Portrait of a Blossoming Cherry

3/24/14 Platinum Carbon and Pilot Iroshizuku Kosumo inks, Kuretake brush pen, watercolor, Zig markers, Canson XL 140 lb. paper

When I posted my first blossoming tree sketch of the year on Facebook a few weeks ago, my friend Laura told me about a particular block in the Sunset Hill neighborhood, which has become famous for its spectacular cherry trees. After yesterday’s peak experience at the UW Quad, I figured the trees Laura referred me to might be near their peak, too. Plus I was looking for an excuse to take a drive with the top down (yes, it’s finally that warm!), so I headed over to Sunset Hill.

3/24/14 Pilot Iroshizuku Kosumosu and Diamine
Chocolate Brown inks, Sailor pen, Zig marker

The complete opposite of yesterday’s mob scene, the block between Northwest 77^th and Northwest 78^th on 33^rd Northwest was so serene that the only sound I heard was the drone of a distant mower. After I parked and got out, no other cars came by the whole time I was sketching. Strollers and dog walkers took their time on this block, stopping to snap a photo or simply gaze up at the canopy of delicate pink. Cherry after cherry lined both sides of the street at varying stages of blossoming. Most were at their peak, but others still had tight buds. Many had the stout, gnarled trunks and thick branches of trees that had been around the block a few times (so to speak).

I walked slowly up the middle of the street, considering whether to try to capture as many trees as possible in one sketch, a small cluster, or an individual tree. That’s when one stopped me in my tracks. I don’t know if it’s the oldest on the block, but it must certainly be among the oldest. Five huge branches broke out from a trunk so thick it looked like a throne. It deserved a portrait.