Back to the Market

With another day of excellent weather, I decided to go back into town to Pike Place Market and sketch some more.  The Urban Sketchers weekly theme is Bathrooms (!) and there was an unusual one at the Market I wished I’d sketched yesterday.

I did one quick ink sketch on the bus:

I wandered around the Market area, had a bit of breakfast and took some time deciding what I wanted to sketch.  This is the Market Place North building that is actually on 1st St. but seen from the plaza on Western Avenue, down from Victor Steinbrueck Park.

Finally, here is the sketch of the entrances to the restrooms in the Market and the drinking fountain.  The designs are all done in small tiles.

Pike Market Sketch Outing

The Seattle Urban Sketchers had our regular monthly sketch outing at Pike Market, joining up with two Seattle sketchers teaching an Urban Sketchers sponsored workshop, “Line to Color”.  Find all the photos in this set

As is often the case, I was early.  Coming up out of the University Light Rail station, I walked through the Garden of Remembrance.  I liked this view of the stone sculptures and pool.  Given that it is close to Memorial Day, I decided to stop for a sketch to once again honor our war dead (I’d sketched last year at Tahoma National VA cemetary).

I arrived at our meeting location to find the workshop in progress.

After we dispersed to sketch, I had three locations in mind.  First was the northern market sign.  Here I simplified the scene, leaving out details inside the building and the tents.

Then I went down into the Market to sketch the Great Wheel from an
overlooking window.

We gathered in a park at the North end of the Market to share our sketches.  It was a larger than normal group today, even not including the workshop participants.  Gabi posed us with the view of the Great Wheel and the harbor.  Three of us are not in the photo (Gabi, me and Gordon as we were all three taking this picture).

After the sketch outing broke up, I went to have lunch.  Tina and Michael joined me at Kells.  We were looking at Michael’s sketchbook  when our server commented that she’d seen the sketchers and it made her want to get out to sketch.  I explained about Urban Sketchers and gave her our card.  Maybe there will be a new recruit at our next sketch outing!

Then I walked around the downtown shopping district.  I particularly wanted to see the new Timbuk2 store that has just opened here.

The rest of the photos are here.  First is the sketch outing and then the photos around town.

B-17 is back

The Museum of Flight’s B-17 bomber is back on display.  It was stored over the winter in donated hanger space across Boeing Field.  It took some volunteer manpower to push it into place!

The Museum of Flight’s B-17 ‘F’ is a restored, historic aircraft and represents the condition of the aircraft when new in 1943. It will be available for both inside and outside tours around Memorial Day and through the summer.  I’ve taken the inside tour and it is very impressive.  It gives one a little of an idea of the enormous courage of the air crew who flew it into combat.

After my volunteer shift I took about an hour to do a quick sketch of it.

Weekly theme is bridges

The Urban Sketchers weekly theme is bridges.  I had several sketches I’ve already contributed.  But I thought I would go out and find a local, ordinary one to add.

I was sleepy after lunch but an afternoon in the sun, sketching, perked me right up.  It was a perfectly beautiful day.  Bright blue sky, fluffy white clouds, very sunny and about 65 degrees.

I went to the Cedar River and sketched a small, ordinary bridge.  It is not at all picturesque but I wanted to illustrate the kind of bridge that is very common in small cities, such as where I live.  This one was built in 1987.  It is edged by bushes with nice, pink blossoms.  I sketched a close up and added a couple fallen petals to my page.

The river was running very high.  There was quite a storm yesterday, with thunder, lightening and heavy rain.  A section of the river walk was closed due to water over top.

I saw this charming mallard mother and ducklings.

More Fremont

These two I painted from photos I took during my tour of Fremont.  This is another in my mailboxes series.  I found these outside the gate to the dock where the boathouses were moored.

This is one of the boathouses.  I liked the red boats.

Fremont Sketch Outing

We met in the Center of the Universe, aka Fremont.

Despite having lived here for 13 years, I’d never walked around Fremont.  It was great fun!  My first goal was seeing the Troll.   I only did this one sketch during the official part of the sketch outings because I had too much fun talking to other people who came to see the
Troll.  As I do at the Museum, I offered to take their photos!  I met a young couple from Stuttgart Germany who are living and working in Mexico.  I also met a young woman who is travelling the US alone for 3 months.  She’s from Ohio and has been all across and up and down the country.

