Volunteer Park

6/14/13 Platinum Carbon ink, watercolor, Stillman & Birn Beta sketchbook

A few months ago I sketched the view of the Space Needle from Volunteer Park. Today I met a few other Seattle Urban Sketchers at the park for an ad hoc gathering, and I decided to sketch again from the same vantage point. This time I included the Isamu Noguchi sculpture Black Sun, a popular frame for the Space Needle in many a tourist photograph. A boy hopped into the donut hole at just the right moment for me to include him, too.

 

6/14/13 Sailor pen, Diamine Eclipse ink

Chilled after the half-hour I spent on that sketch, I popped into the Seattle Asian Art Museum to warm up. The current exhibit, “Legends, Tales, Poetry: Visual Narrative in Japanese Art,” includes this sculpture of a Buddha, circa second or third century.

 

With only 15 minutes left before the appointed sketchbook sharing time, I looked around at the large grassy area near the Conservatory, and every elementary-age kid in the city seemed to be celebrating the last day of school. (It was probably actually only a few classes, but it was more kids than I’ve seen in one place in a long time.) I really enjoyed using my Sailor fountain pen (with the funky ski-jump nib) on the sketch of the Buddha, so I pulled it out again for this park scene. Although I’ve used it many times, it was the first sketch I’ve done with that pen that made me feel like I was finally taking advantage of its variable line widths. It was fun tilting the pen to scribble the trees.

6/14/13 Sailor pen, Diamine Eclipse ink, Stillman & Birn Beta sketchbook