Project 9 Brewing Company

2/13/24 Project 9 Brewing Co.

First we got Macrina, a premium bakery. Now Maple Leaf has a brewery that opened just a few months ago and is already a nominee for USA Today’s best new brewery of the year. Maple Leaf is finally on the culinary map!

Originally a gas station, the property now occupied by Project 9 Brewing Company has been at least a couple of other auto service businesses (including one that installed the security system on my Miata years ago). From the exterior, it still very much looks like it should be pumping gas (I plan to sketch it when the weather warms up), but the interior is spacious and probably has good natural light in the daytime.

Meeting a friend there in the evening, I didn’t get to see the light, but I caught this quick sketch of other patrons and one of several TVs on the wall (Kraken hockey was on). I don’t care for sports bars, but the spacious interior didn’t make me feel forced to view the screens. A grilled cheese sandwich from the Sammich food truck parked outside was a great accompaniment to my brew. An upstairs level separated from the taproom makes it a family-friendly venue. The sign on the door said it was also dog-friendly, and a couple of pooches had accompanied their humans.

Maple Leaf has been in need of more casual places like this, and I’m looking forward to patronizing and sketching Project 9 again.

Consolation Drink & Draw

 

3/6/26 Project 9 Brewery, Maple Leaf neighborhood

USk Seattle was hoping the weather would cooperate for an outing at the big Lunar New Year celebration in Chinatown/International District on Saturday, but rain was in the forecast. We decided to change the plan to a drink & draw on Friday afternoon instead.

With such short notice, I was afraid I’d be alone at Project 9 Brewery, but five sketchers came out to join me for brews, snacks and casual sketching. Our group size was just right for the cushy seats in the sheltered, heated patio area. Most sketchers had fun drawing each other, but no one was sitting directly across from me, so my victims were the usual random kind. (I did manage to catch the brewery’s house cat, whom I first sketched on Super Bowl Sunday. It’s probably the chillest cat I’ve ever met, wandering around to get petted by human patrons, unfazed by canine patrons, and napping and grooming on tabletops.)

At 6 p.m., we could take group and throwdown photos by natural light! Hallelujah, the Big Dark is finally over!

P.S. Today is Day 1 of the One Week 100 People drawing challenge! I hope you're joining me! I'll report in after the week is over!

Special Guests at Drink & Draw

 

5/30/25 Project 9 Brewery, Maple Leaf neighborhood

Sunshine and warm weather have a way of bringing people out! One of our biggest turnouts ever at a USk drink & draw included a special guest who came all the way from Pune, India. An enthusiastic member of USk Pune, Rajeev was in Seattle for his daughter’s wedding and brought his whole family to Project 9 Brewery – and they all sketch!

Rajeev (at left) and his family

Cozy Drink & Draw

 

10/24/25 Drink & draw at Project 9 Brewery, Maple Leaf neighborhood 

After walking through the deluge from our current atmospheric river, I was afraid I’d be all alone at the USk drink & draw. Happily, I was joined by four others who braved the torrents to get to Project 9 Brewery, where the heat lamps kept us cozy in the perfectly dry tent. (We could have gone indoors, of course, but it gets very loud in there, especially on a Friday evening.)

With one highly skilled professional artist and one who had begun drawing only a few months prior, both new to Urban Sketchers, I was reminded of one of many reasons I appreciate USk: People of all experience levels can draw and chat together while sipping beers and munching tacos. No judging, just fun!

Another Hundred-Plus in the Books

 

3/11/24 Bellevue Square

On March 10, 2020 – only days before Gov. Inslee shut the state down for the potentially deadly “novel coronavirus” – Urban Sketchers Seattle met at Bellevue Square. Planned weeks earlier when most of us were still uncertain and confused about COVID-19, the outing suddenly seemed more ominous, now that it was upon us. The day before the outing, the other admins and I discussed at length whether we should go forward with it or cancel. Although we did go ahead with the outing, it was not without trepidation on my part. In retrospect, I’m happy that we did because we would not see each other in person again for a year and a half.

All of that was still a vivid memory almost exactly four years later when USk Seattle met at Bellevue Square again. Like last time, the objective was to sketch people for the One Week 100 People online drawing challenge – except this time we all did so without anxiety; in fact, we all had a great time. Meeting there again for 100 People felt like an important circle to close.

As always with this challenge, my goal was to capture quick gestures: not much more than stick figures, really, except that I wanted them to be unique, individual stick figures – not generic.

I thought I got 50 that first day of the challenge, but after I posted my sketches on social media, someone pointed out to me that I had counted wrong – I actually got 54!

The second day I caught a few at Green Lake before my walk, then managed a bunch from my car in the Metro Market parking lot. Remembering that tactic from a previous year, I found the grocery store lot to be especially fruitful. I parked in back facing the entrance. I could see the regular stream of people going in and out of the store. Especially fun and challenging was trying to sketch them as they loaded their hatchbacks with groceries. I polished off 55 – 81 on Day 2.

3/12/24 Green Lake

Metro Market parking lot

On Day 3, I met Roy at Project 9 Brewery for lunch. Unfortunately, I may have oversold it: I told him it would be a great place to sketch people because my prior visits had been fairly busy. On this day, however, the lunch hour seemed slow, and I had to attack several victims more than once (including Roy) to hit the golden number: 82 – 100 people (and one dog) on Day 3!

3/13/24 Project 9 Brewery

I was hoping to get all 100 in the green Uglybook, but I didn't make it, so I started this dark purple one, which is the last of my partially used books that I want to fill before starting a fresh one. This color is going to be tough to finish, though... the gold Posca works as the lightest tone, but purple is too dark to be a mid-tone, so I might need a second Posca.

