Blue Sky at the West Coast SketchCrawl

Others have already talked about the architecture, the waterfront, the public art. But I think the common denominator in most of my sketches was the intense, opaque blue of the sky and the strong shadows that made every scene dramatic.



And I know I have never seen so many people sketching in one place at one time before! They were a good subject to finish up the morning with. Saturday afternoon I wandered along the trolley line looking for this wedge building that I someone mentioned at lunch. The late afternoon sun was just perfect - and I got to sit in the shade while I sketched!

GATHER

Saturday morning was the second day of the 4^th Annual West Coast Urban Sketch Crawl in Tacoma, Washington.  Registration started bright and early in the lower level of the Washington State History Museum.  Volunteers passed out name-tags and goody bags before the group met for announcements in the auditorium.

Morning registration

Old hand-painted advertising signs on brick walls hold a distinct status in the landscape of American cities. With mellow colors and descriptive typography, their artful references to obsolete products are beloved by contemporary viewers. Ghost signs, as they are sometimes called, are abundant in downtown Tacoma. Seattle artist Buster Simpson’s public art project on the parapet of the Woodruff-Pratt building extends the sign tradition.  The word GATHER lines the parapet of a building on the University of Washington Tacoma campus. Originally a warehouse, a series of words emerge along the roofline as one walks past the building. Although I did not have time to position myself to see all the words, I appreciated the color, texture, and size of GATHER as it related to the history of the building, campus public art and the sketch crawl gathering

University of Washington Tacoma Campus Public Art

Rounding the corner of Pacific Ave after the last stop on the Tacoma trolley I suddenly felt transported to romantic Europe.  Almost as if staged, Italianate Old City Hall towers over the street stopping in time to create a space filled with views of Commencement Bay before the Northern Pacific Headquarters Building begins its architectural statement.  An ornate lantern-topped tower distinguishes the entryway of the rectangular three-story building.       #usktac4

Old City Hall and Northern Pacific Headquarters Building

Tacoma Sizzles with West Coast Sketch Crawl

8/20/16 Union Station Building

That headline isn’t really metaphorical. We’re having a heatwave this weekend in Northwest Washington that warrants an “excessive heat warning,” according to the National Weather Service. But that didn’t stop well over a hundred sketchers from showing up for the Fourth Annual West Coast Urban Sketchers Sketch Crawl in Tacoma!

8/19/16 portrait party

Festivities began Friday night at the opening reception, which included a portrait party (a few minutes to sketch someone you don’t know, then move on to another person). The highlight of the evening was, of course, the huge door prize giveaway of literally hundreds of dollars’ worth of gifts from generous art supply stores and other vendors. Many thanks and kudos to Frances Buckmaster and the Tacoma team for procuring a gold mine of donations! I don’t know which city will be hosting next year’s WC sketch crawl, but I’d say they have a pretty high bar to meet!

The weekend’s main event is an all-day sketch crawl today and a half-day tomorrow around Tacoma’s highly sketchable museum district. Although the event didn’t officially begin until 9 a.m., I was already on the sidewalk by 7:30 a.m. to get ahead of the heat. By mid-day, I had captured two sketches in the still-comfortable shade – one of the majestically domed Union Station building (which I sketched about a year ago from a different angle) and the second of the University of Washington’s Tacoma campus stairway.

8/20/16 University of Washington Tacoma campus

I don’t know if anyone officially counted heads, but here’s the photo of the Saturday mid-day sketchbook sharing!