A Proper Sketch Outing

Since we couldn't sketch well at the State Fair, Tina and I decided to have another try this past weekend at a different location.  On Saturday she had reason to visit the International District, a perfect place.  We stopped first at the Nisei Veterans' hall, where there was a book signing for Fighting for America: Nisei Soldiers (a graphic novel by Lawrence Matsuda and Matt Sasaki).  Tina was thrilled to pick up three inscribed copies (one for her husband and two for her karate style masters).  The small museum display of war artifacts was fascinating but we did not sketch there.  Instead we went outside, where a dilapidated old house stood.  It was just asking to be drawn:

After stopping for lunch at Uwajimaya (the Japanese department store, which has a food court), we wandered over to the stadium area where Tina wanted to shop at the Seahawks' store.  I didn't see anything there I wanted so I sat outside to sketch the kettle korn vendor setting up for the Mariners' game.

Next we went to King Street Station, home to Amtrak and Sounder trains.  This is a fabulous old building, restored in recent years to its original 1906 glory -- it is difficult to sketch inside, as the main areas are three stories high with incredible amounts of decorative moldings and light fixtures.
But I gave it a try.

Then of course, there were lots of people waiting for their trains -- the lobby was crowded and it was hard to draw people without being too obvious.  We sat directly across from this trio, and would pretend we were sketching the walls above while glancing back down for quick studies, in the hope they wouldn't notice that we were actually drawing them.

They did not seem to notice.  Whew!  I've heard from other sketchers that many people don't mind being sketched but I'm not quite ready yet to test that theory.

There was a lot more material in the neighborhood to draw, but we had done enough for that day.  We'll definitely need to return.  In the meantime, in case you feel I neglected Truman this past weekend, here is a pic of him from Sunday morning at Magnuson Park:

We spent the whole Sunday together, so I think he was happy!