Looking Back, Looking Ahead

 

Last year was all about figuring out what my life’s “normal” setting is, learning to live in that new normal, and downsizing. Finally settled in 2025, I began looking ahead – to something that has been on my mind, unfulfilled for years.

Twenty years ago, a significant portion of my freelance income came from teaching – work that I genuinely enjoyed. In early 2020, I had been planning and looking forward to begin teaching in the Urban Sketchers workshop program – and then 2020 happened (my blog post announcing it was literally only a month before the world shut down for COVID). The workshop program never resumed when the world reopened, and by then, my full attention was on Greg. Some part of me, though, kept the idea of teaching tucked away for another time.

That time is finally here, and I’m excited to announce that I’ll be teaching in 2026! Prompted by the pet portraits I drew for ArtSpot’s fundraiser last summer, the Edmonds art supply store invited me to offer workshops related to animal portraiture. I’ll be offering two this spring: Pet Portraits in Brush Pen and Animal Portraits in Colored Pencil.

All the practice I did during InkTober and Pencilvember this year was, in fact, not just practice; I was also refining techniques so that I could articulate them to students. I’m looking forward to getting back into the creative process of helping others to learn.

Although we all like the neatness of closing an old year and beginning a fresh one, I’m more of the mind that life is a perpetual continuum.  To honor the unfinished continuity of life, shown here are sketches that got interrupted and were never finished. Life goes on, whether the sketch gets finished or not, and I’m looking forward to it.

Happy New Year!

Tina’s Top 10 Memorable Sketches of 2025

 

1/18/25 The People's March

Continuing a long-standing, end-of-year blog tradition, shown here are my 10 most memorable sketches of 2025. It’s always fun and illuminating to look back on all my sketches from the year and think about why some are noteworthy. 

As I always say in my intro to this post, these are not necessarily the “best” sketches I made this year; they are my most meaningful in various ways. In fact, in most cases it wasn’t a single sketch that was most memorable – it was the whole experience of sketching in that location. My sketches are not necessarily about special moments; they are moments made special because I sketched them. For me, that’s what urban sketching is.

 

4/14/25 Hollywood sign, Los Angeles

Jan. 18, The People’s March (above): This was the first of several protest rallies I sketched to document the anger and outrage many people have been feeling about the state of our country and its so-called leadership.

April 14, the Hollywood sign (at right): Although all the sketching I did in L.A. last spring was among the most memorable, I chose this little sketch of the iconic Hollywood sign as the most touristy and therefore emblematic of my visit.

 July 12, Old Dog Haven’s Pups on Parade (below): I had so much fun sketching dogs (some costumed) and their humans at this event that it will definitely be on my annual summer calendar going forward.

 

7/12/25 Pups on Parade

July 22, Hing Hay Park: Some of my favorite and most memorable sketching of the summer was during the days leading up to and winding down from Sketcher Fest. After all the hubbub was over, it was both relaxing and fun to sketch a familiar spot and experience it through the fresh eyes of an out-of-town visitor.

 

7/22/25 Hing Hay Park

Aug. 21, drawing pets at ArtSpot: Although none of the hasty pet portraits were my best work, the experience of drawing them during ArtSpot’s fundraising event was a fun and memorable time.

8/21/25 Sketching pets at ArtSpot (photo by Janet Wang)

 Aug. 21, Beacon Hill sketch outing: This USk outing in the Beacon Hill neighborhood became something of a media event: A Seattle Times writer and photographer gave us a little coverage as part of a story they were doing on Gabi Campanario.

 

8/21/25 Beacon Hill neighborhood

Aug. 29, Gasworks Brewing Co. drink & draw: This was my favorite USk drink & draw of the year, partly due to its location on Lake Union but mostly because it’s where I finally met Naoko, a sketcher I had been following on Instagram for years.

 

8/29/25 USk drink & draw at Gasworks Brewing Co.

Aug. 30, my childhood home in the Leschi neighborhood: It was a very special moment to finally sketch the house I grew up in.

 

8/30/25 My childhood home, Leschi neighborhood

9/22/25 elephants at the Oregon Zoo, Portland

Sept. 22, elephants at Oregon Zoo (at left): The highlight of my fall trip to Portland was a visit to the Oregon Zoo, and by far the most fun animals to sketch there were the elephants.

