Downsizing, Phase 3, Completed!

 

11/13/25 Kevin, Evo and Kevin 2 after loading their truck with my junk (photo reference), plus my Top Pot Bismarck.

What a load off!

Compared to the big job last year (which required four visits from my dump truck guys), my attic haul-out was small potatoes. Still, it was immensely satisfying to welcome We Take Junk back into my house and watch 40 years of accumulation (partially) fill a truck.

Although the volume of stuff was smaller this year, there was one big difference: Instead of hauling from the basement straight through the garage and into the truck, Kevin and his crew had to carry all those bags and boxes down two flights of stairs. Again and again. Oof! They deserved Top Pot doughnuts and a big tip.

After the relief and satisfaction of seeing their truck pull out of my driveway for (I hope!) the last time, I went upstairs to take documentation photos of the half-empty attic spaces. And by “spaces,” I mean I could actually see much of the floor, uncovered by boxes for the first time since 1992. Of course, I could also see the many stacked boxes that still remain – for Phase 4.

One corner of the now-spacious attic, where I had not seen
that uncovered floor since 1992.

Although the prior work had been hard physically, most of it was relatively easy to toss (with a few exceptions). Scanning the labels on those boxes, I already felt the burden of the next phase, which will be the most difficult – all the stuff weighted with memories, nostalgia and emotional baggage.

The good news is that I’m going to take my time with Phase 4. I hope to remain in this house for eight to ten more years, at least. I won’t leave it all till the end, but I’ll take it one box at a time.

Meanwhile, the pumpkin cheesecake Bismarck was only the immediate reward. (For the record, I’m not a big pumpkin-spice-everything fan, but the filling in this Bismarck was more like a true pumpkin pie in cheesecake form! So good!) I’ll do a more thorough Phase 3 celebration soon.

Amtrak to Centralia

 

We completed three Haiku Exquisite Corpses on the train ride to Centralia. The haiku read as follows (from left): "The universe flows on/Farms and rivers, trees and houses swim past./What gift awaits me?"
"We rock and roll southward/Shakes and bumps the train ride goes/Rolling through time and space."
"Autumn trees pass by/Universe of many faces/Our destination is clear; our future is not."

About 90 miles south of Seattle, Centralia is a charming town with historic buildings and quirky shops. Years ago, a small group of sketchers made an excursion out of it by taking the Amtrak down. I felt like doing that again, and this time I invited Roy and Mary Jean to join me. Neither had ever been to Centralia, let alone taken the train there; that made the excursion seem fresh again.

Our day began at King Street Station in Seattle, where we all arrived early enough to sketch inside the station before our train. Ever since we turned the clocks back, and the days suddenly got drastically shorter, I’ve been thinking about sketching nocturnes – one of very few benefits of the Big Dark. (The workshop I took last month using white pencil on black paper also helped put me in the mood.) I wasn’t quite ready for black during the day, so I chose a dark maroon-colored Uglybook to get into the nocturne mood. It turned out to be just right for sketching a capital at the top of a column and some globe lights inside the elegant station (below, left). 

Left: King Street Station details; right: light fixtures at McMenamins Olympic Club

I also sketched a few people in the waiting area (below, right).

(All day, I hopped back and forth between the maroon book and my daily-carry green one, which means the pages are out of sequence in relation to my story. I’ll try to tell my story in chronological order, but you’ll have to look back and forth to see the corresponding sketches. This is a drawback of using multiple sketchbooks that I’ve learned to live with, though it’s inconvenient at times like this.)

Hand of a light rail rider on my way downtown and King Street Station passengers.

With a nearly two-hour train ride to Centralia, we had plenty of time to sketch on board. Sitting in the lounge area where we could face each other over a table, we played our favorite art game: Exquisite Corpse! Roy has been interested in writing/drawing haiku comics lately, which gave me an idea for adding a twist to our game: After drawing each portion of a corpse, we wrote one line of haiku that did or did not have to relate to whatever we drew. If you recall the rules of exquisite corpse, each participant continues drawing a figure without seeing what the previous artist has started. Similarly, we couldn’t see the line(s) of the haiku that came before, so we had to trust the stream of consciousness that would surely result, both visually and poetically.

The reveals were amazing (top of post)! We were stunned by how beautifully the words, ideas and images flowed, despite being made without seeing what came before. Making our corpses was probably the part of the day I enjoyed most with my creative friends!

The first thing we did once we reached Centralia was head for lunch at McMenamins Olympic Club restaurant (part of the hotel of the same name). I knew from previous visits that the restaurant is full of fun décor to sketch. I liked the way the page of lamp fixtures looked next to the page I had sketched at King Street Station.

