David Chamness Frees Us from Worry and Details

4/22/17 9th and Howell construction site

As all construction sites are, the building going up at Ninth and Howell in downtown Seattle is a formidable and intimidating sketch subject. But David Chamness promised us “freedom from worry and the details” as we tackled the site in his USk 10x10 workshop. He encouraged us to stay loose and fast with the sketch while having fun and engaging with passers-by.

On a cloudy but fortunately mostly dry morning today, a dozen of us began by making small thumbnails to divide the intimidating scene into manageable compositions. David suggested taking smartphone photos to help us view various compositions. Giving a brief drawing demo, he explained how to identify the horizon line and vanishing point and how to take relative measurements of elements and angles with our pens.

Next we drew a complete scene using one of our thumbnails as a reminder of the composition. (“Look at the thumbnail briefly, then put it away and look at the actual scene while you draw,” he said, “don’t draw from the thumbnail.”) David urged us to draw with bold, confident ink lines, not dashed, sketchy pencil lines. (“You don’t want to draw it twice or spend time erasing.”) As we drew, he gave us more pointers like using the whole arm – not just wrist – to draw long, straight lines, and using the “rule of thirds” to make interesting compositions.

David giving a watercolor demo.

During a brief watercolor demo, David showed us his signature painting style: bold, sometimes “unrealistic” colors put down quickly with a large brush. Moving from lightest to darkest colors, he showed us how values support the forms and shapes in the drawing. He also moves from the top down on the page to avoid dragging his hand through wet paint. After the demo we made our final sketch of the workshop – on large paper, at least 9-by-12 inches, and finished with watercolor. (He recommends taping a sheet of watercolor paper to a board for support.)

Shown at the top of the post is my final sketch. Whenever I take workshops, I usually end up feeling like the resulting sketches are not my spontaneous responses to the subject because they are assigned by the instructor, who has a specific objective in mind for the exercise. I maintain the attitude, however, that I’m there to learn more than to make spontaneous sketches, so the results don’t bother me. I have to say, though, that this sketch is one of few workshop sketches I actually like because it did feel like a genuine, fresh response. Influenced by David’s approach and feedback, it is looser and bolder than most scenes I’ve sketched under the duress of being intimidated by huge and complex subject matter. Free of worries, indeed!

A few thumbnails

Our intimidating sketch subject!

Workshop students hard at work.

A bus shelter makes a handy studio.

David helps Svetlana take a measurement.

Final throwdown and critique.

Downtown in December

The Holiday Season in Downtown Seattle includes shoppers on the streets, scampering between the stores and restaurants.  Shoppers and decorations in the malls and stores, with banners and poinsettias in Pacific Place.  The Ginger Bread Village at the Sheraton Hotel raising money and awareness for the Juvenile Diabetes Association.  A fun theme this year of all the Harry Potter Books.   And finally this year championship celebrations for the Seattle Sounders winning the MLS Cup!

Kobe Terrace and Danny Woo

Sunday I spent the morning and early afternoon at the corner of Danny Woo Community Garden and the Panama Hotel.  This was a wonderful location for our monthly sketch crawl , with the sun warming us as the summer is turning to autumn.  The garden plots were still producing a lot of fresh vegetables for the faithful gardeners.  The views over the the International District, the stadiums and finally the clouds building for the early evening rain-fall.  It was great to see many of the faithful sketchers and a few new members as we convened for tea and conversation at the old Panama Hotel.

University of Washington Shell House

Finally posting my sketches from a week ago...sorry for being so late.

  I was able to get inside and paint the grand space with all the different multi-colored boats, shells, kayaks and canoes.  

 Even the rowing oars from older UW teams lined against the wall.

Country Village Outing

The first sketch I drew was of one of the passenger cars.  It had been turned into some kind of office space out in the back parking area.

The train car wheels were laying nearby instead of under the train.  This area was next to the miniature train depot where the young families were waiting for the depot to open for rides..

Finally I captured one of the wind mills and the Fabric Shop on the main road into the village.

Burke Museum on a Rainy Day

A great way to spend the morning on a rainy day with Seattle Urban Sketchers.  The variety of things to sketch made for a wonderful sketch crawl.

Market Morning Sketch

Today was going to be full and I hoped satisfying with all the activities I had planned.  Some times it just pours with good things to do (and the rain did at times too!).  Being a soccer/Sounders fanatic, I have to find an outlet in the winter as I wait for the new MLS season to start.  So I follow Arsenal of the English Premier League during their season.  This morning before the sketch outing I watched their game getting a win over Man City 2-0. Nice job Gunners!   I headed downtown quickly to beat the Seahawk rush and got going early on a sketch of one of the Market's mascots; the Sasquatch that sits in the Atrium (the market area south of Pike Street).  There are places on the carved wooden creature that are stained dark from the oils of people's hands as they touch the statue.

After our meet and greet I headed to the concourse that houses the brewing tanks and equipment for the Pike Brewing Company. The floor in the center is open to the pub below with the pipes and tanks extending through the openings.   During my sketch time, the pub was filling up with Seahawk fans waiting for the game to start on the TV's.  Every once and awhile I would hear a "SEA--Hawks!"  chant as the crowd was getting psyched for the game to start.

