Color in the Bleakness

 

1/27/26 Green Lake Park

After a couple of weeks – weeks! – of much-needed daily sunshine, a thin but consistent cloud cover finally came in on Tuesday. On my walk to Green Lake, I thought about how I could challenge myself in all that flat light: In the same way that a “nothing” view helps me to focus on values, an especially bleak, colorless one would force me to eke out both the color and the values.

Foreground trees, background trees, grass – with all the values and even the hues mostly the same, I had to squint hard to make out any distinctions. Using two colors in my current Caran d’Ache Museum Aquarelle palette, I made the foreground trees way warmer and more vibrant than they appeared in reality. Then I used a blend of two cool colors for everything else. While I exaggerated the intensity, I think the values are generally realistic.

Using the values-based color ideas that I’ve been consciously thinking about lately, I’ll be darned if the color temperature concepts I had been thinking about last year crept in unconsciously! I didn’t notice until I was done. Huh – I guess my brain had been listening after all.

Color notes: Shown below is my current daily-carry watercolor pencil palette of mostly Museum Aquarelles and one Derwent Inktense. (No. 106 is crossed out because I eliminated it during trials when I realized it was too close to 599 to be useful.) It’s an amusing palette: Except for Inktense 760 (Deep Violet), which I have used frequently, all the other colors are ones that I chose by length, deliberately looking for pencils I have rarely used beyond swatching. I’m sure I’ve never used them for urban sketching because they don’t “match” anything I would normally see in my everyday Seattle environment. I’m having a ball using unusual hues without feeling like I’m randomly throwing in whatever.

Current everyday-carry pencil palette

A Chance Meeting

 

1/26/26 (photo reference)

Laura and I had not been close friends, but we had been friends a long time – nearly 40 years.

We ran into each other at Swansons Nursery a couple of years ago, where I was attending an Urban Sketchers outing. We didn’t have much time to chat, but I had snapped a selfie of us – one that clearly captured her sometimes goofy nature. We laughed, hugged, and vowed to get together soon for a better chat.

Wanting to let her know what was going on in my life, I went home and emailed her that I was in the throes of caregiving duties. Compassionate and supportive, Laura invited me to get together for coffee. I said it was difficult at the time, but that I would get back in touch when I could. I always meant to, once my life was put back together.

A recent Facebook post informed me that Laura had passed away the day before. I did not even know that she had had cancer. We never know when a chance meeting with someone might be the last time we see them.

Clear Skies Continue

 

1/23/26 Maple Leaf Park (Museum Aquarelle pencils, Inktense Blocks)

While much of the country is buried under snow with frigid temps, we continue to enjoy miraculously beautiful weather. Cold, yes, but clear skies that just won’t quit. I am soaking in as much as I can before the more typical rain returns (which I see in the long-range forecast). On a walk around Maple Leaf Park, I stopped briefly on one of those lovely afternoons.

Process notes: One of few things I value about Facebook (which I’m otherwise skeptical about) is the daily Memories section that shows me everything I posted on that date in prior years. An interesting pattern I see every winter is the experimenting I do from reference photos, usually related to color. I went through a period of exploring the Zorn palette, especially with portraits, and using an “underpainting” with various media. I’ve explored primary and secondary triads year-round, and I’ve made concerted efforts to study color temperature both formally (in Sarah Bixler’s classes) and informally.

Practicing at home with reference photos is one thing, but the true test of anything I study is whether I can apply it in the field. Some things “stick,” while others don’t. Or maybe it’s more a matter of how well using certain color principles fits with all the additional constraints of sketching on location. It’s easy to study color and concepts in the comfort of home! On the sidewalk with wind, rain, heat, cold, traffic, pedestrians or other distractions? Not so much.

My current use of a limited palette guided by values seems to be a good balance between a principle I understand (values) and something I want to push myself to explore (not being matchy-matchy with hues).

Incomparable Views from Columbia Center

 

1/24/26 Views from the Columbia Center's 73rd floor Sky View Observatory

During my first few years of sketching, the ticket price to ride up to the Columbia Center’s 73^rd floor Sky View Observatory was only $5. A small group of sketchers had gathered up there a couple of times, and I went up myself on other occasions (here’s a sketch from 2012, and another from 2013). Eventually, the ticket price crept up to the current price of $33, making it cost-prohibitive as a USk venue.

Lady luck and a kind ticket seller were with us on Saturday afternoon, however, when USk Seattle showed up. We thought we would have access to the entire interesting lobby area that’s open to the public on weekdays. Unfortunately, under a new policy, only the ticketing area to the observation floor is open on weekends. Taking pity on us on that cold day, the ticket seller offered us a generous group discount, so most of us opted to sketch from the 73^rd floor.

