Deep Fog in August

 

8/14/26 8:15 a.m., Maple Leaf neighborhood

The day dawned to a deep fog of the type we usually don’t see until autumn. Say it ain’t so!

Material and process notes: When drawing fog, I tend to use graphite, but on a whim I tried a Derwent Drawing pencil (Midnight 6710). Soft, creamy pencils like this make me want to bear down and use them like crayons, so it took some self-control to use as little pressure as possible.

Working on this sketch, I thought of all the exercises I’ve done from instruction books and in classes to make a gradient of values using one pencil, beginning from the lightest value and working darker. Drawing fog is the on-location version of that exercise: I must begin with the lightest value (the distant fir) so that I’ll know how much darker to make the other values.

Foggy First

 

1/1/26 Maple Leaf neighborhood

The new year awakened with a thick blanket of fog. It’s a common occurrence this time of year, as my Facebook “memories” have been showing me my foggy sketches from years past. The first one I make of the season always feels rusty – like I forgot how to use a graphite pencil (which, I admit, I hadn’t used in a while, since I used only colored pencils during Pencilvember).

For the animals I’ve been drawing with colored pencils lately, my general approach is to slam on the color as hard and fast as possible. Drawing fog with graphite, however, requires the opposite approach: Shading as lightly as possible while still being visible.

Eagle in Blue

9/11/25 Olympic Sculpture Park

When I visited the Olympic Sculpture Park briefly last month, I realized I hadn’t sketched there in quite a while. Mary Jean and I picked a morning that turned out to be  chilly and foggy, but I dressed in enough layers to be comfortable. In fact, it was fun to capture the Space Needle disappearing into the thick fog.

Although the park exhibits numerous sculptures, I somehow always end up sketching the same three or four icons. Alexander Calder’s “Eagle” and Richard Serra’s “Wake” are two of them. It had been a long time, though, since I last sketched Jaume Plensa’s “Echo,” the haunting, serene, 46-foot head near the waterfront.

Brush markers and colored pencil -- a useful pairing.

Material notes: Since I’d sketched all of them before, the challenge this time was limiting my palette in an unusual (for me) way: blue and sepia (both Faber-Castell Pitt Brush Pens, 146 and 175, respectively). I enjoyed using these colors in a tonal way in Bothell, so I was eager to try them again, this time with a slightly lighter blue as a better midtone. The Caran d’Ache Museum Aquarelle Middle Cobalt Blue (660) that’s part of my everyday-carry colored pencil palette is very close in hue to the blue marker. As I was contemplating the Space Needle, I was trying to figure out how to do the subtle gradation required to depict fog – markers are either “off” or “on” with nothing in between. Then I suddenly remembered the colored pencil! Nothing like pencil to make subtle gradations easy.

Later when I sketched the Eagle, I wanted one step darker than blue, but not quite as dark as sepia, to show the shaded underside. Adding a layer of pencil over the marker did the trick. Pencil is also much better for suggesting foliage (behind “Wake”) than a marker is (at the base of “Echo” and behind “Eagle”). I’m digging the pairing of markers with colored pencil – each doing what it does best.

What a brain-blowout to sketch the bright red Eagle in blue!

Back to Morning Fog

 

1/29/25 Maple Leaf neighborhood, about 8:30 a.m., 31 degrees

Unless I’m planning to make a time-consuming, highly detailed drawing in graphite, which would require a range of grades, I tend to pick just one relatively soft pencil, maybe a 2B, for most sketches. I’ve had trouble, though, with even medium-soft pencils when sketching fog. It’s too easy to suddenly find myself going too dark (which is ironic, because in every drawing class I’ve taken, regardless of medium, instructors have urged me to go darker with values). In addition, it’s so tempting to draw in a few sharp details, but fog flattens everything into pale, blurry tones.

After several days of beautiful, well-earned sunshine, we were plunged into a deep fog again last Wednesday – so thick that I could barely see across the street. It was also frosty-cold. I tried a Mitsubishi Hi-Uni in grade H, but even that seemed too soft. It helped to use a blending stump to remove as much texture as possible, but that can also darken graphite if I overdo it. Next time, I’ll choose an even harder grade.

