Sketching at Cap Sante - Anthony's Dock

Tucked under the gangway, near the boat lift at Anthony's Dock, my "sketchy" friends and I enjoyed another summer afternoon in Anacortes today. With a clear sky and temperatures in the 80's, we set up right on the water, where cool breezes refreshed us. (See more photos of our day on the ASk blog.)

It was a pleasant surprise when Kevin Paul, the Swinomish Coast Salish master carver, stopped by to chat while we painted. Coincidentally, I had just seen his totems at the houseboat docks at Lake Union recently.

Watercolor Line and Wash - Anthony's Dock, Anacortes

Below is my ink line drawing, sketch, before adding watercolor. I am really enjoying the way each medium works on the paper in my new Stillman & Birn Beta sketchbook.

Micron Pen in my Stillman & Birn Beta Sketchbook

Alternate equipment

In a recent sketch outing with ASk, I decided to try out a few of my pared down urban sketching tools. (I still brought my larger shoulder bag with me this time, though)

Here's my tiny DYI Altoid's set with six colors, water brush, and one #8 round watercolor brush. I used my official sketchbook (rebound with Fabriano 140#CP) which will be for the 2015 Sketchbook Project. In addition I used a Micron pen, sponge, a small #4 round travel brush and a pencil.

Both sketches on this spread were done with just those tools.

Two reasons for leaving this spot:

1. I lost my shade cover on this very hot sunny day. See? There it goes, off the right side of the photo.

2. I started thinking about how close I was to a fire hydrant in an area where people walk their dogs. (Hmm. It's cute, though. Maybe I'll sketch it.)

Cap Sante Marina with ASk

Met with Anacortes sketchers today at the Cap Sante Marina in Anacortes. Right away I noticed the masts, flags and rigging of two tall ships.

Hawaiian Chieftain now joins Lady Washington, the Official Ship of the State of Washington, in educational cruises and ambassadorial visits along the west coast throughout the year.

My shady spot disappeared at the point where I was adding color to my sketch of the distant rigging of Lady Washington. Even so, I needed to let background washes dry before adding darks and details.

So Joyce and I walked down to see the ship up close. I found out the name of the boat blocking my view of the entire profile....Zorro. :-/