SketchCrawl #30 South Seattle

This one got confusing. Drawn from the top floor balcony looking south through the girders (?) to the city stadiums and Georgetown. What a great place to draw in the winter time.

Jet City West From the Island

This sketch was done looking West from Jet City Espresso (Renton) and incorporates the plant life that is coming into bloom as well as the vegetation that is flourishing in the old time washing machine. The wrought iron gates wired to the old gas station island makes an interesting pattern and challenge to draw. This was one of the few sunny days this spring in the Seattle area, fear not, by late afternoon it was pouring again.

Folklife Festival - Seattle

I've been going to the Folklife Festival for almost 30 years and over time it really hasn't changed much (a good thing I think). It has a tendency to get very crowded mid-afternoon even when it's raining. It's a celebration of music, cultures and many different lifestyles and has yet to disappoint when it comes to people watching and sketching.

Waiting for the #157

After dropping Kiersten off at school I stopped at a local coffee house and sketched the bus stop outside. This guy really didn't look that sad or pathetic, sometimes the pen has a mind of it's own....

Library Dragon

This colorful guy supervises the children section of the library. I think the computers at our library get more use than the books......

Tabasco

I've been a long time fan of adventurously seasoned foods.......This chef is a kitschy wine bottle holder that has always held the favorite hot sauce of the month in the Ryan household.

Relaxation 101

If I have learned anything from my cat, it is the ability to lounge.

Any Flavor With That?

First posting since the shoulder blowout. Tamra and I had a cup of coffee at the local SB.

Gesture sketches on the Sports Page

With my favorite Rotring fountain pen I decided to quick sketch (on my newpaper) people coming into Starbucks for coffee. As luck would have it, the A Crew was working and people were through the line and out the door in a flash. Hey, stand still...........

Puyallup Fair

Tamra and I spent the morning at the Fair. Not much changes and if you go every year and I think you run the risk of losing the excitement going to the fair should create. We were given exhibitor passes and were able to get in early in the morning without the public, a completely different world.....calm before the storm.

We walked into a livestock barn and discovered a whole pen of Sheep Superheros - masked and caped (body blanket) animals who seem intent on concealing their identity. I learned later that the owners who show these animals deck them out in these outfits to keep them clean.

Waiting for Coffee

Told my wife I was just running down to get us coffee, sat down to do this sketch and got back an hour and a half later. Told her it was a really long line....she knows better. If I do sketch at a strip mall near our housing development, am I just a suburban sketcher?

Jet City Tree

This great big tree grows out from underneath the gas pump island - how long does that take? Tamra and I had a late night and early morning so we snuck off to Jet City for a coffee and a sketch.

City Frame

It was a grey gloomy day, so I tracked down some local colorful buildings to generate some interest. City Frame is located in downtown Kent (Seattle area). I found a picnic table across the street and though it didn't rain on me I did have to contend with the occasional SUV parking in front of me.

It's just a lean to the left.....

Trattoria Mitchelli's, an Italian restaurant in Pioneer Square has been there for some 30 years and sadly I've read that it will be closing it's doors soon. This breaks my heart, for it was a good place for a bowl of pasta and strong cup of European coffee. Taught our daughter how to slurp noodles there.....

The Laundry Mat

A very interesting culture all to itself - life at a laundry mat. There are the cagey veterans, the clueless newbies and those of us who fall somewhere in-between. There are the people who talk to everyone (whether they are listening or not) and those who don't say a word (but don't miss a word that is being said) and everyone else in-between. There's the mom with four small children and enough laundry in the mini van to bring the front wheels off the ground or the single traveler doing his backpack full of laundry and those of us who fall in-between....

Hot Zone - Jet City Revisited

This is the shelf above the barista's head at Jet City Espresso. A rusty old tuba, odd collection of cups, etch-a-sketch, a Bob Marley & the Wailers album and a base drum. Sat here on a Sunday morning sketching, drinking coffee and listening to A Prairie Home Companion...

UPS

I told myself I shouldn't start drawing the UPS truck because it's bound to pull away at any minute. I lucked out, the driver must have been taking a break, a long break......

Renton Boeing Plant/Lake Washington Canoe & Kayak

The Renton Boeing Plant sits right on the South end of Lake Washington. There is a fishing and recreation pier on the lake that parallels the aircraft plant. You can draw or fish and listen to Rosie the Riveter build airplanes. The fisherman at the end of the pier didn't move for the longest time, it was a tangled line or taking a nap...

Jet City Espresso

I walked into this place a couple of weeks ago and my mouth fell open. It's an old gas station/garage now full of antiques and kitsch (I mean full!) inside and out, most arranged better than any still life I could have come up with (there are years worth of subjects to draw). Yesterday I made my way there for some sketching and a coffee.

Seahurst Park

Beach sketching on Puget Sound south of Seattle with Eileen Vanbronkhorst. Trying to get comfortable with using both pages of the sketchbook. Definitely more freedom.