The Porch Bunny is ready for the holidays. All this snow and cold has motivated me to do the tiny bit of decorating I do most years. There is a small wreath on the door and the porch bunny has her own wreath to hold. Next is the tiny “stick tree” in the family room on which I hang a few small ornaments.
I painted first and added line after.
A hardy five members of Urban Sketchers Seattle met in Renton this morning. One, coming from Edmonds, even had to shovel out from the snow.
Most sketched inside the Boon Boona coffee shop. I went out in my car to sketch a house that I’ve had my eye on. I admired the vine arching over the porch.
We also saw Ellie’s show at the cafe.
We started watching “Wednesday” on one of the streaming services. It’s about the daughter in the Addams family as she goes to high school. We’ve only seen the first episode so far and I find it humorously dark.
This is a quote from Wednesday as she’s ordering espresso in a coffee shop. I only drink drip, so I thought it was funny.
This is a cute little plush bear I’ve admired for years. Many people in the journaling community have one, especially those who use Travelers Notebooks. I’m a little hazy on its origin but I think it was designed by Patrick Ng for a collaboration between LOG-ON and Travelers.
They are usually only available in Hong Kong (or Japan?) but I finally found a source. I’ve not customized him much beyond my Red Harp pin and an Urban Sketchers logo pin. Many people seem to dress theirs. He might get a little hat and scarf for the holiday season as I think I have ones that will fit.
I used him as the model for an exercise in combining Pitt Artist Pens with watercolor. Note the too dark portion on the right of his face. I learned it’s better to start light and add layers of ink, just as with watercolor.
On my way to order take out Pho, I spotted this unusual car.
Once inside to order, I had a decision to make. Which do I want to sketch? The Asian man eating a bowl of pho while wearing a big cowboy hat? Or the car with pink eyelashes? No contest.
It was no more than a 5 minute sketch as the Pho maker is fast. In the pocket Hahnemühle sketchbook.
The statue group known as “Interface ” was dressed by @statuestylistgroup for Thanksgiving. I did the pen drawing on location but it was too cold for the watercolor to dry so I colored at home.
They dressed the statues yesterday so I went as soon as I could today. I was concerned to get it done before rain started. And last year the Duwamish First Nations blanket was stolen. I wanted to get the sketch done in case that happened again!
Lots of geese, still. I just had to add a couple. But there were dozens more and the crowded almost too close.
Urban Sketchers Seattle met at Wallingford Center this morning. The weather was crisp and bright.
I did my first sketch indoors. While there were Christmas decorations up in the building, I was still in a pumpkin mood and not done using my orange.
Next I sat outside the hardware store. It was small but very well stocked. Displayed outside was a selection of shovels to remind us that Winter is Coming.
We were about 25 sketchers today. At least one person is missing from the group photo.
Art meets the academic.
Sketchbook Skool’s “Draw with Me” this morning was about Movember. We’re half way through the month, though.
When I worked as Oncology Social Worker, the research subject of my favorite Medical Oncologist was Prostate CAncer (CAP). At that time, I was well versed in the issues of testing and treatment. Testing was, and is, controversial. The concern is too many false positives, leading to unnecessary invasive testing. But wait…Here’s some new research:
From a medical newsletter I receive:
Inverse Trends in Prostate Cancer Screening and Metastatic Disease: An Important Consideration.
A retrospective cohort study published in JAMA Oncology compared rates of Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA) screening and rates of metastatic prostate cancer at 128 US Veterans Health Administration (my emphasis…I worked at VA) facilities from 2005-2019. In a cohort of 4-5 million male patients, PSA screening rates decreased from 47% to 37% between 2005 and 2019 (likely reflecting changing screening recommendations).
(Here’s the key info) Facilities with higher PSA screening rates had lower metastatic prostate cancer incidence after 5 years (incidence rate ratio 0.91 per 10% increase in PSA screening rate, 95% CI 0.87 – 0.96, P<0.001). These data are worth considering during shared decision-making conversations with patients about prostate cancer screening.
These are all ball point drawings in my Every-Day-Carry (EDC) pocket sketchbook. I mostly use it for sketch waiting…drawing while I wait. These were done over the past two months, mostly in clinics. One is at Boon Boona coffee shop in Renton.
These are the oldest.
This was done over several visits to the Pho World restaurant, picking up Pho for Himself. I usually wait less than 5 minutes, so these are composites!
This barista’s hair was amazing.
And then yesterday, in clinic. I felt for her. The care-giver with her was a young man who did not interact. He was just on his phone. Someone had given her some attention as her finger nails were nicely colored. I suspect she’d had a stroke.
The clear, crisp fall weather is perfect for sketching. This is a portion of the outdoor altar at St Stephen’s Church. I first looked for the one at a local Lutheran church. However, they seem about to begin construction and there was nothing in the field.
I’ve sketched this before, in watercolor. Today I kept it simple with just ink line. It’s next to the labyrinth.
Red Harp Arts 