Columbia Distributing Mural Project

 This 27' by 9' mural took about 7 weeks of actual design and painting time (the management seemed okay with my two and half days a week schedule). This area is the staff break room, so painting in front of a live audience was a new experience for me. 

Latex and acrylic paint.

Recent Work (July 2020)

Acrylic on canvas.

Lake Wenatchee, Washington

This was a two-page sketch done on a beautiful day at Lake Wenatchee with Rick and Sherri Sutton on last month's vacation in Leavenworth. Just getting around to scanning both pages and blending them together, chose to leave the seam.

Watercolor and gouache in a Moleskine 5"x8" watercolor sketchbook.

Tacoma Maritime Fest - Foss Waterway Seaport

From Saturday's sketching of the waterfront on the Foss Waterway. Ink and watercolor in a Canson 140lb watercolor book.

Mother's Day

Mom passed away 19 years ago. My memories of her are still there but it seems time has made some of the details fade away.

Lewis Army Museum - Joint Base Lewis McChord

The Tacoma Urban Sketchers made a visit to the Lewis Army Museum at Joint Base Lewis McChord. So many things to draw...Though Mother Nature didn't rain on us, it was a bit cold. I'm looking forward to coming back in warmer months.

This is a great museum that many of us see from I-5 but may not have stopped to visit, I recommend you put it on your list of unique things to do when company comes to town.

Sherman Tank sketched in watercolor and ink on a Pentalic sketchbook.

https://lewisarmymuseum.com/

#lewisarmymuseum #tacomaurbansketchers #sketchbook

Phoenix-Scottsdale Travel Sketches

Papago Park - watercolor and ink

Musical Instrument Museum - graphite

Large bear sculpture - Downtown Old Scottsdale - graphite

Dual sketches from Old Scottsdale street corners. 

October Sketch Gathering - Tacoma

This was done on a cold clear October Saturday at a Tacoma Urban Sketchers Gathering. Wright Park and the Seymour Conservatory in downtown Tacoma is a favorite.

Ink and watercolor in a Moleskine watercolor book.

Mount Vernon sketches

On a trip to Mount Vernon to visit with friend and fellow urban sketcher Frank Bettendorf in his adopted home town. Pen, ink and wash in a Moleskine watercolor book.

Recent Sketches from May 2017

Two sketches from last weekend's Seattle Urban Sketchers Gathering at the Seattle Chinese Gardens located on the South Seattle Community College campus. Warm beautiful day!

Pen, ink and watercolor in a Moleskine watercolor book.

In transit

Took Light Rail into Seattle to attend a Photoshop lecture at the Adobe campus. These sketches were done on the commute.

Pen, ink and watercolor in a Moleskine watercolor book.

Tacoma Urban Sketchers Gathering - May 2017

Going loose at the monthly Tacoma Urban Sketchers Gathering. Construction site at Freighthouse Square, man did it feel good to sketch outside in the sunshine.

Tumwater Falls Park

This place is a sketcher's dream with its old buildings (remnants of the Olympia Brewery), bridges, falls, fish ladders and trails. Worth the trip. I did the original sketch on a wet cloudy February day when there were no leaves on the trees. The color added on a second trip in April during unusually warm weather.

With the sale of the duplex I'm hoping to get sketching back into the routine.

Pen and ink with watercolor in a Stillman & Birn Zeta series Sketchbook.

Sketches from the West Coast Urban Sketchers Gathering - San Diego

I flew down to San Diego last weekend to participate in the 3rd annual West Coast Urban Sketcher's Gathering. Great weather, outstanding scenery to sketch, met a bunch of fellow sketchers from other cities and learned some dos and don'ts as Tacoma puts on this event next year.

The Bell Tower sketch was done on a Strathmore 6x12" watercolor sketch pad. The other sketches were created in a Moleskine watercolor sketch book.

The Old Town sketch was done under comfortable grey cloudy skies. The rest of the weekend was spent in the Southern California sun working on my farmer's tan. Many thanks to Jim Bumgarner and the San Diego Urban Sketch Group for putting on a great and enjoyable event.

Regional Urban Sketchers Outing - Tacoma

These are two sketches from the July 11th Sketch Gathering in and around Union Station. We were given a reprieve from the hot weather and actually found myself scrambling to cover a sketch from the rain. Almost forgot what that was like.

The second sketch was an attempt to paint the reflection off glass on the Tacoma Art Museum.

Pen, ink and watercolor in a Moleskine watercolor sketchbook.

Sketches from Santa Ynez Valley vacation

Three sketches from in and around Solvang, California.

Tacoma Urban Sketchers Gathering - May at Freighthouse Square

Freighthouse Square is experiencing a healthy rejuvenation which is nice to see and fun to experience. The dental office located across the street north of the square, is a most unique entrance to a dental office as it leads you into the back corner of a warehouse building. The skeleton of an old dental chair wrapped in Christmas lights, resides on top of the office entrance.

Pen and ink with watercolor in a watercolor Moleskine.

American Lake - Tacoma, Washington

Had the good fortune to spend the morning with Dad on a trip to the VA hospital at American Lake. I sketched this while he was getting his checkup and painted it later.

Watercolor in a Moleskine watercolor sketchbook.