After lunch, we walked around sketching in town, which is quite small. I focused on the cool, old sign at the Fox Theatre first, then found a lamp post to sketch in my nocturne book (both below).

Fox Theatre, Centralia

Centralia street lamp

To finish off our afternoon in Centralia, we went looking for dessert. When I asked the server at Dawn’s Delectable Desserts if they offered affogato, he didn’t know what it was. I saw that they offered both ice cream and espresso, so I described it. After receiving manager approval and learning how to ring up my unconventional request, all three of us were happily served affogatos (and the whole staff learned how to make them). My job there was done!

A sleepy train passenger and Dawn's Delectable Desserts (out of sequence in this spread because I thought I would have more to sketch at the cafe to fill the left page, but we didn't have much time before it closed).

After closing down Dawn’s at 3, we waited for our train at the historic Centralia Station (built in 1912), where I found another lamp and an architectural detail to sketch in my nocturne book (below).    

Centralia Station details

An entirely fun day with good friends!

The excursion was a birthday celebration for me, and Roy and MJ both surprised me with sketches they had made! Thanks for making my birthday special!

Last of the Color

 

11/11/25 Green Lake neighborhood

Amazingly, our days of clear, sunny days continued – so rare in November! After a walk around Green Lake with a friend, I stopped in the neighborhood to catch this yellow tree towering over nearby houses. The rain is back again, so we probably are seeing the last of the color now. Despite its late start, what a lovely fall we’ve had!

Pencilvember, Week 2: Truncated

Reference photo by Frank Koyama

After Pencilvember Week 1’s good times with soft Prismacolors, I changed to Faber-Castell Polychromos for Week 2. Although I had been planning weekly updates to align with my plan to use a different pencil brand each week, I’ve ended Week 2 early. Here’s why:

When I made all those colored pencil pet portraits the past couple of years, Polychromos had been my go-to, but that’s because I was going for a detailed, realistic look. The hard but highly pigmented Polychromos is ideal for that. What Polychromos is not good for, however, is speed. It’s best used in a traditional way, which is multiple, lightly applied layers – a time-consuming process. The slam-it-down method I use for speed works best with soft colored pencils.

I knew all that going in, but I wanted to challenge myself anyway, and most of these took more than my 20-minute goal – closer to 25 or 30 minutes. I’m not unhappy with the results, but they confirmed that Polychromos is not the best pencil choice when speed is of the essence. It just takes too long to build up dark values. I decided to end Polychromos week early, and I’ll choose a much softer pencil going forward.

On the upside, I’m pleased with other experiments Pencilvember is enabling me to try. Last week I mentioned in an image cutline that when my reference photos were taken in flat lighting, I used a yellow pencil to remind myself where the light would be, if it were more easily visible. This trick also works with subjects in good lighting, but when I don’t want to take the time to create contrast that would indicate the light.

12/11/23 My original sketch of Tucker on
the cover of a Field Notes notebook. The background was painted with ArtGraf water-soluble graphite.

Tucker turned out to be a fitting example of this. When I first sketched him two years ago (above, right), I painted in a dark background behind the lighted side of his face. This time, instead of trying to hastily scribble in a similar contrasting background with colored pencils, I used yellow as a shorthand to indicate the window light.

Tucker is also an excellent example of a point I brought up several months ago in my post offering tips on pet portraiture. If you have a model in good lighting or a good reference photo, the eyes of animals (as well as humans) will show a shadow of the upper eyelid. The strong, frontal light on Tucker’s face was ideal for indicating these shadows. Catching these shadows is not important if realism is not the goal, but they’re hard to resist when they are so clearly visible, which is rarely the case. (This was one of my favorite pet reference photos to work with – an unusual, challenging, three-quarter pose with beautiful natural lighting. If only all commission reference photos could be like Tucker’s!)

Silhouette

 

11/9/25

A low haze covered the horizon. I was afraid Her Majesty would be hiding behind it, but I crossed the I-5 overpass at Northeast 80^th, just in case. Her silhouette was my reward.

Autumn Walking

10/25/25 This was one of those walks when I told myself
that if the rain stopped, I'd sketch whatever I saw
at that moment.

10/6/25

Some days are wet and blustery, and it’s hard to get out the door. Others are a surprisingly sunny reprieve between days of deluge. Fall is like that in these parts.

11/7/25

A few days ago I was delighted by how much color still remains. After all the rain and wind we’ve been having, much of that color is on the ground instead of in the trees, but some leaves are still hanging on. Since I don’t usually bring a white sketchbook with me on fitness walks, I’m content to simply enjoy the color instead of sketching it.

