The Story of an Icicle

I am excited about two things this morning:

1. I was given a Winsor and Newton Series 7 brush last week and can't wait to try it out. It's just the right size, #5 round, for adding watercolor to my ink sketches. (I'm not about to take such a treasure out of the studio, so I need to find something here to paint.)
2. An icicle is forming on the mailbox outside!

So I put on waterproof boots, two sweaters, a scarf and my woolly beret. I grab my sketchbook and a pen. I angle my white sketch paper to avoid snow blindness.

Standing in the driveway, focused on drawing the snow, the mailbox and the icicle, I hear the sound of an approaching motor.

It's the mail delivery truck!

I receive my mail by hand and chat with the courier for a few moments.

I prepare to resume my sketch only to discover that the action of opening the mailbox has completely dislodged the icicle and it lies in shattered fragments on the ground!

No worries, I already sketched my icicle. I go into the studio to warm up and lay in a few watercolor washes. Then when I go back out to compare my sketch with the scene for a few finishing touches, I discover that while I was painting inside, a new icicle was beginning to form on the edge of the mailbox. The circle of life!

My finished sketch of an icicle

A new icicle begins to form while I am warming up indoors.

New Workshop Announcement for Beginning Sketchers-Sept. 22

If you missed my recent USK 10x10 First Steps into Visual Journaling Workshop, it’s not too late!

Saturday, September 22, urban sketchers and Historic Seattle come together for a day of sketching in the Meridian Park neighborhood.

Learn to sketch step by step

Learn the joy of sketching – and a new way to appreciate the historic buildings you love! This class is designed for inexperienced sketchers or those who have been away from their art for a while.

Instructor Michele Cooper will help you take your first steps into urban sketching using simple tools and practical tips that anyone can follow. Michele will demonstrate techniques, then you’ll try them. Perfection is not required. You’ll learn to combine basic drawing, writing, lettering shortcuts, and ephemera for a fun day on location with your urban sketchbook. These skills can be adapted to fill your nature and travel journals, too.

The workshop will begin indoors at the Good Shepherd Center, later the group will move outside to practice sketching the exterior of the Good Shepherd Center and its grounds.

The workshop is filling fast, but as of today there are a few spots left.
Follow this link for the workshop description, location and registration information. https://historicseattle.org/event/learn-to-sketch-workshop/


After the workshop, please join Urban Sketchers Seattle for an optional “sketchcrawl” (2:30 – 5 PM) at Meridian Park to have more fun practicing your new skills!

I will miss Bothell Country Village

Bothell Country Village is a unique place where character abounds. Naturally it is one of the favorite sketching locations for Seattle Urban Sketchers, who met there today for what may be the last time. The property has been sold and the village will be dismantled after April, 2019.

Fading into history

Keepsake Cottage Fabrics has been at "The Barn" since 1984. The owner, Julie, told me they will have to relocate to a warehouse and try to continue their business online.

Sketching from across the street under the covered porch by the bakery.

The windmill originally came from a wheat farm in Waterville, Eastern Washington.

I was surrounded by blue lace cap hydrangeas and borders of summer flowers in full bloom as the day turned from a cool, overcast 60°F to a pleasant partly sunny 70°F towards lunchtime.

Ann was on the front porch, documenting all the beautiful bolts of fabric lined up along the wall.

Tina was across the street on the covered boardwalk, sketching the barn with graphite and kneaded eraser.

Meandering paths lead you through a whimsical world of duck ponds, home decor, restaurants, one of a kind toys, gifts, antiques and more.

It seems there is never enough time in the 2-3 hours that we spend sketching during each outing. How could you possibly document it all?

See IG and Flickr tags #uskseattle for more sketches from our outing on Friday, August 3.

A small family runs their flower stand at the Friday Farmers' Market. June 1 - Sept 28, 2018

First, sketching, then lunch with friends at Village Eatery & Tea Co, then buying flowers on the way to the car. Can it get any better than this?

A Cool Spot to Sketch at Bellevue Botanical Garden

As our heat wave continued, USk Seattle found refuge at Bellevue Botanical Garden for their monthly outing today. It was cool and comfortable in the shade of the forested garden. The outside temperature climbed from 78°F to 91°F from the time we met at 10 am. until many left the parking lot after lunch at around 2:00 pm.

The garden provided a cool quiet place for everyone.

The "Hobbit Door" was still there.

