Taking My Wacky Palette Outdoors: Maple Leaf Park

 

1/17/26 Maple Leaf Park

We’ve been enjoying a solid run of dry, sunny days – a weird weather pattern we often get around mid-January. Temps can drop into the mid-30s overnight but warm up to the mid-50s by afternoon. As you might guess, we urban sketchers are loving it!

It means I’ve finally had opportunities to take my wacky, values-based palette outdoors for some real urban sketching. (Although I know being inside cafés and other locations is also urban sketching, it doesn’t  scratch the itch I feel all winter.)

When I see sunshine, my first stop is usually Maple Leaf Park. I’ve sketched there so many times that most views have become “nothing” to me. By that, I mean that it takes something like a new palette to give me a nudge and see the park with fresh eyes. In addition, the “nothingness” is actually helpful in seeing values instead of subjects.

The pale blue water tower was almost the same color and value as the sky, but the sky was a bit darker blue. I used pink and pale chartreuse, the two light values in my current palette, for those. Then I used the two darkest hues, blue and violet, for everything else. It’s wacky, but I like it. 

Using pink and pale green also solves a dilemma I’ve had many times when sketching this scene: How to show contrast between the water tower and the sky when they are so similar in both hue and value (which, I suppose, was the design intention – trying to make the tower less obtrusive).

What I didn’t like is my messy dry-on-wet application of Caran d’Ache Neocolor II for the sky. I think I should have used my tried-and-true “licking” technique as I always used to for skies. Note to self for next time. Also, I realize now that I forgot to add a layer of a midtone crayon to darken the grass as I had intended!

Doomscrolling Prevention Program: Mixed-Media Edition

 

1/14/26 photo reference (Derwent Drawing pencil in Stillman & Birn Beta sketchbook)

It must be my winter malady.

In summer when light around the horizon is still visible after 9 p.m., all my windows open to a soft evening breeze, I’m not prone to doomscrolling. I love taking golden-hour walks, and I’m energetic enough to enjoy whatever I had planned for the evening.

In winter, though, when night begins at 4:30 p.m., I catch myself listlessly killing evening time with my tablet, as if scrolling would make the sun come up earlier. I don’t like it.

A few mixed-media materials that happened to be nearby.

It’s not a new malady. I’ve tried various tactics over the years to snap myself out of it. The main issue is that by evening, I’ve run out of creative steam, but I still want to be engaged with mark-making. It’s the reason I put together my compact “downstairs studio” a few years ago to make it easier. (Back then, my issue was compounded by continual anxiety and exhaustion as a caregiver, and evenings were often my only respite time.) For a while, I tried the doodly Color Meditation Deck, but that didn’t stick.

Just as I was thinking that I needed to refresh my Doomscrolling Prevention Program, a video popped up on my YouTube feed as I was (ironically) scrolling: “Easy Sketchbook Ideas for Busy Days.” I had a few materials right there next to my comfy evening reading chair – no excuses or reasons to delay!

I used my own reference photo instead of the one Orla Stevens offered. For the pencil-only version (top of post), I used a black Derwent Drawing pencil. In my pouch of mixed-media tools were Caran d’Ache Museum Aquarelles, Neocolor II crayons, and Fibralo markers (huh – you’d think I had a penchant for Caran d’Ache or something). In both cases, she encouraged viewers to vary the marks as much as possible by changing one’s hand grip on materials. Exploration of mark-making was the goal, not accurate representation.

Photo reference (Neocolor II crayons, Museum Aquarelle pencils, Fibralo markers in Beta sketchbook)

Looking at them now, my sketches don’t seem as loose and free as she encouraged us to be, but they felt loose and free compared to my usual, and that’s what counts. More importantly, the fun took me away from doomscrolling!

Fun is easy. The hard part is slapping my wrist as soon as I catch myself scrolling. Why is that so hard, even when I despise doing it? Let’s see if this sticks, at least long enough to get me past the spring equinox.

Fun and Historic Artifacts at MOHAI

 

1/16/26 Museum of History and Industry

A motorized and drivable stiletto heel, historic motorcycles and the vintage Rainier Brewery neon sign were among the many fun and colorful artifacts USk Seattle got to sketch at the Museum of History and Industry last Friday. Although I’ve been to surrounding Lake Union Park many times, it had been ages since I was last inside the museum (2018, according to my blog).

