July 4th Parade in Bothell

Scenes from a July 4th celebration -

I sat down with a bunch of moms and their kids who liked waiting for candies thrown by paraders. It was a parade showcasing diversity. Muslim community, Mexicans on horses (sketch #1), Irish with their bagpipes, the senior community, kids of all shapes and colors. Everyone was enjoying America's 241st birthday.

I looked for lunch and had a burrito from a food truck and met Edgar and Crispin. When I looked for a place to sit, I saw an area in the shade where a black dad was humming and swaying her little baby girl to sleep (sketch #2). I asked if I can share the shade. He smiled as he nodded.

Then I went to a coffee shop for some brew and I sketched (#3) the outside scene with the inside scene.

I didn't see hatred, bigotry, racism. They're there. But today I didn't look for them. I looked for goodness, beauty, generosity, kindness. And I was richly rewarded.

The name of the food truck was Ambakity Cocina Mexicana. Ambakity is a Native American word for "best of the best."

Just like the USA of my heart.

Happy Birthday, USA.

A Taste of Stardom

Spent the morning being interviewed by a former coworker for a new Pacific Northwest blog she is hatching. After our interview, she took some photos, and we looked for sketchable scenery. We found it and she sketched me as I sketched a garden waterfall.

When we were parting, I told her that for a while there, I felt like a star. 

Which can be a confidence booster (that's how it felt when she first suggested this meeting), a helpful thing in small doses. But it can be a very harmful thing, that might lead to narcissism, pride, self-centeredness, in huge doses. 

...

"It was pride that changed angels into devils; 

it is humility that makes men as angels."

~ Saint Augustine

May I suggest a practice in humility: 

during a conversation, 

ask questions more than give opinions, 

listen more than talk.

May you find peace in your sketching.

A Sunny Bothell Day

It was 54ºF, and sunny. So, I went to the Sammamish River Park, took out my scooter and helmet, strapped on my Darsie Beck bag, and hunted for sketchables.

This was drawn on my iPhone and the Procreate app.

The bent mossy tree caught my eye and the reflections on the the creek running along the Sammamish River. While I was doing this, a kid on a stroller was having a tantrum. I was surprised at my reaction to her high-pitched squeals. You see, though I need hearing aid to understand conversations, I am sensitive to noise, especially high-pitched sounds. But this time, maybe because I was drawing nature, as opposed to say, a city scene, I heard the squeals like hearing ducks quacking and geese honking. Just part of nature symphony.

Anyway - here's the first sketch.

 

Then I mounted my scooter and after a couple of yards, I saw this blue heron. It just stood there, unmoving, a willing model! So I dismounted and sketched this beauty. It waited for me to finish the portrait, and it slowly walked away as I finished the rest of the scene.

Then my wife texted me that she's sick and coming home. So I scooted back to my car, and drove back home. That's where I saw our neighbor's daughter on their driveway selling her origami creations. So I went over, bought one of $1.75, and sketched her, then gave the sketch to her. 

So that's my sketching life this Tuesday of the Holy Week.

Sketch on!

New Sketch Friends

 Today, the Whidbey Island Sketchers came to my town and descended on McMenamins Anderson School in Bothell. We met at the Tiki Bar before noon and sat there, and ate there, and sketched each other, shared sketchbooks and tips and techniques, and chatted with one another.

Then at around 2, most of them left to catch the ferry back. A few stayed back and sketched more. I even connected with someone who stays in Kenmore part of the week. She does murals for a couple of schools and looks like we might sketch out together or maybe even get to help her work on one of her murals.

So here are my sketches today. The one sketching on the staircase was done on my iPad.

My Joy Pen

I have lots of drawing pens. Eeek. But after watching Marc Taro Holmes on his Craftsy course using a LAMY Joy Calligraphy pen, I ordered it. He uses it in tandem with the very fine carbon pen and the Pentel brush pen. I received it a week ago. It has a 1.1mm wide nib. (There are 2 more sizes, a 1.5mm and a 1.9mm) And it's a bit rounded so it doesn't catch on paper fibers. I bought a converter with it and filled it with carbon ink. Oh Joy indeed.

It's now my favorite drawing pen. Because it has that organic, live line that I don't get from Microns, Copic, etc. I love brush lines and this is the closest I can get to it but with a little bit more predictability and control.

Here are a couple of samples. These were done on watercolor papers because I like the broken quality of the lines courtesy of the semi-rough paper texture.

