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7/19/25 Edmonds Summer Market sketchwalk |
For the third year, the charming town of Edmonds 20 minutes north
of Seattle was the location of Sketcher Fest, an international festival
of sketchbooks and sketching. During the previous two years, I had attended
workshops (with Virginia Hein in 2023 and Eduardo Bajzek last
year) and volunteered in various ways during the events. This year I put in most
of my volunteer time on the front end months before the event so that I could
enjoy a lighter schedule and more free time to sketch. I caught up with long-time
friends, some of whom I hadn’t seen in years, and met others in person after
years of knowing them only online. Striking a good balance between commitments
and flexibility, I enjoyed the weekend immensely.
To open Day 1, I led a sketchwalk centered on the Edmonds
Summer Market (above), which is several blocks of local makers, vendors and food
stands. Although the morning was chillier than most of us wanted, it was a fun
and relaxing way to start the festivities.
In the afternoon I went to Graphite Arts Center to attend Bill Russell’s artist talk about his experiences as a reportage illustrator (below). His
closing words inspired me the most: While it’s fine to simply sketch what we
see, he challenged us to be visual journalists by actively looking for the
story and telling it with sketches and words. To do that, we can’t just
observe; we must engage with people, learn their stories and document them with
compassion.
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Graphite Arts Center and Bill Russell's presentation |
To end Day 1, I attended the Artist Reception, which was a
relatively small event to give ticketed participants an opportunity to chat casually
with the guest artists over tacos and drinks. Pencils were provided on
the paper-covered tables to facilitate spontaneous portraiture! (See photo cutlines
for more details of my fun day.)
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At upper left is the coolest thing! Srina was walking around snapping pics with a camera that spits out small black-and-white images! How fun! |
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Spontaneous portrait party! |
Technical note: After cleaning out a couple of long-neglected
fountain pens recently, I suddenly got in the mood to put my beloved Sailor Naginata fude de mannen back in action! Since I began my comics format, I’ve
preferred using a bolder marker line, but I’ve also missed the fude’s more
organic marks. It was good to be back “home” with my fude. |
Return of the Sailor fude! |
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ArtSpot, Edmonds' wonderful art supply store, treated Sketcher Fest participants to free hot dogs and chips at lunch time. |
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ArtSpot saved me twice -- once to replace my essential gray Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Pen when it ran dry mid-day and again when I needed a glue stick to adhere the prints that Srina made for me into my sketchbooks. |
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Fangirl moment: Roy, Cathy and I were walking up Main Street when we ran into Tommy Kane (next to me) and Danny Gregory (in back)! They indulged us with a selfie. |
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Great turnout for the Summer Market sketchwalk! |
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My Bay Area peeps, including Nina Khashchina (left), whom I have followed for years but had never met until Saturday. Also shown are Cathy McAuliffe and Uma Kelkar. |
What!!! Tommy Kane and Danny Gregory! How lucky is that! Wish I could have been there to see all the Urban Sketchers and take some of the classes, sigh, maybe next year, lol!
ReplyDeleteI know, right?? Nobody knew that they were going to attend, so their unexpected sightings were being reported everywhere! LOL!! Please do try to attend next year! It's a blast!
DeleteSketcher Fest looks like a lot of fun...not quite the intensity of the symposiums.
ReplyDelete