Last sketches of 2014

Fireworks, dim sum, and Lily in the laundry. 

New Year's Eve in Hawaii is a whole different experience than in the Seattle area. The day started out ordinarily enough. We met for lunch at Jade Dynasty Seafood for Dim Sum. The majestic bronze horses at the entry doors wore festive wreaths with red bows. We tried some new dishes and enjoyed our favorite Char Siu Bao. Then we shopped a bit, since the restaurant is located at Ala Moana in Honolulu.

At home in Kailua, the after dinner firecracker and booming explosions start in earnest. Our ears are ringing. By the time dusk arrives, the air is foggy with smoke and it smells like gunpowder. We've put Lily the family pug in the bathroom to lessen the noise for her, but she still shakes and tries to hide in the laundry basket.

Then the neighborhood show begins. All around us there is a constant display of cascading, starlike clustering, bursting fireworks. It builds to a crashing, booming, blinding crescendo at midnight and finally peters out with only an occasional blast for the next few hours. Lily and I finally can go to sleep.

Update: On Jan 2, #klsketchnation featured this sketch as one of their sketch inspirations #mysketchinspiration on Instagram. They wrote these very nice comments:

"Get out, travel and make a journal out of it. You are your own story. So why not have your own storybook."

KLsketchnation is an online community of sketching enthusiasts out and about in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

My DYI Sketchcrawl Along the King Kam Hwy-Part 2

Continued from yesterday's post.........

After finishing our sketches at Fumi's Shrimp Stand, my son and I kept driving toward the famous beaches on the North Shore route of King Kamehameha Hwy. We weren't quite ready for lunch yet so we followed the slow line of traffic, with passing views of Shark's Cove, Sunset, Pipeline and Waimea Bay. NOW we were hungry. We had lunch in Haleiwa, a charming town famous for Matsumoto's Shave Ice. The line out the door at Matsumoto's was two and three people wide all the way around the building and along one side of the parking lot. Too long! No dessert for us! The light was perfect for sketching so we headed back the way we came toward Turtle Bay.

We literally drove to the end of the road and found a wonderfully secluded beach. Two men were reef fishing.  They allowed us to see their catch, two unicorn fish or "kala" in Hawaiian. I got a quick glance in the bottom of the bucket and drew this fish from memory. Sorry, no sketch of the orangey pink one.
As the light began to fade, an unusual optical illusion made the figures on the distant reefs seem comparatively much larger than you would expect.

We needed to get home before dark, so reluctantly returned to the car with the sound of the surf in our ears and a little salt spray on our skin.

Matt's photo of the surf at our hidden beach. 

My DYI Sketchcrawl Along the King Kam Hwy-Part 1

With two little granddaughters to enjoy and lots of shopping trips the past week or two, my correspondence with painting friends at home near Seattle and here on Oahu has been sadly neglected. Aloha, guys, I know the holidays are a busy time for you as well. Hope we get a chance to sketch together in Hawaii before I return to the freezing weather back home.

Meanwhile, my son who does not claim to be an artist, took me on our own independent South Pacific Sketchcrawl yesterday. ( Is it a crawl if you drive from spot to spot?) I'll post more pages tomorrow, but for now:

I sketched in my Stillman and Birn Beta while Matt used a stylus and an app on his smart phone. 

The wind farms and shrimp farm aquaculture exist along the same stretch of the King Kamehameha Highway along the North Shore of Oahu. The wind farms are on hilltops and the shrimp stands sell their garlicky, buttery wares on the right hand roadside on your way to the famous North Shore surfing beaches. 

We caught our first sketch at Kahuku Wind Farm. A wide turnout with an unused approach to another facility provided us with plenty of parking room to get the right angle and sketch from the cool air conditioned leather seats in the car. Luxury! Zoom to read more notes on my journal page. 

