MiG-21 Project

Yesterday I hosted the group at the Museum of Flight. I wanted to be sure we had a chance to sketch the MiG-21 Project before it leaves at the end of January. In fact, only a couple of us did sketch this temporary exhibit.

I'd already sketched the bead covered MiG when it was installed back in June. But I still had another view of it I wanted to document. I sat in the cold wind to at least get the line drawing done. Later it took hours to add the color using watercolor pencils!

The tiny aircraft stickers on the right are from one of the Museum's Security officers. I talked with him and gave him a couple of my stickers. I also added drawings from the exhibit in the Red Barn of the fantastical uniforms.

A small group today. Chen left early.

 

Formidable Dome Room at Arctic Club

 

12/17/25 Arctic Club Hotel Dome Room (full panorama)

Decades ago, I attended a work-related event in the Arctic Club Hotel’s majestic Dome Room. Although I hadn’t been back there since, I clearly remembered how spectacular the space was. Of course, I wasn’t a sketcher back then, so I wouldn’t have considered how formidable the Dome is as a sketch subject. Now I know.

While a few stayed in the lobby, most USk Seattle sketchers bravely took on the Dome, which was worthy of our attention. Seeing it as a study of black and white contrasts kept me from thinking about perspective and other such fussing.

To complete the landscape panorama page spread, I went outside to sketch one of the many walrus gargoyles on the historic building, which was built in 1916. Originally called the Arctic Building, it’s a City of Seattle landmark on the National Register of Historic Places.

After the hard work inside the Dome, it was a welcome relief to join other sketchers at a drink & draw at the hotel’s Polar Bar, where the bear himself was a much easier subject. What a fun afternoon!

Polar Bar inside the Arctic Club Hotel (I thought the bar napkin would be a perfect piece of collage to add to my sketch journal page, but the glue I dotted onto the back stayed looking wet even after it had dried, which is not the look I wanted. Not sure what kind of glue would have dried more transparently on that thin, absorbent paper.)

The formidable Dome!

Light and Dark at the Chapel of St. Ignatius

 

12/10/25 Chapel of St. Ignatius, Seattle University

With another atmospheric river promising record-breaking flooding in the region, it was hard to push myself out into the torrents this morning. As if that weren’t bad enough, to arrive at the 9 a.m. sketch outing, I had to leave the house at 8 – the sun was barely up! When I retired, I swore I’d never leave the house in morning darkness again!

Beautiful interior lighting with subtle tints

Despite my grumbling, drippy coat and all, as soon as I stepped inside Seattle University’s Chapel of St. Ignatius, I was happy that I had come. The chapel has the most architecturally intriguing interior that I’ve sketched in a long time. I wish I’d thought to take more photos to show the fascinating lighting, but I was too engrossed in trying to capture it in my sketchbook.

Although I hadn’t been inside before, I find most churches to be dark inside, so on that hunch I brought along the black Uglybook that I’ve been making nocturnes in. It was a super-fun challenge to try to convey all the different values emanating from hidden windows. Sketchers who used color also tried to capture the varying colored window glass that tinted the walls subtly.

For my second sketch, I chose the wood crucifix. Very dimly lit from one side, it was a fascinating tonal study, too.

Finally, in the time remaining before the throwdown, I walked out to the vestibule to sketch through a large, wet window with a view of the chapel’s reflecting pool and trees wearing holiday lights.

Reflecting pool outside the chapel. The USk Seattle stamp wouldn't show up on black paper, so I used a tiny sticker instead.

After the outing, Mary Jean and I walked to nearby Piedmont Café for coffee (below). During the Big Dark, I have fun sketching nocturnes even in the daytime!

12/10/25 Piedmont Cafe, Capitol Hill neighborhood

St. Ignatius Chapel at Seattle University

Today we had to swim upstream in this tropical atmospheric river to get here on Capitol Hill! Once inside though, it was a peaceful spot for sketching. St. Ignatius Chapel on the north end of Seattle U's campus has beautiful geometric lines, soft light, and is super hushed. 

10/10 highly recommend this for when the holiday season stresses you out!

Not-So-Festive in Wallingford

 

12/7/25 Fuel Coffee, Wallingford neighborhood

Wallingford Center used to be a thriving retail center housed in the historic Interlake Elementary School building. It’s been going downhill for a while now with fewer and fewer shops and cafes, but USk Seattle has met there nearly every winter because the interior is spacious, cozy and, around the holidays, festive.

Sadly, we were disappointed to find that it wasn’t even decorated this year. Since I’ve sketched there numerous times, I took a walk through the Wallingford neighborhood to find an alternative. Fuel Coffee has window seating looking out on a strip of quintessential Wallingford buildings, so I settled in there with a Cortado. Patrons around me were having interesting conversations that I couldn’t help overhearing. A new pastime: urban eavesdropping. 😉

Meanwhile, most other sketchers found plenty to sketch inside and outside Wallingford Center, festive or not!

