Gas Works Marina

9/24/18 Gas Works Marina

Gas Works Park is one of my favorite places to sketch, especially when I’m experimenting with new media. The view is familiar, yet the imposing Gas Works are always challenging to draw. Several years ago, I worked on a single-line exercise there, and another time I practiced using my brush pen.

This week we’ve had quintessential fall weather – temperatures in the high 60s, sunshine and clear skies – and it suddenly occurred to me that I didn’t sketch at Gas Works all summer! I dashed over there before I missed the fall, too.

My intention was to practice using graphite on the Gas Works, which offer an excellent exercise in values. But when I arrived, I found myself walking toward the marina instead, where I hadn’t sketched since USk Seattle got drenched several years ago. Although perhaps not as challenging to draw as the Gas Works, the boats, water and Capitol Hill behind them turned out to be a formidable values study in their own right. I hope I have enough good fall days left so that I can go back and try the Gas Works in graphite, too.