wish on this trip was to go sailing, which was easy with renting a sailboat from the CWB! my partner Jonathan knows how to sail and he took us out on one of these boats, a Pelican (there's apparently a small fleet of these on Cama). The wind was pretty good — on one day we sailed across the passage from Camano to Whidbey Island and back, which felt like a big accomplishment. Another time, the wind totally died while we were a ways up the beach and we waited it out a bit on shore. I sketched the sailboat.

one day, we made it up to Deception Pass and around Anacortes! i'm glad that our party was chill enough to let me do a more involved painting from this small island across the water with a great view of the bridge. we took a walk through Deception Pass State Park, which was surprisingly almost totally empty of people (compared to the throngs of people and cars on/around the famous landmark).

Heavy Equipment Heaven

4/25/19 Viaduct demolition

It had been nearly a month since we were down at the waterfront to view ongoing demolition of the viaduct – it was high time to return and see how much progress had been made. We didn’t see quite the concentration of heavy equipment as last time (above); the machines were all still there, but undoubtedly scattered over a larger area moving north.

This time I got a closer view of the remains of three supports (below). Shredded rebar and other debris spilled out like veins from ripped limbs. I also got a better look at a lobster-clawed Ferma machine that I had sketched previously. It was busily gobbling up what looked like piles of black wire.

5/23/19

4/25/19

5/23/19

Meanwhile, my favorite photographer continued to document progress with his camera.

50th Annual U-District Streetfair

5/19/19 Didgeridoo busker

While the summer season offers a multitude of community festivals and fairs, the University District Streetfair holds the distinction of being the country’s longest-running festival of its kind. USk Seattle helped celebrate the fair’s 50^th year on 10 city blocks of art and craft vendors, street food and music.

As I usually do at street fairs, I found myself irresistibly drawn to a wide variety of buskers. A classical cellist, a tuba and clarinet/washboard duo and a didgeridoo player (whom I had caught a couple of years ago at Folklife, too) were among the musicians performing for the crowd.

While sketching the guys on tuba and clarinet, I was standing near a very colorfully dressed balloon man who had created an eye-catching palm tree (I think?). He asked me to guard his prop and supplies while he went to use the restroom, so I obliged. When he returned, he told me a lengthy story about how a competing balloon vendor at another fair had stolen a hundred dollars’ worth of balloons from him, so he has been extra-cautious ever since. “I don’t trust just anyone to watch my stuff, though,” he assured me. “Usually I ask first if they are from Vashon Island to make sure I can trust them.” He had more stories to tell, but he was interrupted by customers (though he didn’t seem particularly happy about it).

5/19/19 Colorful balloon man with stories to tell.

Meanwhile, the tuba player came over to see what I was doing. Relieved that I was only sketching, he and the clarinet player had been afraid that I was writing them a citation.

The other balloon vendor I sketched had no drama to impart. A young man who was good with kids, he first started making what I thought was a tall purple crown, but he suddenly had so many customers that his headwear remained unfinished while I sketched. Later I saw in Swagatika’s sketch that it wasn’t a crown at all – it was the foundation for a well-designed unicorn. 

After all that, I got hungry, so I explored the food booths, which are getting more and more state fair-like. Deep-fried PB&J, anyone?

Langostino sushi burrito, didgeridoo, and balloon man drama: Something for everyone at the U-District Streetfair.

5/19/19 Jazz and blues from clarinet/tuba players

5/19/19 classical cellist

5/19/19 This balloon vendor began by making his own
headgear, but he got too busy to finish.

P.S. Although I forgot to mention it there, today’s outing was a personal celebration for me: It was my seventh anniversary since joining Urban Sketchers on May 20, 2012!

Swagatika sketching the cellist

Throwdown

Another Shot at Rainier Square Tower

5/10/19 Rainier Square Tower under construction and Rainier Tower

Back in March I sketched Rainier Square Tower from a handy, secluded terrace at Fourth and University (thanks to Andika Murandi for the tip!). It looked like an ideal spot for an Urban Sketchers outing: Lots of tables and chairs, most in shade, and views of assorted buildings – old, new and under construction. It was, indeed, ideal today, when the temperature hit the 80s. In the morning shade, it was downright chilly!

I took a second shot at the twin towers – the new one and the old Rainier Tower, built in 1977. The new construction’s stair-stepping looks strange right now, but when it’s completed (see the illustration here), the asymmetrical building will make more visual sense. According to developer Wright Runstad’s website, the “sloping design echoes the lines of Rainier Tower and allows for panoramic views.” They’ll make an interesting pair, for sure.  

Next I turned 180 degrees to sketch the top of the 27-story Seattle Tower (below). Built in 1928, it was known as Seattle’s first art deco building. I thought that using my red/blue editing pencil might help me to identify and draw the slender slivers of light and triangles of shadows. But mostly I got confused by all the ziggurat layers that gave me a stiff neck.

5/10/19 Seattle Tower

Growing on the terrace were several Japanese maples. A different variety from the ones in my ‘hood that stay red year-round, these were green (and are probably lovely in the fall). Practicing their similar umbrella shapes the past couple weeks was helpful here. I also wanted to show that these maples were in the shade, while the tall trees on the street level behind them were in full sun. 

5/10/19 4th and University terrace

Hidden Gem

Urban Sketchers Seattle met at a second floor public patio in the financial district. It certainly was a hidden gem of a location. We had a good view of the oddly shaped Rainier Tower and the surrounding structures and construction site(s). One sketcher quipped that the Tower looked like beavers had been working at it!   



A few sketchers had already left by the time we took the group photo. 

Nearly all of us sketched the Rainier tower and the nearby crane.



Since I had over an hour left, I decided to take on the architectural details of the upper level of the Cobb Building next door.

Reckless Video Redux

5/5/19 Reckless Video in the Maple Leaf neighborhood

It’s not looking good for Reckless Video.

The last independent video rental store in Seattle, Reckless is where we have been renting movies in the Maple Leaf neighborhood for nearly 30 years. Although we subscribe to Amazon Prime and occasionally stream entertainment that way, we still enjoy walking up the street a few blocks, chatting with the staff and other customers about their recommendations, and occasionally running into neighbors there. Even the rack of candy for sale and posters on the wall feel more friendly than scrolling through titles on Amazon. As a sign at Reckless says, “the Internet is not a neighborhood.”

One by one, as other video rental shops have closed their doors during the past decade, Reckless has somehow managed to stay open. However, a recent article in The Seattle Times reported that Reckless is now operating in the red, which can’t continue forever. “But I don’t want to just close down and not let people know this is happening,” owner Mike Kelley is quoted saying.

I felt very sad reading this news. Maybe Netflix, Prime and other streaming services are just the way of the world now, and it’s time for Reckless to die. When it does, we’ll just stream our entertainment on Prime, so it’s not as if we’ll miss out on the latest movies or TV series. But I’ll certainly miss our ritual of walking up there to pick out a movie and chatting with the staff about their favorites.

I sketched Reckless five years ago, and even back then I wondered how much longer it would be around. But it has hung on so far, and I wanted to sketch it again. Mike has some new flags out front. One says, “Shop Local.” The other says, “Burn Netflix.”