New Reindeer But Same Santa

12/14/18 More kids were present than I've represented here! Way more.

Last year’s post about USk Seattle’s annual holiday visit to Swansons Nursery was entitled “Reindeer, Santa and Mobs at Swansons,” and I probably could have used the same this year. Luckily, the weather was all the way up in the high 40s and dry, so sketching at the reindeer pen and out in the plant displays was reasonably comfortable.

Before the crowds got thick, I started with the reindeer. Instead of Blitzen as in previous years, Dasher’s pen mate was Comet (I suppose even reindeer get some time off during the holidays). Every year I have difficulty scaling their antlers accurately – they seem so unbelievably large! I learned that it takes eight months to grow them each year.

12/14/18 Dasher or Comet?

12/14/18 Santa and a bald pink head.

My next stop was Santa (the same one as in previous years). When I arrived, a tiny infant had been placed in Santa’s arms, and for a few minutes while the older brother finished bawling, I had a good view of them. Suddenly the brother apparently gained courage and joined them, and mom sat on the chair’s arm, completely blocking my view. Whew! That was close.

12/14/18 Swansons cafe

By then I was hungry, so I went to the café for a snack. Chatting with Robin while scarfing down a scone, I hastily sketched the jungle of exotic greenery in the remaining time before the throwdown.

Sketching at Swansons with my USk “family” is a holiday tradition I cherish (we’ve been going every year since 2012).

Swansons’ Reindeer



12/17/12 Black Velvet ink, Zig, Hand Book sketchbook

What’s up with “eight tiny reindeer”?

 

Any time I’ve seen Santa’s reindeer on TV or in books, they look like dainty Bambis gracefully hoofing the air. If the resident reindeer at Swansons Nursery are any indication, the team would look more like a small herd of stampeding cattle than Bambis. Dasher and Blitzen are huge, and so are their antlers. I started sketching Blitzen five times at the wrong scale, unable to fit his antlers on the page. Fortunately for me, he spent most of my visit chewing hay and dozing, not flying, so on my sixth try I finally got the scale right.



12/17/12 Black Velvet ink



12/17/12 Private Reserve Black Velvet ink, Zig markers

Reindeer and Camel and Koi – Oh, My!

11/22/13 Platinum Carbon ink, watercolor, Canson XL 140 lb. paper

11/22/13 Diamine Chocolate Brown

11/22/13 Diamine Chocolate Brown ink

Swanson’s Nursery is popular among gardeners year-round, but during the holidays, the visiting reindeer and camel make it an extra-busy family place. The Friday ad hoc sketchers gathered there on a sub-freezing morning, where not even my extra-thick Freehand gloves could keep me from freezing my hands off. Last year when I sketched the reindeer, they were either dozing or snacking lazily. Today, Dasher and Blitzen were in constant motion, so sketching them was more like an exercise in blind contour drawing. Curley the camel was a different challenge – one of scale. Once I sketched Curley’s head, his immense body wouldn’t fit on the rest of the page.

11/22/13 Private Reserve Velvet Black ink

I lasted about a half-hour before my fingers went numb. Fortunately, Swanson’s delightful café is warm and surrounded by a jungle of plants and even a koi pond. I let my hands thaw around my cup of cappuccino before sketching the brightly colored fish.

11/22/13 Diamine Chocolate Brown ink, Sailor pen

The Friday ad hoc sketchers were out in full force at Swanson's!

Cold, Crowded Cacophony at Swansons

12/13/19 Swansons Nursery

If being frozen and jostled by mobs of squealing children while sketching doesn’t appeal, you might want to avoid Swansons Nursery during its annual Reindeer Festival 12 days before Christmas. USk Seattle goes there every year around the same time, so Kate and I were puzzled about why it seemed more crowded than usual. That said, I managed to make four sketches, so how bad could it have been? I had fun!

