8/29/15 ink, watercolor, colored pencils |
If you think I’ve been traveling a lot lately, you’d be
right: August was a record-breaking month! First, there was the West Coast
Sketch Crawl in San Diego; then the Twin Cities; and finally the San
Francisco Bay area this past week.
The occasion for the last trip was my niece Alix’s marriage
to her longtime sweetheart, Seila. Shortly after we received their invitation,
I started thinking about sketches I wanted to do for the event. One was the
wedding ceremony itself. I’d never sketched at a wedding before, so I contacted
Alix to get her permission, and I was delighted when she happily gave it. I had
grand ideas about making the event an opportunity for sketch reportage (more on
that later)!
The second was a sketch for their wedding card. What could I
sketch that would be an appropriate symbol of a young couple beginning their
lives together? The wedding invitation was in the University of Washington colors,
purple and gold. I knew that Seila was a UW grad and still a huge UW Huskies
fan. Could the wedding theme colors really be purple and gold? Indeed, they
were – and that gave me the idea for their card. A few weeks before the
wedding, I went out to Hec Edmundson Pavilion (AKA Huskies Stadium) on the UW campus to sketch the bronze Husky
mascot sculpture.
7/30/15 ink, watercolor, colored pencils |
As for that sketch reportage opportunity. . . ? Most wedding
ceremonies I’ve attended, even informal, nonsecular ones, have lasted at least
15 minutes (and some have been much longer) – plenty of time for a sketch. Alix
and Seila’s exchange of vows, however, was over in about five! I barely had
time to finish Alix; Seila I had to do from memory (and I painted during the reception while we all waited for wedding cake). Originally I had plans to
sketch during the reception too, but . . .
. . . speaking of reportage, this wedding was the first I
attended with such strong social media coverage. Shortly before the wedding,
the bride and groom asked guests to upload wedding day photos to Instagram with
the hashtag #alixandseila. Seconds
after the vows were completed, the groom snapped a group selfie, and during the reception, photos Instagrammed by guests
were instantly projected on the walls, creating our own entertainment. Did I
miss the tossing of rice or live band playing oldies? Heck, no! Instagramming photos
(and my sketch!) to the live feed was way more fun (and then I forgot all about
sketching)!
8/30/15 ink, watercolor |
Half Moon Bay, the wedding location, is a lovely beach when
it’s sunny, but it’s often windy and foggy. The morning and afternoon of the
wedding day were cold and drizzly, but the sun came out just in time for the
early evening outdoor ceremony. The day after, Greg and I spent a few hours
walking on Half Moon Bay’s various beaches, where I sketched through all kinds
of sunshine, wind and cold.
After the wedding festivities and sending the couple off on their honeymoon to South Africa, we went into the city for our own adventures . . .
8/30/15 brush pen, watercolor |
I love that you sketched at the ceremony. The sketch of the bridal couple came out great. They had a great idea of using the photos that the guests took. Sounds like a fun time.
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