At Korea House, Bothell. Drawn on 3x5 Moleskine Watercolor pad.

Caffe Ladro, Bothell. On 5.5x8.5 Canson Acuarela. 

Urban Sketching is...

A Memory Aid

More often now, I feel I'm slipping away from the world when I can't remember your name or what you said this morning. The act of drawing adds metadata to the finished product. When I look at it in a few weeks or months, even years, I feel the place, I hear the person talking or what kind of music was playing in the background. I remember how that Macchiato took me to cloud 9.

At Caffe Ladro, Bothell, WA.

A Meditation Tool

Drawing a building or other man-made objects for me is a big challenge. I prefer organic structures like landscapes instead of cityscapes, people rather than cars. Urban sketching is mostly focused on buildings. That's what 'showing the world on sketch at a time' means for me. Buildings and cityscapes and street scenes identify a place. People sketches must show context, which means, the buildings, exterior or interior, around them. So, drawing things with straight lines and perfect curves force me to pay close undistracted attention. To focus like a laser-beam while staying relaxed and mindful of the breath. And that in a nutshell, is also meditation.

Country Village, Bothell, WA.

A Compassionate Practice

When I draw people, not only do I see them more, but oftentimes I feel them as well. If I am trying to sketch a sitting person leaning toward another she is talking with, I sort of mimick her pose, to feel what muscles are active or not, where the center of gravity is. Somehow, I also feel their situation in life. Or maybe, it's my situation in life. And that invites me to say a little blessing for them and for everyone else going through the same situation.

 

Caffe Ladro, Bothell showing a mom taking care of her special needs daughter and a guy trying to focus on his task.

A Group Therapy Session

Sketching among fellow sketchers is like being home for the holidays, like having a reunion with your high school soccer team or book club or gym buddies. It is doing what you love to do with folks you love to be with. Like Jim Bumgarner said at the last West Coast Sketchwalk dinner, urban sketching is, if I remember correctly, 40% sketching, and 60% socializing. 

Tacoma USketchers at The Buttered Biscuit in Sumner, WA.

At least, that's how I see urban sketching.

From Bothell With Love

Yes. I drive through brutal traffic sometimes up to two hours on weekdays to join you folks. Because I feel da luv when I do what I do with you: Sketching.

In 1972, I migrated from the Philippines where I studied 'commercial art' or graphic design. And until 2015, I worked as a graphic designer for engineering firms. I retired in September 2015 to pursue what's been my first love: drawing and sketching. And to use and abuse and misuse all my still growing stash of art supplies before I die. Like, I didn't know I have 2 Windsor & Newton Series 7 #5 Kosinski brushes. They still have a price tag of $20 each. Amazon lists it at between $84-114!

So I was lucky to join the 4th West Coast Sketchcrawl and got introduced to a few of you. I even won a raffle prize from that tall gentle lady with white hair named Frances. At the event, I met Alison and Beverly. I even got to draw legend Frank Ching during the icebreaker.

I am also an oblate of St Benedict with St Placid Priory. That means I commit to incorporate the Rule of Benedict in my daily life. One favorite Benedictine motto is "that in all things, glorify Holy One." So this is another reason I retired: to use my sketching gifts to spread da Luv.

Therefore, my sketches are more than lines and colors of urban scenes. They are my prayers in the sense that prayer is being with the Sacred. So when I sketch, I "listen with the ear of my heart" (another Benedictine mantra) for answers to "What is the teaching here for me? How does this relate to my life today? What is the invitation?"

Then when I post my sketches, I accompany it with stories that the heart brings up and the blessings that come with it. I hope my sketch-stories will help heal, awaken and open hearts, and help us see each other as brothers and sisters.

Check out my facebook page if you're interested to see my posts while I'm working on my blog. Also, Paraclete Press published my first book in 2009, Praying With the Body: Bringing the Psalms to Life (Active Prayer Series)  I am working on a second book, tentatively titled, Drawing Everyday Blessings, based on my FB posts.

Had enough? Ok. Here are a few of recent sketches.

At Country Village, Bothell

Brew Cafe, Bothell

He owns and lives in that house surrounded by new condos and retail stores in downtown Bothell.

When he saw my post on the Bothell Community FB page, he offered to buy it. 

Now I have a few house portrait commissions which will go to buying more art supplies.

"Always We Begin Again." - another Benedictine mantra:

Thank you for letting me sketch with you.

"Life is short - Sketch!" - Roy's mantra