HEADING NORTH

 We spent the night in Pasadena at the Pasadena Rose & Crown hotel.

We got up and left early and headed north out of town, going home.

We drove almost non-stop on Hwy 99 to just south of Sacramento for a much needed walk in The Consumnes River Preserve.

There have been some very nice improvements since last we've been here.  The trails are well marked, some are paved but most are just natural.  There are hundreds and hundreds of birds to see and hear.  It was so relaxing and enjoyable.  It's another of our favorite places.

The next stop was in West Sacramento.  Darrell wanted to stop in and meet his Felder dealer, Fergus.  They've talked on the phone for years, but never met in person.  

While they were talking and looking at the machinery, I sketched.

This is a semi-blind contour drawing with a bit of watercolor added (and a photo added later).

We left Fergus and headed north on I-5 to Redding, where we spent the night.  We bought some dinner at Sprouts Grocery.  

LUNCH OUT

 We stopped for lunch at Cafe Con Leche today.

I did a quick semi-blind contour drawing.  I haven't done that in a while.

I thought I might come home and add a little color, but...I don't know.  

I like it like this.

AT THE SYMPHONY

Darrell and I went to Benaroya Hall tonight.  We were treated to a few concertos in the intimate Nordstroms Hall.  I sketched a page for each.

Mozart String Quintet in C Major

Carter Sonata for Flute, Oboe, Cello and Harpsichord

Brahms Piano Quintet in F Minor

The Brahms really rocked, the audience was thrilled.  They got a rousing standing ovation.  Pianist Frank Braley was very cool and good looking, but we really enjoyed watching the celloist Efe Baltacigil.  He was very intense and emotional.  He added a lot to the performance.  They all did.

29 FACES - DAY 25

Here's a semi-blind contour drawing using my new Sailor fountain pen with the caligraphy nib.  This time I knew better than to use water anywhere near the ink.  I went with colored pencils.

I didn't notice until I was coloring it that there was actually a halo around him in the photo.  I decided I better include it.  

This was drawn from a photo included in an article on the front page of the 2-25-2014 Seattle Times written by Carol M. Ostrom.  It says this photo is from a screen shot from this guy's bio page on his website.

29 FACES - DAY 22

This is a pen and ink semi-blind contour drawing with a little watercolor applied.

It was drawn from photo credited to Andrew Kravchenko/The Associated Press that was on the front page of the February 22, 2014 Seattle Times.

29 FACES - DAY 21

There were no good faces on the front page so I turned to the next.  I must admit page 2 did have faces that I could have used, but when I saw this guy on page 3 I couldn't help myself.  He was the one I wanted to draw.  

Here he is, a semi-blind contour drawing with my Lamy fountain pen containing Noodler's black ink.  Then I filled him in with colored pencils.

This was drawn from an uncredited photo that accompanied an article on page A3 of the February 21, 2014 Seattle Times.  The article was written  by Frances Robles/New York Times.

29 FACES - DAY 14

[My challenge is to draw a face from the front page of the Seattle Times from that day.]

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Here's my entry for today taken from today's front page.  This was first drawn out with my fountain pen, then colored with watercolors.  I got the paper too wet and had to wait for a while to let it dry out.  I came back later and added some darks.  I let it dry several times and tried putting in more darks and color.  The problem is I'm using sketchbook paper, not watercolor paper.  It will only take so much water and color before it just stops doing anything.

This was drawn from a uncredited photo in an article by Kyung M. Song of the Seattle Times Washington Bureau that was on the front page of the Seattle Times February 14, 2014.

My sweetheart and I went out for lunch to one of our favorite restaurants, Shangai Garden in the International District of Seattle.  I thought I should be posting a portrait of him today, so I sketched him while we waited for our lunch to arrive.  He wouldn't hold still.  I've sketched him so many times, I don't really need to look, but this one turned out not so good.  If you want to see a nice painting I did of him, go here.  