Seattle Marathon

11/30/25 Olympic Sculpture Park and Seattle Marathon route near Pier 66

Seeing the map of the new Seattle Marathon route in the Seattle Times last week made me realize that I had never sketched at a marathon before. I knew that Gabi Campanario, illustrator of the map, was also running in the marathon. It all seemed like an excellent opportunity to organize a sketch outing there!

Had I known the temperature would be 31F that morning, I might have hesitated, but the expected 15,000 runners probably didn’t mind the cold. Putting on my brand new, extra-long down coat and boots, I was ready, too.

Meeting up at the Olympic Sculpture Park, which was near the end of the route, USk Seattle had a good view of participants on their last mile. I made one sketch near Calder’s Eagle sculpture in silhouette against the brilliant sun while runners streamed by.

Around the time Gabi expected to finish, I walked down to Western Avenue to get closer to the excitement. Despite the crowd of cheering onlookers, it was surprisingly easy to find a spot with a good view. I had an app that indicated when Gabi would be close to the finish line, and I was watching for him carefully, yet somehow I missed him! When I next looked at the app, he had already finished!

Disappointed that I couldn’t cheer him on, I still had fun cheering random runners. A large team of marathon supporters called out encouragement to runners at various points: “You got this! Almost there! The last mile!” Some carried signs with the names of specific runners they were cheering for. Although I’ve never been a runner myself, I felt the exhilaration they must have felt after all the months of training and commitment to their sport. Congratulations to Gabi and all Seattle Marathon participants!

Fay couldn't make it to the throwdown, so we took an intermediary throwdown photo near the finish line.

Terra

Yesterday (Tues., Nov 18) Urban Sketchers Seattle met at St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral to see the temporary "Terra" exhibit. It's a 24 foot inflated high resolution globe. This was one of the most unusual sketch outings I've been on. I discovered it via St. Mark's YouTube channel.

The globe was made by Eric Morris of Orbis Globes and Earth Ball. I had a chance to talk with him about it. He also came to look at the sketches during throw down and talked with us, answering questions about the globes he's made.  He's made thousands, including for NASA, museums, and the Vancouver BC Convention Center.  I prevailed upon him to pose with us for the group photo.

From the cathedral's flyer:  "The power of the TERRA exhibit is an opportunity to experience the 'overview effect,' a profound shift in human consciousness previously only made possible by viewing the Earth from space." 

 

Eric is in the middle of the group.

 more photos here

A Wondrous Earth at St. Mark’s

 

11/18/25 Terra installation at St. Mark's Cathedral, Seattle

A wondrous temporary installation at St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral challenged USk Seattle in just about every way. Terra, a 24-foot replica of planet Earth suspended in the center of the cathedral nave, slowly revolves on its tilted axis. The jaw-dropping scale of the globe in the context of the cathedral is difficult enough to convey, but there’s also its three-dimensionality: How to keep the sphere from looking like a flat disc?

I’m not sure I was successful at capturing any of that, but at least I can thank Kay for being seated in a pew and lending some sense of scale!

The globe at St. Mark’s is one of hundreds that Orbis Globes has installed in various locations since 1985. During the throwdown, an Orbis installer chatted with us about the challenges of suspending an inflated, revolving 24-foot Earth. I’m sure that’s challenging – but not as challenging as drawing it!

KEXP in November

It was so great to see so many turn out for Urban Sketchers Seattle today at KEXP at the Seattle Center! Lots of folks joined for the first time, and a few intrepid souls took advantage of a break in the rain (or roof coverage 😁) and worked outside.The bright fall colors were a common theme, as was Caffe Vita. Rainy days in music coffee shops are the best.

So much good conversation around the throwdown -- I didn't want to break it up for the group photo at the end. Thanks to Carmen at KEXP for helping with those!

It was wonderful to see everyone there doing LOTS of beautiful work!

Sunny Inside the Ferry Terminal

 

11/1/25 Colman Dock ferry terminal

The newish Colman Dock ferry terminal has become a USk Seattle all-season mainstay. If the weather is fair, the views from the pedestrian overpass overlooking the waterfront are spectacular. If it’s cold or wet, the terminal interior offers many of the same views facing Elliott Bay on one side and the downtown skyline on the other.

As last night’s deluge continued into this morning, I was relieved that we’d be sheltered inside the terminal building, but by afternoon, we almost didn’t need it: The sun came out over Elliott Bay, and several sketchers enjoyed capturing the cracks of light through the clouds. The Great Wheel, the Space Needle, lots of ferry passengers and, of course, ferry boats – we all had plenty of fun subject matter to find.