View from Dunn Lumber

If you have frequented Dunn Lumber,  you know it is located at a great spot just west of I-5, by Ivars and Gas Works Park on North Lake Union.  The views are spectacular from the working waterfront of Lake Union.  Here is a sketch from Dunn Lumber looking towards the views South.  You can see Eastlake, Lake Union and Downtown Seattle.

View of Lake Union and the Waterfront

More quick Sketches From UW

These were done on Saturday each less than 30 min. sketches.

Gould Hall Design Build Garden

Cafe Solstice Again!

Quick Sketches from the Ferry to Bainbridge

Cafe Apassionato

Port of Seattle

Took a quick trip to Bainbridge this morning and had a few minutes waiting for the ferry to sketch Apassionato Cafe and the Port of Seattle from the Ferry.

Sketches from Sketchcrawl

Sunday was our monthly sketchcrawl.  We had about 25 people show up and sketched in the Cascade neighborhood by REI.  It was a great time.  Here are a couple of sketches I did.

Alley 24

Immanuel Lutheran Church on Napkin

Garfield Orchestra Foyer Concert

Wonderful concert tonight performed by the Garfield orchestras...the String, Concert, Symphony Orchestra.  We were taken away with the beautiful sounds filling the commons.

Garfield Vocal Jazz @ The New Orleans Creole Restaurant

Last night was solo night for the Garfield Vocal Jazz  at the New Orleans Creole Restaurant.  The house was packed with family and friends of these kids who get a chance to do a solo performance in this historic restaurant.   It was a great and fun night of listening to their musical performances.
Here are a couple of sketches I was able to do.

Salt and Pepper shakers

Plumeria

My plumeria stick now has three leaves.  Here is a sketch from last night.

Plumeria

Substitute Teaching @ UW

Last week a friend of mine and I substitute taught Frank Ching's Architectural sketching class at the U.W.
It took two of us to handle a class of 40 which Frank teaches by himself.  Great fun though.  We introduced watercolor to them  focusing on value.
Here are thumb nail sketches I did talking to students about doing a quick value study.  Also a sketch that I did there.

31st ww sketchcrawl

Last week our urban sketchers group went to the Elliott Avenue Foot bridge.  It was a great spot and everyone had something interesting to sketch.
Here are my sketches from that day.  Also check out urban sketchers results here Sketchcrawl results

Pops Concert @ Garfield High School

Last night we attended the Pops Concert at Garfield Highschool.  It was a great concert filled with familiar tunes from current movies to classics. The Concert Orchestra played music from Apollo 13, An American Tale, Braveheart, Titanic, Lord of the Rings, & Pirates of the Caribbean.  The Symphony Orchestra played Baroque Flamenco with an electric harp solo by Vanessa Stovall,  Overture to West Side Story, Up, and the finale Rhapsody in Blue with piano solo by Jeff Gertler.  Truly amazing talent in all the kids performing.

Pops Concert at Quincy Jones Performing Arts Center- Garfield High School

Home sketch

Practicing drawing people...my son Matthew on the sofa watching T.V.

Plumeria

Here is my plumeria as of yesterday.

Art along the Sound Transit Light Rail

Sunday about 16 urban sketchers road the Sound Transit Line to Tukwila.  We stopped at a couple of stations along the way to sketch the Public Art pieces at the different stations.  It was cold but it was at least dry and we had some sun.  I was able to do three sketches. See below and to see more work from our fellow sketchers check out Seattle blog site http://urbansketchers-seattle.blogspot.com/ .  We enjoyed lunch at Tutta Bella in Columbia City.  We will have to go back there to do some sketching again.

"Soundings" by Clark Wiegman  @ Tukwila Station

Rainier Valley Haikus by Roger Shimomura

Sketchers Frank C., Olivia, and Sharon on the Rail

Finals Week @ the UW

This was the last week of the quarter. And the upcoming week is finals.  Cafe Solstice was full with students studying.  Here are two sketch from Tully's and Cafe Solstice.

Tully's

Plumeria

Plumeria

Two new leaves are starting to grow.

Cafe Solstice

Just had an hour to do a quick sketch before meeting students at the UW.
Went to Cafe Solstice and sketched this scene.  This is a great coffee shop on the Ave. in the U District.
Tested out my new watercolor notebook  Canson Montval 7x10.  It is a larger format that the Moleskine  I am used to.

Cafe Solstice U District

Braces Off!!!

Today my son had his braces taken off.  After two years he is glad to finally smile with out metallic gear in his mouth. He says his mouth is tired because it is easier to smile.  Thanks to Dr. Lyons and Dr. Gunsolus and their staff at North Seattle Orthodontics for taking care of both my sons.
Here is a sketch of Jean who is cleaning his teeth.

Jean cleaning Matthew's teeth after taking off the braces.

Urban Sketching @ Hale's Brewery

Sunday our urban sketchers group went to Hale's Brewery in Fremont and sketched there.
Here are the sketches from that day.

Washington State Highway 26

Beautiful country in the Palouse.  Here are sketches on the trip back from Idaho.  There were so many more times I wanted to stop and paint red barns in the snow.  But the lighting was bad so here is a coffee stop...an espresso shop and gasoline station at Washtuca, WA with the grain elevator in the back.
Also the view at sunset from the car.

