Category Archives: Urban Sketchers

Torino

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After a thoroughly enjoyable sojourn in Sicily, I departed for Torino, where I met up with faculty and students participating in the UW Architecture in Rome program. Unfortunately, I came down with Covid shortly after arriving in Torino but I managed to maintain a presence while recovering. Above are a few views of Torino, including a two-page spread that illustrates how I take notes, both verbal and graphic, while on day trips.

Until I returned home to Seattle, I did I not fully grasp how Covid had affected not only how I felt (tired) and my sense of taste, but also my ability to fully experience the joy of being in Rome once again.

Sicilia!

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Here are a few scenes from a wonderful time we spent in the southwest of Sicily with friends in the fall of 2023. First is the courtyard of a small hotel set beautifully overlooking the Gulf of Noto. The second is the Chiesa di San Giovanni situated high above the town of Modica. And the third is of the western facade of Monreale Cathedral and the bronze doors of Bonano Pisano as seen from the Piazza Guglielmo II. It was too daunting to try to capture the brilliance of the exquisite Byzantine mosaics on the interior.

Teaching Drawings

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Teaching often requires the ability to demonstrate how to begin when drawing on location, from direct observation. Here is an example done while giving instruction at Pike Place Market here in Seattle a few years back. These extremely quick sketches illustrate how the first few lines one draws are very important as they provide the backbone for the composition of a sketch.

A Trek Through the Cotswalds

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In 2023, my wife and I, along with friends, embarked on a 4-day trek through the Cotswalds. These two pages document our daily journeys, using a roughly drawn map of the paths we took from village to village as a base for annotating and recording the sights and sounds we experienced along the way.

It was interesting to compare the “quaint” villages and picturesque countryside one sees in the movies and on TV with the real-world counterparts, which took a little bit of the shine off of the former. But, overall, we enjoyed the “charming” places we visited.

Happy Lunar New Year!

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In the Chinese Zodiac, this is the Year of the Tiger, beginning on February 1, 2022. The Tiger is an animal valued for its courage, boldness, and confidence. Those born under this sign are said to be ambitious, optimistic, and enthusiastic by nature and possess strong self-esteem and high energy, especially at work. Some say tigers can also be stubborn and brash. Famous people born in the Year of the Ox include Marilyn Monroe, Fidel Castro, Jonas Salk, Ansel Adams, Lady Gaga, and Stevie Wonder. Kung Hee Fat Choy!

Taking a Break

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As some may have noticed, the time between postings has grown lately. While the cooler, wetter weather discourages me from going out to draw, I also need time to work on two book revisions. And so I will be taking a break from posting for a while, leaving you with this ink sketch I did of a bicyclist relaxing on The Mall in DC in 1973.

Northgate Station

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The Northgate Extension added three new stations to Sound Transit’s Link Light Rail system—the underground U-District and Roosevelt stations as well as an elevated station at Northgate, where the Seattle Urban Sketchers met this past Sunday. It was a cold, breezy day with rain showers and so I chose this view looking south from under a covered entrance to the station. The Northgate station is located near a park-and-ride, has frequent bus connections to the greater Seattle region, and is connected via a bicycle/pedestrian bridge across I-5 to the North Seattle College campus to the west. It also leads to the former Northgate shopping center, which is being converted into a mixed-use, transit-oriented development, built around the Seattle Kraken offices and practice facility, and the Kraken Community Iceplex.

Trial and Error

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In shifting our gaze from the subject before us to the paper surface with pen in hand, we must be able to hold the seen image in our head and recreate it on paper. Oftentimes, this translation can result in faulty proportions, as in this drawing of Michelangelo’s Moses in S. Pietro in Vincoli, in Rome. You will notice that I made a couple of attempts at getting the length of the lower right leg to match what I believed I saw in Michelangelo’s sculpture. This is an example of how the process of drawing from observation requires continually assessing whether the proportions and scale of the drawn image matches those of what is seen—a matter of trial and error.

Above is another example, where, beneath the gridded facets, you might be able to see my initial attempts in roughing out the forms of the Seattle Central Library by OMA/Koolaus. Initially, I drew the forms too narrowly given the building’s height. I kept increasing the width as the drawing developed. In looking at the drawing now, it seems that it could be wider still.