Tina’s Top 10 Memorable Sketches of 2023

 

2/5/23 Comforting soup in isolation

One of my favorite year-end posts is the one in which I look back on all the sketches I made during the calendar year and pick out my 10 most memorable. According to my own criteria, “memorable” does not necessarily mean my “best” sketches; these simply stand out in my memory as special sketching moments in 2023.

Even if you don’t share them publicly, I recommend going back through your sketchbooks from the past year. It’s a fun and illuminating way to review your year and perhaps observe how your style or skills have changed. If you are new to sketching and have been sketching regularly, I guarantee that any retrospective will astound you when you see how much your skills have improved.

I don’t look through my sketchbooks often, but when I do, I’m always surprised by some events I had sketched that I had almost forgotten about – and seeing them on the page brings them right back. Other events I clearly remember, and the top 10 show up here in this post. (To see retrospective posts of previous years, use the year-end review search label.)

Feb. 5, Orzo garbanzo soup (top of post): I rarely sketch my food, least of all anything I eat at home. Isolated in our TV room while recovering from COVID, however, I had to sketch this bowl of soup made by a dear friend because it was nourishing in many ways.

April 11, cherry blossoms, Sunset Hill neighborhood: Only minutes before I had sketched these not-quite-peak trees, I had learned the terrible news of Chandler O’Leary’s sudden and very unexpected death. Looking at this sketch now, I recall the sadness I felt for this young woman’s life cut short, for her husband, and especially for their young son who would barely remember her. It’s what I call the super power of urban sketching: Feelings and other associations get permanently embedded in the sketch, just like pigments or ink absorbed into paper.

4/11/23 Cherry blossoms for Chandler

6/17/23 Direct watercolor on location

June 17, Columbia City PCC (right): Though quite blah in content, this sketch in the PCC outdoor seating area was made during the 30x30 direct watercolor challenge, and it is memorable for being the first that felt like a “real” urban sketch – not just painting this way as an exercise. That meant that I was getting more comfortable with using watercolors on location.

July 16, SketcherFest (below): Last July’s SketcherFest weekend in Edmonds was the most fun sketching event since pre-COVID times and certainly the largest ever in Seattle.

7/16/23 SketcherFest in Edmonds

July 16, sketching with Momoko: Although this sketching opportunity occurred during SketcherFest, I have pulled out the sketch as a separate memorable occasion for a different reason. It’s always special to finally meet someone I have known for a long time but only online – and then to sketch with her is even more special.

7/16/23 Sketching with Momoko

July 26,

7/26/23 One of five sketches I made for On the Spot.

Luma the cedar (right): My sketch reportage for On the Spot about how Seattle citizens helped to save a 200-year-old cedar tree is certainly my most memorable sketching of the year. The experience left me with a lasting impression of the potential for sketching as a storytelling medium.

Aug. 19, portrait of Kaila (below): By the time it was complete, I was happy with the drawing of my grand niece, but it was one of the most high-pressure drawings I’ve ever done!

8/19/23 High stakes!

Oct. 12, squirrel exclusion (below left): This sketch of Sean, a pest wildlife removal expert, installing exclusion work on our roof marked the end of a nine-month ordeal.

10/12/23 No more squirrels

10/15/23 Frankie Feetsplinters in Ballard

Oct. 15, troll at National Nordic Museum (above right): Although ultimately a very wet day, the USk Seattle outing to Ballard to sketch the newly installed troll had a festive atmosphere. The outing’s focus on Frankie Feetsplinters kept most sketchers concentrated around the museum, which made it an especially fun social occasion as well as a memorable subject.

Nov. 16, pastry and Medicare: I hadn’t planned to sketch my freshly acquired Medicare card along with my chocolate tart, but I got the idea spontaneously as I celebrated a milestone birthday with friends.

11/16/23 A milestone birthday celebration