Happy Valentine's Day Darrell - I love you.

29 FACES - DAY 10

[My challenge is to draw a face from the front page of the Seattle Times from that day.]

This guy was at an odd angle.  I wouldn't have picked him, but I didn't get a choice.  I think it turned out okay.

This is a semi-blind contour drawing using a Lamy fountain pen with black Noodlers ink then colored with Derwent watercolor pens and left dry.

This was drawn from a photo on the front page of the Seattle Times of 2-10-2014, the photo is credited to Greg Gilbert of the Seattle Times.

LUNCH IN SAN FRANCISCO

DINNER AT PF CHANG'S

CRAFTSMAN WEEKEND IN PASADENA

While my husband, Darrell Peart Furnituremaker, was busy, I took a few minutes to sketch him in his booth at Craftsman Weekend in Pasadena.  This is one of my quick, semi-blind contour drawings with a little watercolor splashed on.

WAITING FOR A BUS

I learned there was a quilt shop in Pasadena and that I could easily get there via a bus.  So, while waiting at the bus stop I noticed that peeking between two buildings across the street from me was the iconic City Hall of Pasadena.  I couldn't resist sketching it.  I saw worried I wouldn't be able to finish before the bus arrived because I didn't know when it was coming and there is so much detail to this building.  But, yes, it took as long to finish the sketch as it took for the bus to come.  I added the watercolor when I got back from my shopping trip.

This is a semi-blind contour drawing, done fairly quickly.

CAJUN LUNCH

We stumbled upon a wonderful little Cajun cafe in the middle of Frankfort, Kentucky after our tour of the capital building.  It had everything we love:  we found it by happenstance, it has character and is like no other place you've ever been, and the people there are friendly and/or quirky, and best of all the food was fantastic.  The owner, Rick, was the cook and greeted everyone as they entered with "How y'all doing?  Where y'all from?"  The food was organic and local and very, very tasty.  We both had Jambalaya Cabbage Rolls.  I had greens, he had the beans and cornbread.

This is a semi-blind contour drawing with a little watercolor splashed on.

STINKY AND COCO'S

After we our gps took us to get coffee at Cairn Coffee in Winchester, KY, we couldn't resist having breakfast here at Stinky and Coco's when we saw the name.  The food was so-so but the people made excellent sketch subjects.  They appeared to be regulars.

This is a semi-blind contour drawing with a little watercolor splashed on.

LUNCH IN CAMPDON, KY

Not wanting to stop at a chain-restaurant our choices were slim.  We found this little Mexican restaurant in the middle of Campdon.  This is a little semi-blind contour sketch I did while waiting for our food to arrive.  Darrell was having a hard time hearing whoever was on the phone.

SHAKER VILLAGE SKETCH

We had a great day at Shaker Village in Harrodsburg, Kentucky.  We had dinner at their restaurant.  You pick your entree, and then they bring around side dishes and serve you family style.  There were electric candles hanging on the 'pegs' all around the rooms. 

I did this semi-blind contour sketch while waiting for our food to arrive.  They brought our dinner out pretty quickly, I had to finish it after we ate.

LUNCH WITH THE LADIES

We stopped for lunch in Harrodsburg, Kentucky before heading to the Shaker's Village.  This was a little narrow cafe, Blue Moon Cafe, in a group of Victorian type buildings with very high ceilings and interesting facades.

The only other customers there was a small group, all dressed very nicely (did they just come from church?). There were five ladies and two gentlemen, they were all quite genteel.  Pearls and pink hair, even.  Great to sketch.

OUT SKETCHING

It's been a long time since I did any artwork....

My first time meeting up with the Seattle Urban Sketchers.  It always seems they meet on the weekend I have to work, or some other big event in my life is happening, and I can't make it to their gathering.

But this time, it was meant to be.  It was my off-week, the husband's out of town, and they are meeting in a park in West Seattle, not far from where I live!  I've been looking forward to it all week.

