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.

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

Good to Be Back at West Seattle’s Farmers Market

 

10/4/26 West Seattle Farmers Market

(I still have two more posts planned about my trip to the Bay Area, but I’m interrupting the series here for this USk post, which also includes comments on InkTober.)

Checking my blog, I think the last time I sketched at the West Seattle Farmers Market was all the way back in 2017 during USk Seattle’s weekend pity party! It was fun to get back there with USk again, especially in Sunday afternoon’s beautiful sunshine.

Buskers are always a favorite subject at farmers markets, and this one had plenty to choose from. Although I only caught a man on ukulele and a teenager on saxophone, I saw and heard at least two more musicians elsewhere in the small-ish market. I managed to catch a few dogs, too!

Technical notes: Although I allowed myself a few “usual” sketches to warm up, the outing was a good opportunity to practice using colored brush markers for InkTober. I haven’t talked about InkTober since it began, but I’ve been participating (of course! You knew I would), and I’ve already learned from this year’s chosen medium.

The sketch made on white paper (at right) is a good example of something I learned (or remembered) quickly: The scale of the page size must be appropriate for the scale of the mark-making tool. That sketchbook was the 3 ½-by-5 ½-inch Stillman & Birn Zeta book that I have been trying to use up since the beginning of the year. Since smooth Zeta paper is ideal for use with markers, and since the book has just a little more than 30 pages left, I was hoping InkTober would finally finish off this book in a landscape format that annoys me. I forgot, though, that its page size is just too darn small for bold brush markers. Without any strong shapes to focus on in the flower vendor’s booth, I got seduced into trying to capture small details – and failed miserably. (I’ll try the book again next month during Pencilvember, when both the surface and the size might work well with colored pencils.)

When I switched to a large (8 by 5 ¾ inches) yellow Uglybook, the scale of the brush pens worked much better. I also looked for larger shapes and stayed away from details. (Yes, the old dog can still learn new tricks!)

I do prefer white paper with colored ink rather than yellow, though. While Uglybooks look amazing with pops of opaque acrylic color, transparent markers tend to get muddied unless the paper’s hue serves as the right “underpainting.”

I have another post planned about InkTober soon, but these are the first few days’ lessons. (Now back to my regular programming.)

InkTober Finale

 

This year’s InkTober has been so much fun! While most of my reference photos were pets I had drawn previously with colored pencils as fundraiser commissions, a few were new, like Roz and Nemo. When friends saw me posting the portraits on Facebook, they shared photos of their pets, and I later surprised them. Nothing makes people smile like seeing sketches of their own dogs and cats.

This InkTober may have been a first in at least one way: I used the same Pentel Pocket Brush Pen for the entire 31 days, and I used a white Sakura Gelly Roll for highlights on all but one day. I thought I would use my Sailor Naginata to help with detail more than once or twice, but I didn’t. It wasn’t my intention to be so consistent, but the more I used the brush pen and Gelly Roll pairing (see below), the more I liked them for what I wanted to practice during the month: Fast (15 minutes or less), expressive portraits.

An InkTober first: Same pens all month.

Over time, I found myself becoming more accurate without measuring or blocking (the time-consuming part of the more realistic drawings I had done before). After 31 days, I now feel confident that I can offer this portrait style for commissions and make them in a timely way that also feels satisfying to me. InkTober mission accomplished!

As I always am on Oct. 31, I’m relieved that InkTober is over, even as I enjoyed every day of it. As much as I’d like to take a break from themed challenges, we all know what’s next – Pencilvember! 

The last few years when my InkTober themes were based on human faces,
I always ended with a selfie. This year I ended with a less common pet:
Timmy, the bearded dragon, who is decked out in a bow tie for his parents' wedding!

Inktober, Week 3

 

In addition to being the most challenging InkTober I’ve given myself in a while, this year is also the most enjoyable in a long time. I love drawing pets, and with these practice sketches, I’m under no pressure as I am with commissioned portraits. Even as they’re all challenging in different ways, they’re all pure fun!

