10th Anniversary Gathering - Gas Works Park

Gathering of the Seattle Urban Sketchers on their 10th anniversary! At Gas Works Park on a gorgeous day and great to see many who have made that group so much fun participate with and learn from.

Ink and watercolor.

Farewell Viaduct

I think this is the first time I have ever sketched the Seattle Viaduct, and sadly, it is also the last time. Scheduled to be torn down in early 2019, it will be replaced with a shiny new tunnel. I met up with Sketchers Tina and Antonella this morning to commemorate the last weeks of this Seattle icon. I have driven on the viaduct many times, and I know that many Seattlites are taking “last” drives through town on it, documented with photos and video. But this is the view I will keep in my memory.

There's a Tibetan Monastery in Seattle?

Who knew? Not me. I can't tell you how many things I have seen in Seattle because of Urban Sketchers.

I liked this glimpse of the bell shaped stupa through the trees. The monastery's website explains that the stupa is a memorial to one of it's founding lamas. The drawing shows a bit of the surrounding neighborhood, the traffic circle in front of the monastery and a couple of other urban sketchers who are appropriately bundled up for what turned out to be a really chilly day in August!

A Good Day to Draw at Winterfest

The crowd was still small at 10am, when Urban Sketchers Seattle showed up at the Seattle Center Armory to draw the annual Winterfest activities. The big attraction was the holiday village and miniature train display. But I decided it would be much more comfortable to get a coffee and a good seat and draw the people who came and went, meeting, waiting for their kids, and even another sketcher who had a better view of the trains than I.

Stay for the Scones...

Once again, the proprietor of the Stonehouse Bakery in Rainier Beach welcomed the Ad Hoc Urban Sketcher group to his cafe for our sketch outing. USk is often made welcome in local businesses when we come to sketch, but Patrick's enthusiasm for our group is personal and genuine and extends to having a batch of hot Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake Scones ready when we arrived!! On my first visit, it was the quirky cobblestone building that fascinated me, but it was chilly yesterday, and I stayed inside and drew several small scenes - my scone, the chrysanthemum on a nearby window, and Tina before she decamped to sketch outside.


Here's my sketch from a few years ago. As Kate and Tina have mentioned, Patrick is moving to a new location in White Center in January 2018, and I look forward to visiting him there!

Heat, Haze and Bradner Park Gardens

Five intrepid sketchers braved a heatwave and the smoke wafting through Seattle from the wildfires burning in British Columbia to sketch at Bradner Park in the Mt. Baker neighborhood. The park features borders designed by Seattle Master Gardeners and Seattle Tilth demonstration gardens as well as a lovely community P-Patch. I chose a shady spot under the pavilion to draw this view of the garden's offices.



We had one new sketcher and one newish sketcher as well as three of the usual suspects...

Me, Nilda, Natalie, Sue and Alane. Apologies for any mis-spellings! Alane was fresh from Chicago, and we were all a little envious of the wonderful experiences she had there!

Seattle Space Needle

Bet you didn't recognize it from my sketch, huh? While wandering through the Seattle Center during Folklife last week with the Friday Ad-Hoc group, I came around the base of the Space Needle just as the sun was casting some great shadows and lighting up the ring of concrete balls that circles the Needle. Last year I spent my time at Folklife sketching all the kooky characters who come to the music festival. So, this year I went for something different.

Sketchcrawl at Hale's Ale Brewery

The spring sun shone on quite large group of urban sketchers outside of Hale's Ale Brewery this morning. I was hoping to spend some time outside to sketch the building and surrounding neighborhood, but ended up staying inside for the entire session.

Hale's Brewery interior, sketched from the steps

The brewery was a challenge to sketch due to its complex overlapping shapes and lines. I started my process by focusing on the basic shapes and placing them in the overall scene (ie. the phone booth, the row of storefront windows, the guardrail, the tanks, etc.) and not really worrying too much about perspective. Once I had these basic shapes down, I added some details (ie. pipes, railings, steel ladders, mullions, etc.) and slowly populating the frame with more lines. Lastly I incorporated hatches to create shading for depth.

Hale's Brewery interior, sketched from the entry lobby

Lunch with Frank

After finishing a couple of sketches, I headed into the bar with the intention to sketch some more. There I came across Frank Ching enjoying his beer. I ended up joining him for a quick bite and chat. He shared his sketching tricks and I shared the story of my college time back in Indonesia studying architecture and having bunch of his books on my desk as reference. Who would've thought that I'd be sitting here having lunch with the master himself.

Queen Anne + Green Lake

The goddess of Fall smiled upon Seattle this Sunday and brought the sun along with her. Queen Anne was buzzing as sketchers met up at El Diablo Coffee Company. After getting myself a cup of white mocha, I stuck around and sketched the nice shaded outdoor patio.

