We met at Swanson's Nursery for a winter outing to sketch remaining decorations.
I wandered around outside for a while. It was drizzling but there was cover. However, I got a little chilled so I sat in the warmth of the cafe to sketch the small Dino Santa.
Several of us drew this Swanson's 100 display.
It was a big group of over 25, with at least 2 missing from the photo. Stephanie Bower took the photo. Srinath V., who just moved here from a USk chapter in India, had to leave early.
On the drive home, I got caught on highway 99 with the First Ave S. drawbridge up to allow a crane to pass underneath. Sigh. But, then I realized the Urban Sketchers' joke and took it as a command. I drew the draw bridge up while I waited. Draw Bridge while sketch-waiting!
At mostUSk Seattle visits to Swansons Nursery, I typically start sketching outdoors, then move indoors if it’s cold. But the chilly drizzle on Friday morning pushed me indoors right off the bat – first in one of the large retail areas, then a nice table in the café with a few other sketchers. It was a fine view of plenty of plants and the popular koi pond.
New at this visit were lots of banana-shaped caution cones scattered all over the store – bright yellow, eye-catching and fun to draw!
Welcome to new Seattle resident (but longtime USk member) Srinath Vasireddy!
Swansons Nursery is a fall favorite for USk Seattle. More than a week before Halloween, the store was certainly decked out with autumn-themed decorations and plenty of pumpkins, but it was clear that other holidays were fast on their heels. Staff were already setting up the Christmas train display. Humphrey, the dinosaur topiary (whom I’ve sketched when he was fully “clothed” with greenery), was still wearing boots, hat and scarf in Seahawks/Sounders colors, but I was told his holiday gear was going up soon (as well as greenery, which he was sorely lacking). Workers were also replacing the sports-themed colored lights on parking lot trees with holiday colors. Whew – the retail rush is on!
In any case, we had fun chasing the orange before the colors turned red and green.
As is my usual pattern at Swansons (which we only seem to visit in the cold months), I sketched outdoors as long as I could stand the cold, then went into the café for coffee and chatted with friends.
We’ve had all kinds of weather this week, including a sudden turn toward winter temperatures, but USk Seattle lucked out today at Swansons Nursery.Although it was cold (I had to get out my down parka for the first time this season), the sun warmed us whenever it popped out from behind spotty clouds.
One of our favorite fall and holiday season venues, Swansons always gives sketchers plenty of colorful displays. I found a stack of pumpkins next to a spray of fall colors and a cone (which makes any scene sunnier).
After walking around and chatting with friends for quite a while, I needed a warm-up inside the nursery’s Barn & Field Kitchen café. Always a bit daunted by the jungle of greenery surrounding the tables and yet attracted to it, I tried a tonal study this time.
We’re all looking forward to getting back to Swansons for the holidays!
Sketching at Swanson's Nursery. Photo by Tina Koyama.
Hello, fellow sketchers! My name is Helen Todd, and I’m thrilled and honored to be a new correspondent for Urban Sketchers Seattle!
I was born in England and grew up in Northern Virginia, but my husband and I moved to Seattle in 1998 and I can’t imagine living anywhere else. My professional background is in Computer Science, but I’ve always had an artistic streak lurking underneath, and I took various art classes over the years.
I discovered plein air painting about twelve years ago. While it shares similarities to urban sketching (in that you’re painting from life, outdoors), the vibe for me is completely different. When I happened across the Urban Sketchers outings in 2018, I was blown away by how much more connected I felt with the environment and people I was painting -- and also how much more focused I had to be with my paintings given the time limit! That part was a real struggle for me at first, but it has definitely helped me grow as an artist.
Buddha amongst the potted plants, Swanson's Nursery
My first Urban Sketchers Seattle outing was in June 2018 to the Anderson School in Bothell. To be honest, I was a little intimidated about going. I’d taken a long hiatus from anything artistic and the thought of drawing -- in public! -- and sharing it with a bunch of strangers, was slightly terrifying. But to my relief, everyone was incredibly warm and welcoming, and I was hooked. I eagerly went back for the outing at the Seattle Chinese Garden, and many more. Living in Carnation - definitely the ‘east’ part of the Eastside - rush hour and parking make it difficult for me to attend all of the Seattle events. (I am, however, now familiar with my ORCA card!) But this has given me opportunities to find additional places to sketch (and people to sketch with) on the other side of the lake.
In the waiting room...
