Kabota Gardens with Seattle USk

Kubota Gardens, Heart Bridge (I think!) by Sue Heston

Another place I had never been until the Seattle Urban Sketchers met there last week. The gardens are beautiful, free, and accessible by Metro bus (106) from downtown Seattle (they are actually in Renton). They seem completely un-urban, yet they are practically next door to Boeing Field.

Another Sketch from Spray Park

Spray Park, Mount Rainier National Park

Spray Park has to be one of the most popular hikes in Mount Rainier National Park, if not all of Washington State. And it's popularity is pretty well justified by the beauty of the park. I knocked out three sketches on Sunday just drawing what I could see from the spot where we ate lunch.

This one is also done with Faber Castell Pitt Artist Pens. About 6-8 greens and blues made a portable and lightweight sketch kit. While finishing this one up, I discovered that it is possible to quickly blot some of the color before it dries on the paper. That helped me to get the lighter values in the foreground. The clouds got finished up at home.

Sketches from Mount Rainier National Park

Some sketches from a recent hike to Spray Park in Rainier National Park. I am still using the Pitt Artists' Pens in my Stillman & Birn Gamma sketchbook and finding new ways to sketch with them.

Spray Park sketch

View of Mother Mountain from Spray Park

Practice Sketches

Practice sketches by Sue Heston

An hour on a sunny day drawing people at Alki Beach.

Sketching at Fisherman's Terminal

On Friday, I joined the Seattle Urban Sketchers at Fisherman's Terminal in Ballard. It is a great place to sketch. Boats of every size and shape fill the marina, from recreational cruisers to giant commercial fishing boats. 

the Kittiwake

Viking Magic and her dock neighbor

I was using three Faber Castell Pitt Artist's Pens in pale, medium and dark green. I found them good for sketching values quickly, and I like that they did not bleed through my sketchbook pages at all.

Sketching the Sketchers