Double Fun in Queen Anne

7/23/22 Seattle skyline from Kerry Park, Queen Anne Hill

USk Seattle’s outing in upper Queen Anne was two events in one: A celebration of our 13^th anniversary and also participation in the 76^th quarterly World Wide SketchCrawl.

Prepared for the meetup at Kerry Park and its sweeping skyline view, I brought along my panorama-format Stillman & Birn Beta sketchbook. I pack the book whenever I travel, expecting to see and sketch some new skylines, but I haven’t traveled much since 2019. It had been a long time since I’d sketched the Kerry Park skyline (I think 2017 was the last time), so I decided to pretend I was a tourist in Seattle and sketch the postcard view of the Space Needle (unfortunately, Her Majesty Rainier was hiding behind the thick overcast). Plenty of actual tourists stopped by to snap their selfies as I sketched (and some asked me for help taking their photos) – it was a popular spot.

Detail view of the panorama

After that, I took a walk around the Queen Anne neighborhood, which I dearly love for all its beautiful, old homes. (My first apartment was in Queen Anne, so it’s also nostalgic.) Along the way, I made a small sketch of Queen Anne United Methodist Church.

Circling back toward Kerry Park for the throwdown, I made a brief stop at Parsons Garden, which always feels cool and serene compared to the touristy skyline. I caught some girls picnicking just before a mom came by to break up the fun.

In the early years, USk Seattle used to try harder to make our outings coincide with the SketchCrawls, but truthfully, we admins don’t always remember to check the dates when planning. Lately it has fallen by the wayside. But after we sent out the announcement for the Queen Anne outing, Parker Gambino, enthusiastic urban sketcher and SketchCrawler, informed us that the date coincided with the 76^th SketchCrawl. Formerly an active member of USk New York City, Parker now lives in Seattle. I was grateful to him for reminding us of the SketchCrawls again.

What a great turnout – I counted more than two dozen at the throwdown! 

Toward the center in baseball cap is Parker.

No, this isn't the throwdown... this was Stephanie's impromptu Gab & Grab! She generously gave away several heavy bagfuls of sketchbooks.

46th World Wide SketchCrawl at the Frye (Plus St. James Cathedral)

1/31/15 St. James Cathedral

Even though I was the one who had suggested the Frye Art Museum as the location for the 46th quarterly World Wide SketchCrawl, I have to admit I wasn’t very inspired. Not that the art wasn’t interesting – some of it was – but I found most of it to be unsketchable. In addition, some of us pen sketchers felt constrained by the museum’s media restrictions. I made a valiant attempt at capturing a cage-like structure made of bamboo, part of Jessica Kenney’s exhibit, “Anchor Zero,” with colored pencils.

After a couple more walks through all the exhibits trying to find something to sketch, I gave up and went out to my car across the street in Frye’s lot, where I had strategically parked facing St. James Cathedral’s twin towers. The first time I had sketched those towers from nearly the same position was almost exactly two years ago. (I’m not sure my architectural drawing skills have improved much, but maybe my color is a little better.)

1/31/15 Part of Jessika Kenney's exhibit, "Anchor Zero"

A small but enthusiastic group of Seattle Urban Sketchers gathered in the foyer to share sketches. We barely got a group photo taken before we were shushed – a tour had just begun! Welcome to new members Magdalena and Ryan!

Left to right: Magdalena, Darsie, Ryan, Michele, Frank and Tina

Another account of the 38th Worldwide Sketchcrawl

Tina organized us to meet for the Worldwide Sketchcrawl. I first sketched inside Third Place Books.  This is a small section called "The Den" which showcases some rare books.


Then I went downstairs to sketch the branch of King County Library.  The bank of computers look out the curved window onto the rest of the shopping center.


After a couple hours of sketching, we met up to share our work.  Two had to leave early, so are not pictured here.


It was a good day.  Thanks, Tina!  Onward to more sketching tomorrow!

World Wide SketchCrawl on Beacon Hill

This is actually three different scenes melted together. The car was a warm up sketch at the bus stop, at Jefferson Park there was a Samoan cricket match going on, and in the background a sketch of the Beacon Hill neighborhood looking north to the Seattle skyline.

Pen and ink with a watercolor wash.