One of my favorite things about urban sketching is that it’s changed my entire attitude towards drawing. It isn’t something I have to ‘wait’ to do -- everything is an opportunity for a quick drawing. One of my favorite recent sketches was done while waiting for a doctor’s appointment, on the back of a receipt because I’d forgotten my sketchbook! I’d also forgotten my glasses, so it was a bit of a challenge in that respect as well! Technically, it’s not the best thing I’ve done, but it made me much happier to spend ten minutes sketching, rather than messing around with my phone.
I’ve been working with digital art since the early 90s, and in the last few years, I’ve been drawing on my iPad as well. Some of you have probably seen me at outings with it -- I know I’ve had quite a few questions, which is great! (If anyone has any questions about iPad sketching or the program Procreate, feel free to ask!)
When I started urban sketching, time constraints nudged me away from my previous style of detailed drawings and layers of watercolor glazing to the much-quicker techniques of pen and wash. Similarly, I found I’ve changed my digital style as well. I’ve started doing looser, more expressive drawings, as opposed to the digital animation-style pieces I did before. I struggled with this process for a while, but it finally clicked when I started drawing people -- a subject that has always terrified me. It’s yet another way urban sketching has stretched my boundaries and helped me grow as an artist.
Cart guy.
Digital sketch using iPad and Procreate.
Drawing on a regular basis has brought a lot of joy into my life, both from the actual process, but also from the interactions and friendships I’ve made within the sketching community. I’m really proud and grateful to be a part of the Seattle Urban Sketchers, and of the worldwide Urban Sketching movement. I look forward to sharing my work with you here, and on Instagram at artgeekstudios!
As we have for the past years, we sketched the beautiful holiday decor at Swanson's Nursery. This year there was a large group who joined the hordes of people also there today. Many people sketched the colorful birdhouses.
I went back to the topiary reindeer that I've sketched before but today from a different viewpoint.
If being frozen and jostled by mobs of squealing children while sketching doesn’t appeal, you might want to avoid Swansons Nursery during its annual Reindeer Festival 12 days before Christmas. USk Seattle goes there every year around the same time, so Kate and I were puzzled about why it seemed more crowded than usual. That said, I managed to make four sketches, so how bad could it have been? I had fun!
12/13/19 Dasher and Blitzen
Whatever else I sketchduring these annual outings (I think this was USk Seattle’s eighth Christmas visit; we sometimes go in the fall and spring, too),Swansons’ reindeer are always my favorite. As far as animals go, they don’t move too swiftly, but scaling those enormous antlers accurately is the challenging part. No matter how small I draw their bodies, I can’t seem to fit their antlers on the same page. This time I hedged my bets and put both Dasher and Blitzen in the same composition so that the full rack of at least one of them would appear in the sketch.
Fully chilled, I retreated to the koi pond inside the café. A few years ago, I was more ambitious and attempted the whole pond. This time I focused on simply capturing a couple of koi (I apparently had trouble scaling again – one tail went right off the page).
12/13/19 koi
Although I hadn’t fully recovered from the cold, I pulled my hood up again and went back to the reindeer pen, this time to stand further back (top of post). Perhaps my proudest moment of the whole day was catching the gesture of the dad taking a selfie with his young kids – he was quick, and so was I.
Toes numb, I headed for the café again to get coffee when I suddenly remembered Santa! The coffee line wrapped around the café, so I skipped it and headed for yet another crowd – the one waiting for the big bearded guy. At least it was warm and the view relatively unblocked. (I’ve sketched a lot of Santas, and my favorite moment is when babes are seated on his knee, and suddenly they turn and realize this red-suited, bearded dude is not known to them – and let out a huge howl! It happened a couple of times as I sketched . . . though the little bald guy in my sketch was happily oblivious.)
A big reason why USk Seattle meets at Swansons Nursery at least once (and often more than once)a year is that it’s ideal for any kind of weather. And a big reason we like to sketch there in the fall is orange. It was a predominant color in the palettes of many sketchers today, when we had a wide variety of weather conditions.
While it was still dry and not too cold (if one were dressed in down as I was), I found a mandatory pumpkin display and steer skull to sketch outdoors. Near the hay maze, children were invited to plant and water flowers inside pumpkin shells, so I tried to quickly capture one such child . . . though a 10-second “pose” is a challenge even with life-drawing practice.
Inside Swansons' Barn & Field Kitchen cafe
The eventual rain and wind drove most sketchers indoors to the nursery’s café, which is filled with a lush jungle of greenery and even some pink anthurium. Noshing on my scone as I sketched, it was a relaxing way to warm up and chat with other sketchers.
Several newcomers joined us today at our terrific turnout!
