VP Debate

 

10/1/24 Vice presidential debate sketched from live TV broadcast

The vice presidential debate didn’t raise my blood pressure nearly as much as previous debates have (or might have, if I hadn’t sketched). In fact, it was downright civil. Maybe because of that, I focused more this time on trying to capture likenesses. Maybe not so much with Walz, but I thought I captured Vance (at left) fairly well.

Maple in Maple Leaf

9/30/24 Japanese maple

Leaf peeping in my own ‘hood hasn’t been too fruitful yet . . . many of my familiar trees seem to be behind schedule. Not the Japanese maples, though – they’re always first to the party. This one is a favorite just a couple blocks from home.

Leaf Peeping in Greenwood

 

9/29/24 The Dayton maples

Leaf-peeping season has begun in earnest, and I’m having mixed results. Some trees I’m familiar with seemed to be turning prematurely back in early September, while others seem late. Every year, I try to sketch the maples growing in a traffic circle at 83^rd and Dayton in the Greenwood neighborhood (at right). By late September, I fully expected to see more color than I did last Sunday. For example, when I sketched them on Sept. 14, 2017, they definitely had more color. It’s nice to know I still have more color to look forward to; I’ll keep checking back.

After a cool, overcast morning, Sunday afternoon turned out to be so beautiful that I left my car parked on Dayton and decided to take a walk through Greenwood. I spotted numerous trees that were way ahead of the Dayton maples in color; I noted their locations to sketch later. When I stopped for a Cortado at Herkimer Coffee (my favorite first stop whenever I sketch the Greenwood Car Show), I noticed that the tree across the street by the 74^th Street Ale House was just starting to turn gold around the edges (below). It’s probably not the type of tree that eventually turns red, but I enjoy sketching trees with any part of the fall palette.

9/29/24 Greenwood neighborhood, Seattle

Salvatore Ristorante

 

9/28/24 Salvatore Ristorante, Roosevelt neighborhood

Salvatore Ristorante in the Roosevelt neighborhood has been around since 1988, and the spouse guy and I had patronized it since its beginning (even before we were married). In addition to amazing Italian food, it has a charming, timeless ambiance. A whimsical touch is a mural of Italian village life on one diningroom wall. Decades ago when Greg and I had noticed that patrons had taken to gluing tiny images of themselves into the scenes, we decided to do that, too.

We have not been back to Salvatore since the pandemic, but whenever I walk or drive by, I have thought that I want to someday sketch the building, which is on a curving corner of Roosevelt Way and Northeast 61^st Street. A friend had a birthday party at Salvatore last Saturday, so I arrived a little early to sketch it from across the street. The food was just as good as I remember it. In fact, nothing about it had changed. (I meant to look at the mural to see if our photo was still attached, but I forgot. I’ll go back another time to check.)

Ballard Errands

 

9/27/24 Rosellini's, Ballard neighborhood

With several errands to do in the Ballard neighborhood, I decided to make a whole morning of it, starting with breakfast at Rosellini’s Fine Cakes and Baked Goods. Knowing what a fan I am of Macrina Bakery, several friends kept urging me to try Rosellini’s croissants, insisting that they are even better than Macrina’s. A bit skeptical, I was certainly willing to do my own research. And darned if they weren’t right! Holy-moly, that was the best croissant I’ve ever had – maybe even better than those I’ve had in France! Thank goodness I can’t walk to Rosellini’s in five minutes as I can to Macrina’s, or I’d be in big trouble.

Fully fortified, I got on with my errands, and in between, I had time for a couple of tree stops. The first was a group of birch bark cherries documented in Taha Ebrahimi’s book. The other was a Japanese cherry that looked like it was on fire – both its color and its shape.

Complements

I was just about to head out for a drink & draw with USk Seattle at Project 9 Brewing Company. Needing a strong complement for this orange Uglybook, I had grabbed a bright blue Pilot Juice acrylic marker. Amazingly, a man (lower left corner) sat down nearby wearing a bright orange T-shirt and socks and blue shoes exactly the color of my ink! An imaginary high-5 to him for his good color sense! 

Fuzzy Portraits

 

9/15/24 Bubba (reference photo by Linda Lee)

8/20/24 Benoit (reference photo by Joanne Tam)

Although I haven’t done a concentration of pet portraits since spring, I still have occasions to do them, and I enjoy having subject matter to keep up my colored pencil chops.

 Last month I wanted to make a surprise gift for a friend, the human who belongs to the pup named Benoit. What a sweet face!

The cat was a commission from a friend who wanted to give the portrait to her mother in memory of Bubba, who had recently crossed the rainbow bridge. Pets who are gone are always special subjects for me, even if I didn’t know the pet personally.

Sometimes I’m lucky enough to sketch a pet live under relatively leisurely circumstances. Visiting a resident at Aegis Living, the fuzzy pup (whose name I didn’t learn) was mostly captive on a lap, giving me a bit of time to sketch.

8/17/24 A fuzzy visitor at Aegis