On a cloudless day, the 360-degree view was incomparable! In addition to Mt. Rainier and the Olympic mountains, Mt. Baker is visible from up there – one of few spots in Seattle where that northern peak can be seen. Yes, Columbia Center is even better than the Space Needle (a ticket to the top now costs $49), which is always jam-packed with tourists. Although some tourists were at Columbia Center, most snapped a few photos and moved on quickly, leaving all the cushy seating to sketchers.

And sketch we did! Nearly 40 sketchers enjoyed an inspiring afternoon in the sky.

Mt. Rainier and the Cascades to the south

Mt. Baker to the north

Before the outing began, I stood at 4th and Cherry to make this 5-minute sketch of Columbia Center. Five minutes was all I could stand in the cold!

Making Marks With and Without Intention

 

1/20/26 photo reference

The other evening, I caught myself starting to doomscroll, so I gave my wrist a swift slap and grabbed a sketchbook. My reference photo was a neighbor’s colorful yard that I had snapped at the height of summer. I had been so attracted to all the lush layers of textures and colors I saw, not just in the yard but all the way down the block. Recalling the loose and free mark-making that Orla Stevens demonstrates and recommends, I first used a Derwent Drawing pencil to sketch in monochrome (below). I was just having fun making a variety of marks by holding the pencil in different ways – loosely from the back end, tightly as I usually do, gripped in my fist, held backhand the way lefties apparently write (not me, though).

1/20/26 photo reference

When I was done, it occurred to me that I had unintentionally made a values study. Of course, that got me thinking about the values-based color studies I have been making lately. Instead of making a simple mark-making exercise to distract myself from doomscrolling, it became a more intentional color study based on values (top of post). And since I’d already done the values study, it was easy to fill in with a variety of colors, even if they didn’t make “sense.” For example, the plants in the foreground were lavender, but I chose amber and pale green to emulate the lavender’s values. It was fun and relaxing because I focused on making a variety of marks, not trying to render the scene accurately. 

Limited tools, limited choices

Bonus: Although my main intention was doomscrolling prevention, I think these exercises now have the added benefit of being good practice for looser urban sketches.

I used the somewhat random and limited assortment of mixed-media tools (at right) that were still nearby. After making a couple of studies from photos several weeks ago, the water-soluble pencils and crayons had stayed next to my reading chair. I added the Caran d’Ache Fibralo markers after seeing Orla Stevens’ YouTube. It’s working out well as my anti-doomscrolling kit. With a small number of materials and colors, it keeps me from spending too much time thinking about what to use, and I can just jump in.

Below is a pair of sketches I made the next evening using the same process.

1/21/26 photo reference

1/21/26 photo reference

Trying to squelch doomscrolling? Make yourself a small anti-doomscrolling kit of a few mixed-media materials, and keep it next to the chair where you are most likely to scroll. Keep a sketchbook there, too, and you’re all set the next time you catch yourself. It helps to have some reference photos handy, too, but I bet your phone is full of them. Don’t spend long looking for just the right one; remember, it’s all about mark-making and not about accurate rendering. I would add to that: You don’t need to feel “inspired” by the reference photo! Even trash cans work!

Sammy

 

1/12/26 Sammy (reference photo by Katelyn This)

This commissioned portrait of sweet Sammy was a gift for the buyer’s friend, who had recently had to put down the 18-year-old pup. I could see what a long, well-loved life he had had. RIP, Sammy.

Technical notes: It was the kind of reference photo I dreaded back when my approach was to be as realistic as possible. The image was a low-res thumbnail, the lighting was dark, and the whole face was a bit out of focus. I couldn’t even see much of the eyes, let alone a sparkling catchlight. Arrrggh!

I knew a brush pen would save me from having to render what I couldn’t see; I could simply capture the gesture and essence of Sammy’s sweetness. For the all-important eyes, I fudged, mostly from experience: I created catchlights where there were none, and I’ve drawn enough dogs’ eyes to fill in what the photo didn’t provide. I hope Sammy’s human will see her beloved somewhere in the portrait.

Val

 

12/13/24

“I would avoid that seat if I were you . . . Val has been known to throw food.”

That was my first introduction to Val, one of Greg’s co-residents in memory care. As I got to know Val better, I observed her throwing not just food but also beverages and a swift right hook. Lean and petite, she looked frail, but she could lob a balloon across the room during “volleyball” and use the same hand to give you a solid clip, I was told, if you were slow to duck.

Mostly non-verbal, she often responded to music by tapping enthusiastically and even dancing in her own way. In the year-and-a-half that I had observed her, I saw Val smile only once – when she was with a visitor.

She had been in the hospital a while. I recently learned that she had passed away.

3/22/25

10/3/25

11/19/25