Interior Panoramas

Seattle Central Library

The landscape  5.5 x 8.5 " watercolor sketchbook lends itself rather well to a panoramic view when opened fully and drawn over two pages.  This is the case with the view of the interiors of the Seattle Central Library.  I was there for a lecture and purposefully went down earlier so I could sit in the main living room area of the library and sketch.  It is an immense broad space with sweeping views through the exterior glass walls.  Though it is a bit complex it is fun to draw.

Storyville  Coffee Pike Place Market

Storyville Line drawing

Here are two panoramic views of the interior of the Storyville Coffee shop at Pike Place Market.  The line drawing took 30 -40 minutes which was all I had time for before running down to meet a friend to see the Impressionist's exhibit at the SAM. 

I took a picture before I left so I could add color later.  The color was added yesterday during a wild windstorm that took out our electricity.  What a great excuse to paint!

Sketching Sketchers

Dinner in Siem Reap Cambodia with Urban Sketchers at The Soup Dragon Restuarant

One of the fun things about the Urban Sketchers Symposiums are the drink and draws after the workshops.  Here you get to know sketchers from all over the world, have dinner and drinks and share sketches or sketch each other.  Being an architect I have never felt confident in drawing people.  That has always been my nemesis.  The drink and draws have given me a great opportunity to practice what I am weak at…drawing people.  It is a perfect situation  people sitting in one place for a very long time!  Here are some sketches from sketcher dinners and drink and draws.  It brings back fond memories of times I have spent with sketcher friends in wonderful locations.

Dinner at Landing Gold Villa Hotel in Siem Reap Cambodia

Drink and Draw at Six Gills after a Line to Color Workshop Seattle, WA

Drink and Draw at CCC Cafe in Barcelona, Spain

Drink and Draw at CCC Cafe in Barcelona, Spain

A Study of Water Reflections

I have been working on studying the different ways water can be represented. Here are  watercolors I did from a scene at the Center for Wooden Boats in Seattle. I started with very loose light washes with irregular edges at the reflection.  Over that base while still wet I added some darks. The paper was drying up a bit so I started getting hard edges around the white areas. After that first layer had dried a bit I added the final crisp dark strokes. To keep this painting somewhat simple and abstract. I was looking at shape, value and color.

Center for Wooden Boats Saunders Cold Press 5"x 7"

Center for Wooden Boats on Arches Cold Press  10"x14" On location

Knowing when to stop!

Today a met with a couple of sketching students to sketch at the Panama Hotel Tea and Coffee House.
I got there early so I started a sketch of the storefront entry from inside the space.  I was able to add color to it while students were working on their own sketches.  I got to a point where I was happy with it but then decided to add more color to the background walls.  I should have stopped before "adding"...sometimes it is better to call it a day  and then look at it 24 hours later to see if you really need to add anything.  Adding the background took away focus to the sketch.  What I had to do is add value to other areas to make it read again.  It turned out okay but I should have stopped earlier and reassessed it the next day!

Flags at Shilshole

It took me a  long time to find a view I wanted to sketch.  Maybe there were just too many options or maybe it was the fact that when you sat down the guard rail aligned with  your eye level.  I ended up standing to sketch the view I liked.  What drew me to this view were the colorful big flags on a couple of sail boats and the fog that had settled in, creating interesting atmospheric perspective.  Of course by the time I finished the sketch the fog had lifted so when painting the sketch I could add the color of the sky and a lot more masts seem to fill the background.

Regional Sketch Outing at MOHAI

Today we met with Sketchers from Portland Oregon,  Pullman WA,  Tacoma WA, Vashon WA and Seattle WA.  We met at MOHAI to see the Drawn to Seattle Exhibit one last time before the exhibit closes on May 26th.

Historic Ships at MOHAI

VIRGINIA V AT MOHAI ON OPENING DAY

VIEW OF SEATTLE AND MOHAI, STRETCH LIMO WAITING FOR A WEDDING PARTY.

26th Ave. East Garbage Pickup Day

Again a great morning with great light.  Here is a sketch on 26th Ave. East  on Garbage Pickup day.

Garbage Day on 26th Ave. East

Seatac Airport Sketch

The Seatac airport is an interesting place to sketch if you have time.  The open structure has a grand light airy feeling and the wall of glass visually opens the space to the out doors.  I have sketched this area of the food court a couple of times this is from the last time I traveled to California.