11/8/25

Photographed on 11/7/25

Bolex H16 Reflex

 

11/6/25 (photo reference)

In the deepest, darkest recesses of the attic were things Greg had shipped here when he initially moved from the Twin Cities. First in the basement and then later in the attic (after the attic was built, along with the second story), the relics from his young adulthood got stored away. Other, newer stuff piled up in front of them until eventually they were completely concealed from view. My archaeological excavation that began a few weeks ago finally unearthed them: Filmmaking equipment in big, heavy cases.

With an art degree in cinematography, he made numerous short films in the ‘70s with a camera that was old even back then: a Swiss-made Bolex H16 Reflex. According to Wikipedia, the model was first produced in 1956.

Hauling the leather case out, I couldn’t believe how heavy it was – more than 11 pounds! How in the world did filmmakers carry and use cameras like that? I started remembering stories he had told about all the equipment that was necessary even for a short film (and a small crew of friends just to haul it all).

The burden I felt then was not just of his history; I also felt the weight of his dream unfulfilled. He had always wanted to continue making films, but all the usual grownup barriers got in the way: The need for income; lack of time, money and space for production; lack of energy once the day job work was done.

I didn’t feel ready to get rid of the camera, but what would I do instead? I certainly didn’t want to leave it in the attic. Display it in the house (and worry about it getting dusty)? Maybe if I sketched it first, I’d feel better?

The thought I kept coming back to was that the object itself meant nothing to me. Although it was obviously a cool-looking antique, I wasn’t interested in drawing all those tiny knobs and levers. The camera was only important to me because I knew what it meant to Greg.

I took the camera with me on my next visit. He recognized it immediately as he fiddled with the mechanical parts. I asked him to tell me about it, but he doesn’t articulate much anymore. It was enough for me, though, to see him hold and recognize it one last time.

It was the closure I needed. Now I can let it go.

Pencilvember, Week 1

reference photo by Frank Koyama

In my early years of participating in drawing challenges like InkTober (which I’ve been doing annually since 2015) and Pencilvember, it was enough to simply use the challenge medium for a month without a theme. Back then, I tried to do each day’s drawing from life, which was often the most challenging part during wet autumns. Eventually I relented and started drawing from reference photos, and then it became advantageous to have a theme (like mouths or ears) so that I didn’t spend so much time looking for images. But the last few years, I’ve felt vaguely dissatisfied because I wasn’t challenged enough.

As I confirmed during InkTober last month, now I enjoy this type of challenge more when I have a specific learning goal as well as a theme. I’m finding it true this month, too, as I finish up Week 1 of Pencilvember!

I went over my 20-minute limit with Boots, but the result is my favorite tabby cat sketch so far. I often end up feeling like I belabor cat drawings trying to get enough detail to indicate their breed, but Boots came out just right in 25 minutes or so.

In fact, my goal is the same but with a colored pencil instead of a brush pen: Practice making pet portraits efficiently and expressively with less emphasis on resemblance (which had always been the goal with my time-consuming, detailed commissioned portraits). Since pencils are a slower medium than brush pens, I’m trying to finish each sketch in 20 minutes or less (instead of 10 minutes for brush pens). Although my main subject is still pets, I’m also branching out to include wild animals (another stretch, since I’m not familiar with the general proportions of wildebeests as I am with dogs!).

Colored pencils are intrinsically time consuming, so the only way to capture an expression or gesture in 20 minutes is to use the scribbly, messy hatching style I learned a few years ago from France Van Stone. I hadn’t used that method much since that time, so Pencilvember is a great opportunity to practice again.

One thing that has made the challenge especially fun also has an important purpose: I’m deliberately using vivid, unnatural hues to prevent me from falling into the “realistic” trap of trying to match the animal’s colors.

Reference photo by Frank Koyama

To really push this, I got out my favorite Camel rainbow pencil – which turns out to have an unexpected superpower! After drawing a rough contour, I color it lightly all over (except highlights) with the rainbow pencil. Then I use dark individual colored pencils to work on values. The superpower is that the rainbow pencil acts as a subtle, vari-colored “underpainting,” if you will, and I’m digging that slightly shimmery effect.

For Week 1 I used Prismacolors, one of my favorite pencils for their softness (which is ideal for speed). My plan is to use a different colored pencil brand each week.

As much as I love brush pens, it feels so good to have a pencil in my hand again!

(As with InkTober, most of my Pencilvember reference photos are from previous commissions. The exceptions are the wild animals that my brother, Frank Koyama, photographed during an expedition in Kenya last month.)

Among the most challenging reference 
photos is all-white Cuppa Joe photographed
with dim backlighting. With him and the lion
at right, photographed in flat light, I
used a yellow pencil to remind me where the
light would be if I could see it better.

Reference photo by Frank Koyama. It was interesting to
observe the ways in which the features and proportions
of domestic cats differ or are similar to this wild relative.
For example, the lion's pupils are round instead of 
marquise-shaped.

