Port Townsend

10/18/13 St. Paul's Church in Port Gamble.
Platinum Carbon ink, watercolor, Canson Montval paper

On Monday my spouse-guy and I celebrated our 24^th wedding anniversary. But that didn’t stop us from celebrating again yesterday in our favorite Fall day-trip getaway location, Port Townsend. This picturesque little town on the Olympic Peninsula is full of coloring trees, Victorian architecture and water views.

A thick layer of fog made our ferry ride mysterious as distant land masses appeared as faint shadows. Driving toward Port Townsend from the Kingston ferry terminal, we passed through tiny Port Gamble, where I’ve always wanted to sketch St. Paul’s Church, which is apparently now used as a wedding chapel. I was freezing in the cold, damp air, and the trees, though gorgeous, kept dripping condensation on my head and sketchbook!

10/18/13 Diamine Chocolate Brown ink

The fog didn’t lift until late afternoon, but it was a good opportunity to practice painting a foggy water view from historic Fort Worden State Park (where I had sketched the romantic Alexander’s Castle last year). Like last year, a family of deer wandered around on the fort grounds. But unlike last year, they hung around long enough for me to catch a few gestural sketches of them.

10/18/13 View from the ferry. Watercolor, Canson XL paper

After hiking around the fort grounds, we went into town to warm up at Better Living Through Coffee, where we ran into the Whidbey Island Sketchers on their Friday sketchout. Braving the cold, they were sketching on the coffee shop’s porch, but we had to retreat inside, where I sketched the silhouetted ferry dock and a man sitting on the rocks next to the water.

Before heading home, we had dinner at Fins Coastal Cuisine, one of our favorite Port Townsend restaurants, where I managed to sketch the full moon rising over the water through our table window (No, I wasn’t sketching during dinner – I did this in the few minutes that Greg was in the restroom!).

10/18/13 View from Port Townsend. Diamine Eclipse ink, Sailor pen,Strathmore 400 paper

So you might be wondering: What was Greg doing while I was making all these sketches?

As crazy about photography as I am about sketching, he was taking lots of photos and videos.

It bodes well for the next 24+ years.

10/18/13 View from Ft. Worden. Platinum Carbon ink, watercolor, Canson XL paper

10/18/13 Diamine Grey and mixed inks,
Strathmore 400 paper