 Nov. 30,  the Seattle Marathon (below): Sketching the first marathon I had ever attended certainly made it a memorable occasion.

11/30/25 Seattle Marathon

Year-End Skyscapitos

 

12/22/25 sunrise, Maple Leaf neighborhood

After many consecutive days (weeks?) of gloomy, gray and wet sunrises, the dawn after the solstice brought a colorful one (at left). I think I missed the best of it by the time I got upstairs, but I was too delighted not to sketch its tail end. The other surprise was seeing how far south the sun rises this time of year (which is why I could see the colors so well). Yes, it happens every year, and yet it always surprises me!

There’s a chance for more, but looking at the weather forecast, these are likely the last skyscapitos of 2025. This is also a wrap for the Uglybook that I began on Nov. 10, 2022.

It’s the third white Uglybook I’ve filled. The others contain skyscapitos, but they also contain more randomness than this one does. When I bought the first three-pack, I was skeptical that I’d have enough uses for white Uglybooks; after all, I have plenty of high-quality sketchbooks containing white paper. I realized quickly, though, that the 80-pound paper is sufficient for the light washes I use with watercolor pencils in thumbnail-size sketches. More significantly, the inexpensive book invites small color captures of sky scenes that are changing by the second. It shouts, “Hey, we’re not making plein air paintings here! Just grab the color before it’s gone! Now!” Realizing that I did have a use for them, I eventually got a second three-pack. I’m glad I did; Uglybooks stopped making white books a long time ago, probably realizing that they didn’t need to compete in the traditional white sketchbook market.

12/12/25 sunset

Although book No. 3 contains a few random sketches, and some skyscapitos required different colored papers (like the dark blue one at right), for the most part, it’s a continuous chronology of sunrises and sunsets I’ve sketched the past three years. I appreciate that kind of continuity.

My life three years ago was very different from now. Back then, I sometimes sketched sunrises not with joyful anticipation but with dread of what the day might bring. Sometimes my sunset sketches were brief moments of respite after long days of pain and anxiety. Now I finish the book with peace and gratitude, looking forward to more skyscapitos in 2026.

Three years of sky color

Productive and Creative, After All

3/18/24 (memory)

With all that was going on in my life (and in my house) in 2024, I had been feeling a bit disappointed that I didn’t explore creatively as much as I usually do (either in media or in approach). But reviewing the year’s sketches for my Top 10 Memorable Sketches post reminded me of my on-location comics, which were a major change in approach. My interest in the comics style also led me to try autobiographical comics using my imagination, which is always a big stretch for me. Early in the year, I made a lot of pet portraits as a fundraiser, which was a rewarding and challenging project. It’s been a productive, creative year, after all.

Currently my studio is in a transitional mess of partly filled boxes and ongoing dishevelment. It’s hard to relax and create here because I see so much stuff I still need to sort and haul downstairs (which will be Phase 2 of my big downsizing plan). Looking ahead to 2025, I can’t wait to get my studio move completed so that I can get back to doing more drawing (maybe even painting) at my desk this winter. I’m shooting for the end of January for completion (though that might be overly optimistic).

9/29/24 Greenwood neighborhood (This was the last of my street tree series
for the year.)

My tradition for last-day-of-the-year reflections is to include sketches that I didn’t get around to sharing at the time that they were current. Interestingly enough, many are experimental in nature but also one-offs that didn’t go further, which made it difficult for me to form any coherent thoughts or ideas around them.

Wishing you creativity and fulfillment in 2025!

10/30/24 A collage/random paint splotch exercise inspired by Drewscape

11/9/24 Aegis resident

12/18/24 pale primary triad (photo reference)

11/11/24 metallic Neocolor I in Uglybooks (photo reference)

Tina’s Top 10 Memorable Sketches of 2024

 

2/1/24 Downtown Seattle from Greg's apartment

Every December, I do a series of year-end review posts related to new products I tried that year that I liked or didn’t like; products I wished someone would make; my most memorable sketches of the year; and reflective thoughts. However, with big life changes and downsizing tasks taking a large part of my attention this year, art supplies – acquiring, using and reviewing them – weren’t on my mind as much. And with my new commitment to acquiring less of everything (recent wagon falling-offs notwithstanding), it will be the same going forward. It’s a good time to downsize my end-of-year blog traditions, too.