Walking with a Chance of Sunshine

1/14/25 Cloudy (but the trees were still wearing
their cheerful holiday lights)

1/13/25 Foggy

Our typical fog and overcast skies this time of year gave way to several days of sunshine last week – what a treat! Although I don’t suffer from clinical SAD, I have friends who do, and I know that this unseasonal sunlight is more than just a treat for them – it’s therapeutic. Even without SAD and even when it’s cold, I feel uplifted walking in sunshine. Here are some recent weather reports.

1/20/25 The Brothers in sunshine

1/25/25 Sunny

1/26/25 Sunny

Fog Season

 

1/15/25 Maple Leaf neighborhood

This time of year, we can usually rely on morning fog. I say “morning” because typically it burns off by noon, but that part has become less dependable. The day I sketched this, the fog hung around like a heavy, wet blanket until the sun went down at 4:46 p.m.  Short days, damp air, cold temps – spring feels far away.

At Least it’s Not Snow

 

1/13/25 Maple Leaf neighborhood

With only a few minutes before I was due in a Zoom meeting with my tax guy, I grabbed this small sketch of the morning fog. The temperature was 38 degrees. When I took a walk after lunch, the temperature was only a few degrees warmer, and the fog remained thick. Nothing like walking in cold, damp air to make me grateful that at least it isn’t snow and ice.

Pea Soup for Breakfast

 

12/4/24 Maple Leaf neighborhood, about 8:45 a.m.

This is the time of year for sketching fog. Often it starts to burn off by mid- to late-morning and thins even earlier. If I want to sketch it, I have a relatively narrow window of time after full sun around 8 a.m. and whenever it may dissipate. Since I know it may begin lifting at any time, there’s always a bit of tension, which I relish. It was already fading by the time I finished this sketch shortly before 9 a.m.

I’ve tried different media to sketch fog, including watercolor (way back in 2013!), water-soluble graphite, charcoal and white colored pencils, but my favorite is graphite. In years past, I’ve often used a blending stump to soften graphite for a diffused, foggy look. The risk, though, is that the stump will darken graphite slightly, and it’s already challenging to apply graphite lightly. For this one and the one I had made the day before, I resisted the stump and challenged myself to draw as lightly as possible (and still be visible).

I’ve been using a Field Notes Streetscapes sketchbook, which has a lovely, mild tooth that I enjoy with graphite, but it might still be too strong a texture for soft fog. Next time I’ll try something smoother.

Pencilvember Finale

11-27/24 Faber-Castell 9000 8B
(all studies made in Field Notes Streetscapes
sketchbook)

 

Without a plan or much intention other than to use pencils every day, my Pencilvember challenge began with low commitment at best. I didn’t even finish using the tan-colored Uglybook I started with, even though I vowed to. That was a disappointment because I’ve otherwise been consistent about filling every daily-carry Uglybook before moving on to the next. Something about that color just didn’t do it for me, though, with graphite.

I did, however, use a pencil of one kind or another almost every day of November (I think I forgot one day), which did remind me why I love them so much. Compared to the speed of markers, both colored and graphite pencils require a bit more time, so I tend to reach for efficiency when on the go. Nothing is quite as satisfying, however, as building tones gradually and modulating them delicately with a pencil. I enjoyed being “forced” by the challenge to take the time.

11/29/24 vintage Dixon Typhonite Eldorado 3B

My serendipitous breakthrough came when I viewed the new Ken Burns documentary about Leonardo DaVinci. A small mention of his studies of draped fabric set my brain on fire, and the remaining days were easy to fill with similar studies – all in graphite. I was a bit sorry I didn’t think of the idea earlier – I enjoyed them so much that I could have done a whole month of them (it’s safe to say that now, since November is over!).

I’ve posted all the other Pencilvember sketches throughout the month within the context of wherever I sketched. Here are the last three days of my draped scarf studies. (I took a break from the series on Thanksgiving to sketch the fog.)

For such an unambitious start, I’m happy with the way it went, and especially the way it ended.

11/30/24 Caran d'Ache Grafwood 4B

Foggy Thanksgiving

 

11/28/24 About 7:15 a.m., Maple Leaf

Just like two years ago, Thanksgiving day began with a thick fog. Around 7:15 a.m., the sun was still below the horizon, but the sky was beginning to lighten. From an upstairs window, I could barely see the driveway; the cone of light from this street light dissipated before it hit the ground.

A couple of hours later, the sun was fully up, but the fog was still deep. I sketched the same street light, this time with some context I could see across the street.

