Early Sakura

3/17/14 Kuretake brush pen, watercolor, Diamine Grey ink, Canson XL 140 lb. paper

So many blossoming cherry trees have been spotted around town the past week that I started wondering if the amazing trees in the University of Washington’s Quad were at their peak yet. On March 30 last year, the Quad looked like a fairyland of trees as white as clouds. Thousands of people were on campus enjoying the unseasonably warm and sunny day, and unbelievably, I wore flip-flops as I sketched those trees.

It was a couple weeks earlier than last year, but Greg wanted to try out his macro lens, and the sun breaks in the clouds looked promising, so we head out for the Quad. Apparently two weeks makes a huge difference, because the trees today were definitely not at their peak yet.

Flip-flops? Not a chance: I was shivering before I even finished this quick sketch, and we both decided to bag it long before our parking meter time ran out. It’s a good thing, too – as we walked across campus, it started raining, and then the rain turned quickly to hail! 

Photo by Greg Mullin