The Last Space

About 20 years ago, I was making abstract paintings, collages and fiber works to sell in group shows and galleries. Everything had to be ready to hang to show, so I started using three-dimensional canvas-covered boards that didn’t need expensive glass framing. I sold some, but not enough to make a dent in my sizeable collection. They took up a lot of space.

After I decided to stop selling, I stashed them all. I didn’t have a plan, but I also wasn’t ready to dump them.

This week I began tackling the last space needing downsizing during Phase 3: The small attic behind my original studio where that old work has been all this time. One thing I’ve learned from downsizing these past two years is that much of what I held onto decades ago is now easy to let go of. I unceremoniously added the artwork to the heap that will be hauled away by my junk guy next week.

As the heap grew, I realized I still appreciate the process that was behind the work – without having to keep the work itself. That’s what made it easy to dump it. Making the work brought me to where I am today and will continue taking me on my creative journey. Whether that work exists is not related to the growth it represents. It was a good feeling to acknowledge that.

Actually, I didn’t get rid of everything. I saved four collages that I still like and that have meaning for me. Instead of putting them back in the attic, I went through the house and took down some other old collages that I had tired of long ago. I tossed those and replaced them with the ones I hadn’t seen in decades. They seemed fresh again.

Reddest

 

11/4/25 Maple Leaf neighborhood

Just when I thought leaf-peeping season was winding down, I got a hot tip right in my own ‘hood. Seeing that the intersection was within walking distance, I bundled up for temps in the mid-40s and took a hike. I could spot its brilliance from a block away: possibly the reddest maple I’d ever seen in these parts, and certainly this season!

Halfway through, it started drizzling, so I was hasty, but I was determined to try to capture that color to document it for my own future reference. Despite my efforts, I didn’t do it justice, so I’m also including photos below for your leaf-peeping pleasure. Photographed with no filters!

Glimmers

 

After seven months in assisted living, Aegis staff had recommended that Greg move to the memory care area, where the caregivers would be better able to care for his changing needs. He’s been there for more than a year now. The memory care unit is small (about a dozen residents), so it feels more home-like and less institutional than many such places. Since the residents share a single common area when they aren’t in their own apartments, it’s easier to get to know everyone over time.

10/8/25

10/14/25

Although I don’t often interact with them directly, I learn a lot just by observing. Like Greg, many started out on the assisted living side and eventually moved into memory care, so I had initially met them when they were more able to do things on their own. Seeing them decline and lose skills and abilities is expected, but no less heartbreaking – just as it is with Greg.

10/20/25

10/26/25 After buying a new Pentel Pocket Brush Pen
identical to the one I've used for years, I discovered that
the waterproof black ink cartridges that come with it look a lot
like Platinum Carbon Black -- except that it bleeds and feathers
on Uglybook paper, which Platinum never does.

It’s heartening, though, when a resident who is usually unresponsive suddenly “wakes up” with a glimmer of their former selves, even briefly. One resident whom I had never seen smile suddenly did recently – in response to something a visitor had said. I’ve also seen one resident respond to music by dancing or tapping when they don’t respond to anything else.

I find myself sketching at Aegis a lot more now than I used to. Shown here are only a few of the many sketch journal pages I’ve filled with people I am getting to know by observation.

Sunrise Sky

 

10/30/25 Sunrise

Although I usually batch my skyscapito sketches and blog about several at once, I’ve been so lax lately in making them that I decided to post this one right away. Given that my last ones were in August and then January before that, who knows when I’ll get around to the next one. Ever since I completed my move from upstairs to the main floor last spring, I seem to have fallen out of the sunrise/sunset groove.

On the upside, my recently refreshed upstairs studio/go bag sketch kit was fun and handy to use for this little sunrise sketch. In addition to the same Caran d’Ache bicolors that have always been in it, a wider range of Museum Aquarelles now occupy the kit. A few of them served me well here, and I didn’t lose time (or color in the sky) fussing around looking for materials – everything I needed was in the portfolio.

Sunny Inside the Ferry Terminal

 

11/1/25 Colman Dock ferry terminal

The newish Colman Dock ferry terminal has become a USk Seattle all-season mainstay. If the weather is fair, the views from the pedestrian overpass overlooking the waterfront are spectacular. If it’s cold or wet, the terminal interior offers many of the same views facing Elliott Bay on one side and the downtown skyline on the other.

As the previous night’s deluge continued into Saturday morning, I was relieved that we’d be sheltered inside the terminal building, but by afternoon, we almost didn’t need it: The sun came out over Elliott Bay, and several sketchers enjoyed capturing the cracks of light through the clouds. The Great Wheel, the Space Needle, lots of ferry passengers and, of course, ferry boats – we all had plenty of fun subject matter to find.