The one post I want to continue, though, is my review of the year’s most memorable sketches. I truly enjoy looking back at my sketches from the past 12 months (I don’t know the total number, but I scanned 1,080 images as of Dec. 23) and thinking about why some stand out as special. These sketches are almost never my “best” work (in terms of “art quality,” whatever that might be); instead, they are memorable for the feelings they evoke or meanings they hold in some way.

It’s always interesting to see the themes that emerge. A strong one is the change in my style and approach this year as I moved away from individual, stand-alone sketches and toward visual storytelling and on-location comics made of multiple sketches. It’s a very different way of thinking visually, and I’m still enjoying the process.

Of course, I enjoyed sketching with my local Urban Sketchers group regularly, but I also did more social sketching with small groups of friends than ever before. After the pandemic had subsided, and I could have gone back to social sketching, I pulled back. It was not so much out of fear of COVID but because those years were when my time and energy were increasingly committed to Greg’s care. Twenty twenty-four was the first post-pandemic year that I could spend long periods of time sketching with friends whenever I wanted. It’s an activity that I especially cherish.

As is almost always the case, my most memorable sketches are ones I made on location. Although I have learned to value drawing from photos, those sketches don’t stay with me as special. For that, I have to be there, live.

Feb. 1, Seattle skyline (top of post): Although I didn’t share this sketch of the downtown skyline until April when I was ready to talk about it, I had sketched it from Greg’s Aegis Living apartment window on Feb. 1, the day he had moved in. At the time, he didn’t understand yet that it would be his new home, and I sketched to quell the anxiety, guilt and sorrow I was hiding.

 April, family reunion in Dallas (below): Gathering with my family to view the total solar eclipse in Dallas was very special and memorable in many ways.

4/7/24 Koyama family shoes

6/24/24 Ole Bolle, Portland

June, Portland: Because I was on my own, this short trip to Portland was memorable for being a wonderful opportunity to sketch as much as I wanted without the usual daily routines and responsibilities. Sketching Ole Bolle (left) with a friend was especially fun.

 June 29, Greenwood Car Show: Year after year, this neighborhood car show has been one of my favorite summertime events where I usually made portraits of individual cars (as well as the general goings-on). This was the first time I thought of it more as a reportage opportunity, telling the story of the event with a series of sketches (below). My post includes a retrospective of past years, which show the differences in approach.

 

6/29/24 Greenwood Car Show

July 3, Ballard neighborhood: Roy, Mary Jean and I had so much fun following the sketch path through Ballard (below) that Gabi Campanario had published in the Seattle Times. The day inspired us to brainstorm other neighborhoods we’d like to walk and sketch through in a similar way next summer.

 

7/3/24 Ballard neighborhood

7/17/24 Fishermen's Terminal

July 17, Urban Sketchers Seattle 15th anniversary celebration (at right): As the opening event leading up to Sketcher Fest as well as a milestone celebration, USk Seattle’s anniversary outing at Fishermen’s Terminal was very special, indeed.

July 18, Sketcher Fest ice cream cruise (below): Another Sketcher Fest auxiliary event, the ice cream cruise was a wonderful way to reunite with lots of sketcher friends, many of whom were visiting from other states or countries. I also felt personal and civic pride showing off my hometown, delighted to sketch it from a unique point of view. 

7/18/24 Sketcher friends on the ice cream cruise

July 18, Mt. Rainier: After all the social excitement and non-stop activities leading up to Sketcher Fest, Joel and I ended the day quietly sketching Her Majesty from Maple Leaf Park (below). Both of us introverts, we needed the relaxing, quiet time to appreciate Mt. Rainier’s beauty.

7/18/24 Mt. Rainier from Maple Leaf Park

 Oct. 14, Waterfront Overlook Walk: Seeing and sketching the brand-new Overlook for the first time with Kate and Mary Jean felt like a worthy culmination of years of civic planning (and plenty of tax dollars). It was also an ideal opportunity to take a reportage approach and show as much of the new attraction as possible (below).

10/14/24 Waterfront Overlook Walk

 Dec. 11, Omakase Lunch at Moriyama Sushi: Rats perform better when rewarded. When my big downsizing efforts began mid-year, sketching while eating treats became my reward system. The most unusual treat of the year was a colorful omakase meal (below).

