More Wacky Colors

 

12/31/25 Third Place Commons

Here are a couple more experiments using my wacky color palette. I’m diggin’ it!

I made the one above at Third Place Commons, where a few friends helped Natalie celebrate her birthday. The people I sketched were not part of our group; they happened to be sitting on the other end of the community table, and they were all sketching, too! In the background is the Honey Bear Bakery's mascot.

The one below is of Top Pot Doughnuts in Wedgwood. Most of the café space is filled with shelves containing old books, which form an interesting background pattern.

1/2/26 Top Pot Doughnuts, Wedgwood neighborhood

These values-based colors are fun to use in interior spaces. I haven’t tried using them outdoors, though – that will be next-level testing. Given all the rain and cold still ahead, though, it could be a while before I can get to that. In the meantime, I have more excuses to hang out in cafés.

Foggy First

 

1/1/26 Maple Leaf neighborhood

The new year awakened with a thick blanket of fog. It’s a common occurrence this time of year, as my Facebook “memories” have been showing me my foggy sketches from years past. The first one I make of the season always feels rusty – like I forgot how to use a graphite pencil (which, I admit, I hadn’t used in a while, since I used only colored pencils during Pencilvember).

For the animals I’ve been drawing with colored pencils lately, my general approach is to slam on the color as hard and fast as possible. Drawing fog with graphite, however, requires the opposite approach: Shading as lightly as possible while still being visible.

The Burke’s Irresistible Skeletons

 

1/4/26 Columbian mammoth, Burke Museum

I’ve sketched at the University of Washington’s Burke Museum many times, both at the old building and the current one, and I never seem to tire of the paleontology area. Who could resist the skeletons of huge creatures that have been extinct for literally eons? Apparently, no one: The prehistoric animal skeletons were by far the most-sketched artifacts at Sunday’s USk Seattle outing.

Although I’ve sketched the Columbian mammoth nearly every time I’ve visited the new building, it’s not necessarily because it’s my favorite (although it is one). Many of the smaller skeletons are backlit by the Burke’s floor-to-ceiling windows, which makes them harder to draw. I really wanted to use my black sketchbook that day, so I walked around to get the lighted side of its skull and amazingly enormous tusks (top of post).

Walking down to the lower-level entrance where the Burke’s mascot mastodon greets visitors (another favorite exhibit that I’ve sketched many times), I looked up at the Baird’s bearded whale skeleton hanging high above us all. I didn’t scale my sketch very well to accurately show how huge it is compared to Andika, who was sketching the mastodon on the floor below.

Baird's beaked whale's tail and Andika

In the time remaining before the throwdown, I needed something I could capture relatively quickly. From the stairway landing below the third floor, I looked up again, this time spotting the Elasmosaur replica hanging from the ceiling.

After the outing, I joined a few friends for lunch at nearby Café on the Ave. I was too hungry to sketch my food (which was a delicious salmon eggs Benedict made with a croissant instead of the traditional English muffin; regrettably, I didn’t even photograph it), but after I was full, I caught my friends.

Lunch at Cafe on the Ave

Treating Myself Like a Dog

 

12/31/25 Sketched from mirror

When I looked at my social media feeds on the last day of 2025, several friends had posted self-portraits. Then my own Facebook “memories” showed me selfies I had drawn on previous New Year’s Eves. How could I forego that tradition?

Since I’ve been training myself to sketch pet portraits more efficiently, I decided it was time to treat myself like a dog. I used exactly the same process as I did with every labradoodle, terrier and Chihuahua I sketched during Pencilvember: First I spent some time on the eyes with a bit of care, and then I shaded in the rest of the face and hair relatively quickly. I used a rainbow pencil for the early line work, then did the color with a few preselected Derwent Drawing pencils. I spent more than the 20 minutes I gave myself for pet portraits (alas, vanity is still a factor with selfies), but overall, it was less laborious than most self-portraits I’ve drawn.

I figure that if I have the courage to sketch (and share!) a self-portrait, I have everything I need to face whatever challenges the new year brings.

