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| 5/9/25 Pioneer Square Pergola |
Before heading to the Federal Building protest last Friday, I started out at Pioneer Square, where I think I hadn’t sketched
since well before the pandemic. In particular, I wanted to sketch the iconic glass
and cast iron Pergola for a thank-you postcard to a friend. Although still
chilly in the shade, it was lovely to see the mid-morning light filtering through
Pioneer Square trees.
Technical note: The paper I tend to use for postcard sketches comes from a pad of Strathmore watercolor postcards (which I got from Blick years ago, but I can’t seem to find it on their website anymore). It’s 140-pound watercolor paper, but the sizing is quite different from the Hahnemühle 100 percent cotton I’ve grown used to. I spritzed it in my usual way before applying color with Caran d’Ache and Derwent water-soluble colored pencils, but the surface stayed wetter than I expected, causing some of the pigment to float away instead of leaving nice textures that I like. It’s always a surprise to suddenly use something different after getting used to something else.
Just like I intend whenever I travel (but rarely do), I’m going to start carrying this pad of postcards on outings for the rest of the summer. I always say that I’d like to sketch postcards to send to friends but never seem to get around to it. Let’s see if I do this time.
I rather like this one (in spite of your surprise at how the paper reacted). I haven't traveled at all for years but when I was making at least one major trip a year, I always took my address book and bought postcards along the way. Postcards are getting harder to find - at least good ones - and while I wasn't doing much drawing back in those days, I could very well give it a go now. I even have 5 sample postcards of varying content to experiment with and I think some blank cards too. Caught in the "I'm not good enough yet and these are too precious" conundrum - lol.
ReplyDeleteI do have that moment of hesitation when I start making a postcard because I always have someone specific in mind that it will go to, and I want the result to be "good" (as opposed to my sketchbook pages, which are made only for me). But I get over it quickly! ;-) You will, too!
DeleteI like the look of this one. Do you mail it as a postcard or put it into an envelope? I've always worried about them getting damaged in the mail.
ReplyDeleteI write on it just like I would any postcard, including the address, but I then I put it into a transparent sleeve to protect it. I put the stamp on the sleeve so that it can be canceled. That means I have to put a first class stamp on (not postcard stamp), since the sleeve is technically an envelope.
DeleteI never thought of doing that. Interesting idea.
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