Fueled by Clouds at Westlake Center

7/10/15 inks, colored pencils, Zig marker

Overcast skies and air cool enough this morning that I grabbed my hoodie on the way out the door – ahhh, Seattle, where have you been the past month? I’ve missed you (spoken like the native that I am)! With temps today in the low 70s instead of record-breaking 80s and 90s, I was finally feeling at home again. Although we Friday sketchers could have used a bit more sunshine for shadows at Westlake Center, I wasn’t about to complain.

7/10/15 inks, colored pencils

First I warmed up with a classic urban street scene – lots of different architectural styles piled up on each other as viewed from the middle of Westlake Center. Next I moved around to the opposite side to sketch the cute miniature Ride the Ducks boat/bus, which is actually the ticket booth for the land and water tour vehicles. The round tree planters/benches made an interesting composition, but it wasn’t until I started sketching that all those tricky ellipses snuck up on me!

My plan during lunch was to sketch the Maldives, the featured performers on stage at Westlake for the Out to Lunch concert series. The music was so loud, though, that we could hardly have conversation. Instead of trying to find a quiet place to continue sketching, Michele and I went to see the excellent exhibit by the Northwest Watercolor Society at the Convention Center.

After we split up to go home, I was feeling like one more sketch, but I didn’t want to go back to the too-loud concert, which I could hear more than a block away. Just as I crossed the street at Fifth and Pine, I found my kind of musical performer: The Joe Buckets. His entire kit was made of found objects – a varied collection of buckets, boxes, cymbals and other percussive instruments mounted in creative ways.

A good day of sketching always ends with a busker.

7/10/15 inks, colored pencils