Weekend sketches

Last Saturday  I was in Magnolia, an area of Seattle that I'm not so familar. Wide streets, tall, deciduous trees glowing gold despite the gray skies panoramic views--it was all lovely and impressive.  Most of the 10x10 teachers met to begin planning for next year's 10x10 classes. Yep, 2019 will be here before we know it. After the meeting I Yelped for a nearby restaurant and fund Mura Asian Eatery. It was between lunch and dinner so the restaurant was quiet. I had few distractions while I made these quick sketches. 

The next day, Sunday I want to the Farmer's Market in Olympia where the fall colors were just as evident and the people just as enticing as they waited  for their lunch. 

Magnolia United Church of Christ

5/11/18 Magnolia United Church of Christ

It was cold and cloudy as Seattle USk members gathered on the front lawn of Magnolia United Church of Christ, but inside it was warm and welcoming. The friendly church staff opened the sanctuary for us to sketch the stained glass, vaulted ceilings and other details. Along with the majority of sketchers, though, I opted to stay chilled so I could tackle the church’s exterior. Described as reminiscent of a Cotswold cottage, it has the kind of rustic, irregular masonry that was fun to try to capture. On this overcast morning, though, it was tough finding shadows to punch it up.

5/11/18 Mack concrete pumper in Magnolia Village

Magnolia Village, the neighborhood’s retail center, is just a few blocks away, so I walked briskly into town to warm up. I considered sketching Fire Station 41 with its bright red doors and Art Deco architecture. . . but what I really wanted was a fire engine! I walked back and forth for a while, hoping one would appear (and, you know, just park outside – not rush to a fire). Instead, I spotted a bright red Mack concrete pumper truck. OK, so it’s not a fire engine, but it would have to do.

Many thanks to Barbara Bernard of Magnolia Art Exchange and Kathleen Keckler for organizing the outing with the church!

Pipes near a condo in Magnolia.

I walk by this hardware at least four times a week on my strolls to Ballard. When the light hit it just right it was time to draw.

Last two.

Drawing this series of eight houses was unusual in that I went out looking for something specific to draw: large houses in Magnolia that could be seen easily from the street. There were other interesting homes that were partially obscured by hedges, or too close to other houses, so I didn't choose them. Some were tempting but you looked down on them from the road above, and I wanted these drawings to all to have the same POV-- looking up at them from a lower vantage point, since they'll be viewed together as a set. I had to wait for clear days so there would be shadows to help define them. Now that it's getting warmer, I'll be glad to get on the bike and go draw something else, someWHERE else.

Two more.

Loathe to repeat myself, I start up a project and near the end I'm completely done with it. When art turns to craft I get restless. I like how these are turning out, but I'm ready to move on to something else. It's nice to be working in color again, though. I'm reading Bayles' Art and Fear for the umpteenth time. Words to live by. Highly recommended.

Up On The Hill

Doing some "portraits" of big houses near my tiny apartment in Magnolia for an upcoming show. Driving home from a just completed sketch, I was waved down by someone who recognized my '77 Chevy Nova. "You should draw my fiancé's house," he said, pointing down a sloping driveway. "It's pretty unique." On the next sunny day, I just might do that.

Interior, exterior

Frustrated by the cold, and having another cold myself (those darned kids) I've been drawing exclusively indoors all month. Here's the living room of a friend, drawn while she cooked dinner.

So when the sun finally came out yesterday, I rushed out to draw one of the fancier houses in my neighborhood for a little show of eight drawings I'll be having in April in the Magnolia Village. Color, even. I needed that.