Sketched Jan. 30

If you need a kayaking instructor, here's one I'd recommend in a heartbeat. Mark Greengo, a Seattle native and longtime kayaker, took a day off work last week to lead me to the Kalakala ferry. The historic ship has been moored on a Tacoma waterway since 2004 and its owner is still looking for a buyer willing to restore it.

Greengo, a member of the Boeing Employees Whitewater & Touring club (BEWET), came fully prepared with all the gear I needed for the kayaking excursion: life-jacket, dry-suit, food supplies, you name it.

His precautions paid off. When my kayak tipped over and I fell into the water, I knew I would be OK. Thanks to the dry-suit, all my clothes kept dry. And thanks to Greengo's calm demeanor and skills, I was able to get back onto my kayak safely in very little time.

Next time you are kayaking in the area, you may easily spot Greengo for his zebra-themed boat. He said he loves zebras and owns a ton of things with zebra patterns. Even the license plate on his Volkswagen Golf says ZEBRA.

Thank you, Mister Zebra!

Sketched Jan. 30, 2012

It may be just a shell of what it once was, the most iconic ferry ever to crisscross Elliott Bay, but the 1930s-era Kalakala hasn't lost all of its character. Not yet.

This week I endured a two-hour paddle -- and a humiliating plunge into Commencement Bay -- to get an up-close look at the historic ferry, which has been moored in an industrial waterway in Tacoma since 2004. Despite the decay and rust, the streamlined vessel -- the only ferry of its kind -- retains its elegant Art Deco styling and much of its personality. I think it could make a great exhibit space along the future viaduct-free Seattle waterfront.

Mark Greengo, a kayaker who generously took a day off work to lead me to the Kalakala, has another idea. If the boat, whose condition is being monitored by the Coast Guard, can't be restored, perhaps it could be sunk and made into an underwater park for divers.

Owner Steve Rodrigues, who's been living in a nearby mobile home for the past five months making improvements and discouraging vandals, is committed to returning the Kalakala to Seattle as a symbol of the city's history. "It's a truly magnificent vessel that should never have gotten to this point," said Rodrigues.

The 60-year-old civil engineer (shown right) is still looking for a buyer willing to preserve the Kalakala. A reported sale for $1 last December didn't go through. Rodrigues said it was under the condition that the buyer promised to save the ferry from the scrap yard, and that promise "never happened."

Web Extra

It was a relief to know that my main sketchbook was in Greengo's kayak when I lost control of mine. We were on the way back to our launching spot at 5012 Marine View Drive, just about 100 feet from the shoreline, when my kayak tipped over and I took my first plunge ever into the Puget Sound. A smaller sketchbook that I kept with me, however, suffered some water damage because I failed to seal the plastic bag where I carried it. Above you can see the drawings that were in that sketchbook, a 6" x 8" Stillman and Birn wirebound with heavy weight paper.

As for myself, well, I was a bit shocked. But I barely got wet thanks to the dry-suit Greengo had brought for me. Being a kayak instructor, he also knew exactly what to do to help me back onto my boat in very little time. Back on land, I did a sketch of him that I will be posting next week. The guy deserves his own blog entry, don't you think?

What has drawn your attention around Seattle lately? Send me your suggestions of interesting places and people to sketch via e-mail, Facebook or Twitter. Have a great weekend!

Sketched Tuesday, Feb. 1

During a talk to journalism students at Seattle University, I explained how I never use photographs as a reference for my drawings. Sketching from photographs has no appeal to me. The point of drawing on location is being in the environment, capturing what you see, and enjoying the process of making a picture from life.

However, sometimes I do give myself the license of touching up the color later. Or, like in this case, even doing all the color afterwards. It's not my preference, but sometimes I just don't have the time to do all the color on location.

When that happens, I try to add the washes as soon as I can. It's best not to let more than an hour of time go by between your ink drawing done on the spot (above) and your washes of watercolor added in the comfort of your studio. Otherwise, the mental image of the scene starts to fade and the colors are likely to be off.

The reflecting pool in front of the Chapel of St. Ignatius at Seattle University makes drawing this architectural gem a new experience every time. Wait twenty minutes and the scene could be completely different depending how the light hits the building. As long as I keep visiting SU, I think I will always try to do a sketch of the Chapel of St. Ignatius.

Lamy Safari and watercolor on cardboard cover pocket Moleskine cahier

Sketched Jan. 25, 2012

From Fun Forest to Glass Garden.

