Valkyrie Viking Ship

 

7/13/26 Valkyrie Viking ship moored on Liberty Bay, Poulsbo

On the Monday following Sketcher Fest, USk Seattle led an excursion to the small town of Poulsbo on the Olympic Peninsula. The outing was intended to give visitors still in town for Sketcher Fest a taste of true Pacific Northwest summer entertainment that included a ferry ride.

The highlight of the trip was the opportunity to sketch the Valkyrie Viking ship made with traditional Nordic construction methods. Owner Erik gave us a brief history of the ship, which was built by his family.

On the ferry ride back to Seattle, I caught stunning Mt. Rainier giving everyone aboard her best side.

Washington, DC, Part 2: Tidal Basin Cherries

 

3/28/26 Jefferson Memorial

Washington Monument

When I heard that Washington, DC,’s famed Tidal Basin cherry trees were expected to be at peak on the very weekend that my family would be in town, you can imagine my excitement! Petal peeping at the national level! With many years of experience sketching at the University of Washington Quad, which can attract a hanami crowd of thousands a day (a total of 40,000 during the couple of weeks that the cherries are in bloom, according to the UW), I thought I was well-trained and ready. But nothing I’ve experienced as a sketcher could have prepared me for the density of the crowd that those blossoming trees attract!

Despite that challenge, I had the opportunity to sketch the cherries twice. The first was during Sakura Taiko Fest on the same Saturday as the No Kings march (which was over by the time we arrived, but crowds lingered). Along with tens of thousands of other petal peepers, I was determined to find the picture-postcard scene I was looking for: the trees with the stately Jefferson Memorial on the opposite side of the basin (top of post). Although the sheer quantity of blossoming trees is truly impressive, I didn't know how to show that!

Although multiple banks of porta-potties were available nearby, lines to use them were long all day. I used the waiting time to sketch more blossoms, this time with the Washington Monument (at right).

The following Monday, I had a slightly less congested opportunity to sketch the trees again (though it was still amazingly crowded for a weekday). I was happy to meet up with USk buddy Joel, whom I have sketched with at every symposium I’ve attended as well as in Seattle a couple of years ago during Sketcher Fest. This time, he got to show me his neck of the woods and offer helpful tips on how to tour the National Mall more humanely (like where to find restrooms and good cafes).

3/30/26 Tidal Basin

So I’m a tourist: I couldn’t resist ghosting the Jefferson Memorial back there behind the blossoms. The strong wind of the previous days must have shortened the cherries’ peak considerably; petal “snowfall” was everywhere, and the green leaves were showing through between blossoms.

Joel sketching cherry trees

(Part 3 will continue with more sketching that Joel and I did that day.)

Me sketching from the Porta-potty line

I tried to take a photo that showed the density of the Tidal Basin crowds, but I'm not sure this captures it.

Tina and Joel at the Basin

The Daily Sketch Journal Process

 

2/24/26 Alexa's Cafe, Bothell

I’ve already mentioned two animal portrait workshops I’ll be offering at ArtSpot this spring (one with brush pen and the second with colored pencils). I’m also teaching one this summer called Keeping a Daily Sketch Journal. After years of sporadic sketch journaling attempts that eventually lapsed, I finally figured out a process that “stuck,” and I’m excited to share it.

2/25/26

As I began pulling together a variety of sketch journal pages to show in the class handout, I started thinking about which types of pages might make the best examples. Developing a sketch journaling process is very personal; I don’t know which of my pages, if any, would resonate with others.

3/4/26 Cloudy Cafe, Ballard neighborhood

The main message I want to convey is simply this: What I’m showing here is just the way I do it – not the way it should be done. The only thing matters is finding one’s own way of doing it, and that only happens by trying different things.

3/20/26 documenting new glasses

9/28/25 photo reference

Few and Far Between

 

3/14/26 Maple Leaf

The sketches I make while on my (nearly) daily fitness walks have been few and far between. I was encouraged, though, when I saw that our unexpected snowfall last week didn’t seem to have harmed any of the plum and cherry blooms that are just getting started. Though the temp was only in the mid-40s, I stopped to make a quick sketch to celebrate the victory (at left).

I’ve included sketches here that I made at cafés when I had to duck indoors to warm up before continuing on. Yes, they count, because sometimes I can’t kick my butt out the door unless I promise myself a break along the way.

