Sketching Near and Far

Lately I've been walking around my own neighborhood every morning (with dogs) for two miles, taking various routes, while keeping an eye out for anything at all that catches my artistic eye.

One day it was a pile of logs next to a slightly decrepit shed:

The next day it was a chicken coop, complete with chicken:

My neighborhood is an interesting place--when I spotted this home, I couldn't help wondering what the favorite color was of whoever lived there:

If I ever exhaust the artistic possibilities of Lake City, I plan to move on to the Pinehurst or Meadowbrook neighborhoods next door.  That should keep me occupied for some time to come.

A bit farther afield is the little city of Edmonds, where yesterday Tina and Nicole and I went sketching on a lovely sunny afternoon.

There was a view of the city museum from a handy bench across the street.  I decided that I didn't want to draw the whole building, as it seemed a tad complex, so I opted to do vignettes instead.   Here is the museum's entrance, part of a bell that stood next to the building, and another handy bench that sat in front of it:

Tina and Nicole finished their sketches before I did, and they moved over to a small park area where there were nice trees to draw.  When I finished up, I joined them.  They were close to finishing their tree drawings, so rather than hold them up, I opted to do a quick five-minute study in brush pen:

My favorite stop of the day was actually our first stop--at the Edmonds Marsh.  Here I spent a long time trying to capture all the grasses and other foliage until my hand got tired of making all those little short lines.  I enjoyed the painting process much more than the ink drawing process--much faster!

What a lovely way to spend a sunny summer afternoon.