Cars & Coffee

 

9/20/26 David drawing the Miata's birthday portrait at Cars & Coffee

When I had proposed a commission to David Hingtgen to make my Miata’s birthday portrait, he suggested that we meet at Cars & Coffee in the Madrona neighborhood. A local chapter of a national group (like Urban Sketchers!), this community of car enthusiasts meets every Sunday morning, rain or shine, throughout the year. The large parking lot, apparently unused most of the time, is right on the shore of Lake Washington. On a chilly but beautifully sunny morning, I took the top down to drive my clean and shiny Miatamobile to Madrona.

Similar to the Greenwood Car Show, it was fun to see people greeting friends, admiring each other’s vehicles and chatting about their favorite subject. It reminded me of Urban Sketchers: People of all ages happily congregating with their tribe.

I started the morning by sketching David drawing my Miata (top of post) while he drew my Miata and me! (Woo-woo, a meta Miata moment!)

Skimming from Lake Washington

Between admiring and snapping photos of cars, especially convertibles, I captured a man skimming stuff out of the lake, a metal detector (I assume?) beeping as he waded along slowly (at left).

I also met nice people who told me about their cars and wanted to hear about mine. A young woman said a Miata was her “dream car,” especially one of the same vintage as mine. She had entered a drawing to win one before she started college soon, so I wished her luck. Her boyfriend, who had brought them to Cars & Coffee in his dark green Lotus, teased that she seemed to think Miatas were hotter than the Lotus (I heartily agreed and said so).

A patient pup

A young man, owner of the most souped-up Miata (2000 vintage) I had ever seen, described and showed me every modification he had made since he took ownership of it last January. He has already crashed it once, he said, but he repaired the damage himself at his father’s auto body shop. When I said I was sad that top-down weather would soon be ending for the season, he said he is looking forward to rain so that he could practice “drifting.” According to Google, “Drift racing is a motorsport where drivers intentionally break the traction of their rear tires to slide cars sideways through corners while keeping full control.” Who knew? Now I do. I pointed to my own Miata and said proudly that I try to keep all four tires firmly on the ground.

I figure that’s why she still looks so good at 30.

Not too shabby for 30!

This '00 Miata was so souped up, I hardly recognized it. The owner uses it to "drift race."

This man's roadster was so new that it still had temporary plates.

A perfect top-down day!

Miata’s Birthday Portrait

 

Portrait of my Miata on her 30th birthday, Sept. 20, 2026, by David Hingtgen

Initially the Miata's "eyes" were closed (as they usually are when
the lights are off), but David suggested that opening the eyes would
give the portrait more sparkle and character. He was so right!

On Sept. 20, 1996, I drove a brand new, bright red Miata home for the first time. Partly sunny, the day wasn’t exactly warm, but of course I took the top down. Without a destination, Greg and I drove around all afternoon, and it was the beginning of beautiful friendship. (See my post from the Miata’s 20th birthday in 2016, when I waxed nostalgic about my history with convertibles.)

To commemorate her 30^th birthday last Sunday, I commissioned urban sketcher and car artist extraordinaire David Hingtgen to make a portrait of my beloved.

The Miata's portrait just completed by David

It’s not often that one gets to sit for a commissioned portrait, so I decided that the Miata deserved a morning at the spa. A couple of days before the portrait, Ian of Dreamy’s Detailing Service came over to give the Miata a full detailing, inside and out, for the first time ever. Believe me, the old gal has never been this clean and pretty since that first day I drove her home.

9/19/26 Ian of Dreamy's Detailing gives the Miata the full spa treatment in my driveway. (photo reference)

To prep for the interior cleaning, I took every item out of the trunk, glove box, behind and (inadvertently) under the seats. It’s not a bad idea to completely clean out a car every couple of decades. In addition to several ferry schedules, road trip brochures and paper maps from the turn of the 21^st century, I found my 1995 edition of The Thomas Guide (which I’m sure I hadn’t opened since I got my first Garmin navigational device in the ‘00s).

Long-lost waterbrush cap

Bonus: A waterbrush cap turned up! I remember dropping it under the seat years ago when I used to sketch all winter in my mobile studio, but I couldn’t reach it. Of course, the waterbrush became useless without a cap, so I must have tossed it. I’m saving this cap for the next time I lose one.

Happy 30th birthday, Miata! You’ve been a fun, reliable, low-maintenance friend all these years, and I hope we still have many more together.

One of many relics from the past three decades that were buried and long forgotten in my car.

Not-Pink Motorcycle

 

Here’s another sketch I made when I took the Caran d’Ache Neocolor II Botanic set to Lighthouse Roasters. All the floral pastels in the set inspired me to make color choices based on values while ignoring the local hues. While I was making the sketch of the house I showed in the review post, a motorcycle rider parked his bike right in front of me. Although I knew he went into Lighthouse for coffee, I didn’t know if he was just getting it to go or was staying for a while, so I was under some pressure (Oh, goody! You know how much I like that kind of pressure!).

