Orange Bikes

12/13/17 Green Lake Park parking lot

Like other major metropolitan areas, Seattle has several bike-sharing companies, and each uses bikes painted in a bright color – lime green, orange, yellow – to distinguish them. A couple of bright orange bikes left at Green Lake caught my eye when I pulled into the parking lot. In the foreground was a parked Volvo, and I thought the three vehicles together made an interesting composition.

Urban sketchers know the rule: Always sketch first the thing that’s most likely to leave. Hmmm, bikes or car? In all cases, I figured the driver/riders were walking around the lake, so I had some time. But the bikes might take me longer to draw, so I decided to quickly block in the Volvo first. That way I could mark the scale of the bikes, which were in the middle distance, against the car. I started doing that – and that’s when the pickup pulled into the space next to the Volvo, completely blocking my view of the bikes. 

Huh. I forgot the second rule: Never start sketching something if it can be blocked.