Sunny Campus and U-District (Plus Color Geek Cred)

10/2/22 Drumheller Fountain, University of Washington

Planning sketch outings in October is always iffy. Sometimes it can be crisp and sunny, but more often it’s wet and cold. We hedged our bets by going with the University of Washington campus, where Kane Hall has a wide, deep overhang in front. If it was wet, lots of sketchers could shelter there while still getting a great view of Red Square. Luckily, we didn’t need that shelter! It was sunny with temps in the low 70s, and except for a light haze of wildfire smoke on the horizon, we all agreed it was phenomenal weather for October.

Broken Obelisk

I warmed up with a small sketch of Drumheller Fountain (AKA Frosh Pond for the tradition of dumping underclassmen in) in my bright yellow Uglybook. The combo of colored paper and a white gel pen is the fastest, easiest way to sketch falling water! (I regretted that I didn’t have my red book with me, though, which makes the white gel pen pop even better.)  

Walking through Red Square, I spotted a sketcher with Barnett Newman’s Broken Obelisk sculpture behind her, which made another fun, quick sketch.

After that, I walked around campus for several thousand steps, looking for another subject, but nothing grabbed me. It seemed like all the buildings I was attracted to were either fully in shade or fully lighted, which are both difficult to sketch. I wandered off campus to Northeast 42^nd and 15^th Northeast, where an old brick building covered in ivy caught my eye (below). The green awning near the center is Magus Books, a used book store that has been in the U District since I was a UW student in the ‘70s. I liked all the contrasts among old, new, brick, steel and foliage. In a few weeks, the ivy will turn, and I’d probably make even better use of a secondary triad if I sketched it again.

U-District

Speaking of the secondary triad (how’s that for a conversational transition?), if I ever get confused about it or anything else on the color wheel, I now have one that I can wear! Grapheme is an adorable local letterpress shop where I get my Blackwings and other stationery items. (During the worst part of the pandemic, I was going to do a curbside pickup of an order, but owner and printmaker Mandolin hand-delivered it to my front porch herself because she saw from my address that I lived only a couple miles away! What lovely customer service!)

The wheel really spins!

The shop had promoted on Instagram a working color wheel in the form of a pin or a key fob. I could not get over there fast enough! I had intended to buy the pin, but when I saw it in person, it felt a bit too heavy to wear that way. Then I saw that the key fob was attached with a simple jump ring. I removed the fob, attached a cord, and voila! A pendant! In general, I don’t wear much jewelry, but what color geek could resist this? (Yes, you can order it online. Tell her I said hi!)

Color geek cred!