We have always pulled over at Giovanni's, unable to resist the promise of the intense flavor of fresh hot shrimp swimming in garlic and butter, piled on top of "two scoop rice". This time we parked on the shoulder about 500 yards ahead of the parking lot at Fumi's. Their shrimp are cooked whole, heads and all and don't seem to have as much garlic as other stands. Each stand has a covered area with picnic tables where customers can enjoy their hot, fresh shrimp. We were there for the sketching this time, however. The scene was a colorist's dream, with a powder blue shack next to a bright yellow van, overlapping an orange tour bus. Then cosmic forces somehow took over and the two vehicles drove off before I could sketch them. Whyyyyyyy! It never fails.....look at something long enough and it will move! Just for that I recorded the flat tire on the pickup/road sign.

Part Two coming up tomorrow!

How I became a Correspondent for Seattle Urban Sketchers

Looking across Livingston Bay toward Marysville. 

Drawing, painting and anything to do with art has always been my passion. I love sharing my discoveries and have taught adult watercolor classes from Bellingham and Anacortes to Kirkland, Camano Island and Seattle since 1979. I am a contributing author to two publications printed by Northlight Books, "The Ultimate Guide to Painting from Photographs" and Gary Greene's "Artists' Photo Reference". Funny, eh?, for a person who prefers sketching on location!

Cap Sante with Anacores Sketchers

Last summer I decided to take a break from teaching classes and workshops to recharge my creative batteries. I met with the Anacortes Sketchers on Mondays. I wandered alone at will, sketching and painting in and out of the studio.

Little did I know how the summer would change on June 28 by treating myself to an urban sketchers workshop cosponsored by USk Seattle and SAM.

Busy Market Day on Broadway, Capital Hill, Seattle. 

I  was looking for sketching companions and found so much more. It was great to be a student for once, letting Frank, Gail and Gabi guide me through my old familiar haunts at Pike Place Market, seeing their ways of interpreting the sights, sounds and action. Ever since then I have met weekly with  the Friday sketchers as well as on a Sunday or two with the Seattle urban sketchers.

I am honored to have been invited to be a correspondent for the Urban Sketchers Seattle blog. They put the right words to my journey, "seeing the world, one drawing at a time". I look forward to sharing my stories with you and the sketches that illustrate them.

Michele's Blog

Sketches on Flickr

Winter in Kailua

These two pages describe winter in Kailua this past week.

A glass float with light coming in through a window while it rained outside, a sunset walk on the beach and a marshmallow snowman who sat in a big cup of hot chocolate. 

Marshmallow Snowmen

Since it got down to a chilly 63 degrees at night, we warmed up with hot chocolate and marshmallow snowmen. I made them by stacking three large marshmallows onto a straw. Then I used tiny gold pearls for the eyes, a sliver of orange Starburst candy shaped as a carrot nose, black frosting for the smile, and pretzel sticks for arms. His cozy scarf was a sour belt wrapped around and tied.

It was such fun to make these while everyone slept and surprise them in the morning! Seems all ages love snowmen, real or marshmallow ones!

(I don't have a scanner here, so sometimes the exposure on the photos isn't the best)

After the rain

Micron pen line drawing and watercolor. 

This is the view of the Koolau Mountains from the South Pacific Studio today. 

Glass Fishing Float

Tropical downpour is keeping us indoors today. As I look around the house, I see something that reminds me of the beautiful ocean not too far from here.

Blown glass fishing float

Sketching, Snacking and Chasing Birds in the Park

Three days of activities with Leila. 

There are lots of things to do at the South Pacific Studio with two sweet little girls to keep up with. This two page spread is about Leila, our five year old granddaughter.  Trust me when I say that we are both sketching nearly every day. There is barely enough time to post our adventures before we are off on another one. These sketches are from Dec 14, 17 and 19. 

We don't have a scanner here so pardon the perspective and focus of handheld iPhone photos. 

Too windy for the beach

The life guard stand sits on the highest point overlooking Kailua Beach. 

There was too much sand blowing around on the windy beach this afternoon, so Leila and I chose a picnic table in the grassy part of the park for our sketching session. Quite a few people came over the dunes with their beach towels flapping like flags, wrapped around their sand blasted heads and torsos. 

Leila's hair streamed behind her as she took a break to chase a few doves across the lawn. 

Tea and sketching

Having flower tea and sketching with my 5 year old and 1 year old granddaughters.  Obviously, my sketch is nowhere near as comprehensive of the experience as Leila's. 