Although it was tempting to sketch some of my old favorites, like the Rainier R, I started with the irresistible high-heeled vehicle near the entrance. After that, I went upstairs to see the featured exhibit, Kickstands Up! 125 Years of Motorcycling in the Pacific Northwest. I picked out a pink Harley with a mannequin wearing a women’s motorcycle outfit. Many other sketchers were attracted to the antique motorcycles and bicycles there. Luckily, we had the exhibit nearly to ourselves.

Down on the main floor again, I sketched a couple of permanent exhibits that I don’t usually get around to (below): a cross-section piece of an 800-year-old Douglas fir and John Gage’s sculpture, Wawona. Although I couldn’t show it in my sketch, if you walk inside the Wawona, you can see a glass-covered hole in the floor that reveals Lake Union directly under that part of the building. It’s an interesting tribute to MOHAI’s home inside the restored landmark Naval Reserve Armory. (On the top floor, the original periscope still exists, offering a cool 360-degree view of Seattle.)

Usually when I visit MOHAI, I enjoy spending some time near the water sketching the historic boats moored there or other parts of Lake Union Park. With temps in the low 40s and a bitter wind off the lake, I didn’t have it in me this time. Plenty of other sketchers were hardier than I was, though!

Wacky Palette with Inktense Blocks

 

1/13/26 photo reference (Neocolor II and Inktense Blocks in
Stillman & Birn Beta sketchbook)

While I’ve been enjoying experimenting with my values-based palette idea using Caran d’Ache Neocolor II water-soluble crayons, I remembered a similarly chunky yet radically different product I’ve also enjoyed: Derwent Inktense Blocks. A few years ago, I played with them enough to learn a bit about their idiosyncrasies, which can be both intriguing and frustrating. Eventually I grew to like them, even if they are a strange animal.

Sadly, I have rarely used them in the field because they’re even harder to carry than Neocolor crayons: Though lighter in weight, they are almost as bulky, and even worse, they break easily. I’ve found, however, that they fit in the slots of my tiny Peg & Awl Sendak, so I’m hoping they would be protected if I take them out with me.

As a preliminary trial of a values-based palette, and to reacquaint myself with Inktense Blocks’ quirks (many of which there are), I made some sketches from photos. Right off the bat, one difficulty is that the Blocks range includes very few hues that could be considered light in value – they are all extremely vibrant and lean toward the darker ranges.

One thing that’s remarkable about the Blocks is that they perform incomparably when applied dry to wet paper – an explosion of intense color! When I use that technique with Neocolor II crayons, they do dissolve more completely than when they are activated on dry paper, but the wax-based binder requires a bit of scrubbing. The Blocks dissolve thoroughly with very little effort. That’s not always a good thing – it’s hard to get a subtle effect when I want one – but the Blocks sure are efficient when I want to cover a large area with solid color.

For the first sketch (top of post), my reference photo was taken during one of my golden-hour walks last summer. I had nothing among the Blocks I own that was light enough for the sky, so I used Neocolor II crayons for that. I had also been wondering how well Blocks would apply over waxy Neos, which can act as a resist to some media (such as some colored pencils), so it was a good test of that. The whole sketch was made dry-on-wet. You can see how the Neos didn’t dissolve completely (unless I had gone back in and scrubbed with a brush, which I didn’t), while the Inktense Blocks almost completely covered the Stillman & Birn Beta sketchbook surface. I had no problem applying the Blocks over the Neos.

1/14/26 photo reference (Inktense Blocks in Hahnemuhle
Akademie Aquarelle sketchbook)

I used only Inktense Blocks in the second sketch (at right). The house and front foliage were applied dry, then activated with a brush. I sketched the trees dry-on-wet.

And hey, if that second scene looks familiar, it should: It’s the Maple Leaf Mother Grove that I sketched from life a few days ago. If you’ll recall, I irrationally couldn’t get past my own resistance to using unrealistic colors for a reportage sketch. Knowing that these trees will likely be cut down, I had taken some photos, so I had one to use for reference. At the time, I thought my “real” colors were appropriate, but now I think I like this “unreal” sketch better. But is it “better” in terms of documenting an event? Am I still honoring the trees if I sketch them in blue and brownish-purple? Hearing myself ask that question, I realize it sounds ridiculous. It’s my sketching of them that honors them, regardless of the colors I use. What do you think? (My original on-location sketch shown below.)

