Northwest Twins

 

4/15/21 Northwest corner of 4th NE and NE 85th St.

Just about a year ago when we were only a month into the pandemic, I had accepted that my urban sketching radius had become necessarily small. Challenging myself to look for views I could sketch safely on my daily walking route, I saw that the traffic circle at Fourth Northeast and Northeast 85^th had potential. By mid-May, I had finished a small series: a sketch from each of four directions.

A year later, things haven’t changed much. As I continue to wait (im)patiently to be fully vaccinated so that I can feel safer sketching further afield, I see new potential in the same traffic circle. This time I’m going to sketch the four corners.

Shown here is the view facing northwest. Those two tall houses are the ones I sketched from the back last August when they were still under construction. Now finished, one has been sold; its twin still has a “for sale” sign in the yard. Although better looking than some shoeboxes going up in the ‘hood (I like the small triangular windows just at the peaks), these twin behemoths dwarf their neighbors.