Bruun Idun at Lincoln Park

 

8/23/25 Thomas Dambo's troll Bruun Idun at Lincoln Park, West Seattle

Lincoln Park in West Seattle is one I rarely get to: It’s an inconvenient drive, especially with this summer’s highway construction projects, and parking there is an ongoing challenge. But I knew that one of the Thomas Dambo trolls is in residence at beachfront Lincoln Park, and I’d been wanting to sketch Bruun Idun for a long time, so I was happy when co-admin Kim initiated leading a USk outing there.

According to the legend:

"In the night, there was a storm, there at the beach where she was born
And Idun felt a feeling wrong, and so she walked there in the dawn
And in a flute, the magic horn, a tune so passionate and strong
She played for them an orca song to ask them where they all had gone"

Naturally, most of the sketchers that day were attracted to Bruun, and for more than the obvious reason: Although temps on Saturday morning were already in the mid-80s and trending upward, the dense shade around the troll made the beach nearly chilly. We all had a comfortable time even as the rest of the city sweltered.

After finishing my main color sketch, I had to waste some time moving my car from one time-restricted spot to another. That left time for only a smaller sketch of the troll with a sketcher and the serene and shady “fairy ring” of trees near the parking area where we did our throwdown.

After the outing ended, I needed to use the facilities down at the beach, so I used the opportunity for a couple more quick sketches: Cars boarding the Vashon ferry and one of many beach fishermen we saw bringing in an abundance of salmon.

Visiting Bruun Idun

We met along the beach in Lincoln Park in West Seattle on Saturday morning. It's the first time I've ever been there. I went because I wanted to me the newly installed troll, Bruun Idun.

She is about 20 feet tall and plays a whale-shaped flute to call the Orca. Hair is made of a Madrone branches, saved from a tree that had to be removed. Here is the artist's YouTube about making her.

John “Coyote” Halliday, a Muckleshoot Tribe artist who is contributing decorations to the troll, made primarily from bark and shells. Her ear rings are small sections of beech branches. People have left offerings of shells and other items.

I sketched a large side view.

Since there was still some time left, I sketched a smaller close up from the other side so as to better see the flute.

Lincoln Park Foliage

I challenged myself to draw something besides man-made geometry and piles of clutter. Extremely difficult to find an inroad to a scene without platonic solids but a good opportunity to stretch. Next time I'll draw the play structure or the camping sheds.

Lincoln Park

Yesterday was a very fine day for sketching at the beach!  The Friday Ad Hoc group met at Lincoln Park in West Seattle.  We had a beautiful view of Puget Sound and the Fauntleroy Ferry to Vashon Island. 

I was there early.  While I waited for others to arrive, I sketched the interesting houses across the street from the park.



Nearly everyone headed down to the beach.  I stopped part way down the path to sketch this classic view of the ferry. 



I had just a few minutes left so I did a quick sketch of Marvin sketching.  He got up and left before I was done, but I'd followed my practice of "sketch first what could move"!   There were some young boys hunting interesting things at low tide.  I wrote some notes about what they were yelling out.



At least 2 people aren't in the group photo as they had to leave early. 

Summer at Last at Lincoln Park Beach

7/15/16 Lincoln Park beach

It was only 55 degrees when I got up this morning. When Urban Sketchers Seattle met at Lincoln Park, several of us were toting Polartecs or raincoats, just in case the weather changed the wrong way. (We joked that Seattle beachwear always includes Polartec.) But sitting in the blazing sun to make these sketches, all of my layers came off right away, and I was glad I wore a tank top. It’s finally summer!

I was almost finished sketching the pink and lavender vehicle parked next to some driftwood when its driver came by and drove off, so I had to fake some of the shading. The Vashon ferry in the background, which I was afraid would also pull out before I was done, took a lot longer to unload and load its long lines of cars. 

7/15/16 Vashon ferry