1/13/26 sketched on location

Maple Leaf Mother Grove

 

1/13/26 Maple Leaf mother grove of centenarian Douglas firs

Known as the Maple Leaf mother grove, 18 Douglas firs have been growing on this residential block for more than a century. The grove is within walking distance of my house. The (ironically named) developer, Green City Development, plans to cut down five of them, endangering the remaining trees by exposing them to wind effects. The small house will be replaced by three large single-family homes. According to Tree Action Seattle, removal of the trees can be avoided by using other, design options that would likely make the houses more affordable, but the developer refuses to address them.

Whenever I walk on this side of the ‘hood, I’m startled and impressed by the number of mature firs I see compared to a mile south where I live, which has far fewer. I suppose someday all these tall firs will be gone, thanks to greedy developers and short-sighted city planners.

Color notes: As I was leaving the house to make this sketch, I grabbed my current wacky palette of Caran d’Ache Neocolor II crayons (see end of post) – but I hesitated a moment. I wasn’t sure this selection, which includes only one mid-value green, would work for the deep greens I would typically use for Douglas firs. However, I wanted to push myself to continue experimenting with the palette, so I didn’t take any other colors.

I wasn't happy with the mid-value green I used for the trees, and the blue didn't help much.

Onsite, I knew the trees needed to be the darkest value, but I didn’t want to make them purple and blue; that somehow didn’t seem “right” for reportage sketching. (That’s ridiculous logic, I know; a reportage sketch doesn’t have to use “realistic colors” any more than any other kind sketch! But that’s where my head was that day.) I compromised by using the mid-value green as the primary color and blue for the darkest areas. The green was a bit wimpy, but I decided I could live with it (at right).

When I got home, I still wasn’t happy with it, so I used my darkest green Caran d’Ache Museum Aquarelle to deepen the darkest areas and add some texture that I had lost (with a bit too much water).

Maybe I should have tried a version using purple and blue for the trees, just to see how far I could push it (and by “it,” I don’t mean the palette – I mean my own resistance!). I know – I’ll try it with some other firs that I’m not reporting on! Maybe that’s how I get past this resistance.

The current wacky palette: a warm and a cool of each value range.

Cloudy with a Chance of Sketching

11/21/25 Capitol Hill neighborhood

11/18/25 Maple Leaf neighborhood

My sketches during walks have become fewer and farther between now that we are into the full-on rainy season (though we are temporarily enjoying our own version of “dry January”). I take whatever dry moments I can get.

11/24/25 Maple Leaf neighborhood

12/19/25 Green Lake neighborhood

1/3/26 Maple Leaf Park

12/13/25 Maple Leaf neighborhood

Life Drawing at a New Old Venue

 

1/11/26 Delia, 20-minute pose

The Sunday Figure Art life-drawing series had been going on in the University of Washington Art Building for many years (apparently decades), but like so many things, the program ended with the pandemic. Although I knew about the series when it was operating, I was happily participating in life drawing at Gage Academy at the time, so I never checked it out. I recently learned that model and organizer Shawna Holman had brought the Sunday series back, and this time, I was eager to try it.

2-minute poses

When I went to a training session for new models last month, Delia was one of the rookies – and definitely one of the better ones. She was the solo model for the Sunday series I attended. Although technically still in training mode, she seemed pro-ready to me: Her graceful, dynamic poses of all durations kept me engaged and drawing.

5-minute poses

My problem had nothing to do with drawing or the model; it was the chair – or the lack thereof. The life-drawing studio was furnished only with artists’ horse benches, which I have never found comfortable. The artist is supposed to lean forward toward a propped-up drawing board, not a small sketchbook, so the bench has no back support. At Gage and Artist & Craftsman Supply (where I’ve also attended life drawing), I could always find a folding chair to sit in. Not so at the UW’s studio. I had to leave after the first half.

I’m not sure what to do about that. I could try standing at an easel, but that can be awkward with a small sketchbook, too. I’d really like to continue attending because the location is convenient.

20-minute pose

5-minute pose

2-minute poses

2-minute poses

2-minute poses

My sketch journal entry complaining about the situation.