Truman Time

Since Truman didn't get to come along on our sketch outing to Edmonds, he got a special outing later that afternoon -- the Marymoor off-leash dog park with Tina and Ocean.  While it's true that he doesn't care much about meeting strange dogs, he does like wading in the river there, and he likes hanging with Ocean.

Here we see poor Tru trying his best to ignore the pesky small dogs who kept wanting to greet him, of all things:

And here he is with Ocean, with whom he felt much more comfortable:

He would even leave my side at times in order to follow her about:

And finally, here we see Tru enjoying his favorite thing at this park -- wading in water:

Though he always lets me know when he is done!

Sketching in Edmonds

After my morning bird outing to the Fill last Saturday, I went on a sketch outing with Nicole and Tina.  We decided to explore beyond Seattle, and ventured up the road a ways to Edmonds.  After stopping at a coffee shop where I admired this mural...

...we went down to Brackett's Landing, the small beach by the ferry terminal (where there are ABSOLUTELY NO DOGS ALLOWED, thus the absence of Truman).

The beach is lovely, though it is busy and noisy (it is taken over by masses of scuba divers on weekends).  I found a quieter spot farther away from the dock.

A nice pile of driftwood caught my eye.

As I finished up that sketch, one of the ferries pulled in.

After it pulled out again, I drew the jetty nearby with its wooden orca-shaped sign:

That was plenty of sketching, and we finished up our Edmonds adventure by eating lunch at The Cheesemonger's Table, a fabulous deli where I thoroughly enjoyed a grilled turkey-herbed cheese-fig spread sandwich with a cup of roasted garlic soup.  Yum!

The Birds are Back!

This past Saturday morning the Fill was more birdy than I've seen it in some time.  I was greeted just off the parking lot by a lovely little flock of White-crowned Sparrows (who are ever so photogenic):

Notice anything about the foliage in those shots?  I sure do -- FALL!  It sure does look as if Autumn has arrived at the Fill.  Certainly cooler temperatures have arrived.

On the lake there seemed to be more ducks than before, though they were backlit so I couldn't tell if any were our northern visitors.  On Main Pond I did see a small group of Northern Shovelers back from up north -- hurrah!

Next I spotted an Orange-crowned Warbler flitting among the trees -- a Fall migrant!  While I was trying to line the warbler up in my camera sights (unsuccessfully), I heard the light tap of a Downy Woodpecker nearby.

The Downy is a bird that has vexed me mightily over the years.  I see them at the Fill maybe once every tenth visit or so, yet have never gotten a decent photo of one.  Not that I didn't try -- but always the dang bird was too high up, or too backlit, or too hidden in foliage, or moving too quickly.  Most irksome.

This Downy was not too high, not too far, not backlit, and it popped out from the foliage from time to time.  I gave up on the warbler and tried for the Downy.  My first effort was good, though not great, as the bird's tail was partly hidden:

And then of course, he (yes, it's a male) started flitting about too quickly.  Gah!  I fired off about thirty shots, and then finally the magical moment happened -- he stayed still!  In good light!  Fully visible!!!

Finally, I got my decent photo of a Downy Woodpecker.  Hurrah!

Meanwhile, Truman sat in the grass at my feet wondering what all the fuss and bother was about.

There were plenty of other birds out and about that morning, but the Downy was a highlight for me.  What a charming fellow!

Happy Friday at Home

Not only is it a Friday before a long holiday weekend, and not only is it a Telecommute Day, it is also for me a Friday before a whole week off work.  This will be another "Staycation" which is one of the few new words that the Kids These Days invented of which I approve.

I do not particularly like to vacate, as I like my home, and my garden, and my dog, and my friends here and so the idea of packing stuff up, hauling it off somewhere far away from everything I like just so I can hang out there doing the same things I would do if I were here only with extra money spent, a strange bed, and no one to talk to doesn't exactly appeal.  The few times I truly enjoy vacating are when a) I can take Truman with me, or b) I can take a friend with me, or c) I go somewhere where I know people and get to stay with them.  And birds, of course -- if the possibility of seeing interesting new birds exists, that could get me out the door.

All in all, I prefer staycating instead.  The forecast looks a bit up and down -- a little sunshine, a little rain, a lot of clouds.  We shall see.  There will be sketching!  Whether outside or indoors, there will be plenty of sketching.  And I will visit the Fill to see if I can spot that rarity, Connie Who Used to Practically Live There But Lately Only Pops Up Once in a Great While.

So Happy Friday to everyone and Happy Long Weekend to most everyone (I hear some people have to work on Monday!) and Happy Staycation to me!

Also, here is your Urban Sketching view for today, actually drawn yesterday during lunch at the UW Botany Greenhouse in my new Almost Perfect sketch book:

Searching for the Perfect Sketch Book

The perfect sketch book would be lightweight yet durable, with paper that can handle both pen and water-based media well, without a coil/spiral binding yet still lay flat no matter where it's opened up, and it would, in a Goldilockian fashion, be neither too big nor too small.

A simple request, right?

Well, here is a photo of the sketch books I've acquired over quite a few years:

And here's why they don't fit my requirements:

Number 1 is a Robert Bateman sketch pad intended for pencil and pen work only, for which it works splendidly -- but it won't take watercolor pencils or paint, it's too big, and has the evil spiral binding.

Spiral bindings are good for one thing only -- they let the paper lie flat.  But they are UGLY and due to the heavy use I put them to, the binding eventually comes apart.  Plus you can't do a two-page spread that looks nice.

