First, today is my 10th anniversary with Urban
Sketchers. It was on this day that I attended my first sketch outing
with USk Seattle at the Stinson-Green Mansion. No matter what, I
intended to do a sketch today. It's been quite a journey as I made so many friends and learned so much. Urban Sketchers has been the joy of my retirement.
In the spirit of Urban Sketchers, I wanted to make it something meaningful, showing the world. Given what's going on right now, I went over to the Ukrainian Community Center that is at the north end of my suburb. I'd thought there might be a gathering or protest. It was as quiet as always though with a few cars outside.
Fog can feel gloomy if it hangs around all day, but I don't mind if it burns off by noon.
I enjoy the challenge of drawing fog. It completely changes the way I see ordinary views. Fog teaches me how far away familiar things are. With nothing but tones and values, and most details hidden, those ordinary views seem fresh again.
On one morning, the sun appeared briefly as a flat white disc, then disappeared. I kept applying a light layer of graphite to the page, knowing that the sun would reappear. When it did, I pulled out my eraser.
The temperature on these foggy mornings was in the 30s and low 40s F. These were all sketched through windows in my house in the Maple Leaf neighborhood.
This morning's sketching started early with a "Draw with Me" session of Sketchbook Skool at 9am. After the drawing session I went for a short walk around my neighborhood complex and did some sketching. First is just an ordinary fire hydrant. And a discarded mask. Ugh.
I've sketched our water tower a few times and this is just another view from another street. It's painted with evergreen trees so it blends in. On the same page, also the storm drain with the warning plaque that "Puget Sound Starts Here... Only Rain down the drain".
Today dawned with a cloudless sky that was forecast to remain all day. Thinking about where I wanted to sketch on this rare, sunny day, Fremont came to mind. The last time I had sketched in the Center of the Universe was during a cloudy June USk outing back in 2019. I was well overdue for a sketch visit.
Miraculously this afternoon in that busy neighborhood, I found a parking spot not too far from the famous topiary dinosaurs. I had sketched them previously back in 2014 from the other side of Canal Street so that I could see both the mama and her baby. This time I stood in Google’s empty parking lot, where I could see most of the baby and its mama’s long neck and body. Walkers, runners and bike riders went by in a constant stream on the Burke-Gilman Trail alongside the Fremont Cut. I sensed that everyone was rejoicing a sunny weekend afternoon in February.
Although my weather app said it was 55 degrees, the harsh wind from the Lake Washington Ship Canal made it feel a lot colder to me. Still, it was wonderful to sketch under a clear blue sky that made me optimistic: Could spring be around the corner?
I just learned today that the suburb where I live has four dragons. Well, according to this article there are three but last year I found a fourth in a home owner's yard. There is the Roof top Dragon in town center. There is a second, well, chronologically, the first, high in the lobby of Wizards of the Coast. I saw her during an event in 2002 but have never gotten back into the building to sketch. And now I discovered one in the fairly new development at "Southport" on Lake Washington.