11/28/24 About 9:30 a.m.

Walk-Sketch Randomness

10/18/24

9/24/24 

Most of my walk-sketches get posted on my blog chronologically because I have some kind of story to tell, either about the subject, media explorations, or whatever. Still, I realized I had some sketches from September and October that I hadn’t shared. I don’t want to get too far behind, so I’ll catch up here, along with a few for Pencilvember.

10/27/24

The one from Sept. 24 (top left) is something of an anomaly. Out for a walk with my daily-carry Uglybook, I wanted to capture the thick fog on that strangely warm morning, and watermelon red just wouldn’t do it. I didn’t have a white sketchbook, but I always have a Field Notes jotting notebook and a graphite pencil with me.

The only other sketch here with much of a story is Oct. 18 (top right) – an excavator digging up trees and roots from a driveway and yard. Back in August, I wrote a post about an old, dilapidated garage I see whenever I get a table at Macrina Bakery’s outdoor seating area. Out of place on that tidy street, the eyesore of a garage had been that way for years. Not too long after I made that sketch, I walked by one day and realized that it had been taken down! On Oct. 18, I saw that the entire yard was being excavated, including some small trees. The excavator operator saw me sketching and alerted the owner, who was attending.

“Is there a problem?” the owner said, crossing the street toward me with a worried expression. (People seem to interpret sketching as furious notetaking.)

“Oh, no problem at all – I’m enjoying sketching your excavation!” I replied. Relieved, he started chatting about his ongoing plans. His project is done now, and the landscaping looks nice, but strangely, I sort of miss the garage, even if it was an eyesore. I’m glad I sketched it when I did.

Included in this randomness are graphite sketches from a few days ago. The Faber-Castell Pitt Graphite Matt pencil that I started Pencilvember with wasn’t doing it for me, so I’m trying out different pencils now. The 8B Mitsubishi Hi-Uni Super DX and the Viarco ArtGraf water-soluble graphite pencil both hit the spot in terms of darkness and softness, but unfortunately, they both smudge badly and reflect light. Activating with water, however, takes care of both the ArtGraf’s smudging and shininess. That might be the best solution.

11/4/24 (ArtGraf, Inktense, white Derwent Drawing pencil)

11/4/24 (ArtGraf, Museum Aquarelle and 
Inktense)

11/4/24 (Hi-Uni Super DX 8B, Museum Aquarelle)

I’m also regretting that I chose the tan Uglybook . . . perhaps I should have gone with a white one, as was my first inclination. With white, it’s very easy and fast to get the high contrast I want, and I can probably use harder graphite grades if I want to.

(Fussing about media sure is fun! I’ve missed it!)

I'm having fun mixing in some color with the graphite! Ahhh, pencils -- how I've missed you!

Fog with Charcoal

 

3/5/24 Maple Leaf from our upstairs bedroom window

Fog is a common winter occurrence. Until it appeared earlier this week, I hadn’t realized how surprisingly little we’ve seen this season. It was thick during breakfast, so I thought I had plenty of time, but by the time I went upstairs, I could see that it was already beginning to lift. I usually use graphite for fog, but anticipating the little time I had, I grabbed a Conte charcoal pencil, thinking it might be faster.

I’m not sure it saved me time, but its chunky point forced me to look at shapes instead of lines. The blending stump worked as hard as the pencil did.

First Fog

1/1/24 From the bedroom window

The first day of the fresh year dawned overcast, but after a short while, a heavy fog came through. The temperature was 36. I stayed cozy and sketched this roofline view from our bedroom window.

Technical notes: I typically use graphite pencils to sketch fog, but I’ve been having so much fun with ArtGraf water-soluble graphite lately that it was a natural to try on a fogscape. It takes very little effort to get varying degrees of value even with a waterbrush.

Ever since the 30x30 Direct Watercolor challenge last summer, I haven’t necessarily avoided all under-drawing lines when I use paint or other wet media, but I’ve been pushing myself to use as few as possible. I almost always need some kind of under-drawing with architectural lines because I rarely get the angles right on the first try (the hardest part is showing the very subtle angle change between the Dutch gable and the rest of the roof  – and Seattle has so many of these). But I’ve never blocked in trees and other organic parts, even before the challenge. Just for fun, I took a snapshot of my under-drawing just before I started “painting” with graphite. (Sorry the lines are so pale – I used an H pencil.) I’d like to get to the point where I need even fewer lines than this.