Leila's sketch with self portrait. 

12/13/14 at Ala Moana

We spent a day shopping at Ala Moana in Waikiki. The Marina Tower Waikiki is an award-winning architectural landmark with glass elevators soaring 40 stories high, providing spectacular panoramic ocean views from Magic Island to Waikiki Beach to Diamond Head. 

A day at Ala Moana shopping center. It means "path to the sea" in Hawaiian. 

We could see the unusual cantilevered roof from the parking lot at the Ala Moana Mall. I couldn't find info on the design, but to me it looks like an ocean wave as it crests.

A bronze fountain in the koi ponds. 

Several koi ponds lined with lava rock walls and garden landscaping run the length of the open air main floor level of the mall.

Every day during the holiday season there is a free hula show at Centerstage in the Mall. It only lasted for 20 minutes, during which they presented 5 different dances. We missed the first two. I had to sketch quickly while the dancers turned and moved in every direction! I finally resorted to getting what I could of their costumes. 

BTW, this will be the last consecutive calendar date for the next 20 years! 12/13/14

Chicks in the Median

Here's a perfect combination of urban and rural sketching. We crossed the street on our way to Macy's and there in the median was a hen, digging for a little snack for her chicks.

She was a very diligent digger, so between the far flung leaves coming our way and the temptation of Macy's One Day Sale right there across the street, this was a very quick rough sketch indeed. 

Quick breakfast

Busy week. Barely enough time to have breakfast. It's hard to resist our daughter's homemade strawberry jam, though.

Meanwhile, outside the cosy tasting room...

A very cold day in Anacortes

I stayed a little longer on Monday to finish the color on the copper still. The sun goes down early here and I wanted to run some errands on the way home, so I finished up at the distillery around 4:20-ish. I posted that spread yesterday.

On the way home, there were tempting views I hadn't seen before of the Cascade Mountains and Mt. Baker. (I'll be back!) Nevertheless, this time I went to a spot where I know I can safely park and sketch. It simply proved too hard to resist! Today I finished it with watercolor while sipping my latte at home. Ahhhhh! Fulfillment!

Deception Distillery in Anacortes

Today I joined the Anacortes sketchers at the Deception Distillery in Anacortes. We got a tour of the distillery and adjoining barrel room as well as the warehouse full of beautiful marble slabs.

These barrels are empty, waiting for a new batch of moonshine. The mystery object was discovered to be Roy's missing jet ski.

Although it was an icy cold day and the warehouse wasn't much warmer, I just had to stay out there and  sketch the barrels above me in the attic.

Empty barrels in the attic

Unaged whiskey is called moonshine

The hammered copper kettle with its pear shaped helmet and two steam columns looked like a beautiful polished musical instrument. The staff nicknamed the still Jeannie, since it reminds them of the bottle from which a Genie appeared in fables.

Paul, our host and guide, offered a taste of the Apple Pie and Blueberry Apple Pie spirits or the gin. Needless to say, we all stayed cozy and warm while sketching in the elegant tasting room!

Selective Focus

Sunday Painters' Challenge:
Paint a landscape or a close up in black and white or monotone. Try another composition  with color only in the area of interest or focal point. (See photo references in yesterday's post)
i.e. You may choose an area of selective color like the snow covered rose or the porch light through the trees, or the beginning glow of morning light.  Let the color fade gradually outwards.

2.5x3.5" ACEO

Even though some of you Sunday Painters may live on the summer side of the globe, you can still find a time of day (dusk or dawn) where the landscape has muted color. Try it!

Black and White

Perfect! After "Black Friday" comes "White Saturday"!

Not everyone in our area has this, but I saw snow coming down late last night. I hoped there would be a white surprise for everyone when we woke up. Here is what it was like outside the studio this morning at 8:30 a.m.

We still have family staying here with us, but if I can grab a few minutes, I will post any sketches I do on my Instagram. 

What's the Perfect Color for Black Friday?