12/13/19 Dasher and Blitzen

Whatever else I sketch during these annual outings (I think this was USk Seattle’s eighth Christmas visit; we sometimes go in the fall and spring, too), Swansons’ reindeer are always my favorite. As far as animals go, they don’t move too swiftly, but scaling those enormous antlers accurately is the challenging part. No matter how small I draw their bodies, I can’t seem to fit their antlers on the same page. This time I hedged my bets and put both Dasher and Blitzen in the same composition so that the full rack of at least one of them would appear in the sketch.

Fully chilled, I retreated to the koi pond inside the café. A few years ago, I was more ambitious and attempted the whole pond. This time I focused on simply capturing a couple of koi (I apparently had trouble scaling again – one tail went right off the page).

 

12/13/19 koi

Although I hadn’t fully recovered from the cold, I pulled my hood up again and went back to the reindeer pen, this time to stand further back (top of post). Perhaps my proudest moment of the whole day was catching the gesture of the dad taking a selfie with his young kids – he was quick, and so was I.

Toes numb, I headed for the café again to get coffee when I suddenly remembered Santa! The coffee line wrapped around the café, so I skipped it and headed for yet another crowd – the one waiting for the big bearded guy. At least it was warm and the view relatively unblocked. (I’ve sketched a lot of Santas, and my favorite moment is when babes are seated on his knee, and suddenly they turn and realize this red-suited, bearded dude is not known to them – and let out a huge howl! It happened a couple of times as I sketched . . . though the little bald guy in my sketch was happily oblivious.)

12/13/19 Santa at Swansons

Swanson’s, Indoors and Out

12/19/14 Pilot Iroshizuku Take-sumi ink, Caran d'Ache Museum water-soluble colored pencils, Canson XL 140 lb. paper

Swanson’s Nursery is fast becoming an ad hoc Friday sketchers’ holiday tradition. With two reindeer and a camel in residence, a spacious café with a koi pond and surrounded by a jungle of plants, and lots of holiday decorations everywhere, it’s hard to beat!

12/19/14 Super 5 Frankfurt ink

Last year and the year before, I focused on several close-up sketches of the animals. This morning shortly after I arrived, the reindeer and camel pens were mobbed with kids as their keeper (in the red cap) handed out raisins for them to feed to Dasher and Blitzen. Luckily, kids have a short attention span, because it didn’t take long for the crowd to disperse (and suddenly my crowd scene looked sparse!). I moved in closer for a portrait of Curley, the camel, and a couple of gesture sketches of the reindeer.

By then, I was thoroughly chilled, so I went into the café to

12/19/14 Super 5 Frankfurt ink

warm up. Fortified by coffee and a pumpkin scone, I did a few sketches of the café area, which is built like a greenhouse with windows covering the ceilings. All the large-leafed plants were giving me déjà vu of Paraty’s banana trees and palms. It’s such a treat to sketch indoors under all that natural light! I killed the last five minutes before our sharing time to sketch one of the koi.

A good holiday tradition, indeed!

12/19/14 Take-sumi ink, Museum pencils

12/19/14 Diamine Chocolate Brown ink,
Museum pencil

12/19/14 Museum water-soluble colored pencils,
Pilot Iroshizuku Fuyu-syogun ink

Reindeer, Santa and Mobs at Swansons

12/22/17 Blitzen dozing

A Friday USk tradition since 2012, Swansons Nursery during the holidays is one of our favorite outings. We usually don’t schedule it this late in the season, however, and it was significantly more crowded than usual.

First, I had to fight my way through swarms of kids to get to Blitzen and Dasher, the reindeer who visit the store annually. 

12/22/17 Dasher and Blitzen

Then I had to fight my way through swarms of parents to get to Santa, with lots of Santa’s helpers blocking my view. (Even with my limited view of him, Santa remembered me from the time I sketched him a couple of years ago.) At least I didn’t have to fight to get to Pippin, Alex’s new puppy, who stayed relatively still chewing his leash.

12/22/17 obstructed Santa

12/22/17 Alex's new puppy, Pippin

12/22/17 banana tree

After all that, I had to break for lunch, and then I had my usual 15 minutes left before the throwdown. In Swansons’ crowded café, I had a mostly unobstructed view of the enormous banana tree growing by the koi pond. 

