Halloween in the ‘Hood

10/27/17 Pumpking carving party

It was a busy weekend for October festivities. After sketching with USk Seattle on Friday at Swansons, which was decked out for fall, I went to the Northgate Community Center for a pumpkin-carving party. My friend Alice is the primary coordinator for this annual neighborhood event, where families receive free pumpkins and refreshments while they decorate their pumpkins to the Thriller soundtrack. Last year was the first time I sketched this event, and it really scratched my itch for childhood nostalgia (without the mess of actually carving a pumpkin).

By the time I got there, the party was in full swing (Alice reported that more than 225 pumpkins were given out that day). I was impressed by how focused many of the children were by their tasks. Even young kids wielding plastic tools were busily scooping, digging, cutting and marking their pumpkins. Parents, too, were elbow-deep in pumpkin guts or just trying to manage kids who were less into carving and more into throwing seeds.

10/27/17

Then Sunday afternoon was the annual Maple Leaf Halloween Parade. Young kids, their parents and dogs, all in costumes, walked slowly and somewhat haphazardly from Fifth Northeast to Maple Leaf Park, where more festivities ensued. I followed along from across the street, quickly trying to grab a sketch when I could (it reminded me of the Women’s March in January when I got good practice sketching as I walked). 

I have been working so hard on landscapes lately and not going to life drawing sessions or even coffee shops that I felt very rusty sketching these kids. I like to think of myself as a well-rounded urban sketcher – I don’t ever want to say, “Oh, I don’t do _____” (fill in with challenging subject matter) as I sometimes hear other sketchers saying. As much as I dread winter weather, I am looking forward to being forced indoors so that I can practice drawing people again and regain balance.

10/29/17 Maple Leaf Halloween Parade

10/29/17