Chocolate

Tea

Gaze into the chocolate . . . Chocolaaaaaaaate

How's everything going so far? I come from a large family of eight, so when everyone comes over and the house is full of conversation, food and hugs it all feels perfectly right.  My husband has one older sibling and hasn't quite mastered the art of hopping in and out of multiple conversations...or tuning it all out for a little "me space".  Either way, I've set up a quiet spot in the studio where you and my fluffy little buddy can sip a cup of tea, gaze out the window and let the chocolate do it's thing. 

Don't you just love my tea cosy? Quinn's Crochet Corner made it for me!

I set out the double handled cup for you. It was designed as a bouillon cup. My mother used to make it to build up our strength if we were sick. The two handles were also used for the infirm or elderly to make it easier to hold the cup for tea. I figure it as a safety measure in case there's a heavy slice of lemon and a little dram or two in your second cuppa. Don't want to lose your grip now do you?

Anyway, I trust you enjoy the company of friends and family every time you are together and keep it as a treasured memory. I do. 

Goal!

Feeling a bit dainty today. ATCs-Each one is just 2.5x3.5"

Yay! I did it! The goal was 50 drawings or paintings in 30 days for National November Drawing Month. So with these three little Artists' Trading Cards I am now ahead of myself!

As I meet up at various locations with the sketchers, I sometimes find myself in a place where I wouldn't usually go. We've been to some antique shops in the last months and I've begun to revive my small collection of bone china tea cups.  I put them all away when we remodeled the main floor of our house a few years ago. Then Liz Steel's work reminded me of how very paintable they can be. It's such a fun subject for watercolor and a great drawing exercise. I decided to go traditional with these; a light pencil drawing, transparent watercolor, no masking fluid, no white except the reserved paper. Fun!

There will be a lot of goodies around here for awhile, and what better way to enjoy them than with some nice hot tea in a lovely cup!

At Carolyn's in Anacortes with ASk

We were invited to come and sketch at the home of Anacortes Sketcher, Carolyn, today. Through the beautiful wrought iron gates and into a warm and hospitable atmosphere we came.

More photos and sketches on the Anacortes Sketchers' Blog.

Homemade baked goods and pots of piping hot coffee or tea were offered. The butter cream frosting was like a pillow of creamy sweet goodness! Just the right thing on top of Carolyn's rich, moist (gluten free) chocolate cupcakes! Perfect balance!
Everyone chose a spot at the large family sized table in the Victorian dining room or in the cozy parlor. Then we spent the afternoon sketching, visiting and admiring works in progress.

That makes 6 more for NaNoDrawMo 2014, unless I get desperate and then I'm counting each one of those truffles!
Total: 48/50

Seven from Starbucks

7 more for NaNoDrawMo! Total: 42 with 7 days to go!

As I left the house on a sketch hunt today, I thought I would be parking across the street from a barber shop I know. The light was good. I had my Stillman & Birn Beta sketchbook, Micron Pen, Lamy Pen and mini kit. All I needed was a nice, warm latte to keep me company.

WELL. Turns out that the clouds came over and ruined my lighting. Plus, the chairs are quite comfy at one of our local Starbucks. So I ended up with 7 little sketches instead of a larger, more complicated street scene. This doesn't hurt my total for NaNoDrawMo, either!
Here's the story:

1. My most frequently used sketch pen, the Micron .01 Archival Waterproof. (The barista stand, #5, was with my Lamy pen, however.)
2. Left handed, leaning over, pouring cream in a to-go cup. No need to remove his huge puffy jacket. He's in and out in no time! (Yes, the mornings are pretty cold this week.)
3. Ignore pen again. *This ginger haired worker took his break in three different chairs. First, he sat in the sunny window which was decorated with long streamers of colorful tissue. I didn't sketch him the other two times as he faced me both times and seemed to be wise to my sketch hunting presence.
4. Two pounds of Starbucks Thanksgiving Blend. What a pretty, autumn leaf package!
5. Top edge of the baristas' brewing machine with the gigantic coffee filter on top right. Blurry scan.
6. Lower left. Another table hopper. He seemed so uncomfortable, trading tables four times, including using the bathroom, taking off his hat, smoothing his hair, opening and closing his 3 ring binder. He escaped before I could draw any more.
7. Lower right. This Mo Bro (I detect two different stages of facial hair--grown out mustache and newish beard) was easy. Even though he got up and down twice, he always returned to the exact same position. Thanks!