The weather was perfect, not too hot, not too cold.

Jack Block Park is an interesting place.  It's sort of industrial, being right on the edge of the working Port of Seattle.  But, it also has on of the best views of the Seattle Skyline/Waterfront.  I was a little overwhelmed by the enormity of the view.  The hardest part for me is always figuring out what to draw.  I sat with a few other people that were going to draw the skyline, so I thought, what the heck, I should give it a whirl, too.

Can't say mine is anywhere near accurate.  I wanted to get in a little of everything, and my paper was not long enough, so I jammed things together a little.

After I did the skyline, I walked around the park and enjoyed the fresh air  taking pictures of all the other sketchers.

Then I did a quick semi-blind contour drawing of some sketchers.  These are the type of quick sketches I really enjoy, because there can be some very interesting surprises.

After several hours of sketching, everyone meets back at the prearranged place and shares their drawings.  They are all  so good, it's very educational to see what they picked to draw and how they saw it.  

You can see some of the other sketchers work at:  http://seattle.urbansketchers.org/

BENAROYA HALL INVADED BY 5TH GRADERS

I sketched while they fiddled

Darrell's granddaughter Victoria exclaimed the other week, that her class was going on a field trip to Benaroya Hall (home of Seattle Symphony) and they needed some parents to volunteer to be chaperons.  Would he like to volunteer?  Darrell said he would if he wasn't the only one.  Well, next day she says no other parents had offered...so I said I could take a day off and go (I love the symphony and Benaroya Hall).  

I can even remember going with my class in elementary school.  I thought it was such a thrill at the time.  (That was back in the olden days when the symphony played at a little hall on the Seattle Center grounds.)

After we returned the proper paperwork, with all the proper boxes checked, we were deemed acceptable and invited to join them.  Today was the day.  It turned out to be one of the nicest days in a long while, sun was out and it warmed up enough to leave the heavy coat at home and wear a light jacket.

The hardest thing about this was that we only knew one of the kids, Victoria and a couple of her friends by sight.  The rest we didn't know at all.  So, when we got off the bus where there were dozens of other buses, and everyone was filing into the hall, it was impossible for us to know which ones were which.  We just stayed in line and kept an eye on Victoria.

Victoria and her friend

Filling up

We sat in the 5th row

There was a big screen showing closeups of orchestra

We've been in this hall quite a lot of times.  Usually the audience is so quiet you can hear a pin drop...on stage... (really).  This time was totally different!  It was unbelievable loud.  The hall sits 2500 people and it was packed full with students from districts all over the county.  All in all though, they were a good audience, if somewhat fidgety.  They quieted down eventually.  Luckily the program was only about an hour.  There was an excellent celloist, 14 year old Jeremy Steele from Garfield High School.  They kids were impressed.  

We had a great time.  I don't think we were the best 'chaperons' they've had (we got separated from the group on the way back to the buses,  shhh, I don't think the teacher noticed).  They counted the kids on the bus and since there was one extra we closed the doors and headed home (at least we didn't lose anyone).

DINNER AT JOE'S

The husband likes to celebrate when a job ships out.  We usually go to Endolyne Joe's.  It was very crowded and it was Happy Hour, so we ended up sitting in the bar for dinner.

Here's a little sketch I did while waiting and chatting about today's news stories.  The man at the end of the bar caught my eye because of the way he was sitting.  He was turned to his neighbor, sitting with his leg crossed, up on his knee.  As soon as I began sketching him, he took notice (I tried to look like I wasn't looking at him) but I think I made him uncomfortable and he changed position.  Dang.

Oh, we had meals off the special seasonal menu, this quarter featuring Argentina, and they were excellent!  Darrell had gnocchi in a creamy tomato sauce (he rolled his eyes with the first bite and savored every last bite of it), I had a very interesting tasting chicken breast and arugula salad.