Peepin’ My Eyes Out!

 

10/7/26 Maple Leaf neighborhood

It’s peak leaf-peeping season, and I’m sketching as fast as I can! Thankfully, the weather has been mostly dry and even sunny, at least in the afternoons, so I’ve had more opportunities than in some years.

Two sketches here were for InkTober, and the third (at right) was from a short walk when I didn’t have markers with me. That one, made with watercolor pencils, is about half the size of the others, but I think it took a little longer. Probably one of the highest virtues of brush markers is their speed and efficiency – and I’m seriously appreciating that aspect!

It’s interesting to look at these sketches together in the same post. Comparing colored pencils with markers is definitely not apples and apples. And there was a time when I would have said they can’t be compared at all – the effect of colored pencils has so much more subtlety, modulation, gradation and blended hues than that of markers – and I prefer all that colored pencils offer. Yet now that I’m two weeks into InkTober using brush markers exclusively, I am learning to appreciate them much more than I expected. Who knew!

10/10/26 Green Lake Park (Quotations from a boys' soccer match ongoing on the field close by.) This may be my favorite InkTober sketch yet -- even the goofy, cartoony clouds! What markers lack in subtle modulation, they make up for in boldness and directness. They can be fresh in a way that I had not appreciated before.

10/10/26 Maple Leaf neighborhood

For your viewing pleasure, I’m including photos from recent walks.

Windy and Powerless at Centennial Park

 

10/11/26 Amgen Helix Bridge

About a month ago, I went on a USk scouting mission to Centennial Park, Seattle’s newish addition to the waterfront amenities. (More of my long-paid tax dollars at work at last!) On that cloudy morning, it was chilly and breezy, but it helped to have hot coffee and warm quiche at Café Hagen (despite their seating being outdoor only). I was looking forward to sketching at the park again with USk Seattle.

Terminal 86 grain terminal from Centennial Park

Although last Sunday was sunny, it was even windier, and the café warm-up we were all looking forward to didn’t materialize: The café was closed due to a power outage! (That lack of power made it interesting to use the public restrooms in the total darkness; I think it was the first time I used my phone’s flashlight in a restroom.)

Urban sketchers, however, are nothing if not hardcore and determined. Many hardy folks sat without shelter in the steely wind along the newly landscaped beach path. I escaped to the nearby Amgen Helix Bridge (which I had sketched for the first time back in 2018), hoping to find a bit more shelter from the wind there (top of post). No such luck, but I guess I was as determined (and chilly) as the others.

I walked across the 400-foot-long bridge, which enables park visitors to cross railroad tracks and industrial buildings over to Elliott Avenue West. After grabbing a bite to eat and warming up, I went back to the waterfront, wondering if the wind had let up. If anything, it was stronger still! The formidable grain terminal was hard to ignore, so I gave it a shot, with the wind occasionally knocking my sketchbook back at me.

We’re a hardy bunch!

A park pooch

I sketched a few other sketchers while we all waited at the bus stop.

Hardy!

Café Blameless is Full of Potential

10/9/26 Cafe Blameless occupies the former nave of a 100-year-old church in the Bryant neighborhood.

 After hearing about a new café that had just opened inside a centenarian Bryant neighborhood church, I had to check it out for myself. Café Blameless is a huge, beautifully restored space with soft lighting and low-volume music – what a treat the latter is! In addition, when I pulled back my chair, I noticed that pads on the feet kept it from making that terrible scrapey sound that I hear in so many cafes (to me, that’s just as bad as nails on a blackboard).

In addition to the café, which is housed in the former nave, the church hosts a variety of non-religious events such as dance lessons and “mystery theater.” When I showed my sketch to Jeff, one of the café’s co-owners, he gave me a tour of the rest of the public spaces, which were equally beautifully appointed and restored.

I have only two complaints about this lovely venue: The warm, dim lighting is a bit too dark for sketching. Next time, I’m bringing my book light. The second is their pastries (but I’m hoping that situation is temporary): I had high hopes because I’d heard they were made by Cloudy Café, where I’ve already enjoyed delicious croissants. At 7:30 a.m. when I arrived, though, they offered only a savory spinach and feta tart, a ham and cheese croissant, and “salt bread.” What? Nothing sweet at all? I was told that they “sold out of sweet ones yesterday,” which means the pastries weren’t fresh. Indeed, my “salt bread” was cold; obviously, it had been in the fridge overnight.

I’m giving Café Blameless the benefit of the doubt that they are not yet up to speed. In fact, their current “soft opening” hours are shorter than in the near future. Fingers crossed that the pastry situation will be fixed by then.

Meanwhile, I’m thinking two things: One is that I may have finally found a café space large enough to accommodate a winter USk outing. I mentioned the possibility to Jeff, and he is very welcoming.

