360 North

5/7/20 4th NE and NE 85th St., Maple Leaf neighborhood, facing north

This is the last of my sketches made while standing on the same traffic circle, finally facing north. When I first arrived, a bright yellow backhoe was being unloaded from the trailer at left, but I missed it, so all I got was that other yellow thing that stayed on the trailer. If I’d had my full sketch kit with me, I might have used a few more colors to capture the variety of hues I saw in the foliage on that sunny morning, but my pandemic-edition sketch kit took care of most of it adequately.

My world has gotten very small. Except for four sketches I made from my mobile studio, this intersection a few blocks from home is the farthest I’ve traveled for a sketch in two months. Staying close to home requires more work; it’s not as easy to find a composition that grabs me. On the other hand, when my expectations and standards are low, the shimmer of sunlight on a slender maple is enough to keep me happy. The joy of “showing the world, one drawing at a time” is the same, even when the world is a four-block radius.

Simple kit, simple sketches, small but complex world: Here’s the full 360-degree view of Fourth Avenue Northeast and Northeast 85^th Street, going clockwise.   

4/20/20 facing east

 

4/29/20 facing south

4/16/20 facing west