Danny Woo Gardens and Panama Hotel

4/11/14 Platinum Carbon ink, watercolor, Canson XL
140 lb. paper

The Friday ad hoc sketchers were meeting at the historic Panama Hotel and teahouse, but I think everyone had it in the back of their minds to sketch outdoors if we lucked out on weather. Indeed, despite a bit of a chill, the sun was out, so most of us opted to walk across the street to sketch at the Danny Woo International District Community Gardens.

Rich with trees, vegetable and flower gardens and even a chicken coop, the multi-tiered space is a tangle of crooked stairways and surprising peek-a-boo views of many downtown landmarks. After a quick sketch of a couple of garden residents clucking and scratching in their coop, I settled in to sketch a tree that had been cut down with Safeco Field behind it. Like several other sketchers, I decided this community garden is worth several return visits, especially as the weather improves.

I explored the gardens a bit more, then went back to the Panama Hotel to warm up with a cup of genmaicha and a matcha green tea shortbread cookie. Now used as a bed and breakfast and teahouse, the Panama Hotel (which figured prominently in the popular novel Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford) is full of comfy furniture and fun décor to sketch.

4/11/14 Diamine Chocolate Brown ink, Sailor pen, Zig marker

4/11/14 Diamine Chocolate Brown and Grey inks, Zig markers