Piedmont Café

 

12/30/25 Piedmont Cafe, First Hill neighborhood

At our last art play date of the year, Mary Jean, Roy and I met at the Piedmont Café on First Hill. Originally the historic Piedmont Apartment Hotel, this newish café is the most beautifully appointed coffee shop I’ve been to in Seattle (sorry, I forgot to take photos of the interior, but the links above include some images). 

What’s even more delightful, though, is the stellar customer service. After placing my order, I fully expected to hear my name hollered to come and get my drink. To my surprise, a server brought our beverages to our table! I can’t recall the last time I got table service at a coffee shop. In a city full of a thousand coffee joints, it’s exceptional. If only it were a little closer to home, I could easily call this lovely café my “third place.”

Beyond that unexpected delight, I also had enormous fun that morning doing more wacky palette color studies – this time on location (which is all-important to me). I’m especially pleased with the way the first sketch came out (top of post). It’s an unusual palette for me, but it was easy for me to interpret values with it. And it pulled me out of the “realistic” color rut – a fresh way to kick off the new year!

The Piedmont is a civilized place where patrons can slow down,
enjoy their beverages and sketch in a beautifully furnished space.

Coloring by Values: Wacky Palette Experiments

 

12/28/25 Caran d'Ache Museum Aqurelle pencils

What I’m calling my “wacky palette” idea has turned out to be a barrel of fun! These studies are also a great way to practice urban sketching during these days of temps in the 30s. The reference photos I snapped on summer walks, especially during the golden hour, are coming in handy now.

I knew that if I looked at the reference images first, I would automatically start choosing colors to “match” reality instead of coloring by values. To avoid that, I pre-selected palettes in colored pencils or crayons, then chose reference photos. (This is the same tactic I used during Pencilvember’s pet portraits.) I didn’t care about subject matter at all; I just chose images with strong value contrasts (you’re probably snickering that I take photos of trash cans, but you already know that’s the way I roll 😉).

12/28/25 Caran d'Ache Neocolor II crayons

Interestingly, many colors I’m using are ones that I rarely, if ever, use in urban sketching, especially pastels. I’m not too worried about how my hues will blend – something I spend a lot of time thinking about when I use triads, for example – because I’ve decided that will be part of the experiment. As I’ve already discovered, my wacky palettes are helping me discover unlikely combos and mixes that I wouldn’t have otherwise tried.

I don’t usually show reference photos on my blog, but in this case, I thought it might be informative to see the values in the images and how I interpreted them with color.

Why use wacky colors? My goal with any of the color exercises I have tried –temperature, primary or secondary triads, complements – is to avoid slavishly trying to “match” reality. Yet I also don’t feel compelled to simply use unrealistic colors just for the sake of mixing things up. After nearly 15 years of sketching mostly descriptively, I’m trying to move myself in the direction of being more expressive. I’ve learned that I have to try a lot of things until something “sticks” and becomes internalized. I don’t know if this will stick, but I’m having fun finding out!

12/28/25 Neocolor II crayons

As an exercise, I must say that these studies are much easier than some other color exercises I have tried. As much as I am intrigued by color temperature, for example, I have found it too frustrating to sketch on location while also thinking about that concept. Having to think that much takes away from the fun of urban sketching! Values, however, are easier to see as I apply color in this unusual (for me) way.

The true test will be how well I’m able to practice these concepts on location. For now, though, I’m enjoying practicing at home.

St. Mary’s Catholic Church

 

12/26/25 Central District

Whenever I’m driving down to Seattle Fish Guys, I glimpse the steeple of an old church. Although I’ve long thought that I’d like to get close enough to sketch it, I’m usually in a hurry to do whatever other errands have brought me to the other end of town. Last week, despite the drizzle, I impulsively took a turn to find the church and finally sketch it.

It turned out to be St. Mary’s Catholic Church, which has had issues and is now closed. According to this 2022 article, “A 120-year-old parish in Seattle, once home to a thriving African-American population, is set to close its doors amidst prayerful protests and a still ongoing appeal to the Vatican.”

Here’s another benefit of urban sketching: I never would have learned that about a 120-year-old church in the Central District if I hadn’t sketched it.