The transformation of the grounds west of the Space Needle is well under way since the outdated but beloved amusement park closed for good after Labor Day 2010.

The glass museum devoted to Dale Chihuly's work, a project that drew a lot of criticism when it was first announced, is scheduled to open in the spring.

As an artist, I can imagine how much this might mean to Chihuly. What an amazing opportunity to have your artwork displayed at Seattle Center -- the city's living room, as some describe it -- in such a prominent fashion.

Visitors will get a full retrospective of Chihuly's career, culminating in a 100-foot-long assemblage of 1,400 glass pieces suspended from the ceiling of the garden's centerpiece "glass house."

Even Chihuly's sketches will be on display, which makes me dream about my own Sketcher museum. My drawings are so little, they would all fit in a P-Patch!

Drawn to Seattle Center
Below are sketches of Seattle Center from my archives. The links will take you to the original posts where they appeared.

What has drawn your attention around Seattle lately? Send me your suggestions of interesting places and people to sketch via e-mail, Facebook or Twitter. Have a great weekend!

After a week snowbound in the suburbs and starting to feel the cabin fever, the unusual stormy and icy weather finally came to an end.

By Friday afternoon, temperatures raised above freezing and the thick crust of ice and snow on our street started to melt. But it still took quite a few neighbors with their shovels to clear a path so cars could drive up the hill. By Saturday afternoon we were snow free.

Below is a sketch from my commute to work on Friday. The park and ride was still pretty treacherous but buses were on time.

Lamy Safari fountain pen and watercolor on soft cover pocket Moleskine cahier.

Sketched Jan. 17, 2012

Once the home to successful dot-com startups and a symbol of Seattle before the Space Needle was built, the Smith Tower is now 70 percent empty and in foreclosure. When I read the news that it will be auctioned in March, I wondered what it's like inside the iconic skyscraper these days.

To start, the friendly crew of elevator operators is still there, and the building's directory lists 17 business tenants whose employees get to enjoy magnificent views of Pioneer Square, downtown and Elliott Bay.

From his desk at Cozi.com on the seventh floor, Tim Tiscornia can see CenturyLink Field lit up during games and the Sounders fans marching to it from Occidental Park.

The expansive view from the unoccupied office space across the hall is even better. It's hard to believe that such great real estate would sit vacant today.

Will the skyscraper's glory days ever come back? Tiscornia was optimistic. "There's still good energy here," he said.

Proud Seattleite: Tiscornia, 43, takes pride in working at the Smith Tower, a building he's been familiar with since he was a kid growing up in Seattle. His favorite thing about it is that you get to know the crew that runs the 98-year-old elevators. "Who brought you up?" he asked me, as if I had had enough time to befriend them already. "That's Hamilton ... he's great ... they're all great," he added after I gave him some clues.

Standing the test of time: The 42-story skycraper opened in 1914. That's pretty old for Seattle. We should do something to celebrate its 100th birthday in a couple of years.

More about The Smith Tower:
--On Historylink.org.
--On Wikipedia.

What has drawn your attention around Seattle lately? Send me your suggestions of interesting places and people to sketch via e-mail, Facebook or Twitter. Have a great weekend!

Sketched Jan. 19, 12.44 p.m.

Several days of unusual inclement weather are keeping our family pretty much trapped inside our home near Mill Creek. I made it to the office on Tuesday, but home has been my office (and my wife's) for the past two days.

Since schools are closed due to the snow, our kids are having the best time of all. When they are not outside sledding or snow-fighting, they are inside enjoying hot cocoa and marshmallows, playing a game of Uno cards or disappearing into their Nintendo screens.

I hope the weather takes a turn for the better soon. I'm ready to take my sketchbook somewhere else!

Sketched Jan. 17

On Tuesday afternoon, as Seattle was bracing for today's snowfall, I stumbled upon another tree-socks art installation by Suzanne Tidwell at Occidental Park. Tidwell is one of the Sammamish guerrilla knitters I sketched and wrote about last spring.

The multi-colored tree-socks couldn't be more fitting during these cold days we are having. At Occidental Park, they also add a welcoming sense of cheer and whimsy to the neighborhood. I was pulled into the park as soon as I saw the trees from a distance.

Art installations like Tidwell's are one of the things that Pioneer Square's historic district needs to attract more people and become a thriving neighborhood. I can't wait to see what other art project may pop up here next.