Number 2 is a Canson sketch book in a sturdier cover and a smaller size, but again, it can't take water media.

And there's that incredibly unattractive binding.  The same is true of number 3, another Canson pad that is too flimsy overall, though it does take ink well:

Number four is a very spiffy handmade journal by a woman who frequents the local art fairs and calls her business Four Corners Design.  Her specialty is taking ephemera and creating collage work of various kinds, in this case making journals from old library books.  It's fabulous, but the paper is very thin.

Now we come to, with number five, a sketch book that is much closer to what I want.  It has paper that can handle watercolor, it doesn't have a spiral binding yet it does lay flat when opened, and I've used it a lot and been pretty happy overall.

It's made by a company called Hand Book, and has a nice sturdy cover -- which sadly makes it a tad heavy to haul around, and it also runs $20 for a journal with maybe 25 sheets.

Sketch books six and seven are both Moleskine watercolor journals, nice and small in landscape sizes.  They are fine for small landscapes....

...or for those moments when you are bored and want to entertain yourself with a quick sketch or two:

However, they won't do for major sketch outings when one typically likes to do larger drawings.  I do like the absence of a spiral binding and they do come in larger sizes -- rather pricey larger sizes.

Next up, number eight, the Pentalic multimedia Nature Sketch book, was a favorite for a long time, despite the evil binding.  The paper was great for pen and watercolor pencils or paint, it didn't weigh much but was sturdy, and it had lots and lots of paper for a reasonable price.  I did plenty of good work in this sketch book...until the evil binding came apart and the entire back fell off.

Now if I take it out and about, the metal coils get snagged on stuff or poke into stuff and it's just no fun to use anymore.  Sigh.

Number nine is a Stillman & Birn multimedia sketch book that I liked for its unusual square size.  It's a bit smaller and more portable, but the paper, while called "multimedia" and making claims for good watercolor use, did not stand up to the test.  Too thin and not enough "tooth" for water media -- the paint lays down very flat and dries far too quickly.

Sketch book number ten is for dry media only, and was an experiment in using toned paper.  It turns out that I don't particularly excel at using toned paper.

Finally, we have number eleven -- this is a Strathmore multimedia journal that I bought last week.   It is very lightweight, yet the paper is sturdy enough for at least watercolor pencils (I haven't tried paint yet).  No spiral binding, yet when opened to any place, the pages lie flat.  At 8x10 inches, it is neither too large nor too small.  And it was only $12 at the Artist & Craftsman supply store in the U District.

So far I am liking this one a LOT -- my intention was to use it more like a journal, and write more alongside the drawings, and it is working very well for t hat.  My only complaint is that the cover curls up on the corner edges, so it could use a rubber band or other cover binder.  So no, it is not perfect.  Sigh.

But it will just have to do for now!

Sleepyhead

No updates today, so here are two pictures of Truman at bed time:

Coming soon:  The Search for the Perfect Sketchbook.

I Don't Draw People Except When I Do

It was difficult, what with the windstorm and the rain and the lack of electricity and all the trees and branches on the roads and traffic lights out and all that stuff, to get outside to sketch this past weekend.

So I sketched inside, not really my favorite thing to do.  It's good to stretch my sketching comfort zone, though!

On Friday morning, before the storm, I had an impromptu sketch moment after grocery shopping -- I had emptied everything onto the kitchen counter and suddenly realized it could be a fun subject.  So I grabbed my sketch pad and drew directly with pen and watercolor as quickly as possible so I could put stuff away in the fridge:

There are a lot of veggie burgers with guacamole in my life.

Saturday there was no sketching due to the power outage and the winds.  I did work out an idea for a bathroom mural, because there are still blank walls in my house that must be painted!  More on that as it develops later.

On Sunday afternoon Nicole and Tina had a notion to sketch indoors and they wanted to practice drawing people.  You know I don't draw people, so this had no great appeal, but I did want to go sketching.  I suggested Third Place Books, as it is huge and I've sketched there before without having to draw a lot of people -- plenty of other subject matter.  Alas, it was closed due to the outages.

We wound up at a small coffee house in Shoreline instead.  People everywhere!  Gah. Well, I decided that if I'm going to fully embrace urban sketching, then I need to get over this barrier.  In my first effort, I started small by focusing fully on the empty chairs, with just a few messy scratches for the customers sitting way in the back.

Meanwhile, Tina was drawing faces left and right, all over the place, and doing a fine job of it.  Darn it, I ought to be able to do that too!  For my second sketch, I chose the counter where the two staff were working -- I did focus mainly on the furnishings, but managed to get those two people in.  They moved around a lot, but just like the animals at the zoo, they often returned to their previous positions and I was able to jot down a few more lines whenever they did.  Whew!

At one point I was having trouble figuring out how the young woman's hair looked, as I'd gotten only a brief glance before she wandered off elsewhere.  Then when I was nearly finished, she came over to our table to chat -- and I realized she was tilting her head in precisely the same manner as when I drew her behind the counter.  As she stood there talking to Tina, I quickly drew her hair in.  Hurrah!

Now I think that drawing people must be added to my repertoire.  Sure, I had plenty of figure drawing and portrait drawing classes back in the day -- WAY WAY back in the day.  Those skills are very rusty.  And as with any skill, improvement will come with practice.  Lots and lots of practice.  Oh, goody, more fun to come!