Jack Block Park - Seattle

I think this is my favorite new place to sketch in Seattle. It has the obvious beautiful skyline view but also many opportunities to sketch industrial and decaying marine subjects that always interest me.  Jack Block Park (run by the Port of Seattle) isn't easy to find but worth the effort.

Jack Block was a former Port Commissioner and the site was a wood treatment plant and shipbuilding site that was so contaminated that it became a Superfund site cleaned up by the E.P.A. in 1994.

This sketch was pen and ink with a watercolor wash in a Moleskine sketchbook.

Ballard Locks - Urban Sketchers Gathering

Artist on the Roof

The deck was supposed to be the second to the last project before putting the 500 Alvord townhouse on the market to lease. However, a funny thing happened when strolling on the roof the other day (ok, we went up there to snoop out a leak) and found a soft spot......

A really soft spot.....

 Upon further inspection......Damn.

We hired Dale Cosand to remodel the decks (on which he did an awesome job!). Here he took time to correct all the roof problems in a little over one day......takes me that long to create a to do list.

I'm in awe of someone with those kind of skills, he was the real artist on the roof today.

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.

Theater District, Tacoma WA

This sketch was started while participating in the Regional Urban Sketch Gathering in Tacoma. I chose to sit next to the Pantages Theater looking north across 9th Ave. to the triangle building that houses Tully's and other retail shops. This two page sketch took more than one trip to finish. Pen and ink with a watercolor wash in a Moleskine.

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.

Dash Point, WA

Took a break from the rental to spend lunch time at Dash Point on Puget Sound just south of Seattle. Pen and ink in a 4"x4" Handbook Sketchbook.

Jefferson Park Grand Opening

The Beacon Hill community and the city of Seattle teamed up to create this beautiful new park next to the golf course and over what used to be a huge water reservoir. The Seattle Sketchers met up and sketched some of the opening ceremonies. 


Pen and ink with watercolor in a watercolor Moleskine.

Elk Heights, WA

My sister had access to a friend's cabin in Elk Heights, Washington (between Cle Elum and Ellensburg), it turned out to be a great opportunity to get some of the Ryan relatives from all over the state together for a one day reunion in central Washington. The cabin sits high on a bluff with a magnificent view looking northwest to the Cascades.

 I sketched this while listening to aunts and uncles reminisce about characters and hi-jinx they were involve with years ago....It was so good to see everyone, what a treat.

Watercolor in a watercolor Moleskine sketchbook. 

Second to the last Huge Rental Project

I'm sure that friends and family are tired of hearing me talk, complain, rant or whine about the rental property. We are just starting the second to the last major project - replacing the failed decks that look west over the city of Kent. Gone are the woeful rubberized leaky surfaces, soon to be replaced with 12" decorative tile. It has been fun tearing the place apart (the contractor starts Monday).

The last huge project? I gotta paint it..........Then I'm ready for some serious sketching and painting.