*Question: Are male coffee shop workers referred to as "baristos"? Answer from Yahoo: The term baristo (and correspondingly baristos) is occasionally found in English to refer to a specifically male bartender. This is a hypercorrection, as it is a misinterpretation of the -a ending as a female ending, while in fact barista is used for both males and females."

Personal observation: the vast majority of men in and out of the shop had facial hair. I wonder if they are participating in Movember? Wanna be a Mo Bro or a Mo Sista?

Sunday Painters: Be an unofficial Mo Bro or Mo Sista, even if you don't have a mustache. Draw and/or paint someone with a beard or mustache today!

ATC, the answer for NaNoDrawMo slackers like me

Three before dinner and three after.....I'm catching up!

These 3.5x2.5" Artists' Trading Cards take a bit longer to make than you think, but it's actually a lot of fun! These are taylor made for NaNoDrawMo slackers like me!

Let's see, I have to do 15 more drawings/paintings in 8 days-Yeah, I have a few ideas. :)

Late Breakfast, er, Lunch and NaNoDrawMo #29

But wait 'till you see NaNoDrawMo #26!

So today I emerge from sorting through my camera roll, catching up on email and seeing what's going on in the art world online. Yikes! Missed breakfast! But I already have a plan.

Yesterday, during a class demonstration, my trusty collapsible water container finally sprung a leak. Sue Ann loaned me hers and the show went on. See blog post from yesterday. I knew I could replace it with a cottage cheese container from home. HOWEVER, there was still about a fourth of a cup left in it. (Really, who leaves three bites of cottage cheese in a quart container?) But I digress.

I'm washing out the container, remembering all those people who are already ahead of their goal of 50 drawings in 30 days for NaNoDrawMo 2014. I like the way the soap bubbles look. Full stop. Grab the sketchbook and Lamy pen and draw what I see in the bottom of the sink. Aha! Drawing #27!

No stopping now! The rules say that the drawings can be anything, and don't have to be good. Eggshells, #28. I am really hungry now, but just look how cute those egg yolks are. So before scrambling them for my omelet, I make another sketch for my total of #29! Sooooo hungry!
New Goals:

1. Cook and eat omelete - check
2. Post to Flikr group for NaNoDrawMo - check
3. Get busy on the last 21 drawings in the next 9 days. - Working on it!

Note to self: You can do it! Go for it, Michele!

Class demo Thursday

Waiting for the "last 5 strokes".

Here is the class demonstration from today's lesson. As I told my students, it's about 98% finished. The first time I confront a new subject I will work out an initial composition, then see where it takes me.  The reference photos are for inspiration but not to copy verbatim.  Usually, I will have made a value plan. Without a value plan, I am leaning on my experience. For a panoramic format like this I will use the steelyard type of composition. 

Balancing the composition: If you imagine visual interest as having weight, the trees have less "weight" than the buildings, so it takes a greater length of them as a counterbalance. I will need a small dark shape somewhere in the lower left quadrant to balance the large collection of buildings on the center/right. Its just like a lighter child who must sit further from the fulcrum of a see-saw to balance a heavier child. The fulcrum is seldom in the middle because most of the time artists are deliberately balancing a heavier mass with a lighter one. That is an artistic balance of unequal parts or asymmetrical balance.

Check back in a day or two for "the last five strokes". Feel free to write and tell me what you would have done.

Checking the Balance at the ATM

She stood there for the longest time....absolutely still. At first I thought she was checking her receipt after using the ATM, but later I wondered if she was texting on her cell phone. I never did see her face, her age or the color of her hair.

I was parked across the driveway, tidying up my checkbook in the car and when I looked up there she  was! Finally ready to leave, I quietly backed out and drove around the block in the opposite direction, heading home. As far as I know, she's still there!

ASk at Smugglers' Cove

Anacortes has unlimited choice of subject matter, no matter what the season. Indoors or out, there is bound to be the challenge of choosing from more than what one could sketch in a lifetime.