Food Court by Hudson News stand.

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

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.

Snow Day in Seattle

Japanese Tea Garden Gate on a Snowy Day in Seattle

It is frigidly cold, snowy but bright.  Of course when we get snow in Seattle,  everything basically shuts down.  With all the hills around here very few attempt their normal routine.  So this was my snow day...I took a walk to the Arboreteum Japanese Tea Garden thinking it would be open to see it in snow...but of course it was closed!  I decided to paint the entry anyway.  Tricky painting snow.  Basically you leave it white and paint the blue shadows...but you have to have the right blue.  I wasn't too happy with the blue I chose.  What was interesting was doing water color when the temperature is below freezing.  The watercolor would ice up as soon as I laid it down on the paper.  So I literally had a glaze.  When I tried to lay it down a second time without dipping the brush in water, the brush would get stiff. 

Pike Place Decked Out for the Holidays!

Yesterday the urban sketchers met at the Pike Place Market for the November sketchcrawl.  We had about 12-15 people show up.  Every one was bundled up with their fingerless gloves and jackets.  It was very cold.  I almost packed it in on my first sketch for a warmer location.  But decided to get initial color on before going inside.  The Market is under going renovation for seismic up grades. Despite some areas being screened out for work it really was the same market and most places were still open.  The market is just getting started in hanging Holiday greenery as you can see from the sketch below.

Pike Place Market All Decked out for the Holidays!

I did two sketches.  One in front of the main entry information kiosk looking toward the Public Market Center sign and clock.  The second was in the market at the entry to Lowell's Cafe.  Lowell's is an historic cafe in the market.  It was where Tom Hanks and Rob Reiner ate lunch in a scene from the movie Sleepless in Seattle.  I didn't get a chance to put water color on the sketch.  I will have to go back another time and splash on some color.

Entry to Lowell's Cafe

Canton Alley

I just discovered this alley in the ID district.  It is located next to the Wing Luke Museum and looks to be part of the museum with old storefronts fronting the alley.  It is great to find an historic alley that has maintained its original character.

29th WORLD WIDE SKETCHCRAWL: SAT. OCT. 16TH

This morning Seattle Urban Sketchers met in the International District for the 29th WW Sketchcrawl.

We had about 15-18 people show up to sketch.  Great day for it!  Crisp, sunny, fall day.  I drew one of the oldest storefront buildings in the ID district and the Standard Cafe Noodle Bowl sign (a favorite of mine).

League of Education Voter Lecture Series

Thursday night I went to a lecture at Mt. Zion Baptist Church.  The guest speaker was the Mayor of Sacramento Kevin Johnson  who in his past life was a NBA player for the Phoenix Suns.  After the NBA he established a charitable foundation St. Hope,  which focuses on education reform and charter schools to help inner city kids. For more information on Voices from the Education Revolution Speaker series see www.educationvoters.org

Japanese Tea Garden

Second attempt at drawing inside the Japanese Tea Garden.  Getting depth and reflection, drawing the landscape with out having a mish-mosh is hard to do.  Practice, practice and you learn something new.

Dentist's Office Tropical Fish Tank

Went to our dentist's office this morning with my son and while waiting for him to finish, sketched some colorful fish that were in the tropical fish tank.

Windy day at Pioneer Square

This afternoon I met with a couple of Students from UW to go sketch at Pioneer Square.  I got to use my new urban sketchers moleskine sketchbook, the accordian style sketchbook.  The wind was so fierce that it grabbed the edge of one of the pages and blew it totally open almost to the street and partially ripped the page I was working on.  Luckily we were able to pull it all back in. Here is the sketch.

Interlaken Bridge over 26th Ave. East

I love how bridges create these framed views.  I have been wanting to paint this bridge for a long time.
It is located where Interlaken Blvd. crosses over 26th Ave. East which is along the bike trail through Montlake.  This is an old bridge that creates a gate way into Montlake on the bike path.  The yellow decidous trees on the other side of the bridge sparkle on a sunny day as you are looking through the bridge.

Montlake Bridge

This sketch was started in April and was never finished because it started to rain.  So it took a few months for me to finally get back to finish the drawing and put some watercolor on it.  It was a great day for it.  It is 90 degrees outside...of course I seek out the shade.