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.

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.

Sketches from Santa Ynez Valley vacation

Three sketches from in and around Solvang, California.

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.

South Dartmouth Marina

On a recent trip to Boston we got to hang out with a good friend Rick Piekos in New Bedford. This sketch was done from Knowles Beach looking back to the nearby village of South Dartmouth.

Pen and ink with a watercolor wash in a Moleskine watercolor sketchbook.

Boston Commons- The Oldest Park in the US

Wow, what a long day, or days. We caught the red eye from Seattle to Boston, getting in at 7am and we hit the tourist streets running in an effort to get on Eastern time. This sketch was done late in the afternoon of the second day without sleep. Let's face it travel to a rarely visited city makes up for the lake of Zs'

Florida Vacation - Reunion Resort - Kissimee

Kiersten and the Kentridge High School Wind Ensemble took part in the Heritage Music Competition in Orlando, Florida, so using frequent flyer miles and time share points we took our first real vacation in a number of years.

We stayed at the Reunion Resort with its three golf courses (designed by Watson, Palmer and Nicklaus), ten pools and a water park. Lots of money here, makes one with no money feel a little out of place.

This sketch was done on our last day while the girls were at the water park. It turned out a little cartoony for me, but it had to be quick because the temp was in the mid 80's and as humid as a steam room.

Watercolor wash, pen and ink in a Moleskine sketchbook.

Port of Tacoma

Kiersten had back to back orchestra days in Tacoma which gave me the opportunity to sketch this one day and color it the next. Mother Nature also was kind and though she spared the rain, she did provide some finger numbing temperatures - well, it is still January.

I don't know what building this is, it's old, boarded up and is in need of someone's big wallet to get her back into shape. Let's hope that happens, it's still a grand building even in it's current condition. 

There are a number of mills in the Port of Tacoma and most all have their steam/smoke stacks going. They provide their own cloud system even on the nicest of days.

Don't know if I would do this tall format again, doesn't bode well for computer viewing.

Pen and ink with a watercolor wash in a moleskine sketchbook.

Albro and 13th - Georgetown (Seattle, WA)

This sketch almost never made it to the blog due to a 'senior moment' on my behalf. On a sketch trip to the Georgetown neighborhood of Seattle, I left my Moleskine sketch book sitting on the outside ledge of a window sill of a home design store called Le' OBJECTS. I didn't realize the book was missing until I went to scan this sketch. I lucked out that the owner of Le OBJECTS Tim De Clue had found the book and sent me a note letting me know he had it.

Very grateful to Tim for giving me the opportunity to get this book back, there are a number of sketches done recently I was very fond of.

This sketch is of the Ro Ro Tavern somewhere near Albro and 13th Ave. Right at the north end of Boeing Field.

Nature kicking Detroit's butt....

A couple of years ago during a family reunion I did a sketch called 'Nature reclaiming Grandpa's car' and this sketch is a follow up done during this year's reunion at the Stolsig Ranch in Eugene, OR. Back then there was just one car being engulfed in blackberry bushes, two more have been added since and nature is taking no prisoners.....

Pen and ink with a watercolor wash in a Moleskine sketchbook.

Urban Sketchers at Stimson-Green Mansion - Seattle

This sketch is from the February Seattle Sketcher's Gathering at the Stimson-Green mansion. The building is beautiful inside and out and yet I chose to sketch the pathway between the mansion and staff quarters. Sometimes I look back at creative decisions and scratch my head....

A touch of watercolor, pen and ink in a watercolor moleskine.

Seattle Triptych

I've started to mix sketch scenes together, mostly out of frugality - watercolor moleskines are kinda pricy. An interesting musician that plays in my daughter's jazz group with a background consisting of a window display in downtown Seattle. Not comfortable with the fact that I placed a homeless guy selling newspaper so close to a young girl playing the flute. The last scene is on the #150 going to Seattle from Kent. Though I didn't represent it well, the big guy in the middle had this wild flowing hair topped with a fur hunters cap.....drawing on a moving vehicle is tough for me - I turn a little green.

Pen and ink with a watercolor wash in a watercolor Moleskine .

View from the rental

Years ago we bought a duplex that overlooks Kent, a blue collar town located some eight or ten miles south of Seattle. One of the units recently went empty after five years and our former tenants left us a considerable mess so much of my creative time now is spent getting it back into renting condition.

Took a break from painting and sketched this view from the living room deck looking out over downtown Kent and Kent Station.

Pen and ink with a watercolor wash in a watercolor Moleskine.

Urban Sketching - Tacoma

Drawn from the warm confines of Tully's in the Stadium district of Tacoma. On the left is Stadium High School which has a very 'Hogwarts School of Wizardry' feel to it. Yesterday was beautiful day for sketching (probably good for yard work too but we're not going there....). Pen and ink with watercolor in a watercolor Moleskine (and in case Santa is reading this, that is my favorite sketchbook).

Seattle Sketchers July Gathering

The Seattle Urban Sketchers got together on the Waterfront Saturday, starting out at the Bell St. Pier and getting back together at Anthony's Fish Bar for lunch. We had another great turnout (maybe 12-14) and cloudless skies to boot. Marty Bauer and I walked south and sketched near the Seattle Aquarium. Again the appeal of the 'not so perfect' industrial crane and barge moored at the pier seemed to call louder than the sailboats.

This is the last sketch in sketchbook #27. There is always a slight tinge of sadness when you put a sketchbook in the storage box, setting aside a constant companion.....

Ah, well enough of that sentimental crap, where's the new book..........

Pioneer Square Alley Door

Sketched this just west of the J & M Cafe. There is something about the 'not so perfect' part of the city that appeals to me. Pen & ink in a Moleskine.

Campus Sketch - The Mac Lab

Getting to class a little early provides the opportunity to sit and sketch. This is looking at the 'Mac' Lab where I take my two software classes this summer.


Fountain pen with water soluble ink, and watercolor in a Moleskine.

Back to School

Though I was dreading going back to school and being the 'really old guy' in class, I have discovered that I'm one of many really old people that have gone back to school. Homework has definitely cut back the amount of hours I spend sketching. This sketch was done on the first day of Summer Quarter looking West toward Vashon Island. This really is a beautiful campus, sitting on a hillside above Des Moines and overlooking the Puget Sound (that sketch will come soon).
Pen and ink, watercolor in a moleskine.

King Street Station from Caffe Vita

The back of a billboard isn't glamorous, but it did seem to frame the station tower.... Caffe Vita can be found in the Tashiro Kaplan Artists Lofts building just East of Pioneer Square. With an abundance of picture windows and a second story loft, it's a great place to sit and sketch. This was done on (what is now way too common) a dark and gloomy Saturday morning after I caught the bus into town early. There is a calm about Seattle this time of the week, without the rush to work and most of it's residents still in their robes - or in this part of Pioneer Square, sleeping bags. There but for the grace of good fortune, go I.