Sketchbook notes: You heard me muttering recently about wanting white paper as a daily-carry during pink tree season but not wanting to carry a second book, yada-yada-yada. After the small Stillman & Birn didn’t work out, I chose a lavender Uglybook as my next daily-carry. It’s pale enough that pink shows up OK – a good compromise during a precious season. When I go out for serious petal peeping, I’ll bring a larger white sketchbook, of course.

1/23/26 Maple Leaf Park

1/27/26 Green Lake

2/4/26 Maple Leaf Park

2/18/26 PCC cafe

2/19/26 view from Macrina Bakery

3/2/26 Green Lake

3/3/26 Maple Leaf

Pink Trees are Here! (Plus Re-Discovery of Pentel Sign Brush Pen)

 

3/7/26 Plum tree, Maple Leaf neighborhood

Seeing a decent dry block in the morning’s forecast, I took a long walk through the ‘hood to check out the pink tree situation. I’ve been seeing ornamental plums blooming for weeks now, but with their dark foliage and tiny blossoms, plums don’t show off big fluffy pink clouds, so I tend not to sketch many. The first sketch (at left), though, does include a plum in the corner. I was actually more interested in the twin firs that had been butchered.

Next I saw a row of cherries that were just getting started (below). The blossoms were still sparse; more interesting were the weird “feet” of their exposed roots! Oftentimes I find the roots of trees more fascinating than anything else about them, especially in winter when their crowns are bare.

Paper notes: That’s a wrap for the partially used Stillman & Birn Beta sketchbook that I had decided to finish as my daily-carry sketch journal (it didn’t have as many pages left as I had thought). While it’s been fun to have white paper for adding color, there’s a lot not to love about this particular white sketchbook. For one, Beta paper, which was a favorite for years, just doesn’t do it for me anymore. Now that Hahnemühle’s 100 percent cotton has taught me how much fun it is to be able to slam down multiple layers of water-soluble materials and lots of water without harming the surface, it’s hard to go back.

3/7/26 Cherry trees

Worse, though, is the 3 ½-by-5 ½-inch format. You’d think that would be close enough to a true A6 (4-by-6 inches) or Uglybooks' almost-A6 (4-by-5 ¾ inches) not to make a difference, but as you can see from these sketches, they look too narrow for their height. After getting used to Uglybooks’ comfy page, I felt horizontally cramped. It was such a relief to go back to an Uglybook!

Brush pen notes: One commitment I made to myself during my downsizing process was to “shop” from my own stash before buying anything new. Several months ago, I went through all my brush pens to review what their brushes felt like and make a clear division between the ones containing water-soluble ink and waterproof ink (at some point, they had been neatly separated, but that system apparently fell apart).

That’s when I came across the Pentel Artist Brush Sign Pen with an ultra-fine brush. Of course, I had forgotten all about it. I probably didn’t use it much when I got it because it contains water-soluble ink, which is less versatile than waterproof for the way I like to work. But look at that tip (image below)! The Pentel Pocket Brush Pen has long been a favorite for its slender tip, but the Sign Pen’s brush is even finer. As much as I love the Pocket Brush Pen, I’ve often felt that my results are better when I use it with a slightly larger sketchbook, and I often feel cramped when using an A6.

Pentel Pocket Brush Pen vs. Pentel Artist Sign Brush Pen. The difference is especially noticeably in my writing, which is often where I have the least control of the line.

The Brush Sign Pen has the slimmest brush tip of any I’ve used. After it went dry last week at the zoo, I was supposed to shop from my stash again – but that ultra-fine brush won me over: I bought another one. (A downside of the Sign Pen is that it’s not refillable, which is one of the Pocket Brush Pen’s major benefits.)

When I used it for months in my Uglybooks, I hardly noticed that the ink is water-soluble, since I rarely use water on colored pages. When I switched to the Beta, I had to be more aware of water-solubility because I was using color more often. The cherry tree sketch was a good opportunity to make the ink work with Caran d’Ache Neocolor II. After applying the color, I tried to spritz only where the color was, but fine-controlling the spritzer’s direction is difficult, and the branches got more water than I wanted. Still, the washed ink color is almost lavender when mixed with pinks – a nice shadow tone. I’ll probably stick with a waterbrush to activate colors when I use this brush pen going forward.

More pink for your viewing pleasure!

Employee Appreciation Day

3/6/26 Top Pot Doughnuts, Wedgwood neighborhood (Beware all who speak very loudly during Zoom meetings in cafes: You will be drawn unflatteringly.)

