Another Sketchbook Project Begins, Plus a Plug for NARM

10/17/ 13 Diamine Eclipse ink, Sailor pen, Sketchbook Project booklet

Only a few minutes’ walk from the place where I take my car to get its oil changed, the Burke Museum is an ideal place to kill an hour with my sketchbook (much better than waiting in that stuffy little room drinking weak coffee and using weak Wi-Fi). I decided it was also an ideal place to initiate my 2014 Sketchbook Project sketchbook. As a participant last year, I had fun filling the little sketchbook, but I didn’t feel particularly compelled to participate again – until I heard that Arthouse Coop is going to take the exhibit to the Pacific Northwest in 2014, including Seattle. I couldn’t resist that, could I? I signed up again.

Last year I chose the theme “Strangers” and filled the book with mostly “floating head” sketches of people in coffee shops or riding the bus. I haven’t decided on a theme yet, but since I’ll still be working on it during the Fall and Winter, I’ll probably be sketching indoors most of the time. I’m sure I’ll still have lots of sketches of people, but maybe I’ll widen my scope to include other heads, such as skulls.

In any case, I didn’t give it much thought this afternoon at the Burke – I just pulled out the Sketchbook Project sketchbook because it was in my bag (I’ll carry it with me daily until it’s full – the best way to make sure I don’t forget to use it) and sketched a polar bear skull on page 1. Last year I discovered immediately that the thin paper in the booklet can’t take a wash, so as before, I’m not going to use watercolor in it. But the smooth surface is nice under fountain pens and markers.

10/17/13 Diamine Eclipe ink, Strathmore 400 140 lb. paper

Having initiated the Sketchbook Project booklet, I used my “Stefano” for a couple more sketches: the same polar bear skull from a different angle and a rear paw of a Hoplophoneus skeleton (which I sketched in its entirety earlier this year). 

By the way, if you’re wondering how I can afford the luxury of popping into a museum for only an hour, please indulge me for a moment as I step onto my favorite soapbox: the reciprocal museum program. My spouse-guy and I already had an annual membership to the Bellevue Arts Museum. We learned that if we paid only $10 more to upgrade to the next level of benefits, we would get free admission to hundreds of other museums in North America, including several local ones where I enjoy sketching, such as the Burke and the Museum of History and Industry. When we travel, we look at the list of participating museums to see if we’ll be nearby one of them. It’s an amazing value, and you support a whole network of museums in the U.S. Canada and Mexico. OK, end of soapbox. But don’t forget to check out the North American Reciprocal Museum Association’s list to see if you can take advantage of this great deal.

10/17/13 Diamine Eclipe ink, Strathmore 400 140 lb. paper