I was amazed at the transformation from the old familiar gardens that I last visited at least a decade ago. First, I found the "Hobbit Door" as I walked along the path beyond the Tea House. Although I was on my way to the Yao Garden, I just had to capture this enchanting little feature first.

I was entranced also by the serenity of the Yao Japanese Garden. I found a cool shady spot at the south end of the pond and spent the rest of my sketching time there. I sketched the summer sky reflected in the pond and the rocks and plantings bordering it all around.

Somehow I was subliminally influenced to go to the gift shop and buy two rocks with images on one side and sayings on the other. They make good paper weights!

With the air conditioning on full blast, I made the commute back home where the gauge on the deck said it was 92°F in Marysville! Isn't this supposed to be the weather in Porto during the symposium? I think we've switched climates!

Day 12 Firefly Challenge #TBT A. J. Casson and World Watercolor DayChallenge--Fast and Loose

I am hoping that the spirit of the challenge today is what is important. We have an appointment to take my husband's iPhone in for battery replacement at the University Village Apple computer store today;

Since my personal goal is to do all the Firefly challenges that I can from life or on location, it would not work for us to take a side trip to Lime Kiln Lighthouse on the same day. (I have sketched it on location in the past, but can't find the artwork now. Possibly it was sold.)

"Fast and Loose" and a "lighthouse" shape near the Apple Store, with customer

I did, however, find a metaphor for the lighthouse; the Information Post at the mall. It has a "lighthouse" like shape and I could sit and sketch it at a nearby shady table while waiting for our iPhone battery. So this is my result on a hot day in Seattle.

Stillman & Birn Beta sketchbook, Altoids DIY travel palette, Sharpie pen

Even though I was standing on the shady side of Ravenna Gardens, it truly was necessary to paint the hanging petunias and purple stocks as fast and loose as possible. The good thing is that it takes no time at all for the washes to dry! That satisfies the challenge for today on WorldWatercolorMonth as well! What a relief to slip into the cool, air conditioned shop from the 85°F heat outside.

The beautiful flowers at Ravenna Gardens Shop

Since I painted the flowers with no preliminary drawing, I can check off another of my missing days for the 30x30DirectWatercolor2018 challenge as well!

Where Shall I drop this Urban Sketch?

We have an exciting weekend in urban sketching ahead! First, I'll be teaching my 10x10 USK Workshop on First Steps into Visual Journaling on Saturday. The workshop is sold out but I will be posting some tips and hints in the next few days and after the workshop as well. Follow me here and on Instagram. Set up alerts so you can see a real time hint when I drop this piece.

I'm hoping some of my students will be enthused with their new confidence and urban sketching skills and come to the monthly outing on Sunday at Wallingford Center. I'll be there to cheer you on!

So where shall I drop this? On Saturday or Sunday? I could use some suggestions to overcome my dilemma. Update: OK, tomorrow it is, Sunday the 20th at Wallingford Center sometime during the monthly sketch outing. Come join us for urban sketching in Seattle!

Going to abandon this greeting card with sketch print on the coming weekend during USK event.

Five Minute Sketches, WIP

I assigned Tuesday's watercolor classes a little warm up exercise: Take your sketchbook out for a 5 minute sketch. Use any simple tool you like, pen, pencil, etc. Take 5 minutes to find a subject, 5 minutes to sketch and 5 minutes to return to the classroom and share your sketches. It was raining, so just a few chose to brave the cold damp weather outdoors for 5 minutes. The rest chose to spread out all around the interior of the building, sketching what they saw out the windows. I was so impressed by what they did. I think they even surprised themselves! (Sorry, I didn't take a photo of their sketches.)

My five minute sketches from Tuesday, ready for a touch of color and narrative after breakfast today.

Towards the end of the day, I discovered this ingenious little light well with its own pocket garden, flower pots ready and waiting for spring, and a Tuscan mural to cheer up those looking out from the windows on the opposite wall. I only had time to do the ink sketch, planning to add watercolor pencil and ink wash later.

A light well hides a secret garden.

My 5 minute sketch with the Sharpie Pen after class.

Here's the result of some simple color and ink washes on the secret garden sketch. I have time lapse video demo on my Instagram feed of the color/wash process. See link in right column.

See my Instagram feed @michelecooperart for a time lapse video of process of adding color.

I managed to get a few trophy shots of my other two 5 minute sketches (see below)

Afternoon sketch. Looking straight across the alley at the cracked wall and weathered window on the next building.

I had planned to go outside and was headed for the elevator for my first sketch when an unusual appliance in the parking lot caught my eye out the second floor window.

