Sketchers at Top Pot Donuts

I have to admit I was not tempted by the Elvis Presley special Maple-Bacon donuts available at Friday's USk meet. I went for a chocolate glazed old-fashioned. And for sketching I went for the row of sketchers silhouetted against the windows of Top Pot Donuts Alki shop. I had to leave early, so missed the sketchbook sharing at the end. :(

Happy Birthday, Elvis!

1/8/16 Ken sketching outside Top Pot.

If the Friday sketchers hadn’t met at Top Pot Doughnuts this morning, I probably would have gone through the day unaware that today is Elvis’s birthday. But thankfully we did meet at the shop’s West Seattle location on Alki Avenue, where the “hand-forged” doughnut company was recognizing what would have been the King’s 81^st birthday. I decided to pass on the King’s Rings (maple-frosted doughnuts encrusted with thick squares of bacon), but there was plenty else to sketch in the large yet cozy space.

During a typical 2.5 hour sketch outing, I tend to do two or three sketches. Today I felt like doing a series of small sketches. I even ventured outside the store for one sketch of the street, but that didn’t last long (my phone weather app said it was 37 F).

The last time I sketched Elvis was three years ago at Drawing Jam. Thinking that the King’s Rings might prompt an appearance, I was ready, but no Elvis was sighted. Maybe next year.

1/8/16 Top Pot's counter

1/8/16 Alki Avenue Southwest

Salty’s, Ma Kai and Seacrest Park

7/24/15 fishing pier at Seacrest Park

Salty’s on Alki Beach was today’s destination for the Friday ad hoc sketchers. Not so much the seafood restaurant itself, although some sketchers did end up eating there, but more for its décor – a few large, rusty remains of the Kalakala, the iconic Art Deco ferry that is unfortunately long gone, and another Astronaut on the Town.

7/24/15 "Aquarius," by Xavier Lopez Jr.

I started the morning at Seacrest Park, a five-minute walk from Salty’s, where dozens of fishermen were trying their luck for salmon at the pier. I tried to be discreet, but the bored fishermen weren’t seeing much action on their lines, so eventually I attracted a lot of attention. They seemed to get a kick out of seeing themselves or each other in my sketch. (I hear about sketchers whose subjects are offended when they realize they are being sketched, but I have yet to encounter a “victim” who wasn’t delighted!)

Reveling in the downtown Seattle skyline and gloomy, overcast sky coloring Elliott Bay a steely gray (do you think maybe I’m a native?), I walked through the park back to Salty’s. On the restaurant’s porch was “Aquarius,” an Astronaut on the Town painted by Xavier Lopez Jr. Since the restaurant wasn’t open to the public yet, I thought I’d be safe sitting with my back against the front door, but it turned out that a wedding was about to take place. A bride nervously teetered down the stairway on spike heels with her entourage, while others frantically kept the groom inside until she was safely out of sight. I finished that sketch quickly to get out of the way before the wedding guests started appearing.

My plan was to sketch the Kalakala remains in the parking lot next, but as I was looking for a good angle, it started spitting, and then the spitting turned to full-on rain. By then I was already walking through Seacrest Park again, so I dashed into Marination Ma Kai, a Hawaiian café, near the fishing pier. I would have preferred sketching outdoors, but on the other hand, a musubi snack and a table with a view of their deck wasn’t so bad, either.

By the way, today’s sketch outing was good-naturedly dubbed the “Singapore Symposium Pity Party”! Although I am sad to be missing out on all the fun and sketching that I’ve been seeing on social media (#USkSingapore2015) this week, I have to say I much preferred wearing two hoodies this morning to sweating in the Singapore humidity! (Yes, I’m definitely a Seattle native.)

7/24/15 view from Marination Ma Kai cafe

7/24/15 view from Marination Ma Kai cafe

A few sketchers within the rusty remains of the Kalakala.

Pepperdock Burgers

A beautiful morning on Alki Beach, with a good turn-out of Seattle Urban Sketchers with several new faces. I wasted about 40 minutes of drawing time waiting in line at Tully's, and the scene I wanted to draw was unappealingly backlit, but I still managed to get something down on paper. The owner of Pepperdock sent an underling out to ask if they could have the sketch, but I told him I only sell prints and gave him my card. After the sharing session and a chicken lettuce wrap at Fat Burgers, I went back and finished up the drawing (even though the shadows had all changed from my initial ink washes), only getting a little sunburnt on the back of my neck.