Call Of The Wild

One thing I've discovered about hanging out at Prost is you've got about 3 hours after it opens until the real crowds start streaming in, which equates to prime drawing time. That's when I got this sketch of Rudolph here, who due to his tragic circumstances was a very patient model. I perched at one of the long tables which gave me plenty of elbow room to lay out my drawing paraphernalia, but once the drunks start to show up, groups of 3 or more always eye those tables. I usually just invite people to sit with me, but I always end up fielding lots of questions and get less done. Fortunately this time it all worked out since this is one of my recent favorites.

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Tale of Two Taps

Let's just call this a study in re-learning watercolor painting. At this point I've started to use real watercolor paper, the toothy, thirsty kind which means no more wrinkled sketches but boy oh boy does it drink the pigment! Which is kind of appropriate, considering the amount of drinking I've done from these taps at the Duck Island Ale House. The cool thing about this painting is that it's really a postcard, flip it over and there's the stamp guide and the address lines! This one goes out to Sebastian Hyde, of the original Sketch Pistols, who always deserves a few taps, or drinks, or sketches.

Color My World

Here's another one from Duck Island, this time I focused on a detail that I never really noticed before, the cow skull behind the register. This was also a humbling experience in that I haven't painted with watercolor for YEARS, so my technique (or lack thereof) is showing. Yeesh, gotta switch to watercolor paper too at some point...

Old Duck Lace

For beer drinkers, Belgian Lace (sometimes called Brussels Lace) is the wispy remains of the head on the side of a beer glass, and is the effect I've tried to replicate in this drawing from the Duck Island Ale House. Located on Aurora in Seattle, "The Duck" is a favorite haunt of mine as followers of my beer drinking exploits know, both because it's only 2 blocks from home and for the blue-collar prices attached to the excellent selection of domestic micro-brews and exotic imports. With that much temptation so close, it's no wonder I often end up staring at a glass half full...or is it a glass half empty?

Riding into the Sunset

I've been making it to the Sunset Tavern less often then I'd like to these days, but I had the occasion late last year to check out a Tripwires/Riffbrokers show there. There were several other bands on the bill that I didn't recognize and this drawing depicts one of them, well the singer at least. This time I experimented with a new brush pen, resulting in much less of the anal retentive cross-shading you normally see in my stuff. I'm pretty happy with the drawing, and I'm flirting with the idea of escalating it to a full blown watercolor piece, stay tuned..

Bummershoot

Ahhhhh...Labor Day weekend, which signifies the end of summer with the kickoff of the 3 day music/art/cultural festival known as Bumbershoot, which I've attended every year since moving to Seattle. The event was previously 4 days, and once started on Friday, which I miss dearly since it was traditionally the only day of the event when the crowds were remotely manageable, and this year Bumbershoot was anything BUT manageable. I attended Saturday and Monday and both days were so packed with people that Bumbershoot became BUMMERshoot real quick. Monday however was a much better experience, and yielded the two sketches below: On the left is Bo from The Bad Things, and on the right is John Wesley Harding doing a reading from his new book, drawn by founder of Sketch Pistols SanFrancisco, Seabastian Hyde! Bumbershoot tip: avoid the $6.00 a pint beer gardens, Quincy's in the Center House will sell you a microbrew for $4.25 with little or no waiting until about 6:30pm or so! View Gallery
Bo from The Bad Things vs. John Wesley Harding (by Sebastian Hyde)

O Canada

My visit to Toronto was a memorable one, and a big improvement over my previous visit during the heart of winter where Toronto turns into a frozen arctic hell. Summer in Toronto however is great, and encourages walking which I did, a lot and sketching which I also did between bouts of tourism. Take the day I stumbled into the Royal Art Museum, looking for the cafe I ended up getting lost in the Chinese art exhibit where I took time to rest my feet and sketch. Or the day I spent on the double-decker tourist bus with touchy breaks that landed me at the Mill St. Brewery. The Canadian Nation Exhibition was IMHO a colossal waste of time for me but a wonderland for the kids, which is the whole point really. I also didn't get as much time in Toronto's many British style pubs as I would have liked, but in truth they have a tendency to blend together in my mid after awhile even though the locals tell me that I haven't seen the best of the bunch yet. I guess I'll just have to return someday. View Gallery

S.P. The Lost Years Part 4: What Have I Done For Me Lately?

What Have I Done For Me Lately? a.k.a. Bluegrass VS. Yuppie! Here's a couple of recent additions to my now 10 year old sketchbook (I lost it for several years, remember?)which I think are a nice study in contrasts. In this corner, we have Ron Hyde, leader of the Bluegrass band "Cheatgrass" appearing at the Folklife festival, and in this corner we have a shiny new Yuppie appearing at Uber: LET'S GET READY TO RUUUUUUUUUUMBLE!!! I like both subjects but I think Ron wins this bout on pure longevity and talent, trumping Yuppie smugness and greasy charm. This officially ends our trek through the Sketch Pistols Way-back Machine, and all further posts will focus on the new, New, NEW! I hope.

Ron Hyde VS. A Yuppie. Who will win? (click on image to enlarge).