Layers of Color

11/14/22 Maple Leaf neighborhood

On our neighborhood walk last Sunday, I saw that the brilliant red maple on Northeast Fourth was at peak, flanked by two yellow trees. It was sunny but chilly; the next day was forecast to be the same. Instead of freezing on the sidewalk, I waited until Monday and sketched from the comfort of my car.

This is the same colorful block I sketched on Halloween two years ago (though I was parked further back that time). I remember clearly the beautiful, sunny day, just like this one. Families taking walks had stopped to chat together, carefully keeping their six feet of distance. Despite the ongoing pall of COVID preventing kids from being able to partake in trick-or-treating, neighborhood Halloween festivities were apparently going on. Two blue sharks walked by.

Sketching this street again brought all of that back. It’s the super power of urban sketching.