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.

Fall City Farms Sketchcrawl

I appreciate Pumpkins, they always brighten up the day.  It was moist out and I was surprised at how long it took the page to dry.  While sketching I was hunched over my book and I heard a familiar sound.

It was the Howdy Boys, a blue grass country band that I had seen and sketched last year.

I am including that sketch also.

Watercolor in the Rain

There were about 15 of us at Fall City Farms yesterday.  We  weathered the rain and the goats as Jackie mentioned!  Thanks to Stephanie Bower for suggesting this place and Jane for posting information.

Fall City Farms on Arches

As the weather gets colder and wetter, watercolor takes a long time to dry.  My first sketch was done on Arches watercolor block and the first time I have used Arches paper. I found that the water color would just sit on the surface and not dry immediately.  It also appeared to dull down the vibrancy of the colors.  After the first light wash dried enough to put the paper away, I decided to use my Aqua Journal by Pentallic.  As Stephanie mentioned the paper in this sketchbook is whiter and brighter and takes watercolor well. The colors of my last two sketches were applied later and came out more vibrant.    Interesting to see the results of using different paper.

Fall City Farms on Aqua Journal by Pentallic

Fall City Farms Pumpkin House

Here are some photos from our sketch outing. 

Fall City Farms, Pumpkins

Rainy day at Fall City Farms...my family has been coming to this place for some 15 years,
We have watched our kids grow up in the photos we take each year in the pumpkin fields.

A real family-run working farm with soul created by welcoming owners/farmers Rob and Debbie Arenth--thank you for the many memories, including those from today!

I tried a new watercolor sketchbook suggested by Gail, a Pentalic, purchased at UW Bookstore, made by an Oregon company from sustainably grown trees.  Better watercolor paper than the Moleskin!

Fall City Farms Pumpkins and Goats

Thanks Jane and Gail for organizing this interesting location at the Fall City Farms for the WWsketchcrawl! After being the one to say "This is Seattle, what's a little bit of rain?" I discovered mid-sketch that my book was getting completely soaked and I had to run for cover with the goats to save all the sketches in my book. The one I was working on got completely soaked and any white spaces I tried to leave were washed away. When I was waiting for my sketchbook to dry, the goat decided to try to eat it. After things dried out, I had about 10 minutes left to try one more sketch while undercover of Gail and some of the other sketchers drawing in the middle of the pumpkin farm while a musical quartet in cowboy hats played for the crowd.