El Diablo & Queen Anne Book Co. - Outdoor Patio

I arrived at the venue rather late, so I decided to stay within close proximity of the cafe. Bethany Presbyterian Church across the street has some interesting architectural details. I sketched the main entry door and finish just in time before people started pouring out from the Sunday mass. 

Queen Anne Bethany Presbyterian Church - Main Entry Door

The wooden trellis over the cafe's outdoor patio piqued my interest. With 15 minutes to spare before 'throwdown', I sketched the overall view of the patio along with the trellis from the sidewalk.

El Diablo Coffee Co. - Wooden Trellis at Patio

Later in the day, my family and I took a stroll around Green Lake to soak up the remaining sunlight of the day. My youngest daughter insisted on bringing her notebook with her. We took a break in front of The Bathhouse Theater and my daughter and I spent some quality time sketching together. It was a great way to end the weekend.

Green Lake - View East from The Bathhouse Theater

Father-Daughter quality time

Second July Sunday outing

Sunday July 31

Amgen Helix Pedistrian Bridge
10 am - 12:30

We'll meet up at the Fish On Bait Tackle and Cafe at Terminal 91. (See Monthly Outings tab for parking I found on Yelp.) This is a funky little cafe that has parking nearby. There is also parking in a very small lot just across from the east entrance to the bridge on Elliot.

We've been to this spot in the past and everyone wanted to return because of the variety of sketch opportunities, the bridge, the industrial silos, the park and water views.

It should be a great summer outing. Hope to see you there! 

Georgetown motors

You can always rely on Georgetown to provide something you don't see every day. She did not disappoint me today. These colorful cabs were lined up like they were ready for a parade.

This sexy Moto Guzzi bike was parked in front of one of the garden homes. The name on the side car cracked me up - "Jelly Bean the Sidecar Queen"

Vintage Cycle and sidecar

1967 BMW with Stieb sidecar ('30s) drawn at last Saturday's Tacoma gathering - Harley-Davidson in Fife.

Pen and ink in a Stillman & Birn Zeta series sketchbook.

Dicks on Broadway

I took the opportunity at today's sketch outing at the new Capitol Hill Light Rail Station to draw the Seattle landmark Dicks Drive-In on Broadway. My first husband was a manager at this Dicks location circa 1980-81 and I spent many a night sitting in my car in this parking lot. I have not eaten meat for many years and it was sitting in my car in this very lot in 1981 when I ate my last-ever cheese burger. 

Starbucks Reserve

A bit late, but here are the photos from our January outing at Starbucks Reserve.

Georgetown Garden Walk

This tagged '56 Chevy looked perfectly at home amidst the backdrop of the Georgetown grit - freeway interchanges, industrial lots and historic brick buildings. After changing hands this classic found its way to the owner of Brass Tacks restaurant who keeps it running and showcases its character outside the restaurant where it sits parked in the lot opposite the spectacular. Nix and Barton mural below. 

Chinese Garden - Seattle

Great day for sketching, beautiful location and good turnout. The Garden is a work in progress and it will be fun to come back here to sketch and paint the new amendments and completed construction.

Pen and ink with watercolor in a Moleskine sketchbook.

February Sketch Gathering - Melrose & Pike Seattle

Went into town with Tamra and had breakfast at the Corner Cafe (1000 Madison St.), great food and staff. Walking down to the gathering I came across this view and went back to sketch it after the morning meetup.

Our daughter had a music performance at CWU (Ellensburg) that afternoon, so getting back for the afternoon sharing wasn't possible.

Pen & ink with a watercolor wash in a Moleskine watercolor sketchbook.  

WinterFest - Center House Armory

There are a number of people who use the warm confines of the Seattle Center Armory as a means to get out of the elements. They often provide great character and pose still for those of us who are not skilled at catching a moving target.

Sketcher's Gathering Seattle Center - Winterfest

How nice it was to be able to sketch outside in December and then meet inside when my whimpy self got cold. I saw a post yesterday from a European Urban Sketcher blogging about putting alcohol in their watercolor water so the liquid wouldn't freeze while painting in minus13 degree weather. Yes, I will shut up now about being cold.

I did this sketch of the dormant popcorn booth called Popcornucopia. It has been part of the International Fountain landscape for as long as I can remember.

Pen and ink with watercolor in a Moleskine watercolor sketchbook.

Post Alley Busking Duo

Though there was an Urban Sketcher event going on in the Bus Tunnel, my girls were going to a concert at Benaroya Hall a bit later so we decided to commute in together. A brisk beautiful fall day in Seattle made for a busy Post Alley and often making the subject matter dissapear. The young entertainer was quite good and his dog would sing on command.

I had tested a new ink pen (disposable) on paper before I did this sketch - no bleeding. What I didn't do was test in on the watercolor paper of my sketchbook. With the exception of the door, I was going to have to be satisfied with shading using water and a brush pen.

Pen, ink, watercolor pencil in a Stillman and Birn sketchbook.