Smoking Monkey

The prompt a couple days ago in my "Art in the Time of Self Quarantine" group was Buy a Pie. I've not been sketching much as I've been making cloth masks.  

But today was warmer and sunnier so I felt the need for some windshield sketching.  I stayed in the safety and isolation of my car to sketch Smoking Monkey Pizza.  It's a small pizza place in  downtown Renton with a Sci Fi theme.  It was very easy to get an ideal parking spot. 

Joining forces at Wintergrass

by Kate Buike

This was the 4th year running that Urban Sketchers Seattle Friday group sketched at Wintergrass, the bluegrass festival in Bellevue.  However, this year we were joined by a few sketchers from Tacoma!  In fact, most of the sketchers were from Tacoma.  

missing Gloria, who left early

For some reason, this year I wasn't that interested in sketching musicians jamming in the hallways.  So I took the skyway across the street to sketch "Fiori" the glass sculpture by Dale Chihuly in Lincoln Square.  Behind the spikes of purple glass is a glass panel waterfall that stretches 3 floors high.  


I did find one group jamming away and made a quick sketch in the pocket Stillman and Birn Beta.  Both Frances and Beverly sketched this group from opposite sides.

Beverly, in purple, in the background

Frances

In Galvin.

Three of us from Urban Sketchers Tacoma carpooled down to Galvin, WA to meet with other sketchers in Centralia.   I was quite early arriving at our meeting place in Puyallup, so I stopped to sketch this store.  I've been meaning to sketch it for a long time. Today there was both time and space to park across the street!

Another sketcher joined us there.  I've never heard of Galvin before but it's just a few miles outside of Centralia.



We met at "Busek's Auto Museum".  Actually, I think I would characterize it as a "collection" rather than a museum.  It's quite untidy but filled with lots of interesting vehicles and related items.  The amount of stuff to sketch might even challenge Steve Reddy, who I thought of as I looked through the 3 buildings full of artifacts. 



When the vegetation takes over a body of water, it's called eutrophication.  What is it called when vegetation takes over an old truck?








More photos here:  https://redharp.smugmug.com/SketchOutings/Buseks-Auto-Museum/

Our Third Anniversary!

My husband has recovered enough from his big surgery that I can be gone for several hours.  So I've returned to one of my favorite activities... sketching with Urban Sketchers (USk).  I've been away for 7 weeks. 

It was a good day to return as today USk Tacoma celebrated our 3rd anniversary!  I made up some signs which we held, along with our sketches, as we also raised 3 fingers.



It was about 80 degrees by the end of the outing, which is very hot by PNW standards.  Hats were the order of the day.



I sat in the sun with my back to the marina.  I had my hat, too.  It was early, so not yet quite so hot and I had the cool breeze off the water.   This percussive instrument is one of several similar ones.  I thought this made a good composition, with the hot shop tower in the back ground.  The Museum of Glass "hot shop" is where they produce blown glass objects in several very hot ovens.

For my second sketch, I chose a spot in the sun on some stone steps. I wanted to sketch the large instrument with the bridge in the background.  However, I quickly decided I would fry if I sat there for a half hour.



I abandoned that location in favor of the shade and another view of the Museum.   I liked the bright red umbrellas.

We shared sketches.  The two people in bicycle helmets on the right just happened by and were interested.  He's from Wales!  And some one of the guys working at the Marina behind us were very interested.  One took info for his room mate.



A few of us went to The Rock for lunch.  I had enough time before my meal came to do a very quick sketch of the family at the next table.

More photos are here:  https://redharp.smugmug.com/SketchOutings/2016-0604-Tacoma-outing-to-the/

The Swiss in Tacoma

To create this sketch of the indian statue at the Swiss in Tacoma I referred back to my early use of the graphite pencil for drawing. I used Kimberly pencils, 2B, 4B and 6B. The H's drive me crazy but I do use and HB for preliminary sketching before getting into the real stuff with those B's. I also draw a lot with my eraser by laying down a value and then doing a reduction with the eraser to create textures. I added the ATM machine to show a relative size comparison to the subject matter.
Rom LaVerdiere

Sopwith Camel in a furniture store!

It is SO much more than a furniture store.  What an unusual place!  From the talking moose to the animatronic chickens there was so much to sketch it will require several more trips!  I could have even bagged the USk flickr weekly theme - "Organs" - as there was a small pipe organ!  I didn't sketch it first and then I had to leave for an unexpected meeting!

the chickens... they cluck and move

Lots of photos of this crazy place here   https://redharp.smugmug.com/SketchOutings/2015-1216-The-Old-Cannery/

I was there quite early so I wandered the entire place.  For my first sketch, I picked what I thought was the oddest thing there:  Snoopy and Woodstock in the Sopwith Camel!  Half way through drawing this sketch, I had to laugh at myself.  I volunteer at the Museum of Flight in Seattle (my regular readers know this).  I do a lot of sketching of airplanes there during my other visits!   So what do I draw when I'm in a furniture store..... an airplane!



The entire showroom floor is actually several huge rooms.  It was all decked out for Christmas.  So my next sketch was one of those displays.  Cow and sleigh.



We enjoyed free Keurig coffee.  For our sketch sharing the store provided some fudge samples!

Van Leirop Garden Market

Our Wednesday outing was to Van Leirop Garden Market in Sumner.  It's a delightful small garden shop.  They were very gracious in hosting us today.








At least one person left before the photo.  So the group was 18-20 people today.  Not bad for a Wednesday morning.



Sharing sketches:



A group of us shared a delightful lunch at Sorci's Italian Cafe next door.  I gave them a half hour "warning" and they did a good job serving us.  The food was delicious and the company excellent.  There were many good conversations and ideas shared. 




There are a few more photos here.