This is especially true of our location at Smugglers' Cove on Commercial Street this afternoon. Thanks to Kristen, the owner, we were invited to come in from the cold on this chilly autumn afternoon.

Smiles, happy greetings, hugs and lively conversation ensued! We tried on vintage hats, recognized toys from our childhood and marveled at the eclectic bounty from which to draw. Everyone eventually found a little spot or two of their own. Gradually, with concentrated focus on our sketchbooks, the shop became quiet and I overheard Kristen on the phone in the other room; "......I've got sketchers here....."

Sunday with USk Seattle

This morning I am sketching with the Seattle urban sketchers at the Pioneer Square transit station. It's just behind the Smith Tower with an entrance on Yesler Way.

Brrrrrr! Since I have to leave relatively early to get there from here, the temperature hasn't had time to warm up yet. As I leave our garage at home, my weather app says that it's 18°!

Once I meet with the sketchers, I find it hard to believe that it's supposed to be in the low 40's. They must mean the sunny side of the street and not in the tunnel! The breeze down the stairs to the mezzanine creates a chill factor, I'm sure. But, we're all dressed for it, so off we go to make our sketches for the day.

My sketch journal page for the day.

A fellow sketcher, Tina, and I ducked into Shawn O'Donnell's American Grill Pub for a respite from the cold, hot coffee, and a rest break. We had another 25 minutes to find something to sketch, so we sat inside at the sunny window. I found two quick subjects to add to my NaNoDrawMo 2014 collection. Still need to post most of the ones I've done for the month, though. Goal: 50 drawings in the month of November.

Two more for my NaNoDrawMo 2014

Hey, Sunday Painters! How about trying the NaNoDrawMo challenge!?
Inspired by National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), NaNoDrawMo is a personal challenge to push would-be artists beyond the bounds of comfortable "when I have time" practice for one month and see what happens.

Loosely defined goals are for each participant to produce 50 individual works/drawings between Nov 1 and Nov 30. You can always do more than 50 if you've got it in you! That's just the minimum everyone should be shooting for.

You do not have to be good. There is no quality requirement. The idea is to force yourself to practice by setting a high quantity goal. Also, it’s not a competition (except with yourself). Any medium is OK, as long as you can get it onto Flickr somehow.

Please tag your uploads “nanodrawmo”.
Flag your upload as "Art / Illustration" or Flickr won't let you add it to the group. (quoted from Flikr description)

Oh and don't forget to have some fun while you're at it.
Check out the Flikr photostream of current national uploads for inspiration.

Chilly afternoon at the Ballard Locks

This afternoon, I am going out sketching in the Ballard area of Seattle. I'm not sure exactly what I will find but I have just unwrapped my new Stillman and Birn Beta sketchbook and can't wait to get it started! - 2:30pm

I can see someone in the little office. It's attached like a bird's nest on the side of the bridge.

Brrrrr! That was cold! We found ourselves down by the Ballard locks where the bridge was raised up. I could see someone in the gate keeper's office. A train approached and the bridge was lowered while I shivered in the little covered shelter on my side of the channel.

3:45 pm After that, we found the warm welcome of Caffè Appassionato over by Fisherman's Wharf. Nothing could have been cozier than late Saturday afternoon with a warm cup in my hands, the aroma of fresh roasted coffee and the sound of an occasional newspaper page being turned.

One sketch out in the cold, one in the cozy warm coffee shop.

ATC swap on Friday at KAC

First, I asked everyone to select a card for anonymous trade. We placed them all face down and picked one at random. Then I told everyone that they could trade any extras that they brought with their friends. After that, everything is kind of a blur. Anyway, here is an idea of the wonderful art that goes on in our Intermediate class on Fridays, just for fun!

Painted at home and in class. Wonderful!

Then people brought out ATCs from their personal cache. 

More cards from personal trades. 

Thursday's ATC Trade at A Guilded Gallery

I thought I lost my photos from our very busy day in Stanwood. Found them! Look what our very busy class did at A Guilded Gallery. There was a fun session of trading ATCs going on in lieu of the usual critique today!

They have captured the rainy character of fall in the PNW, haven't they?