Before I retired, I had been self-employed for many years as a marketing copywriter. Although I was a pretty good boss of myself, I didn’t show enough appreciation back then for my hard-working employee, nor did I know about Employee Appreciation Day (first Friday in March). In fact, the day was off my radar until I was informed of it by Top Pot Doughnuts suggesting that doughnuts would be an appropriate way to express appreciation to one’s employees. ‘Nuff said.

Now I have another annual holiday to observe with a doughnut!

Material notes: If I were getting a doughnut for eating enjoyment only, I would probably get a chocolate-dipped Bismarck or an apple fritter. On this day, however, I wanted to test the plum and cherry blossom palette I had picked out in Caran d’Ache Neocolor II crayons, so I chose a suitably pink raspberry-glazed raised. The dark purple Derwent Inktense pencil is for blossom shadows. I’ve tried many different media – watercolor, gouache, water-soluble colored pencils, water-soluble crayons, opaque markers – for always-challenging blossoming trees, never to my complete satisfaction. This year I’m using Neocolor II crayons again, if only because I have an easy way to carry them now. 

Consolation Drink & Draw

 

3/6/26 Project 9 Brewery, Maple Leaf neighborhood

USk Seattle was hoping the weather would cooperate for an outing at the big Lunar New Year celebration in Chinatown/International District on Saturday, but rain was in the forecast. We decided to change the plan to a drink & draw on Friday afternoon instead.

With such short notice, I was afraid I’d be alone at Project 9 Brewery, but five sketchers came out to join me for brews, snacks and casual sketching. Our group size was just right for the cushy seats in the sheltered, heated patio area. Most sketchers had fun drawing each other, but no one was sitting directly across from me, so my victims were the usual random kind. (I did manage to catch the brewery’s house cat, whom I first sketched on Super Bowl Sunday. It’s probably the chillest cat I’ve ever met, wandering around to get petted by human patrons, unfazed by canine patrons, and napping and grooming on tabletops.)

At 6 p.m., we could take group and throwdown photos by natural light! Hallelujah, the Big Dark is finally over!

P.S. Today is Day 1 of the One Week 100 People drawing challenge! I hope you're joining me! I'll report in after the week is over!

Media Mishaps at the Zoo

3/2/26 Grizzly and brown bears, Woodland Park Zoo (Derwent Drawing pencil in Stillman & Birn Beta sketchbook)

This is the time of year when we are occasionally surprised by delightfully sunny and even warmish days. Although it was still cold in the morning, the afternoon was just right for one of my favorite fitness-walking locations: Woodland Park Zoo.

Starting in the opposite direction from my usual zoo route, I spent some time on the Living Northwest Trail. I’m often disappointed in this section because many animals like to stay hidden, but on this afternoon, I saw and/or sketched almost all the residents.

Despite being the most frustrating, my favorites to attempt to sketch were the young bear pair, Fern and Juniper (Fern is actually a grizzly, not a brown, I learned later). I watched for quite a while as they wrestled and played continuously, their heads often buried in each other’s long fur. Waiting patiently (more patiently than most visitors, who snapped videos and then moved on quickly, just like at art museums), I drew whatever feature or shape I could capture in a second or two. When the bears flipped over and revealed their heads, I quickly refined what I’d drawn before (top of post). Challenging but so much fun!

The lazily grazing and dozing mountain goats were no challenge at all by comparison.

Mountain goats (Caran d'Ache Museum Aquarelle and Derwent Inktense pencils in Hahnemuhle sketchbook)

Huckleberry, the sole male elk, and one of his mates were resting together by a tree – also easy. However, this is when my media mishaps began. I hadn’t sketched with Tombow Dual markers in a long time and had given most away during my downsizing. Somehow I found one in my hand recently, so I put it in my bag on a whim. (I used one at the Cocoa Legato open mic recently, too.)

Elk (Tombow Dual marker in Hahnemuhle sketchbook)

Sketching these elk reconfirmed what I don’t really care for about Tombows. Although I do enjoy being able to do quick and easy shading by washing the water-soluble ink (a favorite technique for many years), I don’t like the stiff lines that the hard tips on these markers make, especially when drawing animals and other organic subjects. I much prefer a fluid, “hairy” brush. Trying to recap the pen as I was thinking about this, the cap slipped out of my hand and disappeared between the boards in the trail walkway (and we all know that the most valuable part of a marker is its cap; without it, the pen is useless).

I ended my visit with a favorite exhibit, the Humboldt penguins of South America. Luckily for me, it was feeding time. The keeper carefully and fairly distributed fish to each penguin (calling some by name). Unlike most birds around food, the penguins crowded around the keeper but were very orderly, waiting their turn (imagine gulls or crows waiting their turn!).