12/11/24 Omakase meal, Moriyama Sushi

Observing Makes it So

 

11/29/23 Maple Leaf neighborhood

An avid urban sketcher, a friend often draws fellow passengers during his subway commutes. On one ride a while back, all his views of other people were blocked, so he ended up sketching a backpack. He sounded a bit apologetic about the subject matter on his Facebook post. I commented, “Everything is worthy of sketching because observing it makes it so.”

Although viewers may have varying levels of interest, to the sketcher (or maybe I should say, to this sketcher), the relative value of majestic Mt. Rainier or a rock in the driveway is the same: The attention I give it – that close observation for however long I choose to take – is what gives it value.

This principle is never more true than when I’m out walking and stop to sketch whatever I happen to come upon. Without intention or focus, these sketches might seem aimless, but for me, the act of drawing – not the drawing itself – shapes its meaning.

11/30/23 Seattle skyline from Maple Leaf Park

That’s it – that’s all I got for this year’s last year-end review post! Happy new year and happy sketching in 2024!

12/17/23 Mt. Rainier from Maple Leaf Park

12/21/23 Foggy Maple Leaf Park

12/27/23 Green Lake neighborhood

12/20/23 I had missed most of the action by the time I arrived.

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

Sketch Material Wish List for 2024

 

My favorite A6-size Hahnemuhle sketchbook would be so much lighter and slimmer
with a soft cover and fewer pages like the Field Notes Signature above it.

Ah, yes, one of my favorite year-end posts: the one in which I describe the sketch materials that I would ask Santa for – if only they existed! The first item is easy:

Softcover Hahnemühle:

Hahnemühle sketchbooks, especially the 100 percent cotton series, top my Tops list this year. The fabulous paper – which has weight, sizing and texture ideal for the way I like to work – combined with the A6 size makes my favorite option for my daily-carry, slimmed-down bag. What could possibly make it even better? If the A6 size came in a softcover version. The hard covers on Hahnemühle books are sturdy and substantial, but I use my books gently, and I don’t want that extra bulk and weight. I’d like a variation with fewer pages, making it slimmer, and with thinner, lightweight covers.

Ideal would be the thickness of a Field Notes Signature sketchbook (sadly, no longer in production), which has a perfect binding. Hahnemühle 100 percent cotton paper is substantially thicker, but I think a perfect binding could handle it.

I even bought a block of Hahnemühle paper with the intention of hand binding an A6-ish size booklet. That would bring me back full circle to my many years of bookbinding, which I haven’t done since 2019. Hand binding is economical as well as the one way to get exactly what I want. Hmmm… maybe a winter project.

The Viarco-made, L. Cornelissen-branded bi-grade pencil

Bi-grade graphite pencils (or more options for them):

In last July’s 12 Pencil Questions, I answered question No. 3, “What’s the pencil you wish existed?” with an answer that belongs here on my wishlist: A bi-grade graphite pencil like the Viking Verso. Portuguese pencil maker Viarco has the right idea with the pencil it apparently made especially for the London art supply store L. Cornelissen & Son (which I was lucky enough to visit in 2016). With 2B on one end and 6B on the other, it’s an OK combo, but ideal for me would be pairing a Japanese H with a Japanese 4B – like Mitsubishi Hi-Unis. Or how about a Blackwing with extra firm on one end and extra soft on the other (a useful idea that would be far better than its recent Lab 11-24-23 release of “misfit” factory seconds sold at a premium price and pitched as a “small-batch” innovation)? I think it would be super-handy to have two such grades of good graphite – a harder one for initial blocking, a softer one for shading – in one convenient stick. 

Just a millimeter or two of additional girth makes 
pencils more comfortable to use, especially with time-
consuming drawings. (Vintage Hardtmuth Koh-i-Noor, left,
compared with contemporary Mitsubishi Hi-Uni.)

A full range of mini-jumbo size pencils:

During Pencilvember, I tried a vintage Hardtmuth Koh-i-Noor 1500 graphite pencil that had good 6B graphite, but what made it especially pleasurable to use was its “mini-jumbo” size. With a barrel about 8mm in diameter (standard pencils are about 7mm), its bit of extra girth makes it more comfortable to hold. Even better is the 9mm Gekkoso. I’d love to see Mitsubishi or Tombow make a full range of graphite grades, all with a larger mini-jumbo barrel. (Of course, they’d have to come out with a corresponding sharpener, too.)

A modest list, don’t you think?

Wish lists from previous years:

2022
2021
2020
2019