Potpourri

Café Javasti, Wedgwood Neighborhood

Suzzallo Library, with Location Drawing Class

Café Racer "Dune Night"

I recently moved to Wedgwood and have begun sketching my new local coffee shops in the mornings.












An in-class demo drawn for my Gage students during class.



















Drawn at the bar of Café Racer during the monthly drawing jam, held the third Tuesday of the month, from 7-11pm. All the drawings are then collected into a zine called Dune.

I have a show of a dozen large watercolors at Phinney's Herkimer, where I sat and drew the view from the corner window.

I'll be giving a book talk and signing at Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park on the 7th at 7pm. I went to scope out the space and drew this found still-life in the same room where I'll be chatting. I hope you'll come out for it so I'm not left talking only to this clay frog.

New book cover

Notes From Underground

As part of my New Year's Resolutions and efforts towards general well-being, I'm on a bit of a tech-sabbatical. I deleted Facebook and Messenger from my phone and rarely check my email. It has been a welcome relief reconnecting with the real world and my flesh-and-blood friends in real time.

I haven't slowed down on the drawing however, and have some catching up to do on posting, so here are a few drawings from the last month.

I took my On Location students from Gage Academy to Wallingford Center and drew this scene as a demo. I took a dozen in-progress photos as I worked but I'll spare you all but one.

I'm often asked about my "no pencil" policy, and for the sake of transparency here is the kind of laborious and pains-taking pencil plan I create before inking. As you can see, a long time was spent on this stage (about 30 seconds).

Another scene drawn at Wallingford Center, completed in short bursts between consulting one-on-one with my students who were scattered around the building.

It's a welcoming location where I'll also be teaching my 10 x 10 class on St. Patty's Day.











    













The class also visited King Street Station with the assignment of finding a viewpoint with detail and depth, and to use atmospheric perspective to suggest distance.

Stimson-Green Mansion is good for students interested in architecture, but the rooms are dimly lit. The spaces with the most natural light tend to be the bathrooms and the kitchen- not the most historic of settings.

In my drive to get students to put down their pencils and draw directly in ink, I did this quick silly drawing of a librarian at Suzallo Library. I wanted to show that a wobbly drawing done as a modified blind contour isn't fatal. I was grateful that the librarian seemed unself-conscious about me staring at her for 20 minutes while I inked my way through this bland setting, trusting that my undisciplined pen lines would add up to something.



 

And the US Bank building corporate arch-thingie, where I was gently hassled by a security guard who asked me to put my chair back and move along.

If you'll be in Georgetown anytime during March or April, I'll have a show of a dozen large color drawings (17x23) at All-City Coffee. Not technically urban sketches, but using the same technique:

Gage Academy Illustration Workshop In-Class Demonstrations

I drew these in-between lessons and critiques during a fun class in Seattle. Dedicated and creative students who taught me a lot. I'll be teaching the series again in the summer, with an additional class on personal narrative illustration.

Another Friday afternoon at the Gage Academy.

This is Christopher Jones. If you need a model in Seattle he's at digiiital@gmail.com.

GAGE Academy Figure Session

Drawn near the end of the session.

Thursday afternoon figure drawing session at GAGE Art Academy, Seattle.

Gage Academy Drawing Jam Still life.