Alley on 8th

5/27/19 Maple Leaf neighborhood

Although I’ve seen plenty of alleys in other parts of town, Maple Leaf has very few. On one of my usual sketchwalks, I was surprised to find this alley on 8^th Northeast that I had never noticed before. Mundane and nondescript, this is the kind of alleyway that I would be delighted to sketch in Italy or Portugal, but at home, I ignore (if I notice it at all).

Sometimes it’s valuable to walk around the neighborhood with the eyes of a foreigner.

Technical note: To my usual red/blue editing pencil, I tried adding a bit of yellow this time to indicate the sunny patch of grass in the middle ground – and immediately regretted it. I hoped it might round out an interesting primary triad, but all it did was make me think I should color the entire sky and sidewalk yellow.