First Half of 2021 Sketches

 2021 was beginning to look better with more people getting vaccinated and some things a little more open.  Getting out in nature continued to be one of the enjoyable parts to our months of still working from home.

To start the new year we got a long weekend on Whidbey Island.  One afternoon I went out by  myself to sketch a few places near our AirBNB.

I also continued to follow the construction progress of the lightrail as it came north into Shoreline.

Also the new year saw a big changes at Northgate Mall as the new masterplan began to take shape.  One of the parts to building new, was to remove some of the old retail.  Below is the demolition of the Nordstrom store designed by my company (Callison) in 1977.  See article from the Seattle Times announcing Nordstrom plans at Northgate.

Honoring MLK Day with a sketch of Langston Hughes and King.  The words from Hughes and MLK.

Sketching with co-workers at the Seattle Chinese Garden.  This outing was the first time getting together with co-workers in over a year of working at home.

Spending some vacation time with the family at Point-No-Point.  Missed the 108 degree weather in Seattle and enjoyed the cooler breezes from Puget Sound during the heatwave.

Got up extra early to sketch before sunrise at the lighthouse.  Started drawing at 4:30 AM.

A house built with the wheel house of an old ship.  Just couldn't resist capturing this unusual home.

Sketching at Kubota Garden with Seattle Plein Aires

Sketching at Kukutali, one of my favorite spots to visit during COVID.

Camping at Winthrop before fire season.

Sketching with friends at Fisherman's Wharf

The second half of 2020

 This year was one of uncertainty because we continued to be isolated from work and our families.  We took opportunities to get outside and do day trips to places nearby.  Nature was a real blessing to being stuck at home for many days.  A few of the sketches were done from photos since they were a little too far for a day trip. (Smith Rock)  I also continued to practice drawing with my IPad .

Sunflower out of the garden and I sketched with a bamboo stick

Gary Fagin teaching an on-line class with Gage Academy

2020/21 Social Justice

 As I attended protests in Shoreline for Justice and Black Lives, I tried my hand at trying to capture the events and some of the mood of those days.  I tried to stay loose and quick with my sketches as the mood of the days was full of positive energy. 

2020 The Year in Pandemic: part 1

The year started slowly for sketching and then the pandemic hit and it was work from home starting in March.  The subjects at first were my home office work place in my basement, zoom happy hours and occasionally getting outside away from those not in our small bubble. 

I also picked photos I had taken on trips and about town and looked at trying things with color and composition, sometimes not so successful, but it was being creative.

or working older images like this one of Mt. Rainier

First road trip was up into Skagit Valley to look at the daffodil fields.  Brought back a bouquet to sketch and mailed out cards with these sketch to those older family and friends house-bound too.

I started to experiment with ipad sketching as another digital tool.

My first trip into the city was to check out progress on the convention center expansion.  Construction sketches is one of my passions because they are capturing a moment of time in the process of producing a new piece of architecture.