Like a Dancer

 

12/28/20 Laurelhurst neighborhood

Only one excavator was working, but like a dancer or a bird, it kept cycling through three distinct positions as it moved dirt back and forth from a hole to a pile. I would draw a bit of one phase as quickly as possible, then begin the second, then the third. I could then add to each sketch as it moved back to each position repeatedly. It was the most fun I’ve had sketching on location in a while!

Incidentally, the Laurelhurst neighborhood is high up on a hill overlooking Lake Washington, which was just beyond the property where the excavator was working. On that beautiful sunny afternoon (the last before days of rain were forecast), some would have sketched the lake and Cascade Mountains above it. But the lake and mountains will still be there later; the excavator wouldn’t.

Happy 2021!