Fremont Dinosaurs

 

2/12/22 Topiary dinosaurs near the Fremont Cut

Today dawned with a cloudless sky that was forecast to remain all day. Thinking about where I wanted to sketch on this rare, sunny day, Fremont came to mind. The last time I had sketched in the Center of the Universe was during a cloudy June USk outing back in 2019. I was well overdue for a sketch visit.

Miraculously this afternoon in that busy neighborhood, I found a parking spot not too far from the famous topiary dinosaurs. I had sketched them previously back in 2014 from the other side of Canal Street so that I could see both the mama and her baby. This time I stood in Google’s empty parking lot, where I could see most of the baby and its mama’s long neck and body. Walkers, runners and bike riders went by in a constant stream on the Burke-Gilman Trail alongside the Fremont Cut. I sensed that everyone was rejoicing a sunny weekend afternoon in February.

Although my weather app said it was 55 degrees, the harsh wind from the Lake Washington Ship Canal made it feel a lot colder to me. Still, it was wonderful to sketch under a clear blue sky that made me optimistic: Could spring be around the corner?

Fremont Bridge and the Rocket

6/15/19 Fremont Bridge

As many times as I’ve sketched in the Fremont neighborhood, I’ve done the historic Fremont Bridge only once, and it was years ago. With USk Seattle’s sketch outing centered on the Lake Washington Ship Canal area, it was high time to sketch it again. This time I climbed partway up the stairway, which gave me a good view of the bright blue and orange towers. According to Wikipedia, “due to its low vessel clearance of 30 feet, the Fremont Bridge opens an average of 35 times a day, which makes it the most frequently opened drawbridge in the United States and one of the busiest bascule bridges in the world.” No wonder Fremont is the Center of the Universe. Even as I sketched this, the drawbridge opened twice. One of these days I need to sketch it open, though I’d have to be quick – it stays open for only a few minutes at a time.

Another Fremont icon that I’ve sketched only once before is the Rocket. Last time, I stood right in its shadow with the benefit of strong sunlight. On this overcast morning, I didn’t feel like sketching a light gray rocket against a light gray sky, so my vermilion/Prussian Blue editing pencil came to the rescue. (To those unfamiliar with the Center of the Universe, it probably looks like a church steeple.) Just as I was lamenting the empty spot near the center of the composition, a huge truck came by to unload a delivery to a nearby merchant. It stayed just long enough for me to fill the boring space with its girth.

Despite the chilly morning, it was great to see the strong turnout in Fremont with several new faces!

The sun finally came out for the throwdown!

From Afar: an atmospheric perspective workshop

Hey Seattle USkers, I wanted to let y'all know I'll be teaching a workshop in the fall 10x10 series, From Afar (Oct. 20 in Eastlake). I'll be teaching some methods on making your compositions have greater contrast between close & distant objects in interesting and fun ways, using principles of atmospheric perspective. Although the workshop is not for beginners, it's pretty approachable as long as you have some grasp of watercolor techniques (i.e. it's not your first time ever picking up the medium). 

The subject matter will be Queen Anne hill & Westlake as seen from the Eastlake neighborhood. I love capturing the trees and buildings stacked up on the hill, topped by the 3 antennas I never get tired of it. The techniques can certainly be applied outside of Queen Anne views though! And since it'll be in October, we might even get some stunning fall foliage. I hope you can make it to my first official Urban Sketchers workshop, I'm very excited. 

Here are some sketches which show some examples of these techniques - to me, the typical Seattle landscape is a hill with buildings peeking through trees, and I love painting these kinds of scenes.