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!

Meridian Playground

On July 31, 1907 the Sisters of the Good Shepherd opened “The Home of the Good Shepherd” in north Seattle to provide shelter, education, and guidance to girls and young women in crisis. The Sisters planted and maintained a fruit orchard and vegetable garden on the eleven acre property. Part of the original grounds has become Meridian Park and includes many of the 100-year old trees the Sisters planted.

The  Playground is themed after children's books.

I used direct painting with watercolor and a waterbrush for the hand hewn look of the water faucet post. The naturalistic part of the spread was done with line and wash, using permanent ink and Prima Watercolors. My sketch buddy, Tina, uses tinted pages for many of her sketches. Scroll down her IG account to see them.

Meridian Playground is one of the few public parks in the city that remains unsprayed. The nets are an organic method of protecting the fruit from disease and insects. Volunteers maintain and harvest the fruit which is given to charities for people in need.

 

I couldn't resist going back for a quick pencil sketch of the little tugboat. Finished later with ink and markers.

The property is owned by the City of Seattle and much of the orchard is maintained by Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation.  The Good Shepherd Center, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is managed by Historic Seattle. Its adjacent parking lot contains 26 fruit trees which are maintained by Historic Seattle. The Seattle P-Patch Program and Seattle Tilth manage fruit trees within the learning and community garden areas.

The apples are now about the size of ping pong balls.

Cedar picnic tables make a great place to lay down your sketches while taking photos, but it's about 90°F in direct sun, and 85°F in the shade right now.

I had fun being playful with my headline and text. I felt that the bright colors of my Arteza brush markers were just the touch needed for the children's themed sketches.

IN CASE YOU WERE WONDERING: Update

Art abandonment postponed. Look for updates on my Instagram feed for the next opportunity to catch this abandoned art.

I posted this on my Instagram feed for the June monthly SeattleUSk outing. I had everything packed up in

my sketch bag the night before, but life interrupted. 

We got a surprise visit from our grandson and two little great grandchildren and just had to spend the day with them. Grilled salmon, salad, ice cold beer,  the sprinkler running in the back yard for the kids to run through, animal crackers, easy chat, relaxing on the deck; it was a great day!

A Familiar Scenario

Yesterday my husband and I went to Sandy Beach, Oahu, for a little wave watching and for me to do a bit of sketching.

I love sketching on location with line and wash watercolor whether on vacation or just around my neighborhood.  We had beach chairs,  sunscreen and my little travel sketch kit. Then the tropical winter ensued. So even though it’s 76°F on O’ahu, I had to resort to sketching from the mobile studio. (Hmmmph. Seems very familiar to sketching at home.)

Taking advantage of the sunny intervals even though the wind was blowing sand in my eyes.

However, every 15 minutes or so the weather would alternate between bright sunshine and rain squalls. My husband dashed in and out of the car with his beach chair while I sketched in the “mobile studio”, alternately rolling the windows up and down, wipers on and adjusting the AC.

Just as I would step out of the car to fine tune my sketch, another squall would blow up. The salty rain spatter on my preliminary ink sketch didn’t seem to affect the  successive watercolor washes other than to retard the drying time a bit.

Still, it was warm rain and the sun came out eventually. And everything wasn’t gray. 

It was amusing to watch the people with the red umbrellas start out with the pole fully extended, chase the umbrella down the beach three times and finally crouch under it like turtles under a shell.

Today is Urban Sketchers Global 24 hr Sketchwalk

Seattle Urban Sketchers are meeting at King Street Station. See Monthly Outing blogpost for more information.

Inktober Day 1

The official prompt for Day 1 of Inktober is swift.

"Spider-Man" on the sky bridge at the new Funko world headquarters in Everett, Wa.

What could be swifter than Spider-Man as he shoots out his web and swings from building to building?

Chicago Symposium, Day 1

That's me in a black top next to the bench, taking a panoramic photo of our huge group on our way to the first Sketch Walk at the USK 8th Annual Symposium 2017. We walked up Michigan Avenue to the South Garden at the Art Institute of Chicago. Eventually the approximately 200 sketchers strung out for three blocks and through several stoplights.

This was the sketch walk gathering point outside of the symposium venue on the first morning. Thanks to the volunteers who guided us to the best sketching spots in the city.  None of these photos can truly express the impact of  the entire crowd of around 200 sketchers walking together along the streets of  Chicago, stopping for a while to see the world one sketch at a time..

The reflecting pool and fountain at the south garden of the Chicago Art Institute was a tempting spot to try to stay cool while sketching an inspiring subject.

I decided to go on ahead of the group to the north garden of the Institute, our second stop on the sketchwalk. It's a smaller space and even without the fountain, provided a nice shady spot with benches, tables and chairs perfect for sketching. Outdoor sculpture, like Alexander Calder’s Flying Dragon, is carefully sited. I always enjoy viewing from different angles and chose this north facing profile because it seemed not at all like a dragon, but like some exotic tropical bloom, repeating the shapes of the surrounding foliage and other plantings.