Much more importantly (to me): It’s warm, the volume is low, the seating is comfortable and plentiful, and it’s less than 10 minutes away by car. Could it be that I’ve finally found my long-sought third place?

The former church now hosts multiple activities and events in addition to the cafe.

Soothingly but dimly lighted.

Large tables for groups. On the morning I was there, a running club arrived just as I did, filling at least two of these large, round tables. Perfect for urban sketchers, too!

Pinehurst Station Underwhelms

 

10/8/26 Pinehurst Station. Despite the blah scene, all the nearly
monochrome grayness were an interesting tonal challenge with my
limited palette of markers.

After much delay (and related local political strife), a new light rail station opened recently. Only a couple of miles north of Northgate station, it seemed unnecessary – unless it had plenty of parking to ease the congestion at the Northgate lots (which I only rarely encounter because I usually walk to the station, but when I do need to drive, I know parking can be a problem). In addition, I thought it might be worth scouting the new Pinehurst station for USk potential. I wasn’t optimistic, but in the winter, we get desperate for sheltered locations, and some stations can have decent views from the platform level.

My assessment: extremely meh. Although Pinehurst has some colorful murals, I didn’t see much of interest. Numerous large rocks were placed throughout the station – as seating? Hmmm. In addition, it’s very noisy from Interstate 5 traffic just below the station.

Well, you know me: Since I went there with an InkTober sketch in mind, I embraced the meh.

What's up with all the rocks?

At least there are colorful murals.

Sally Before the Weigh-in

10/3/26 Sally, a 494.5-pound pumpkin, was forklifted onto the pickup for her ride to Carpinito Brothers Farm in Kent.

Ever since 2022 when a pumpkin in Maple Leaf attracted media attention, I’ve been walking a few blocks east this time of year to check out what’s growing. Brooke, who has been growing humongous pumpkins competitively for several years now, also sells pumpkin seeds through Land o’ Giants.

I knew that “Sally,” one of her pumpkins, was being forklifted onto a pickup truck last weekend, but I arrived too late to see the lift (I heard it was a lengthy, harrowing ordeal, especially when the pumpkin was accidentally dropped; fortunately, Sally was unharmed). I did get there just in time, however, to see Sally resting in the back of a pickup while Brooke wiped her off. Shortly after, the pumpkin was tarped for the night. The next day she would be taken to Carpinito Brothers Farms (where USk Tacoma and USk Seattle met recently to sketch the winners) for the competition.

Sally's boyfriend Jack awaits his own weigh-in. 

Weighing in at 494.5 pounds, she apparently didn’t place in the competition. That’s OK, Sally – you still gave it your best! Sally’s boyfriend Jack Skellington, who was resting under a tent when I came by, would go to a different competition later.

I’ll go back in a couple of weeks to see how Sally gets carved. Brooke told me it takes the whole weekend to do the job!

InkTober, Week 1: Brush Markers

 

10/2/26 Maple Leaf neighborhood. When I was cleaning out the Miata
for her detailing a few weeks ago, I found a tin of Hahnemuhle watercolor postcards 
that I had left under the seat "just in case" I was spontaneously inspired to make
someone a card (you can imagine how many times that happened -- zero). I thought
I'd give the toothy paper a try with these markers, and I'm pleased that it was fine. It 
means I can use my favorite Hahnemuhle sketchbook with markers, too. All other sketches
shown here are in a Stillman & Birn Zeta sketchbook.

I’ve been so busy reporting on my trip to the Bay Area that I’m only now getting around to InkTober! When I made a dry run last month, I was trepidatious about using waterproof Staedtler Pigment Arts brush pens exclusively, mainly because I have never liked the marker-ish marks that markers make (say that five times fast). That’s also true of Faber-Castell Pitt Artist brush pens, which I’ve used sporadically for years.

Markers are difficult to modulate: They are either off or on, with none of the subtle gradations that I love so much about colored pencils – and that are easy to get with colored pencils. They also can’t be blended like pencils or water-soluble materials; they must be layered like watercolors are glazed. And yet the boldness and directness of brush markers are appealing and seductive – that’s why I keep going back to them sporadically.

My hope is that using these markers for 31 consecutive days will either teach me to find a way to use them so that the results are satisfying or convince me to quit using them, content that they just aren’t for me.

10/3/26 Maple Leaf neighborhood

As I mentioned in the dry-run post, using a limited palette that has been curated for me by a set is unusual – I’m so used to having a full range of colors to pick from. Sometimes I feel frustrated (I want a darker green, for example, and the set could use another midtone), but the palette has been mostly working out OK so far.

