Queen Anne + Green Lake

The goddess of Fall smiled upon Seattle this Sunday and brought the sun along with her. Queen Anne was buzzing as sketchers met up at El Diablo Coffee Company. After getting myself a cup of white mocha, I stuck around and sketched the nice shaded outdoor patio.

El Diablo & Queen Anne Book Co. - Outdoor Patio

I arrived at the venue rather late, so I decided to stay within close proximity of the cafe. Bethany Presbyterian Church across the street has some interesting architectural details. I sketched the main entry door and finish just in time before people started pouring out from the Sunday mass. 

Queen Anne Bethany Presbyterian Church - Main Entry Door

The wooden trellis over the cafe's outdoor patio piqued my interest. With 15 minutes to spare before 'throwdown', I sketched the overall view of the patio along with the trellis from the sidewalk.

El Diablo Coffee Co. - Wooden Trellis at Patio

Later in the day, my family and I took a stroll around Green Lake to soak up the remaining sunlight of the day. My youngest daughter insisted on bringing her notebook with her. We took a break in front of The Bathhouse Theater and my daughter and I spent some quality time sketching together. It was a great way to end the weekend.

Green Lake - View East from The Bathhouse Theater

Father-Daughter quality time

Tandem Sketching

On Christmas day Donna and I drove up to our family's place on Green River. Donna and I sat across from each other at the old table in the cabin and drew the knick-knacks we found there. My take is on top.

We did it again at the Neptune Café in Greenwood. Again, I'm on the top. What a pleasant way to while away an hour or two, sipping java and chatting. Or sipping java and not talking at all.

Meet the Correspondent: Stephanie Bower

Hello sketchers...

I started sketching back in architecture school at UT Austin where drawing was (and still is) an important part of an architect's education.  In my 3rd year review, 2 professors wrote I had "weak graphic skills" -- honestly, I think that comment only made me work harder to learn to draw.  That struggle also became my inspiration for teaching drawing and perspective sketching--10 years at Parsons School of Design in NYC, briefly with Gail Wong and Frank Ching at UW, and more recently for a number of years at Cornish College of the Arts where I now teach a perspective field sketching class. I have also taught sketching classes to architecture firms  here in Seattle.

Although I got my architecture license while living in New York, I have spent most of my career as an architectural illustrator (www.stephaniebower.com) and have had the good fortune to work with many wonderful offices. Although digital imagery now dominates the profession, I believe hand drawing is still an important design and communication tool.  I truly hope it won't disappear.

Last year I made 2 sketching trips abroad-- one to southern Spain and a second to India/Nepal, where I filled 2 large moleskin watercolor books (you can see a few of the pages on my flickr site at http://www.flickr.com/photos/83075812@N07/. )  India was amazing, but it's a very challenging place to draw.  Simply opening a sketchbook literally brings people running!   I hope to continue traveling and "seeing the world one drawing at a time" -- it is truly my passion.

I'm also exploring watercolor landscape painting and have had work in a few shows. If you are interested in watercolor, the Northwest Watercolor Society is a great resource.

As for personal info, I Iive in Seattle, am married to an architect and have 2 sons, one at Garfield High School and one just starting UW.

Even though I draw quite a lot, I feel that I still struggle with my field sketches.  It's so hard to master all the variables.  The energy and support the Urban Sketchers give each other, in person and on the websites, is amazing.  What a brilliant concept. This group is helping to keep hand drawing alive in a digital age -- around the world, no less!

The image I am posting is the one I'd grab if the house caught on fire (OK, I'd grab the India sketchbooks too.) I spent my 25th birthday here at Le Corbusier's cathedral at Ronchamp.  Although that was LONG ago, it was the magical day my drawing abilities came together.

So this is my first post as an official blog correspondent -- thanks so much, and see you at the crawls!

Stephanie

World Wide SketchCrawl #28 (7/31) - Lake View Cemetery

A cold and grey Saturday in Seattle was the background for our sketchcrawl at Lake View Cemetery (next to Volunteer Park). Met up with Tim Taylor, David Hingtgen, Allison and Sara and we spent just under three hours sketching the monuments and trees of this cemetery founded in 1872.

Yes, I did come across Bruce and Brandon Lee's Memorial site. Lots of flowers with well wishers and curiosity seekers gathered around.

cupcake heaven

A great day sketching at Wallingford Center! About 25 of us came out, not everyone could stay long enough to be in the picture! Fun to see the group's sketches of people, clothing, hats, signs, windows, architecture, cupcakes! Hope to see them up here soon!
Here is my tastiest sketch of the day, chocolate/graham cracker cupcakes with roasted marshmallow frosting.

Jet City Espresso

I walked into this place a couple of weeks ago and my mouth fell open. It's an old gas station/garage now full of antiques and kitsch (I mean full!) inside and out, most arranged better than any still life I could have come up with (there are years worth of subjects to draw). Yesterday I made my way there for some sketching and a coffee....

A big fishing reel

I've been going to Fishermans' Terminal for (umm...) five decades -- we had many family birthday dinners at the "Wharf" restaurant -- but I'd never made a picture there before. There are more pleasure craft now and fewer working boats, but here is one.

Here is Gabi looking intently at his subject!

Here is the famous sculpture "Architects on a Bench":

Here is Beth painting.

And here we are sharing sketchbooks, which was eye-opening in all kinds of wonderful ways!



It was a great show-and-tell!

Our first crawl - Fishermen's Terminal

Here are the lovely urban sketchers! It was wonderful to meet you all and see your astounding work. Hope to see it all up here soon so I can look at it often!

fairhaven shipyard

Got to go up to Bellingham a couple weeks ago with my husband, whose ferry was in the Fairhaven shipyard there. While he worked 12 hours I hung out around the shipyard sketching and painting.

Here's my morning view from the public boat launch down the road. The ferry is in the background center right.

Here is a view of the parking lot across the railroad tracks, from the loading dock where I trespassed to get this sketch.

And finally, here is my oil sketch of the boat launch water view. I was sketching practically on the railroad right-of-way and had to get out of the way of a few trains! Really a great place.

Beyond the Bridge Coffee Shop, Sumner WA

What would sketchers do without coffee shop models? I found out: these women left shortly after I began sketching, so I had to make do with memory.

Lake City Farmers Market

Beth and I shared a recent sketching visit to the Lake City Farmers Market (Seattle), which happens on Thursdays in the summer months. It's a great place for sketchers on a sunny afternoon....and it was delightful when Dave happened by, too.