 |
| 3/20/15 Platinum sable brush pen, watercolor, Caran d'Ache Museum colored pencils, Canson XL 140 lb. paper |
Rain was predicted all day. I’d planned to leave my car for
servicing in the U-District and then look around at the Henry Art Gallery while
I waited. As I walked to the gallery, though, the rain hadn’t yet started. I made a quick
change of plans: the Quad’s cherry trees!
In full bloom, the Quad on the University of Washington
campus makes you feel like you’re walking under a field of clouds made of huge fluffy
blossoms. Two years ago when a
freaky warm Saturday brought out crowds of hundreds to see the cherries, I remember
wearing flip-flops as I sketched. Last year it was much colder – I shivered through my sketch and dashed through hail
back to the car.
This year I noticed something new: Signs asking visitors to help protect the venerable old trees by refraining from climbing them and shaking their branches. Moss covers their huge, knotty trunks.
Today the sky was overcast, but the temperature was mild. Pale
pink petals snowed all around me. Eventually it did begin to rain, but not before I
finished my sketch on this first day of spring.
Wow...we don't have leaf buds yet and you've got cherry blossoms. No wonder people in Seattle are such happy folks :-) This is a wonderful sketch, Tina. Makes me feel just a bit warmer. --- Larry
ReplyDeleteWonderful job on the gnarly base and the clouds of pink blossoms. I love when you can find an area with a cluster of trees. It always looks so amazing when they are in bloom. Glad you caught it before the rain started. We had snow today...so I'm a bit jealous of how your Spring started. lol
ReplyDeleteBeautiful! Love the sketch and your poetic description. Two thumbs up!
ReplyDeleteThanks, everyone! Sorry to hear spring hasn't arrived in the east. . . I'll throw some warm jujus your way!
ReplyDeleteLovely rendition Tina! Nice use of the fluid brush strokes and I like how you did the pink clouds of petals. We have a similar experience here in September when the jacaranda trees are in bloom across Brisbane (purple clouds!)
ReplyDelete