With Bailey (above) and Butters (below), both dogs had solidly dark fur on their faces. These are among the hardest for me to draw using nothing but a brush pen. I want to show the form and whatever subtle highlights are visible on dark fur, which means I have to avoid inking too solidly. It’s a fine line between good shading and going flat.

I especially like the way Bailey came out with a graphical quality that evokes comics. Practicing this technique, though, requires reference photos with good lighting and strong contrasts – apparently difficult to come by when people quickly snap photos of their pets doing whatever it is pets do.

In most cases this week, I did an OK job of capturing likeness but a better job capturing the animals’ character (although somehow the cats ended up with more attitude than they appear to have in their photos. Hmmm, maybe that says more about this artist than the sitters).

The reference photo for Dixie Sue (below) was among the worst I have had to work from for a commission: Dimly lighted, a bit out of focus, with almost no contrast. The photo’s saving grace were the lovely catchlights in her eyes that gave her so much expression. I went with a simple line drawing and let the features do the work. (I’m always amused by the slightly worried expression all chihuahuas seem to have!)

InkTober, Week 2

 

For week 2 of InkTober, I tried to up my game by sometimes choosing more challenging reference photos. Like the cats – black cats (my double nemesis, though timely for the season). The challenge is avoiding a solid black face by retaining subtle highlights. With only two tones – black and the midtone colored paper – it’s hard to distinguish between the darkest local fur color and shading on that dark fur. The Pentel Pocket Brush Pen is better at making calligraphic line strokes than hatching large shapes. Poor Ada, a gorgeous cat in reality, took on a grumpy, gorilla look from all my bold brush pen strokes.

Overall, the dogs were much easier; a snout defines the face much more easily than the subtle forms of cats. Except for wall-eyed Fin, my unmeasured proportions are improving. I didn’t choose any solid-black dogs, however. Maybe that will be my challenge for week 3.

I’ve been sticking to my time limit of 15 minutes or less. After I feel confident about that time limit with a brush pen, I might try allowing 20 to 30 minutes and use a fountain pen to hatch. That might be a better approach with black animals.

(All InkTober reference photos were used previously for commissioned pet portraits in the past couple of years.)

Poor Ada... a wolfman cat.

Pet Portraits for InkTober

As I mentioned a few days ago, I’m taking advantage of InkTober to practice pet portraiture in a style that’s more time-efficient as well as more fun and challenging in a new way. I’m allowing myself no more than 15 minutes for each portrait, mainly to keep InkTober from becoming burdensome but also as an exercise in speed without sacrificing too much accuracy. Without careful measuring and blocking as I used to do with colored pencil portraits, I sometimes lose proportions, but I’m hoping that will improve over time.

 o far, I am really enjoying the Pentel Pocket Brush Pen alone or with my Sailor Naginata fude de mannen fountain pen (containing Platinum Carbon Black ink). The white Gelly Roll is for tiny highlights only, like the catchlight in the eye, and whiskers. For the cat, I used a light gray Uni Pin brush pen for the shadow that the eyelids cast on the cat’s eyes. It probably wasn’t necessary, but before I put in that shading, the cat didn’t seem to have quite the same attitude. My goal is to capture the animal’s essence more than an exact resemblance.

Another thing I used sparingly was the fude pen to hatch shading or dark fur in some areas. I need to avoid the temptation, though, of drawing in all the fur with the finer pen, which is another reason for my 15-minute time limit!

One of the biggest challenges so far is drawing white or light-colored fur with a black brush pen only (both Oct. 5 and 6). I end up drawing mainly the negative spaces around the light fur. Another challenge will be drawing an all-black animal without ending up with a solid black mass of ink. The first week was a warm-up; I’ll move on to more challenging pets soon!

(All reference photos for InkTober pet portraits were used previously for commissioned portraits in the past couple of years.)