West Seattle

6/2/13 Sailor pen, Diamine Eclipse ink

West Seattle is only about 10 miles away as the crow flies, but I rarely find myself visiting that neighborhood, maybe because the West Seattle Bridge can sometimes be a traffic snarl. But whenever I’m there, I regret that I don’t spend more time enjoying the amazing city and water views so easy to find there. Since Mary is visiting from Minneapolis, and it was a delightfully sunny day (somewhat making up for our dismal Memorial Day weekend), it was ideal for sightseeing on the west side.

Our first stop was the West Seattle Farmers Market, one of few markets open year-round, where I sketched vocalist and guitarist Eric Freeman.

 

Next we walked through Lincoln Park to get to the beach near the Fauntleroy ferry dock. It’s not the kind of beach where you’d want to walk barefoot – it’s mostly covered in rocks and driftwood rather than sand – but it’s an ideal place to sit and ponder life’s questions with a view of Puget Sound.

 

6/2/13 Diamine Chocolate Brown ink, Zig markers, Stillman & Birn sketchbook

We made our way to Jack Block Park, where the Seattle Urban Sketchers met for a sketchcrawl last year that I had to miss. I’ve been regretting it ever since. I finally managed a quick skyline sketch punctuated by the red dinosaurs of industry.

 

Our last stop on the west side was the Alki Point Lighthouse, which celebrated its 100^th birthday yesterday. We were given an interesting tour of the grounds and lighthouse itself, but I was disappointed that all the places where I wanted to stand to sketch it were off limits to tourists.

 

As I always say to myself on the way home from West Seattle, I have to get over there more often.

6/2/13 Sailor pen, Diamine Eclipse ink, Zig marker, Stillman & Birn Alpha sketchbook