Sunday, January 28, 2024

Second Half of 2021Sketches

With continuing to get and out travel locally by spending a week on Lopez Island up in the San Juan Islands.  This is an island in which I had only visited by boat at Spencer Spit, but never getting off the ferry whenever we had gone to Orcas Island or Friday Harbor.  We spent the first few days camping with friends at the state camp ground mid-week.

Waiting for the ferry at Anacortes I did a couple of quicker sketches in my "road trip" sketchbook.  Its not watercolor quality paper, but just bond paper.  This is part of my philosophy that my sketches are not precious but do them on whatever material you have at the moment because it is all about remembering the moment and documenting something about your experience.

 

Finding shells and feathers at Spencer Spit.  If I paint them, then I can leave them on the beach for others to enjoy too.

Enjoyed the sunset by myself down at the beach.  I use the sketching process as a kind of meditation or prayer.  A quiet time of the day.

Hiking down to the end of the island we enjoyed a sit in sun and watched the seals sleeping on the rocks at Shark Reef.





The kelp beds and the rocky pools at Iceberg Point were another great place to sit and sketch.  The colors of the dry grasses and the lichens on the rocks were quite beautiful to observe.

Moving into the town of Lopez Island, we spent the rest of the week staying in a little cottage walking distance to all the shops and restaurants.  There are some great older wooden buildings in town.  Some were shops, studios or businesses.

This hot shop attracted me to do a sketch because of the interestingly simple forms and the light monitors on the roof.


There are a number of these old wooden water towers around the island.  This one is right in town and has been maintained in a beautiful way.



Heading to the east side of the island we hiked down to the secluded beach at Watmough Bay and had a view of Mt Baker off in the distance.
 
The final sketch of the week was at the bay close to town.  Next morning we caught a ferry back to Anacortes before driving home.


Another round of light rail construction sketch.  This time I rode my bike into the "technical" construction site and was asked to leave by a security guard just as I was finishing up.  Sometimes you have to break the rules to get to a better spot to sketch.  It was a Sunday morning so no one else was around and I didn't put myself in any physical danger.  Progress of the sketch.



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