Friday, July 25, 2014

Mary Lou and Sam’s House Boat

7/25/14 Platinum Carbon ink, watercolor, Canson XL 140 lb. paper
Summer is back on, and the Friday sketchers celebrated with a special treat: Sketching on and around the Lake Union house boat of Mary Lou and Sam, who generously opened their floating home to us.

Choosing my first subject was easy: I climbed all the way up to the rooftop deck (stepping very carefully on that last spiral staircase!) to sketch Lake Union with the Aurora Bridge and Gas Works Park in the background.

7/25/14 Pilot Iroshizuku Asa-Gao ink, Pitt Artist
Pen, Caran d'Ache Museum water-soluble pencils
The second sketch subject was harder to pinpoint. First I wandered around the three levels of their home, looking through all the many windows. Then I went outside and walked around all the surrounding docks, peeking at the views between the boats and marveling at the magical romance of living on the water. (Yes, we spotted the house boat from Sleepless in Seattle just a short distance away!) Suddenly I realized I had only about 15 minutes before the meeting time, so I quickly sketched a couple of boats in front of me.

It was hard to beat sketching from a house boat, but then Sam gave a few lingerers an even better treat: A ride around Lake Union on their Lear boat! He showed us how the top rises to reveal a roomy cabin (certainly roomy enough for more than the five sketchers who hopped in when he offered the ride) and then acts as sun shelter, so we could cruise the lake in comfort. I couldn’t resist sketching Captain Sam at the wheel of the Plug ‘n Play.

Thank you, Sam and Mary Lou, for opening your home to us, and thanks to Peggy for initiating the opportunity!

7/25/14 Pilot Iroshizuku Take-Sumi, Tsuyu-kusa and Fuyu-Syogun inks, Museum
water-soluble pencils

1 comment:

  1. I missed these sketches here but did see them on Flickr and on the Urban Sketching site with some of your other local sketchers. How great that you were able to sketch from the houseboat and around the dock. That is something that most of us won't have the opportunity to do. The top sketch really captures the feel of what it must be like on the houseboat. Great job!

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