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| 7/24/15 inks, watercolor |
Salty’s on Alki Beach was today’s destination for the
Friday ad hoc sketchers. Not so much the seafood restaurant itself, although
some sketchers did end up eating there, but more for its décor – a few large,
rusty remains of the Kalakala, the iconic Art Deco ferry
that is unfortunately long gone, and another Astronaut on the Town.
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| 7/24/15 Inks, watercolor, colored pencil |
I started the morning at Seacrest Park, a five-minute walk from Salty’s, where dozens of
fishermen were trying their luck for salmon at the pier. I tried to be
discreet, but the bored fishermen weren’t seeing much action on their lines, so
eventually I attracted a lot of attention. They seemed to get a kick out of
seeing themselves or each other in my sketch. (I hear about sketchers whose subjects
are offended when they realize they are being sketched, but I have yet to encounter
a “victim” who wasn’t delighted!)
Reveling in the downtown Seattle skyline and gloomy,
overcast sky coloring Elliott Bay a steely gray (do you think maybe I’m a native?),
I walked through the park back to Salty’s. On the restaurant’s porch was “Aquarius,” an Astronaut on the Town
painted by Xavier Lopez Jr. Since the restaurant wasn’t open to the public yet,
I thought I’d be safe sitting with my back against the front door, but it
turned out that a wedding was about to take place. A bride nervously teetered
down the stairway on spike heels with her entourage, while others frantically
kept the groom inside until she was safely out of sight. I finished that sketch
quickly to get out of the way before the wedding guests started appearing.
My plan was to sketch the Kalakala remains in the parking lot next, but as I was looking for
a good angle, it started spitting, and then the spitting turned to full-on
rain. By then I was already walking through Seacrest Park again, so I dashed
into Marination Ma Kai, a Hawaiian café,
near the fishing pier. I would have preferred sketching outdoors, but on the
other hand, a musubi snack and a table with a view of their deck wasn’t so bad,
either.
By the way, today’s sketch outing was good-naturedly dubbed
the “Singapore Symposium Pity Party”
(which will continue tomorrow in Olympia)! Although I am sad to be missing out
on all the fun and sketching that I’ve been seeing on social media (#USkSingapore2015)
this week, I have to say I much preferred wearing two hoodies this morning to
sweating in the Singapore humidity! (Yes, I’m definitely a Seattle native.)
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| 7/24/15 ink, watercolor |
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| 7/24/15 inks, colored pencil |
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| A few sketchers within the rusty remains of the Kalakala. |
Fun sketches and photos! I like the latest astronaut and the row of fisherman. I find people are usually happy to see that they were sketched. I don't think I would be happy in the heat and humidity of Singapore either. It is warm enough here. lol
ReplyDeletePity party, eh? I could use some of that, though I'm very grateful for all the reporting being done, particularly by Liz and Teoh. I don't think I could keep up with them anyway :-) What's the "Kalakaka"? A boat?
ReplyDeleteYeah, the Kalakala was an old ferry boat that floating around rusting for years. Many efforts were made to try to save it, but ultimately, no one came through with a plan and funding.
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