Cloudy but Warm Welcome from Bainbridge

6/30/18 Awkward Grace at Bainbridge Farmers Market

6/30/18 Sue and Natalie on the ferry

Going to Bainbridge Island always feels like a little vacation, even if it’s only a 30-minute ferry ride from Seattle across Puget Sound. Although I might have chosen a sunnier day for such a vacation, the welcome from Bainbridge Island USk was warm for our first joint sketch outing since BI USk formed its own chapter.

The last time we sketched on Bainbridge was nearly a year ago for our Mega Pity Party – three consecutive days of sketching (during the weekend that would have been the West Coast Sketchcrawl, had it not been cancelled). Saturday’s celebration was a bit cloudier, though I daresay we still got a strong turnout from both groups.

As it did last year, hunger drove me to my first sketch of the morning – the Bainbridge Farmers Market just a few blocks from the ferry terminal. I found a delicious chocolate croissant to munch while sketching the folk group Awkward Grace entertaining the crowd.

 

6/30/18 Eagle Harbor Congregational Church

Fully fortified with carbs, I went out looking for Eagle Harbor Congregational Church, which Paula Ensign (co-admin for BI USk) had told me about. The fully overcast sky made it hard to see which direction the sun was trying to shine from, but I did my best squinting to find a few shadows.

6/30/18 downtown Winslow

For my last sketch before the throwdown, I warmed up with a cup of coffee as I captured a couple of girls having lunch.

That wasn’t my last sketch of the day, though. Waiting for our ride, I did a quick one of a ferry moored near the terminal. Then on the ride home, I made a tiny panorama of one of my favorite views of downtown Seattle – the one that can be seen only from a boat.

6/30/18 Moored ferry at the Bainbridge terminal

6/30/18 downtown Seattle from Puget Sound

Couch with Palm

6/26/18 Wedgwood neighborhood

Palm trees in Seattle are uncommon enough that I always try to sketch them when I can. Most recently I sketched the pair of palms growing, strangely enough, in the middle of Top Pot Doughnut’s outdoor dining area when I was there for National Donut Day. You can imagine my glee when I discovered this one just a few blocks from the donut shop – with a couch in front of it, to boot! It’s not every day you can put a palm tree and couch in the same composition.

(As an urban sketcher, I am always “truthful to the scenes we witness,” part 4 of the Manifesto, mainly because I’m not very good at drawing from imagination; I couldn’t make this stuff up even if I wanted to. But who needs to make stuff up when reality is more entertaining?)

Bush Study

6/24/18 Maple Leaf neighborhood

Walking in my ‘hood as usual, thinking about which house to sketch, I stopped at this corner – but it wasn’t the house that captured my interest; it was the bushes in front. Often when I’m sketching a house, the yard and foliage are just green foreground or background and not the focal point. In this case, however, I wanted to capture the form, texture and bushiness of these bushes.

Modern-Day Dinosaur

6/19/18 Maple Leaf neighborhood

A Facebook friend called this a “modern-day dinosaur” when she saw my sketch. It’s a species that thrives in my ‘hood during the good-weather months (and often the other months, too), roaring and ripping up yards and driveways. This one was still quiet in the early morning, but it’s only a matter of time before it springs to life.

Yoga on a Summer Evening

6/26/18 Yoga at Meridian Park, including tree pose
among the trees.

Yoga is always a calming, meditative experience, but on a warm summer evening outdoors, it must be especially nurturing. My yoga instructor Fran Gallo offers a class at Meridian Park in the summer, and a couple of years ago she invited me to sketch her students. That time, it was such a cold June-uary evening that Fran had them work through poses quickly and vigorously so that they could stay warm! On Tuesday, I had the same opportunity again, but this time it was sunny and much warmer (though not hot) – a perfect evening for both yoga and sketching.

Working at a much slower, meditative pace, the students held poses longer and moved fluidly from one asana to the next, giving me a bit more time to capture each. It was very much like gesture sketches at a life drawing session. Backlit by the low evening sun, the students cast strong shadows that were fun to include, and I tried to catch the light around them. Still, even with the longer poses, it was a brisk, vigorous sketch workout for me!

A couple of young yoginis practiced along with mom.

At the end of the practice during Savasana as the students rested and meditated, I decided to rest, too – by sketching Murphy, a large dog that came along with his yogini human. Even with the longer poses that Fran led, Murphy held his pose even longer!

Sketching relaxed Murphy was my restful Savasana!

So Close: Tombow Fudenosuke Gray/Black Brush Pen

6/20/18

Last December I issued a short wish list of sketch materials that I’m always looking for but can’t find – usually because they don’t exist. Since then, one item has been completely fulfilled – a custom-made sketch tool case with upright slots – and another partially fulfilled (though in a bulky way) – a double-ended pencil holder that stands in for bicolor pencils.

Now a third wish list item has been fulfilled, though again only partially: a brush pen with black ink on one end and gray on the other. I had been enjoying the Akashiya Keicho double-sided brush pen, but ideally, I wanted one with waterproof inks. Tombow has come out with the Fudenosuke gray/black double-sided brush pen (read my full review at the Well-Appointed Desk). The two best features about this Tombow is that the inks are waterproof and the fiber tips have held up after three months of regular use (many brush pen tips tend to mush down under my heavy hand). My only complaint (there’s always one, isn’t there?) is that I want the gray tip to be wider so that I can shade large areas swiftly. So close! Still, this compact tool has been serving me well, and it’s going to stay in my bag until something better comes out.

 

Tombow Fudenosuke Double-Sided Gray/Black Brush Pen

5/31/18

4/20/18

Progress

6/21/18 Under construction in Maple Leaf

Remember back in April when I showed you the beginning of a house under construction in my ‘hood? It’s the one that prompted me to start my series on Maple Leaf architecture. It’s been more than two months since I sketched it, but I’ve been seeing its progress nearly every day, so I thought it was time to show its current state. It’s still got a long way to go – the walls are still without siding; excavators are still digging up dirt – but now it’s clear what the style of the house is: big and modern.

I’ll show it to you again when it’s all done. In the meantime, I’m still sketching other houses in the ‘hood.