One thing I’m especially happy about this InkTober is that my chosen ink is colored! Although at least one year I used a variety of colors of fountain pen inks, I typically choose black ink for InkTober. That means I’m often frustrated that my black line drawings prevail during the most colorful season of the year! (Yes, of course, I could color the black line drawings, and sometimes have, but then what would I be learning? It seems pointless to participate in an art challenge if I don’t push myself to try something new.)

My biggest learning so far is that size matters, at least where scale of the page is concerned (I mentioned this a couple of days ago). Now that I’m using an A5 sketchbook instead of trying to use up a pocket-size sketchbook, the bold brush markers feel comfortable.

One thing I have always liked about markers is how easy it is to get high value contrasts immediately. That’s always been one of the most seductive aspects of markers (as well as a drawback, if subtlety is desired).

10/5/26 Crown Hill neighborhood. I'm pleased by how easy and efficient it was to get those bold darks in. It takes a lot more work to get high value contrasts with colored pencils. The odd mix of colors on the foreground car is regrettable. That green was the best midtone, but I didn't like the color for this car, so I colored over it with indigo.

I’m still working on not fighting the marker-ish look and instead embracing the mark-making that markers are good at.

(Days 1 and 4 were included in previous posts; today’s post shows the rest of the first week.)

10/6/26 Roosevelt neighborhood

10/7/26 Green Lake

SF Bay Area, Part 5: San Francisco

 

9/28/26 San Francisco

Since I hadn’t sketched in San Francisco since 2015, I knew that anywhere I went would feel fresh to me. Over two days (an easy BART ride from Berkeley each day), Cathy showed me both familiar places and new ones.

Our first day in the city, our focus was on the Presidio and the Palace of Fine Arts, which I had remembered well from that previous visit. After making a page of small motifs, it was fun to get it stamped at the visitor’s center (top of post).

Under the Palace of Fine Arts' dome

Palace of Fine Arts

Cathy's first (and my second) Waymo ride!

After nearly 15,000 steps of being tourists, we ended the day at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, where the lobby area displayed the spectacular installation “Giant Arc,” by Jacob Hashimoto. Suspended from the ceiling were 75,000 elements constructed by hand of paper and bamboo using kite-making techniques. In some areas, the suspensions hung nearly to the floor. Entering from the upper floor, the clouds of tiny “kites” appear white, then more and more colors and patterns appear as one descends the staircase to the lower level (see my Instagram for a video). Of course, attempting to draw it was futile (and being limited to pencil was frustrating), but we both tried anyway. What a visual sensation!

9/28/26 Jacob Hashimoto's "Giant Arc" at SF MOMA

Each of 75,000 pieces is built like a tiny kite

Salesforce Park was the main attraction of our second day in San Francisco. Four stories above a street level transit center, the park is a four-block-long oasis of multiple gardens where people can walk, run and play. We even rode the gondola for a (laughably) short ride back down to the street level. I loved all that soft, organic greenery against the backdrop of blue and gray glass and steel! If I lived or worked nearby, I would be walking that half-mile loop every day, sketching along the way.

9/30/26 Salesforce Park

Process notes: With all the touring we were doing (not to mention desperately getting to Magic Donuts five minutes before the bakery closed – whew! Tragedy barely averted), I got back to my rental and realized I hadn’t sketched as much as I had wanted to. I even had some empty spots on a sketchbook page that were just waiting to be filled. For the first time in maybe ever while traveling, I looked through my phone and made a couple of sketches from reference photos (the Bayfront Park sculpture and the 181 Fremont Building, below).

9/30/26 San Francisco

Yes, you read that right – Tina made some travel sketches from photos! Oh, I know you’re probably laughing; most people think nothing of mixing sketches from photos along with those made on location. But I’ve always been such a purist about urban sketching, especially during travel, that it felt strange to me. Still, while my preference is always to sketch on location, I see the benefit of being flexible. Would I rather go home frustrated that I didn’t sketch a particularly striking building? Or use a photo to help me preserve the memory almost as well as drawing from life? (See, the old dog continues to be capable of learning new tricks.)

Surprising landscaping at Salesforce Park

More than 600 types of trees and 16,000 plants...

...with a steel blue urban backdrop.

By the way, if you were observant, you already caught one other sketch I made in Berkeley from a photo because it was noted as such on the sketchbook page. (Just keeping myself honest, I guess. Go ahead and laugh.)

All in all, I had a fantastic time in the Bay Area. Although eight days wasn’t very long compared to many other trips I have taken, it was my longest time away from home since 2019 – and my longest ever solo. Planning this trip alone, navigating logistics alone, and sometimes being alone in unfamiliar places all made me miss Greg very much. We had always been such great travel partners. But I’ve missed a lot of years and places that I still want to visit. I want to get my travel legs back and gain confidence in traveling by myself – and farther. Many women do it happily and well; I’m ready to become one of them.

Have donut, will travel (this one from Third Culture in Berkeley)