Despite the mobs, Swansons was still a fun way to end the year with Urban Sketchers Seattle!

Kate and Antonella

Swanson’s Nursery and Record-Breaking Santa

12/18/15 ink, colored pencil

12/18/15 ink, colored pencil

Spreading out our sketchbooks to share this afternoon, I remarked to some of the other Friday sketchers that an innocent viewer looking at our sketches would be hard-pressed to guess where we were. Reindeer? Diners in a café with huge ferns and palms? A camel? A koi pond? Santa? A troll? Not to mention model trains (which I never even got to today). Swanson’s Nursery has something for everyone, and that’s why Urban Sketchers Seattle has returned there every holiday season.

As I have in the past, I began the morning outside with Blitzen and Dasher, the two reindeer who take up residence at Swanson’s for the holiday season each year, and their buddy Curley, the camel. Although I’ve sketched all three of them every year (see 2014, 2013 and 2012), I still struggle with getting the scale of the reindeers’ antlers right. They are so enormous that I sometimes end up sketching them right off the page.

By the time I finished them, I was chilled to the bone, so I went into the café to warm up. Even without the eggnog latte, I would have been warmed by the café’s tall palm fronds and other tropical plants that evoke a sunny climate.

12/18/15 ink, colored pencils

All of that alone would have made for a perfectly fun sketch outing. What could have possibly improved on it? Santa! As I was finishing up my café sketch, I heard him ho-ho-ho-ing as he made his way to his photo station. A short time later, I followed him in. Unlike at the malls, Santa’s station at Swanson’s was set up with chairs for viewers, so I had a comfy seat as I chatted with “Santa Sean,” who wasn’t too busy yet. (He told me stories about his many clients – witty ones as well as eardrum-shattering screamers.) As usual, I sketched most of Santa first, leaving space on his lap for his next customer. You can imagine how delighted I was when the client turned out to have four legs – a Labrador pup named Zuzu (no, his ear wasn’t really pink – that was my colored pencil smearing). A double score, I’d say!

So that’s a record-breaking fourth Santa for the season! (I’m going to have a hard time besting myself next year.)

12/18/15 Zebra brush pen, colored pencils

12/18/15 ink, colored pencils

Green Oasis

2/7/20 Barn & Field Kitchen & Bakery inside Swansons Nursery

For the next assignment in my botanical drawing class, we were asked to bring a blossoming plant. I headed straight for Swansons Nursery, where they had exactly what I needed (you’ll see it soon).

It was a good opportunity for a sketch break at the nursery’s café. Whenever I visit Swansons with USk Seattle, I’m more inclined to sketch Santa and the reindeer than the plants. On this drizzly, gloomy morning, though, the café was a green oasis with orange koi swimming languorously in their pond. Looking around, I saw that patrons were having actual conversations instead of staring into devices (I don’t think wi-fi is available). It’s brightly illuminated with natural light, and the coffee and pastries are delicious. It’s not exactly in my neighborhood, but the drive is easy enough. I think I may have resolved the coffee shop issue I mentioned yesterday!

My Vehicular Studio

12/2/13 Diamine Eclipse and Diamine Grey inks, Zig markers, Canson XL 140 lb. paper

12/2/13 Platinum Carbon and Diamine Grey inks,
watercolor, Zig markers

In-car sketching season is in full swing. The last time I sketched in the full outdoors was at Green Lake a couple of weeks ago when it was 39 degrees. A few days later I sketched a camel and reindeer at Swanson’s, which was sheltered but the same as being outdoors, as far as my fingers were concerned. Since then, if I’ve ventured out, I’ve stayed in the warmth of my car, where I can sketch for a good 30 or 40 minutes before getting too cold. But this week the temperature is predicted to drop all the way down to the high 20s with the possibility of snow – and more still lifes.