Very quickly, I used the light pink to block in the main shapes. This was not so much a value choice as simply using a pale color that would be drawn over later (one of Kumi Matsukawa’s basic principles of her urban sketching technique). Then I used the blue to draw the shadow shapes and dark parts of the bike. With that much drawn, I knew I could finish if the rider rode off with my model.

Since he was apparently having his coffee “for here,” I had more time to add the darker pink as the midtone. I was just adding details like the lights and spokes when he came out and rode away. (In retrospect, it occurred to me that it would be difficult for a motorcycle rider to take coffee to go!)

From memory, I put in the bike wheel’s shadow with the darkest crayon in the set, then realized I could use that color a second time (something I learned from Eleanor Doughty) as the background.

I really like how these thick, blunt crayons prevent me from getting into details and push me to see abstractions.

When I got home, I saw that the background needed to be darker, so I added another layer before scanning.

Rear View of Edmonds Car Show

 

9/6/26 Edmonds Classic Car & Motorcycle Show

Just like the Greenwood Car Show signals the beginning of the summer festival season, the Edmonds Classic Car and Motorcycle Show signals the end. Coinciding with Labor Day weekend this year, the show seemed more crowded than ever, and that’s no surprise: The weather was surprisingly fantastic! Not surprising in that it wasn’t predicted, but it’s just that Labor Day weekend can sometimes be cool and drizzly. What a treat as the crowd meandered slowly to admire all the cars in downtown Edmonds.

As I do in Greenwood (a much larger show), I first walked the entire show snapping photos of my favorites and thinking about which I might sketch. Since all the cars are parked facing the middle of the street where all the show viewers are walking, I couldn’t find a good spot to sketch any from the front. I decided to walk on the sidewalks and sketch cars from the rear!

As has become my personal tradition (doing anything for two consecutive years is a tradition, right?), I finished off my visit with a stop at Molly Moon’s Ice Cream, which has concrete barriers that make convenient seating while facing the street. Enjoying my scoop of Summer Plum as I made my last sketches, I said good-bye to summer in the best possible way.

Sketching outside Molly Moon's during the Edmonds Car Show

I admire this pink T-bird convertible every year!

Greenwood Car Show Never Fails

 

6/27/26 outside Herkimer Coffee, Greenwood neighborhood

A little drizzle never keeps sketchers down! It apparently does, however, keep attendance down at the Greenwood Car Show, because the first couple of hours I was there were the easiest to walk and sketch my way through the show as I have ever seen it. It wasn’t my wettest show, though – that would be 2014, when it poured for much of the day. Rain or shine, it’s still one of my favorite summer events, which I’ve been attending nearly annually since 2013.

As is my tradition, after walking the full length of the show and back (“a mile-and-a-half of classic rides” is the show’s slogan, but this year it was probably closer to a mile; the drizzle kept potential exhibiters away, too), I stopped for coffee and a scone at Herkimer Coffee. Despite the Juneuary chill, I was dressed in enough layers to sit outside. This is always a fond moment for me at the show: Sketching whatever car is on display right in front of Herkimer and usually catching a dog, too (top of post).

Fully tanked up an hour before the USk Seattle outing even began, I started sketching in earnest. With the drizzle letting up, many exhibitors were busily wiping down their babies.

Although the Greenwood Car Show doesn’t feature many Monster Trucks, the one I sketched (below) became a favored photo opp for young kids and their parents.

Most of a block was taken up by a fleet of mini cars like the 1960 Fiat Limousette I sketched (below). I was happy when a tall, large man stood next to it, giving me exactly what I needed to show scale.

As it got close to the throwdown time, I spotted a finned ’57 Chevy Bel Air convertible from a beloved automotive era. I had just enough time to make a portrait of it (below).

After the throwdown, I walked the length of the show once more, this time with my camera instead of my sketchbook. By then, I was ready to head home – but not before catching a busker (have I ever been able to walk past a busker without sketching them?).

Ahhh, Greenwood Car Show, you never fail to be a highlight of my summer!

Sunshine for the throwdown!

My dad drove a Chevy Impala of this vintage -- but it definitely wasn't a convertible!

This was the weirdest pairing I saw: A hideous Tesla truck painted with the owner's portrait and hauling a funny little two-wheeled vehicle.

Skagit River

5/18/26 Skagit River, Rockport, WA.

Some of my family were in town for a few days last weekend for an extended family event. I joined a few of them for a short road trip to the small town of Rockport about a hundred miles north of Seattle. Although Howard Miller Steelhead Park in Skagit County is known for its winter eagle feedings in the Skagit River, not many eagles were sighted the day we went. My brother, a wildlife photographer (I have sketched from some of his photos taken in Kenya), wanted to check it out for future reference.

