Tubs



5/20/13 Platinum Carbon ink, watercolor, Stillman & Birn Beta sketchbook

After a good night’s sleep, I had recovered from the intensive weekend of nearly non-stop sketching during the “Line to Color” workshop, and I was ready to take on challenging subjects again.

 

Last week I mentioned Tubs in the University District when I sketched a nearby construction site. Tubs, a long-closed and embarrassing reminder of the hot tub ‘80s, has turned into an ever-changing gallery of street art (check out this video of time-lapse photography of how the façade has changed over time). For a while the graffiti appeared surreptitiously at night, as most graffiti does, but at some point the property owner began allowing street artists to paint the building’s walls “officially.” Soon to be torn down, the building is now fenced in front, but the graffiti continues to evolve.

 

With all the cranes and wrecking balls all over town, I didn’t want to drive by one day and realize it had been demolished without my sketching it. Some think it’s an eyesore; I’m going to miss it when it’s gone.

Farmer’s Market Season: Open!

5/19/13 Platinum Carbon ink, Zig markers, Stillman & Birn Alpha sketchbook

As far as I’m concerned, the farmer’s market season officially opened today with my first visit of the year to Pike Place Market. With so many sketching subjects everywhere – interesting architecture, a sweeping view of Puget Sound and the Great Wheel, colorful produce and flower stands, lots of people – I was weary of challenging myself all weekend at Frank and Gail’s workshop and decided to go for sketching comfort food: musicians and other street performers.

 

Near the main Market entrance, vocalist Lohan Prado sang all my favorite Beatles tunes as well as other classics from the ‘50s and ‘60s.

 

5/19/13 Iroshizuku Take-Sumi ink, Zig marker, S & B Alpha

A block north, Phinneas, a 20-year-old Congo African parrot, performed astonishing tricks of voice and acrobatics with his human, who has been bringing Phinneas to the Market for the past 12 years. Phinneas prefers to perch on the newspaper box next to the curb, but he obliged me while I sketched by perching on his human’s hand.

 

Nearby, Ron Duncan gave an equally amazing performance of – well, I’m not sure how to categorize it. His repertoire consisted mostly of comedy and card tricks, but his grand finale was noteworthy: He hoola-hooped while solving a Rubik’s Cube with one hand and juggling a large book with the other. (Unfortunately, my sketching skills weren’t up to capturing his impressive finale.)

 

My last sketch before it was time for the sketchbook sharing was of a violinist with a unique style: He wore a fanny pack with a pocket that supported his violin. I sketched him from an upper landing as he played in the stairwell that leads down to Western Avenue.

5/19/13 Take-Sumi ink, Zig marker, S & B Alpha

 

Ah, the Market! So what if the temperature was only in the 60s, and I wore my raincoat, just in case. Today might as well be the first day of summer!

5/19/13 Take-Sumi ink

A Tour of Seattle, Urban Sketcher Style

5/18/13 Platinum Carbon ink, watercolor, Stillman & Birn Beta sketchbook

A day in Mount Vernon with the venerable Frank Ching and Gail Wong wasn’t enough for me; I went back for a whole weekend of their “Line to Color” Urban Sketchers workshop, this time in Seattle. Sketchers from as far away as Idaho and California joined local sketchers for what turned out to be a whirlwind tour of some of Seattle’s most sketch-worthy neighborhoods and attractions: Ballard, Fremont, Gas Works Park and the Pike Place Market.

 

The highlight of our Friday evening meet-and-greet over Ballard Pizza Company pizza was hearing guest and MC Gabi Campanario talk about the birth of the Urban Sketchers movement and how local workshops like “Line to Color” have become an ongoing adjunct to the annual international Urban Sketchers symposia.

 

5/18/13 Pilot Iroshizuku Take-Sumi ink, S & B sketchbook

In Ballard on Friday and Fremont Saturday morning, workshop participants practiced perspective and composition under Frank and Gail’s watchful eyes and thoughtful critique. As one participant kiddingly said, “I thought I was my own worst critic until I met Frank.” I worked hard practicing the exercises they recommended, but when they weren’t looking, I snuck in another sketch of Lenin (actually, my third, although he’s barely visible in the second).

 

By the time we got to Gas Works Park on Saturday afternoon, we were adding color to our lines. I finally got to practice wet-on-wet clouds over the Seattle skyline using the technique I’ve long admired in Gail’s sketches.

 

Sunday morning’s class at the Market was combined with the regular monthly Seattle Urban Sketchers meet-up, which brought out a record number of sketchers! (As far as social urban sketching goes, this sketchcrawl was an anniversary for me: A year ago this weekend I went to my very first.) I did one class exercise, a value study with selective color of the iconic Public Market Center sign. But after that, I decided class was over, and I spent the rest of the meet-up sketching my favorite farmer’s market subject: street performers (see next blog post).

5/19/13 Platinum Carbon ink, watercolor, Stillman & Birn Alpha sketchbook

By the end of the workshop, I came to the same conclusion I always come to: Learning from the masters helps; hearing their critiques of my sketches helps the most. But the only way to become a better sketcher is to practice, practice, practice.

 

Thanks, Gail and Frank, for another great workshop!

Orange Komatsu

5/16/13 Platinum Carbon ink, watercolor, Stillman & Birn Alpha sketchbook

The afternoon turned out unexpectedly sunny, so I dashed out to the U-District, thinking I’d sketch the Seattle Public Library’s University Branch. But after I parked near the fire station on 11^th Avenue Northeast and started to turn the corner at Northeast 50^th, I saw it: Yet another bunch of big machines digging up earth. This time they were on the lot next to the old Tubs (which has lately turned into an ever-changing gallery of street art).