After my sprint was over, I kept going for the rest of the week (I’ll show those sketches soon), but I could stroll instead.

As it is every year, the 100 People challenge was great practice and a lot of fun! How did you do?

World Cup Watch “Party” at Project 9

 

6/24/26 Project 9 Brewery, Maple Leaf neighborhood

With my usual fervent indifference toward all professional sports, I hadn’t participated in any of Seattle’s FIFA fever. Although I hoped that my city would be a good host for this global event, my interest ended there. As I’ve learned from past experiences (see my sketches at watch parties for the Mariners and the Super Bowl), my entry into any subject I have no interest in is always sketching.

Last Wednesday’s noontime match between Bosnia-Herzegovina and Qatar seemed like a good opportunity to give it a shot. I certainly had no intention of joining the massive mobs downtown. Instead, I walked over to my favorite neighborhood watering hole, Project 9 Brewing Company. Maybe my expectations were too high for something called a watch “party.” Or maybe Maple Leaf doesn’t have many fans of the Bosnia-Herzegovina or Qatar teams. In any case, except for one sudden roar, patrons remained quiet. Facing away from the four huge screens available for viewing, a few people kept working on their laptops.

Live video sketches

Enjoying my lunch of Mexican Seoul’s usual tasty burrito bowl with a NA beer, I had the most fun trying to capture a few gestures of close-up action on the screen.

There – I participated in Seattle’s historic sports hosting event. Now, will everyone please go home so that I can go downtown again?

Exquisite Corpses Live!

 

Exquisite corpses by Roy, Mary Jean and me

Mary Jean, Roy and I always have a lot of fun whenever we get together for art play dates, but last Friday we kicked it up a notch: We made exquisite corpses! Begun by the Surrealists, it’s a drawing game in which each player draws one part of a figure, then others add to it without seeing what the previous players have contributed. Obviously the drawings must be done from imagination, which is always a tough stretch, but Roy and MJ have a way of inspiring me. Maybe the game itself freed me to lower my expectations and just have fun with it. Indeed, we all had a ball and were delighted by the amazing results! These are not the last of the corpses we’ll see!

After the corpses came to life, we settled in for NA beers from Project 9 and burrito bowls from Mexican Seoul. Project 9’s large tables are especially suitable for collaborative projects like ours. Since we’re all more comfortable with urban sketching than with imaginative drawing, we all relaxed into our comfort zones with more sketching. We all agreed, though, that giving our imaginations a kick in the butt was good for all of us!

Exquisite collaborators!

3/21/25 Project 9 Brewery

Stronger than a Donut

 

9/13/24 Project 9 Brewing Co., Maple Leaf neighborhood

After a long week of home-improvement project delays, issues and inconveniences, I needed something stronger than a donut. I asked Ching if she would come out for an impromptu drink & draw at Project 9 Brewing Company. A little brew, a little sketching and a lot of good conversation will do wonders for one’s first world problems.

Thanks for listening to my first world problems, Ching!

This was the first time I sat in the brewery’s outdoor seating area during inclement weather, and we stayed dry and cozy under the heated shelter. We could have gone inside, but it’s much quieter outdoors (plus dogs to sketch). It also helped to eat a huge pile of stir-fried noodles from Tummy Yummy Thai’s food truck. The last time I had opted for a stir fry from Tummy’s, the temps were in the mid-80s that July day, and the steaming hot noodles, though delicious, were not a good choice. Last Friday, they were just right.

Sammich, the other food truck that used to vend regularly at Project 9, apparently closed abruptly last month. I’m going to miss their fantastic grilled cheese sandwiches.

Xander

 

8/23/24 Project 9 Brewing Co. drink & draw

The main reason breweries make ideal venues for USk drink & draws is that they always have large tables with open seating, so people can come and go at any time. Another big attraction for me is that most breweries welcome pets, and I can almost always find a dog to sketch (apparently a cat was also visiting elsewhere in the brewery, though I didn’t see it).

Last Friday at Project 9 Brewing Company, the star of my page was Xander, a very chill, well-behaved dog and excellent model. Chatting and sketching with his mom and dad, I learned that Xander is a retired sheep guard. I was shown a photo of him lying with a herd of adorable lambs. Seeing Christina giving him treats now and then, I asked what he was eating: Lamb! I had to laugh at the irony.

Breeze and Brews Keep Sketchers Cool

 

7/5/24 Project 9 Brewing Co.

On the first day of our heatwave, a few members of USk Seattle gathered at Project 9 Brewing Company for a drink & draw. Although the temps were in the mid-80s by late afternoon, a decent breeze on the well-shaded north side of the brewery kept us relatively comfortable (aided by good brews).

It was a fun evening of chat about art, art materials and even knitting, as almost all of us were or used to be knitters. Bonus (for me): Several dogs were present at the pet-friendly venue, including cooperative model Pine, who was part of our party.

Scouting Mission: Old Stove Brewery

 

6/1/25 Old Stove Brewing Co., Ballard neighborhood

All the umbrellas gave me interesting compositional possibilities to make small studies from.

Now that outdoor dining weather has begun (fingers crossed!), I’m on a mission to scout potential USk drink & draw locations for the summer. My favorite, of course, is Project 9 because it’s within walking distance, but it would be fun to try new locations in other neighborhoods, too. First on my list was Old Stove Brewing Company Gardens in Ballard, which is the newest location in this local chain.

What attracted me most in the photos I’d seen online was the huge beer garden. I picked a sunny Sunday afternoon to check it out with Ching and Natalie. In addition to the garden, it has spacious indoor seating, too, with views of brewing tanks.

Lots of shaded tables? Check. Good food and brews? Check. Good space for inclement weather? Bonus!