WA 26

Washtuca, WA

Garfield Vocal Jazz @ Lionel Hampton 2011

We just got back from the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival in Moscow, Idaho on the University of Idaho's Campus.  The festival started Wednesday and will continue until Sunday.  Our son Ian is one of the members of a 20 person Vocal Jazz Group directed by Carol Burton.  They had adjudicated performances starting at 8:15 am in the morning.  Some students performed solo pieces that were judged and then the Vocal Jazz group performed 3 pieces in the multi-mic division.  Garfield did well enough that two students Lucie Saether and Otienno Stevens-Terry were asked to perform their solo pieces at the large afternoon performances at the Kibbe Dome and Garfield Vocal Jazz was asked to sing "Blues for Stephanie".   Congratulations to Garfield Vocal Jazz and Director Carol Burton!

Here is the sketch of the Multi-mic performance in Haddock Hall.

Garfield Vocal Jazz @ Lionel Hampton Jazz Fest 2011

Sea Monster Lounge and Rain Sushi

Last night we were planning to go to  Rain Sushi a modern Japanese infusion restaurant for dinner however, the wait was 45 minutes to an hour.  When this happens they send people next door to Sea Monster Lounge and call when a table is ready.  So we decided to do that.  We walked into Sea Monster Lounge.  The place was empty except for a bunch of people who were sitting at the bar having a drink....and no bartender visible.  We asked... "How many of you were waiting to get into Rain?" You guessed it! They all were. The bartender showed up and we had a drink and conversation with others there...I had enough time to sketch the bar.

Sea Monster Lounge

Dinner at Rain was well worth the wait.  Yakisoba was good and the sushi rolls were great.  All beautifully presented on platters.  It isn't just the traditional sushi rolls... they have a modern twist to it....like served with a spicy aioli sauce or another is served with a spicy tangy and sweet sauce, another had peppers, avocado (almost guacamole like) sprinkled on top.  Really quite different.  But very good!

Sushi at Rain (Japanese Modern Infusion) Restaurant

Painting in the negative spaces

Painting the negative spaces is a challenge and something that takes time to learn.
Here is an example of it. The yellow of the chrysanthemum was painted as a loose wash first no detail.
Then the shadows between the petals were laid in and the background that define the flower and the leaves.  But you have to think about the shadow and paint the shadows and background in to get the form of the flower.

Mud

Sketched my plumeria again and the background turned to mud.

Vocal Jazz Practice

Garfield Vocal Jazz Choir was practicing for the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival coming up in a couple of weeks.  I went to hear them.  My son Ian is singing a duet in one of the pieces.  Here is a sketch of the group under the direction of Carol Burton choir director.

Rainier Club Interiors

Last night we went to a fundraiser dinner at the Rainier Club in Seattle.  This is one of it not the oldest private club in Seattle.  I have always wondered what it was like on the inside.  After the dinner I took a few moments to sketch the lobby.  Here is  the view of the art deco columns.  The building was designed by Charles F. Gould in 1929.  This portion was an addition to an older building which was complete in 1904.

Plumeria

When I see something that is native to Hawaii it reminds me of the wonderful time I had when living there for 3 years.  So last year when I saw a Plumeria plant at a friend's home here in Seattle I got excited about the possibility of growing one myself.  The plumeria flower is very fragrant and is used to make leis that are given to people.  An ex-student of mine was going home to Hawaii and I asked her to pick up a plumeria stick if she had the time.  She brought one back for me and I have had it in a pot since late August.  Just a stick in the dirt.  I try to remember to water it every now and then.  Just last week I noticed a leaf starting to grow.  So I am going to keep a pictoral journal of its growth.

Winter Waltz @ Benaroya

Friday night was the 18th annual Winter Waltz @ Benaroya Hall.  This is a fundraiser event put on by Friends of Garfield Orchestra and the Garfield High School Orchestra led by Marcus Tsutakawa.
It was a wonderful event open to the community.  Students, parents and general supporters of the orchestra attended.  An evening of waltzing from 7:00 to 11:00.   What was so great about it was seeing everyone enjoy the dance whether or not you really knew how.  At some moments there were so many people on the dance floor that it felt like driving in evening traffic!  The music was excellent and filled the space.  I brought my sketchbook and watercolors here are the sketches I did while there.

Winter Waltz @ Benaroya Hall

Chihuly Chandelier in Entry Lobby @ Benaroya

30th WW Sketchcrawl: Part 2

Saturday Evening some of the sketchers had an opportunity to sketch at a fund raising concert for Music Works Northwest.  Geoffrey Castle performed wonderful music on his electric violin.
Music Works Northwest is a non profit organization providing affordable music training to kids in King County.

30th WW Sketchcrawl Saturday: Part 1

Saturday was the 30th Worldwide sketchcrawl.  This is usually set up by sketchcrawlers (sketchers) around the world on a particular day (I think it is 4 times a year)  where we all go out and sketch on location and post our results.  Many take it quite literally sketching all day until you are practically crawling back home.  We usually just do our 2.5 hour sketch outing.  But this time I had the opportunity to sketch at two different venues.
Here are my results  for  the morning session.  I was at Seattle Public Library with many of my fellow sketchers.  What a challenging building to draw....but really fun too.  There are endless possibilities for sketching there.