Under-drawing in H graphite

Wait Five Minutes

 

10/12/23 Through my studio window

10/12/23 Maple Leaf neighborhood

If there’s one thing that’s certain about fall weather in these parts, it’s that it changes day by day, hour by hour. That old joke about how if you don’t like the weather, just wait five minutes? Yeah.

On Wednesday I got caught sketching in the rain. The next morning we woke to thick fog (one of my favorite sketching subjects), which burned off by lunchtime. I took a walk in the afternoon in a T-shirt as I sketched this Japanese maple.

Fog with a Matte Finish

 

1/21/23 Maple Leaf neighborhood through our bedroom window, 8:30 a.m., 33 degrees F.

In addition to basic cold and rain, January in these parts is known for foggy mornings. It was already beginning to lift when I started this sketch at around 8:30 a.m., so I had to rush. On a whim, I grabbed a Faber-Castell Pitt Graphite Matt pencil, which I hadn’t used in a while, thinking it would be ideal for the flat, matte look of fog. I forgot, though, that one if its benefits is that it doesn’t smudge as much as standard graphite pencils, so it was harder to get the soft foggy look. Most of the smudginess that appears here probably came from the graphite that was already on the stump from previous drawings.

Foggy Thanksgiving Morning

 

11/24/22 Maple Leaf neighborhood

Thanksgiving morning dawned in a deep fog. As I prepped for the day, I watched it get thicker and thicker. By late morning, the sun was making a valiant effort to burn it off, and I saw a strange effect: I could barely see across the street, yet the fog right in front of the sun must have thinned enough for shadows. Even as I finished the sketch, the fog dissipated, and the rest of the day was clear and bright.

Smog

 

10/10/22 Maple Leaf neighborhood, fog just beginning to lift

10/6/22 Maple Leaf, mid-morning. The sun easily sketched
through the thick haze.

For me, the term smog connotes big cities like L.A., Beijing or Delhi, where the source is usually industrial pollution. Most of the year, Seattle’s air quality is relatively good, probably helped by all the rain that washes away whatever pollution there might be.

Fall is when we typically have thick morning fog that I enjoy sketching, but that’s the clean kind made of water vapor. The past week has given us a different kind of smog – a true mix of both fog and smoke from wildfires. In general, I stayed indoors, but on my few abbreviated fitness walks, I couldn’t resist making quick sketches of the eerie haze hanging over us. Most disturbing was when I was able to sketch the sun with my bare eyes.

10/4/22 Green Lake

10/4/22 Green Lake

10/8/22 Maple Leaf, sunrise

10/3/22 Maple Leaf, sunset

Big White Sky

 

1/24/22 Northgate neighborhood

The fog had thinned by 2 p.m., but enough of it remained to give the fringe of trees in the distance a blurry softness. Everything looked about the same tone of gray – a bit of a sketcher’s nightmare, really, with not much standing out. Unless the sky has something interesting in it, I typically don’t include much of it in my compositions. On this wide street in the Northgate area, however, not even wires marred that completely flat whiteness. So this turned out to be a sketch of the sky as much as anything else.

What Could Be More Important than Pencils?

 

1/23/22 Maple Leaf neighborhood, Seattle

As you know, I enjoy drawing fog. Happily, I get plenty of opportunities here in winter.

My favorite material for fog is graphite, but last week I tried a black colored pencil, just to see what it would be like. Then I remembered that colored pencil doesn’t smudge nearly as much as graphite. The soft, blurry effect was lost to my visible pencil marks on the subtle paper texture.

On this morning, I went back to graphite. As much attention as I give to my pencils, the most important tool for fog was the blending stump. The eraser was important, too – the chimney’s brickwork.

Like Snow, But Better

 

1/17/22 Foggy in Maple Leaf

Fog is like snow: It completely changes the way I see ordinary views. With nothing but tones and values, and most details hidden, drawing those ordinary views feels fresh again.

We often get morning fog this time of year, and I enjoy the way it teaches me how far away familiar things are. Even during the half-hour or so that I sketched this, distant trees came in and out of view as the fog’s density changed constantly.

The best thing about fog, though, is that I know how to drive in it, and shoveling is not required.