Walking out onto a bridge across the river, I caught this lovely spot with the North Cascades looming behind it. If you zoom in closely, you might see that the tiny dot in the water is a fly fisherman. 

Although I've gotten rides before in my nephew's Tesla, this 
was my first experience in a charging station.

Technical notes: I’m not sure how evident it is in the results, but the color sketch was inspired by Colin Woodward’s techniques with water-soluble materials. His primary method is to apply relatively little pencil or crayon and instead employ the water to do more of the work. Using Caran d’Ache Neocolor II water-soluble crayons and Museum Aquarelle pencils, I did the same. I must say that the waterbrush hack I’ve been using lately is definitely efficient with his method. It’s easier to control the direction and density of water than spritzing, and the flat, broad brush edge is faster than a typical round waterbrush. I finished this sketch in the time it took my brother to take a few photos, and I didn’t keep anyone waiting.

Tops Down at Edmonds Car Show

 

9/7/25 1937 Nash LaFayette, Edmonds Classic Car & Motorcycle Show

Although the Greenwood Car Show is still the Seattle area’s best and biggest annual car show, the Edmonds Classic Car & Motorcycle Show is a very close second. Like Greenwood, the Edmonds show has a strong community feeling. Another high point is that it seems to have a stronger emphasis on classic cars – and lots of convertibles, to boot. The only drawback is that the streets of Edmonds are narrower, so it’s harder to walk during peak times, and it feels more compressed, even though it probably draws a slightly smaller crowd. In any case, this was my third year, and it’s definitely staying on my calendar of annual sketching events!

Since I didn’t arrive until late morning, it was lunchtime by the time I finished doing an initial walk-through of the whole show (a fun habit I developed at the Greenwood show so that I could get my fitness walk first as I note which cars to draw later). I spotted an ideal table on the sidewalk at Market Edmonds. While munching fish and chips, I sketched a bright red 1937 Nash LaFayette (above), which was almost fully in view.

I spent the rest of the afternoon sketching in the way I love most: Wandering around the entire show, stopping to sketch whenever and wherever something caught my eye (below). I saw so many beautiful convertibles, including a beloved ’57 T-Bird and a Mustang! Not just cars, though – I enjoy catching things that make the show a community event, like the two teenagers busking with their cellos. It’s also always amusing to jot comments I overhear as well as comments made directly to me.

When I started to run out of steam, I took an ice cream break at Molly Moon’s while facing the rear ends of a row of diagonally parked cars. These were my favorite cars to draw of the whole show. Not caring about how wonky my sketches were, I was intrigued by the shifting perspective and challenging foreshortened views from where I sat.

So many gorgeous convertibles!

This is the same T-Bird I sketched... my favorite!

Tight Squeeze at Wedgwood Car Show

 

8/24/25 '56 Thunderbird convertible at the Wedgwood Car Show

New on my summer events radar this year was the Wedgwood Car Show, which has apparently been going on for 18 years, but I hadn’t heard about it until a couple of months ago. Just one neighborhood east of Maple Leaf, Wedgwood is practically “my” ‘hood – I was stoked that it was so close!

Packed in tight!

Tiny compared to the massive Greenwood Car Show, which I catch every year, the Wedgwood show is crammed into one strip mall parking lot. Sponsored by the Wedgwood Broiler, a neighborhood institution since 1965, the show had some beautiful classic cars, but they were difficult to sketch if you wanted to get the whole car. Unlike Greenwood, where all the cars are neatly angle-parked so that visitors can walk through the center of the street and see cars on both sides, the Wedgwood cars were parked every which way to cram in as many as possible.

Another challenge was that the temperature was already in the mid-70s and climbing by 10 a.m. when the show opened, so my main goal was to look for views I could sketch from the shade, which was mostly behind the cars.

I stood behind a lovely ’56 Thunderbird convertible (one of my long-time fantasy cars; sketch above and photo below) and had hoped to include the owner, who was dressed in a turquoise outfit and wide-brimmed hat to match the trim on her car, but she kept wandering around chatting with friends.

Once I realized I wasn’t going to be able to see any one car without being blocked by another, I had fun with my composition by layering and skipping the parts I couldn’t see.

Frustrating as it was to sketch there, I probably won’t attend again, but I enjoyed the show for what it was. I always enjoy observing the friendly community and camaraderie of small, neighborhood events.

Technical note: Hoping to make some color car portraits, I had brought along an A5 Hahnemühle sketchbook instead of a large Uglybook. Realizing quickly that it wasn’t the kind of show where I could make car portraits easily, I switched to marker line drawings of the type that I make in Uglybooks. How strange and foreign to use white paper!

Look at this gorgeous T-Bird convertible!

Yes, I tend to favor red cars, but purple's not bad, either!