Poplar at the Playground

6/17/13 Platinum Carbon ink, watercolor, 100 lb. paper

At 5 p.m., the usual crowd at the Maple Leaf playground was getting sparse, as kids and their parents were probably returning home to get ready for dinner. I didn’t have much time myself, but I was eager to do a field test with my new sketchbook cover, so I chose the single tall poplar at the edge of the playground, a tiny pale blue bicycle and its rider nearby.