Springtime at Swanson’s

3/25/16 ink, colored pencils

Swanson’s Nursery has become an annual holiday tradition for the Friday sketchers because this garden store always brings in a couple of reindeer, a camel and Santa for kids, and the Christmas decorations are beautiful. I think springtime at Swanson’s might become a new tradition – the flowers were plentiful and colorful today.

3/25/16 ink, colored pencils

Unfortunately, I was too cold this morning to sketch outdoors where the flowers were. Wimp that I am, I sketched inside the café, which is a jungle of oversized tropical plants. I even made a hatched study of one of the pillars, while Natalie sketched me!

A few minutes before the sharing time, the sun came out, so I ventured out and spotted St. Francis of Assisi.

Natalie Taylor sketched me!

3/25/16 ink, colored pencil

Chilly Swanson’s

 

12/6/22 Swanson's Nursery

Visiting in town after moving to another state, Victoria invited a few sketchers to join her at Swanson’s Nursery. One of USk Seattle’s favorite locations, Swanson’s gets decked out for Halloween, the holidays and spring, too. For Christmas, they used to bring in live reindeer, a camel and goats, but I was disappointed that none of them showed up this year. I had heard that ownership had changed a couple of years ago, and things haven’t been the same since.

I made do with the closest I could find to an animal – a wireframe dinosaur embellished with green lights. Where were my black sketchbook and metallic gel pens when I needed them? I had hoped the palm trees in the parking lot would help me feel warmer, but it didn’t work.

Thoroughly chilled, I went to get some coffee, then sat in my car, which I had strategically parked facing the same dinosaur, thinking I could sketch it from there. But something better had arrived in the parking lot by then: a fabulous art car sparkling with lots of rhinestones! I regret that I didn’t get a photo of it, but it sure got a lot of admiring looks from shoppers passing through.

Art car in Swanson's parking lot... it looked much better than my scribbled color,
and it was very sparkly!

Chilly but cheerful!

Winter urban sketcher? Or purple Jawa? You decide.

Wildlife – But Not Much of it Living

10/20/14 Pilot Iroshizuku Take-sumi ink, Canson XL 140 lb. paper
(cormorant in Port Townsend)

I had hoped for some opportunities to sketch wildlife while I was in the Olympic National Park this week, but the rain kept us out of areas where we might have seen some. We did see a few deer near the roads to and from the park, but I couldn’t get out of the car to sketch them.

My only sketch of living wildlife was a cormorant resting on some rocks that I spotted while we were lunching at Fins Coastal Cuisine in Port Townsend on our way up to the peninsula.

10/21/14 various inks, Caran d'Ache Museum water-soluble colored pencils
(dead rabbit)

The other two wildlife specimens that I sketched were, unfortunately, dead. The first was a rabbit just beneath the livingroom window of the cottage where we stayed. Although I felt sad sketching a bunny that had recently died, I enjoyed using water-soluble colored pencils to sketch it; the soft pencils are ideal for sketching the texture of fur.

The second sketch opportunity was a “Roosevelt elk,” whose head was mounted over the fireplace at the Lake Crescent Lodge. My first try was in ink, but as I’d done a couple years ago when sketching (live) reindeer, I scaled the composition wrong and couldn’t fit the full width of the elk’s impressive rack in my sketch. Somehow it doesn’t seem possible for the rack to be so huge! Anyway, I felt I had dissed the elk, so I came back the next day to try again. This time, remembering the dead bunny, I used water-soluble colored pencils, and I managed to scale it proportionally.

10/21/14 Diamine Chocolate Brown ink
(Lake Crescent Lodge, Olympic National Park)

The plaque under the elk’s head reads: “Near Record. Roosevelt Elk Taken by Chris Morganroth, Bogachiel River, 1902.”

One bit of fun I discovered was the Olympic National Park “passport” stamp, which I stamped onto my sketches done within the park. I wonder if all national parks have such stamps? I must have missed them at Yellowstone, Zion and Bryce.

10/22/14 Caran d'Ache Museum water-soluble colored
pencils, Pilot Iroshizuku Fuyu-syogun ink
(Lake Crescent Lodge, Olympic National Park)