I finished the sketch at 11:30 and headed to my Seahawk viewing party.  I wanted to see all the other's sketches too, but the game was calling (along with good food, drink and the company of my churche's great Seahawk fans. The game ended fantastically, but we were made to suffer for 3 quarters.  It was all worth it today to enjoy three things that I love to do.  I ended up taking a nap late in the afternoon to recovery from all the emotion of the day.

Seattle Center Winterfest

Enjoyed seeing everyone at the monthly Sketch Outing at the Seattle Center Armory Building.  So many things to draw... not easy to capture the larger space with wires and many things hanging from the ceiling.  The contrast light of the large windows at the end of the room made it even more difficult to see the things in the shadows of the room.  Sometimes you just have to dive in, draw and see what comes out at the end!

One of the many Christmas trees at the Winterfest

After the sketch outing, my wife and I visited the Chihuly Museum.  The colors of the glass were wonderful and I was able to sit and do a quick sketch of one of his hanging chandeliers.  Looks almost light a large christmas ornament.

Gage Drawing Jam 2014

The Gage Academy was full of people of all ages and abilities Saturday at the annual Drawing Jam.
After spending time in a number of different studios, I ended my day in the grand Skinner Auditorium.  The space has high clerestory windows and so I wanted to capture a sense of the height while including the group of artists drawing the models in the center of the room.

More Trapeze

This was an interesting sketch location in that the views were tighter than normal, the transparent nets added a layer that was difficult to capture the true nature of the space, and then the person subjects were in continual motion!!!

I felt everyone tackled these problems in real creative ways.   I chose to avoid these issues by sketching at the back of the balconey and drawing the Sketchers who were on the balconey madly trying to sketch the aerialist in flight.  The Sketchers all stayed still for many minutes!

After everyone left, I decided that I needed to capture one more view of the setting from the exterior that shows the high bay of the warehouse where all the high wire training occurs.

More from Fall City Farm

For the World Wide Sketch Crawl I joined the smaller group out at Fall City Farm.

The rainy weather and high humidity kept us all under cover most of the time.  I drifted into the barn to do a quick sketch of the cows, but staid because the showers kept coming.

The cows were constantly in motion which was a challenge and so I appreciate Gabi's work in the Times where he quickly captures his interviews and makes them look right.  The cow sketches are combination of stances which tended to distort their bodies.  More practice and fewer strokes!

The whole time I was standing and balancing sketchbook, water, watercolors and blotting paper.

Another good practice moment, but tiring.  The inside of the barn away from the cows was a lot of farm machinery and barn structure.  My eyes kept adjusting between the bright colors outside and the dim areas inside.  A real challenge to capture the difference without turning the whole thing muddy.  The humidity kept all the colors wet for most of the time sketching; try not to turn the image into a big mess.

Finally got outside for a quick exterior of the barn.  I had a lot of very wet paint on the paper with this sketch.  Outside sketching in the Northwest is great fun for experimenting and working fast and loose.

Again a fun afternoon with the group and a lot of great sketches by all.

Jack Block Park

Another beautiful Sunday in Seattle to sketch outside on the water.  Enjoyed the ride over to West Seattle on the water taxi with a few other sketchers and some Dallas Cowboy fans (they were still in a good mood because it was before the game against the Seahawks). 

This is my second sketch looking back toward West Seattle and the large barges that were moored next to the park.  The colors on the rusting hulls were fantastic and I would like to go back again to photograph them. 

Another good turn-out with three tables of sketch books to admire at the end of the session. 

Jeff and I found a little hole-in-wall place to grab a burger / pint (Seahawks on TV) before returning to Seattle on the water taxi.  Overall a great day!

The View From My Desk

         At our office we tend to move depending on what team we are working with.  We feel it is more creative to have the team all sitting togther so that there are impromptu interactions during the whole process of design.  Thus I have had opportunities to sit on all four sides of our building at 5th and Pike over the years.  A couple of weeks ago I moved to a new location just in time for the summer season, overlooking Elliott Bay.  I sketched this at lunch last Friday, but look forward to better weather and all the shipping activity to look at through out my day this summer.

Seattle Center Habitat Build

This was a well attended sketch crawl and everyone was in close proximity because of the small size of the Habitat build site.  Usually the group gets spread out over a large area and i don't see many sketchers  during the sketching time.  This time I sat next to a number of people and was constantly seeing others move to new spots nearby or through my view point.

Stimson Green Sketch Crawl

I was late getting up to the mansion and so I was able to only do a quick sketch in the living room before the group gathered to share.  The dark shadow in the corner contrasting with the sunlight coming through the window and curtains was a challenge for the eyes.  I like the challenge of representing the sunlight, but I am  not completely satisfied with the results yet. 
After everyone went on their way, I decided to stand across the street and sketch a second image of the exterior.  It was cold, but it forced me to work faster.
 Enjoyed seeing all the other sketches and hope every one gets around to posting their efforts.