Yesterday morning we went out on our own to see the Buckingham Fountain. Even at 8:00 am, it was hot enough out in the sun to appreciate the cooling windblown mist off the edge of the fountain.

Buckingham Fountain with Chicago skyline. 7/25/17

In the Shade

The prompt for day two of world watercolor month is, "in the shade" which couldn't be more appropriate! We are experiencing a beautiful sunny week of perfect 75° summer weather.

Just got back from a trip to the nursery and I'm  going to let these flowers rest in the shade while I have my lunch. I'll come back and add watercolor in a little bit and post the results on Instagram for #WorldWatercolorMonth. Then as the day cools off I'll plant them in the pots waiting for them out on the deck.

This is also a "momentcatchers " weekend. Candace Rardon hosts an online gallery the first weekend of each month for creatives around the world. I shouldn't wonder if this moment is shared by a good number of artists in the summer hemisphere this weekend.

Urban Sketchers Show on Seattle Artwalk, May 4

I'm pleased to announce that my sketches are included in the group show "Urban Sketchers 10 Years"  by the Seattle Urban Sketchers who are instructors of the 10x10 workshop series. 2017 marks the 10 year anniversary of Urban Sketchers worldwide, founded by Seattleite Gabi Campanario. 

Friends and family are invited to an opening reception at the Center for Architecture & Design (1010 Western Ave, Seattle) from 5:00 to 8:00 pm on Thursday May 4th for the Seattle Art Walk.  The rest of the time the exhibit can be seen during regular hours except when there is a committee meeting in the board room.  On Thursday light snacks and refreshments (wine and beer) will be served.  There is a larger exhibit ongoing at the center and so ours will be in the board room right off from the entry.

Prints of my sketches of Shilshole Marina & Sunset View Condos and Gasworks Marina Boathouse are in the exhibit.

There are a few spots left in my workshop on May 20.

For examples of my visual journaling sketches and workshop description see here.

Windy Day at Kalama Beach

12.24.16 It was a very windy day at Kalama Beach on O'ahu with the family. We had a view of the "Mokes", two islands off Lanikai Point. The windsurfers and kiteboarders were having a great time while swimmers and body surfers watched from the choppy surf closer to shore.

Saturday at Pike Place Market on WW Sketch Crawl Day

 Waiting for the elevator on the 4th floor at Pike Place Market parking garage.

It's the 51st World Wide Sketch Crawl Day and I'm meeting the Seattle Urban Sketchers up on the main level, outside by Rachel the pig.

A fishmonger shouts and a 30 pound salmon flies through the air across a mountain of ice and is deftly caught by the man behind the counter. A semicircle of onlookers holds cameras and smart phones overhead, capturing the spectacle. 

I had to sketch the "flying fish" action in increments: the hands and fish, the face, the swirl of the white lab coat.

The scent of fresh, hot sticky buns swirls in the air as a man in a silver white ponytail and a floppy hat rolls up his sleeves. He flicks his hands with a flourish and plays modern classical music at his piano on wheels.

Across the street a wide shadowy freight doorway reveals a technicolor display of spring flowers. A flower vendor's head seems to float among fragrant bouquets wrapped in white paper.

After sharing our sketches in the atrium and getting a group photo outside by the newsstand, some of us sketched our way through lunch at the Sound View Cafe. 

Upper right: Marvin and Tina sketching at lunch

We had our choice of all our typical Pacific Northwest seafood; salmon chowder, clam chowder, barbecued salmon, or the seafood pasta  extravaganza. The pasta extravaganza has king salmon, tiger prawns, halibut, crab meat pan sautéed and served over pasta with choice of marina, pesto or alfredo sauce PLUS soup and salad bar! Tempting, I know, but I wanted to stay sharp for more sketching in the afternoon. As you see, the barbecued salmon sandwich was quite sufficient. I'm having the other half for lunch tomorrow.

Adding the final sketches of the day to my accordion sketchbook over thick hot aromatic Turkish coffee.

I would say that Seattle provides more than enough inspiration to last all the way through this 51st World Wide Sketch Crawl Day.

Wait. Did I see that fish move?

While I was sketching the Pike Place Fish Market, I caught a practical joke in the making. One of the fishmongers hooked a long golden chain to the monkfish, then disguised it with a pile of ice and more fish. Unsuspecting victims got a jolt when they came in for a closer look.

The Gloves Come Off!

I found a warm spot on the deck today and the sun felt so good! So I thought I should finally put these three little spring pots together into a nicer bigger vessel. Then I started looking at the shadows and the colors and the shapes and ...the gloves came off! Sorry, but I just want to paint!

Okay, the initial washes are dry and I'm going to finish my sketch and finish my flower potting. Update in a little while.

Update: And then the bees came!

My finished sketch......and now I can finish potting! 

Sunny!

Guess what!? The forecast says sunny and zero chance of rain for two days in a row! This creates an emergency situation in the garden.

