Although USk Seattle meets at the University of Washington Quad every spring to sketch the glorious cherry trees, this year felt very different to me. Even the heavy crowds on a dry Sunday morning didn’t bother me as much as they sometimes do. With so much disgusting “leadership” going on in our country, and tragedy, horror and devastation elsewhere in the world, it was truly uplifting to be part of this joyous celebration of nature. Everyone seemed so happy! It was impossible to walk among those trees, even bumping into each other, without feeling a bond with humanity: All of us brought together by tiny pink blossoms.
Thank you, brilliant cherry trees, for giving us such joy.
At upper left, I tried to show some cosplay characters being photographed, but my sketch doesn't show them well. See photo below for what they actually looked like.
These are the characters I saw being photographed. In addition, several groups of choreographed teenagers were being video'd, probably for their TikTok channels.
Urban Sketchers Seattle had our traditional outing to sketch the beautiful, old, Yoshino cherry trees in the quad at the University of Washington.
It turned out to be the perfect day…but so many people! I sat on a low wall out of the way of most of the mayhem. There were so many more people than in this sketch. Several stopped to look as I worked and I gave out a few flyers to people who said they draw.
While there were less than 10 at our meetup in the morning, there were about 30 at the throw down!
Five other sketchers and I tried something fun during this morning’s USk Seattle outing. Sitting together around a table, we each sketched the slice of view directly in front of us, forming a 360-degree view of Third Place Commons. When I’ve participated in 360 sketches previously (once at the downtown public library and another time at the UW Quad), the participants sat in a circle facing out. For this one, we all faced each other toward the center of the table, which meant we all included fellow sketchers. Fun!
After I finished my first sketch that included Kim (at right), I turned around in my seat 180 degrees to sketch whatever had been directly behind. I like that sketch better (below) because I could see further out into the distance.
During the last half hour before the throwdown, I walked around a bit and sketched a few more people enjoying the Commons on a Saturday morning.
Our 360 throwdown was incomplete because a couple of participants had already left by the time we remembered to photograph all of them together!
Even before the pandemic, Wallingford Center was a reliable but quiet mainstay for USk Seattle during the wet, cold months. If the weather cooperated, we had all of the Wallingford neighborhood to explore. If not, the Center’s cozy historic building kept us comfortable. After the pandemic, it never really recovered, but at least we had Trophy Cupcakes to keep us caffeinated and sugared. Unfortunately, Trophy recently closed, so there’s not much left there except a couple of retail shops and one restaurant. It’s a good thing we sketchers showed up this morning to liven up the otherwise ghost town vibe!
Although a few hardy souls sketched in the cold drizzle, I opted for the warm and comfy. Wallingford Center has enough window views that I could still capture one of the neighborhood’s classic bungalows, trees and street furniture. I also got snippets of the few remaining retail spots and some other sketchers, of course.
I stood in Lam So’n Square in the middle of Ho Chi Minh City, or as locals call it, Saigon. Urban Sketchers Vietnam had organized a sketch outing on my behalf, and the leader, Chien Bau, told me a bit of history. He mentioned that the Caravelle Hotel had been foreign journalists’ headquarters during the Vietnam War, NBC, CBS, and ABC were among the American networks that took up residence in the hotel. The roof was especially significant. Journalists could see all over the city and famous videos of the last American helicopter leaving Saigon on April 30, 1975, were shot from the roof of the Caravelle.I teared up remembering those turbulent days.
The Vietnam War played a significant role in my history. The Kent State shootings took place in the spring of 1970 when I was a freshman in college. My husband-to-be was awarded a “CO”, conscientious objector” status because of his moral objections to the war. We marched on campus and freeways and watched as the war was revealed on our televisions —reported and broadcast from the Caravelle Hotel.
The past was very present when I was in Saigon. People referred to former time as “before or after 1975”. Chien told me his father was a South Vietnamese Soldier, and his father-in-law was a Vietcong soldier. A rickshaw driver told me he lost his father in the war — I think he wanted my business.
Being there was a complicated experience—sketching lovely buildings, and knowing the history and America’s role. I had protested our going into Vietnam, and the South Vietnamese were angry that we left.
Still, almost everyone was friendly and amiable. Especially welcoming were the USK Vietnam sketchers. I had a delightful time with them all. Thank you USk Vietnam!
Caravelle Hotel photo
Graduation Day at the Opera House Lam Són Square
Ho Chi Minh City Central Post Office
Designed by Gustave Eiffel
The Central Post Office has been a landmark for a long time. Built from 1896 to 1991, it is an architectural treasure. During the Vietnam War, it played an essential role as the communications hub for civilians and the military. I wish I had sketched the inside as well.
Street Vendors Lam So'n Square
Chien Bau, leader, USk Ho Chi Minh City and host extraordinaire!
We met in the Columbia City neighborhood on a very chilly, very rainy morning. Only 5 intrepid sketchers joined the outing. We went our separate ways to cafes or to the beautiful Carnegie library.
During the worst of the rain, I sat in my car to sketch the decorated power pole in front of me. It had a monster face sculpture attached as well as some other art pieces.
I decamped to PCC market. From there I sheltered under a building overhang to sketch the empty but historic Arc Lodge Cinema, which was my main goal this morning. It's now for sale.
I next sheltered under the PCC parking structure to capture the glass art hanging from the ceiling.
I started with my current obsession: A color temperature study of the interior I faced (above) using principles I had learned in a class I just finished.
That done, I could relax and make a comics diary page to commend myself for unpacking mydrawing table and filling my sketchbook bookcase (below).
It’s a shame that we couldn’t sketch outdoors because the Columbia City neighborhood is full of old architectureandfun business street fronts. But I was happy to have a comfy opportunity to work out color temperature concepts in a real-life location, not just a portrait from a photo as we did in the class.
Wintergrass, the annual bluegrass festival at the Bellevue Hyatt Regency, has always beenone of my favorite USk winter outing locations. With toe-tappin’ music everywhere and happy jammers jammin’, it’s irresistible if you enjoy sketching people.The last time I attended was in 2020(just weeks before the pandemic hit), and I had sorely missed it. It was wonderful to be back this year!
On the first day of the festival when events were not yet fully under way, we had no crowds to contend with, yet just enough musicians were around to keep us busy. It’s a joy to sketch people who are so clearly passionate about what they are doing and enjoy doing it together (and we urban sketchers know what that’s about).
2/16/25 Red Square and Suzzallo Library, UW campus
Warm, cozy, artistically challenging – Suzzallo Library on the University of Washington campus is a winter mainstay for USk Seattle. If the size of our group last Sunday is any indication, we have high pent-up demand for comfortable sketching opportunities – what a turnout!
While I waited for others to show up at the library entrance, I made a couple of quick sketches of Red Square to set the location (above). Once inside, I wasn’t in the mood to challenge myself with daunting architecture. Instead, I picked one of the elegant pillars flanking the stairway to finish the page.
That done, I spent the rest of the outing pulling out different media to experiment with tone and color temperature (which have been on mind with Sarah Bixler’s class). The small monochrome at left is Suzzallo’s main reading room entrance.
Elsewhere in the library, I found quiet spots to study color temperature using watercolor pencils (below). At lower right, the strong diagonal is one of many internal supports throughout Suzzallo. They look jarring mixed in with the stately Collegiate Gothic Revival architectural style, but it’s reassuring to know that the centenarian building is seismically safe.
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