 

5/16/13 Platinum Carbon ink

Heavy equipment seems to be calling to me lately. Unlike the earth movers I sketched at the light rail station, these were moving constantly and fast. I made a few quick studies to get the main shapes and proportions before starting a larger composition. Then I had to pick a position for the Komatsu and wait for it to return to that position several times before I could finish. (This is similar to what I do at the zoo when I’m sketching large mammals like bears, which walk around a lot but also return continually to the same positions.)

 

Piercing the sky in the background behind some trees is the Blessed Sacrament Church’s steeple, which I sketched last September.

Pedestrian Bridge Over Aurora

5/14/13 Diamine Grey ink, watercolor, Zig marker, Uniball pen, Stillman & Birn sketchbook

Northbound on Aurora Avenue North, I passed under a pedestrian bridge at around 157^th, and a light bulb turned on: “Bridges” is this week’s Urban Sketchers Flickr group theme. I didn’t think I would be near any bridges over water this week, but I was thinking too narrowly.

 

I quickly pulled into Sears’ upper-level parking lot, hoping to see what I saw: a good view of the bridge’s blue span. While I sketched, I kept hoping some pedestrians would cross over so that I could put them in for scale, but none did.

 

In the meantime, some ominously black clouds gathered on the horizon behind tall firs, even as the sun shone brilliantly in another part of the sky. Our weather has been crazy-fickle lately.

Sketching in the Center of the Universe

5/10/13 Platinum Carbon ink, watercolor, Stillman & Birn Beta sketchbook

With ideal – no, pluperfect – sketching conditions (for me, that means wearing a T-shirt and sandals but not breaking a sweat while sitting in the sunshine), a good turnout of Seattle sketchers showed up for an ad hoc meet-up in the Center of the Universe.

 

My first stop was the Fremont Troll, long on my list of favorite Seattle sights to show out-of-towners. The Troll, who lives under the Aurora Bridge, was created in 1990 by Ross Whitehead, Steve Badanes, Will Martin and Donna Walter. When I started my sketch, the only other person there was sketcher/photographer Gordon, who climbed behind the Troll’s shoulder to take a picture of me across the street. But by the time I was finishing up less than an hour later, I had lost track of the number of tourists who came by – some in taxis with the meter still running; others on tour buses; still others on foot. I know the Troll is supposed to be scary, ominously clutching a hapless VW Bug. But as I sketched him, I realized he has very human hands and seems more curious than scary.

 

5/10/13 Platinum Carbon, watercolor, Zig marker, S&B sketchbook

A few weeks ago I sketched the statue of Lenin, prompted by the Urban Sketchers Flickr weekly theme, “Oddities in Your Town.” I couldn’t resist sketching him again, although this time I let him take a back seat to an elegant tree, nearly in full leaf, offering shade to Lenin and passersby.

 

After the sketchbook sharing and lunch at the PCC with Peggy, Susan and Nilda, I wandered over near the Fremont Bridge to sketch the popularly accessorized sculpture, “Waiting for the Interurban” (made by local artist Richard Beyer). Today some of the cast aluminum sculpture’s characters were dressed in T-shirts promoting “Team Josh.” One wore a few fizzled balloons, perhaps from a previous decorating. To get that full frontal view, I had to sit across the street near the Old School Frozen Custard shop, an exercise in frustration. Traffic was continually going by on North 34^th Street, and every few minutes cars would stop for a red light, completely obliterating my view. Giving up the fight, I finally put one of those cars into my sketch.

 

5/10/13 Platinum Carbon, watercolor, Zig markers, Stillman & Birn sketchbook

My parking meter had only a few minutes left on it – not enough time for another sketch. What to do, what to do. . . ? Eat frozen custard, of course.



My Bag Gets 15 Minutes of Fame

It’s a good thing I put my bag on a diet: It’s featured in an article I wrote for the summer issue of Studios magazine. It certainly got a bigger photo than I did!

 

In part, here’s what I wrote:

Urban sketching is taking the world by storm! Unlike traditional plein air painters – who are often portrayed in fields with easel, palette and beret – contemporary urban sketchers take a more portable approach. For these thousands of sporadically nomadic artists worldwide, their “studios” have to fit in pockets, backpacks, purses or everyday bags.

 

That’s because, at least for this urban sketcher, a sketching opportunity can occur at any time – during a lunch break, while waiting in a dental office, or at a brief stop between errands. So I like to have my gear with me wherever I go.

The article includes photos of the contents of my bag, my attachable watercolor kit and a couple examples of my sketches.

I wrap up the article with how I came to be an urban sketcher:

By now you’re probably wondering if I even have a “real” studio at all. For the past 10 years, I have worked as an abstract artist in a variety of media that require traditional studio work, so I do have a small home studio.

 

But the other side of the story is that for most of my life, I simultaneously felt both the fear of drawing as well as the desire to learn how to draw. In 2011, partly because of my desire to learn and partly because the Urban Sketchers movement resonated so strongly with me, I decided to overcome my fear.

 

In particular, I was inspired by Urban Sketchers founder Gabriel Campanario and his weekly column in The Seattle Times. His sketches of Seattle – my birthplace and lifelong home – depicted sites I had been to many times yet had never truly seen. I wanted to learn to see and experience those places more thoroughly. And I couldn’t do that if I never left my studio.

 Now my studio comes with me wherever I go, and I’ve never looked back.

The Summer 2013 issue of Studios magazine can be purchased digitally or in hard copy.