I tried to put into practice what Gail Wong taught in her recent workshop about reserving the white spaces in the sketch.

We met to share out sketchbooks.

One person is missing as there were 13 of us today.

The rest of the photos of sketchers in this set

I had lunch next to the ship canal.  I then walked around a lot and took a bunch of photos.  Those are here.

After seeing the Troll, the next interesting adventure was visiting Groundspeak.   This is the HQ of Geocaching (using GPS to go for hikes and find hidden treasures).  The German couple mentioned they were going there at 2pm.  Turns out, Groundspeak was having a
sort of open-house today.  They gave out little souvenirs.  I lucked out!

Stopped on my way back to my car for another sketch.  The Fremont Rocket is 1950′s surplus from AJ’s Surplus in Belltown.  It was acquired in 1991 but not installed until 1994.  It bears the official Fremont crest and Motto:  “De Libertas Quirkas” (Freedom
to be Peculiar).

SAM

I went in to SAM (Seattle Art Museum) to see the “Treasures of Kenwood House, London” before it ends on 19 May.  I was pleased to learn the exhibit’s audio guide was available as an app.  With the Museum’s wi-fi I downloaded both it and the regular museum audio guide.

I took about 2 hours to go through.  Much of this is not my favorite period but I did want to see the Rembrandt.

I have a bit of a motivation distraction lately so I didn’t do any sketches at the Museum or outside.  This month’s Seattle Urban Sketchers Sketch outing together will be a Pike’s Market so I didn’t want to sketch around the area, though there certainly is a plethora of subjects.  I didn’t really plan this as a sketch outing, anyway, as I brought my most minimal kit.  I also wimped out as it was unexpectedly chilly with breeze off the Sound.  Once I got home it was nearly too warm outside.

I did still do two small sketches in my pocket Moleskine.  First was on the bus to the light rail station.

The second was a woman at the next table at lunch.  Her conversation was much too easily overheard (as a friend says, “voice activated listening”) and I think I practically know her life story.

Ink drawing on location and added watercolor at home.

Coulon Park again

I’ve sketched at Gene Coulon Memorial Beach Park twice before.  It was over 80 degrees so there were lots of people out in the sun.  Some were on the grass sun bathing.  I’d forgotten sun screen on Saturday so already have a sun burn.  I sat in the shade of one of the picnic shelters and sketched this view of the dock and shelter jutting out into Lake Washington.  Olympic mountains can be seen peaking from behind the hills over the lake.

I’ve been keeping in mind the lessons from the Mt. Vernon workshop.  I’m still having trouble deciding in what areas to preserve the white.  I think this one is a little less over worked than others I’ve done.  The drawing of the building seems stiff and not quite right.  I like the mountains behind the green hill, though. 

Skyline

My husband asked me to drive him to an ophthalmology appointment.  He thought the very bright sunlight today would make it difficult for him to drive home with dilated eyes.  While he had his exam, I sat on the patio of the clinic and sketched the view across the freeway into downtown Bellevue.

Aviation High School

I didn’t sketch in the Museum of Flight during my volunteer shift yesterday. Afterwards I drove down the street just a bit to park across from the new Aviation High School which is still under construction.  The current school is in Des Moines but will move here, next to Boeing Field and the Museum of Flight, in the fall.  The new location was selected provide ready access to the Museum of Flight’s resources and to the approximately 200 flight-related businesses nearby.

The new facility was designed by Bassetti Architects. The design received the 2011 People’s Choice Award and Polished Apple Merit Award from the regional chapter of Council of Educational Facilities Planners International (per Wiki page).  The curved north wall is made of composite materials and is designed to resemble an aircraft.

What may be obvious from the school’s name is that it is an aviation- and aerospace-themed school.  This new building will be called the Raisbeck Aviation High School.  Though part of the Highline district, it is open to students from around the region.

The school motto is “The Sky is not the Limit”!  Their totem animal is the phoenix.  Good choices.  I especially like that moto for this school.

August 2011 Seattle Times article about the start of construction, including some images of the design.

I’m trying the Stilman & Birn Beta sketchbook again.  The hardbound one seems to curl less than the spiral one I tried before.  I also use a strap to hold it closed and flatten the pages.  I like the paper.  The Beta series is 180 pound.