Humboldt penguins (Pentel Sign brush pen, Pitt Artist Pen, Inktense pencil in Hahnemuhle sketchbook)

I knew my black Pentel brush pen was running dry, but I hoped that I could squeak through the sketch – barely. To make up for it, I pulled out a gray Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Pen, and by poor coincidence, it was nearly dry, too!

All I can say is: Thank goodness for colored pencils!

Open Mic Again (and a White Daily-Carry!)

 

3/1/26 Open mic at Cocoa Legato, Greenwood neighborhood

Ching and I had so much fun at Cocoa Legato’s open mic session a couple of weeks ago that we went again, and this time Natalie came with us. Last time, attendance was a bit sparse, but word must have gotten out, because we could hardly find a table on Sunday. I’m happy that business has picked up for this unique chocolate and music venue.

I think I captured all the participating vocalists except the few who were onstage while I was scarfing down my avocado toast with chocolate nibs. (Yes, it was delicious! All their surprising entrees taste better than they initially seem like they would!)

Newsflash: For the first time in years, my daily-carry sketch journal contains white paper! How radical! As much as I love using colored Uglybooks for almost all types of sketching, around this time of year, I start missing the opportunity to use color when I’m out walking and spot a blossoming tree.

The first sketch in this book is dated 7/2/20, but all I had to
do was look at the sticker on the cover to know the era in which
I started it.

As happens, I was looking through some sketchbooks and came upon an old pocket-size, softcover Stillman & Birn Beta that I had started during the pandemic. After using the first half, I abandoned it, possibly because I had discovered Hahnemühle. Anyway, I seem to be on a mission to complete partially used sketchbooks, so it was a fortuitous find in my stash. If it works, it will enable me to use color spontaneously without having to carry an additional book (and therefore an additional tote).

It’s most likely a brief interlude; half of a 52-page book isn’t going to last me long as a daily sketch journal. It’ll be long enough, though, to decide whether I can tolerate its bulkiness as a daily-carry. I enjoy using colored pages too much to switch permanently, but maybe it would be a good change during the more colorful seasons.

For the record, it does bother me that I’ve broken the chronological continuity of my daily sketch journal process in Uglybooks, which I’d maintained for more than two years. How weird to proceed in the middle of a sketchbook half-filled with random sketches, especially from the worst of all years, 2020! After pondering for a while, though, I reminded myself not to be a slave to my own “rules.” It’s the daily practice that’s important, not the book I use.

Time Capsule

 

Eleven years to finish this sketchbook.

Only a few pages remained in this old Stillman & Birn Beta sketchbook, which I began 11 years ago. I just finished filling them with my doomscrolling prevention program and other recent sketches made from photos at home.

The first several pages has sketches from Chandler O'Leary's workshop.

One reason it took so long to finish is that the book is spiralbound, a format I don’t like using in the field. Back then, with only a few years of sketching experience under my belt, I was still experimenting with different sketchbook papers and formats, and I didn’t know yet which worked best for me.

Thumbing through it before finally putting the book away on my completed sketchbook shelves, I felt a wave of nostalgia, poignancy and even sadness. The very first sketches in the book were those I made in an urban sketching workshop with Chandler O’Leary. They’re dated June 27, 2015. On a very hot day, we looked for compositions and made thumbnails at Lake Union Park. My memories, embedded in the pages, are bittersweet now because Chandler died in 2023 at the age of 41.

Lots of still lives

That workshop must have been where I realized I don’t like working around a cumbersome wire binding when I’m on location, as those are the only urban sketches in the book. Among the squashes, pencil sharpener and other still lives is my beloved “Stefano” portfolio. Sadly, I had decided that the beautiful, custom-made sketchbook cover, which had traveled with me to five countries, was no longer meeting my needs.

Exercises from Gal Cohen's online workshop

I also see some color swatches and media testing. After a long gap in time, I see assignments and exercises from Gal Cohen’s online workshop in 2024. The last dozen or so pages are some wacky palette experiments and other recent sketches.

Testing various water-soluble techniques

For many years now, my goal has been to minimize the number of sketchbooks I have in progress because I prefer to work through each one chronologically as much as possible. (That might be the goal, but I’m sure I still have a dozen going on concurrently.) I don’t like wide gaps of time within a book, and I certainly don’t want to take 11 years to fill one! Still, looking through this old Beta gave me a time capsule effect that I don’t get from looking at a sketchbook that I’ve filled in a few months. It’s precious in a different way.

Drippy acrylic inks?