I saw the red pitchfork handle from the studio doorway and had to capture it before my husband pulls it out of the ground and starts digging up his garden.

As I stalked my subject to get the right angle of light, I spotted some hazelnut shells dug up by the squirrels, a few little green threadlike sprouts and some fresh autumn leaf mulch in the empty pot. Red robins chirped from the trees in the swale and a low buzzing alerted me to the flight of a sleepy hummingbird in the willows. 

(You can see the the skylight on the roof of the studio and the mullioned windows in the doorway if you look all the way back across the garden.) 

FYI:  This pitchfork has been here since December. Shhhh!

World Wide Sketch Crawl Day #50

A leisurely breakfast to start the sketch crawl at home.

It was another rainy downpour of a day as I packed up my sketch kit and hopped in the car to meet with Tina for World Wide Sketch Crawl Day #50. Once I navigated the soggy, wet freeway to Lake Forest Park, I arrived at Third Place Commons and soon Tina found me working my way around the tables, looking for her.

We decided to have lunch at the nearby Lake Forest Bar & Grill while catching up on all the news since the last time we had seen each other. Lunch turned into "second breakfast" once we saw the menu.

It was still pouring down rain, so we went back to the Commons, a large indoor space with a bookstore, restaurants, empty stage and plenty of large tables and chairs just right for a long sketch session. I was fascinated by the automated fresh squeezed orange juice machine and the woman on her smart phone who leaned her crutches on it.

My two page spread after WWSCD at Third Place Commons (Tap here for closeup)

I would have liked to sketch the workers at Kitto, but they proved too elusive at first. Naturally, as we prepared to leave, three of them came to the front and presented such a nice group to sketch! Oh, well, another time. I thought the two of us did pretty well for only having one day of advance planning. See Tina's blog for a photo she took of us with our sketches today.

Driving south on I-5 to meet Tina this morning

Nu'Uanu Lookout at the Pali

On Oahu’s Windward (or east) Coast, Nu'Uanu Pali Lookout stands sentinel over the 1,200-foot (360 m) cliffs of the Ko'Olau mountains. As the mist plays across the Ko'Olau ridge line, Cook Island Pines can be seen growing on the hillside and a beautiful old street lamp rusting at the edge of the parking lot.

Two page sketchbook spread: Left, from the parking lot and right, from the lower railing

One of the best viewpoints on Oahu, the lookout provides panoramic vistas across the island. You can also see Chinaman’s Hat and Kaneohe Bay.

In 1795 the lookout was the site of a massacre, when King Kamehameha defeated the island’s warriors by forcing them off the treacherous cliff top to their deaths.

My sketch at the railing of the old road at Nu'Uanu Pali Lookout with a view of the Windward coastline. 

I stood to sketch on the path just to the right of the lookout where a sign warns “Road Closed". This had been the old road constructed in the 1800s, once the only feasible land route from Honolulu to the Windward side. Horse drawn carriages once traveled across it. I sketched a portion of the Ko'Olau mountains, the valley below and the opening to one of the tunnels which finally replaced the old highway in 1961.

Closeup of my sketch with Pali tunnel 

Foster Botanical Garden Reunion

Sketching in the oldest botanical garden in Hawaii

It was so nice to reunite with painting and sketching friends at Foster Botanical Gardens this morning. After missing a season or two during our regular annual family visits here, I was able to take an hour or so to sketch at the gardens and catch up on the news with old friends and meet a few new ones. (Photo: top left, Barbara and I had our own personal benches near the butterfly garden-top right, flowers near the restrooms-lower photo, the Japanese Memorial, sketched using my DIY mini Altoids Kit).

I stood in the shade of the Foster Gardens office building to sketch the Hiroshima Memorial with the butterfly garden behind me and a glimpse of the city of Honolulu above the trees. I got a quick drawing of the pink flowers near the restrooms before I left. The petroglyph of green sea turtles, known in Hawaii as honu, is said to symbolize good luck, endurance and long life. It is often used to represent family.

A House Made of Wood

Inktober 13, 2015--A House Made of Wood

I'm on Day 13 and the second in a series I'm doing for Inktober this week. Yesterday I sketched a "house made of straw". In my quest for something a bit different while still qualifying as a "house made of wood", the driftwood structures that emerge on the beaches here in the Pacific NW came to mind.

I have taken photos whenever I encounter them, but my goal for today was to do this Inktober sketch on location. I spent an afternoon prowling along Marine Drive near where I live, but all the beaches I wanted to visit were private or on tribal land and not open to me. So I ended up at Livingston Beach on Camano Island. (The teepee style driftwood structure in the upper left section of this photo collage was also on the beach where I was today, but it was on private property.)


I wanted to wait for a sun break at the end of my sketch so that I could catch some dramatic shadows. But the tide was coming in so I had to be satisfied with the light I was given. (Progress shot lower right.)

Can you guess what the third subject will be in this mini-series?