I have no idea what this is....maybe a refrigeration unit? But what fun to draw!

I started on the right hand side of my Pentalic Aquajournal in the morning, then added sketches in the afternoon and after class.

Tuesday am sketch demo (right side) and pm sketch (left side)

I have a heading, 2nd FLOOR, but still haven't decided what my narrative will be for the rest of this two page spread in my visual journal. I will post it here when it's finished.

Free Kickoff Event at Daniel Smith, Inc on March 3–Join Us!

I am honored to be teaching one of the workshops for beginners. 

For the second year, USk Seattle is taking part in 10x10, the worldwide initiative to offer educational workshops wherever sketchers live. Launched in celebration of Urban Sketchers’ 10th anniversary in 2017, the program brings a variety of courses on urban sketching techniques taught by talented local instructors in their home cities.

All workshops are on Saturdays, 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Registration begins Sunday, March 4, 2018, 9 a.m. The cost is $60 each.
UPDATE: My workshop May 19, 2018 (#8 First Steps into Visual Journaling) is FULL
Wait list taken. Please send your request to usk.seattle@gmail.com , and you will get a response regarding your status on the list. 

A free Program Kickoff Event will be held March 3, 4:30 p.m., at Daniel Smith’s Seattle store. (Although the kickoff is free, registration is required.) Meet the instructors, see their sketchbooks, and learn about the workshops before registering. The kickoff will be followed by an unhosted, informal “drink & draw” at a nearby location, which will be another opportunity to talk with instructors who attend this optional event. Hope to see you there!

Street corner sketch by Michele Cooper 

Please see the Seattle blog for workshop details and registration information. 

Snowed in on Sunday!

It’s cold out there 

Just when I was looking forward to sketching in Seattle with USK Seattle, we got 4” of the white stuff over night. Snowed in in February! Winter is not over yet!

UPDATE: I am honored that my sketch has been Explored on Flickr and as of 12:13pm Sunday 2/25/18 has over 8K views!

Looking out the window to see about driving conditions 

The sun came out and so did the birds! Little Junkos hopped all around the seeds we put out for them.

So nice to see sunlight and shadows again. 

Short List of Sketching Pens

Last night I decided to see which of my sketching pens were water proof and which were water soluble. Then I wanted to determine which were the right ones for a minimal sketch kit, something that would work for a student just starting out in urban sketching.

Super Bowl Sunday art project 

All the pens listed here wrote well and there was no bleed through or ghosting on the back of the page. My test paper was a pad of 90 lb  Canson XL multimedia.

Waterproof pens  allow you to draw first with the ink and then paint over it with water color without  smearing the ink lines. Water soluble ink pens allow you to draw then selectively wet some of the lines with the water brush, pulling the ink away from the line to create shadows and contours. 

For beginning  sketchers or artists on a budget choose the blue starred pens. Red starred pens can be added when you’re ready. The Uniball Signo white gel pen is water soluble if you want to remove some with a damp brush. It is quite opaque when used over dry dark washes.

Kawainui Marsh

Had a wonderful afternoon stroll at Kawainui Marsh. Inspired!

I made a value study and 5x7" greeting card preliminary sketch in watercolor. I plan to abandon this art at the Urban Sketchers O'ahu meeting on Saturday.

Just before sunset on the marsh.

I think the pigeon is trying to blend in

.

Tenting in Hawai'i is not camping

Here's something that you aren't likely to experience in the Pacific NW. 

I had to sketch fast to keep up with this efficient crew

Periodically in tropical climates, a homeowner may have to call in the pest control experts and have the house "tented ". Our son had his home treated for termite control today. 

Fumigation is a method of pest control that completely fills an area with gaseous pesticides—or fumigants—to suffocate or poison the pests within. 

Kama'aina Pest Control crew tenting the house

This was our first and only experience with tenting for pest control but the crew and other representatives from https://www.kamaainatermite.com/ were thoroughly professional and easy to work with. They had the entire job finished in no time and made sure everyone knew the safety requirements. 

Screech!

Inktober 2017, Day 9-- Daily prompt "Screech"

 

"Screech!!!" Went the soles of my shoes as I stepped out onto the front porch and saw this awe inspiring lantern of a fall tree, lit up by the autumn sun.

 "Screech!!!" Went the brakes on the truck as it went around the sharp corner.

"Screech!!!" Went my paintbrush as I came to the decision that I had already said all I wanted about the beauty of the autumn color and light. I feel that if I add anything else at all, it would take away from the concept that I have so far.