Work in progress

I'm taking an Impressionism workshop this week, and here's the piece that I was working on today.  I'm having a good time playing with color and composition (and putting the models in a place more interesting than the studio - the background is based on another painting, the name of which escapes me).

Demolition and evil

I stopped by the Evil Bakery today on my way to pick up some supplies for my workshop next week (Charles Emerson's Impressionism) and tried a new mousse.  The baker likes to experiment, so I thought I'd give it a try.  There was mango and raspberry and some blueberries and some other berries that I don't even know what they were!  It was cool to look at, but had too many flavors.

At the next table over was a couple that kept passing a laptop back and forth while reading a hacker magazine.

Then on to the U District, where I got to see some demolition in progress - they are tearing down some buildings on Campus Parkway to build a new dorm and one was being turned to sticks and bricks before my very eyes.

Meanwhile, two more next door stood their with their siding off looking quite quite the mess, but the funny bit was the blinds pulled halfway down in two of the windows.

And here's some sketches from Matthews beach from earlier in the week.

Replacing my window

So one of my front (west-facing) windows had a nice long crack in it, and was replaced yesterday.  Here's how they do it:

Stand on the balcony of my downstairs neighbor and pry off the outer beading (metal strip around the edges)

On the inside, attach some suction-cup handles so you can grip it and slide a knife around the edges to cut the tape that's holding it.  Then pry off the inner bead.

Now that it's not attached, use the handles to work it around and pull it inside.

Then scrape off all that old tape - and be sure to show off your Hanes.

Put on some new tape and pull the new window in place.

Then one guy holds it on the inside while the other guy goes back outside to put the outer beading back in place.  Then you put the inner beading back in.

Total time:  Approx 30 minutes.  These guys know what they're doing.

Ferries, gorillas, and meteorites, Oh my

Well I've been off line for a while because I was playing tourist with my parents (and if you fellow Seattleites were wondering why it was so danged hot - they brought it with them from Phoenix!).  Here's the sketches from the fun about town:

We took a trip to the Burke Museum, which has a great photo exhibit going on now.  They also have a permanent collection of some really awesome fossils.  On the down side, they seem to lack air conditioning, which surprised me, but I guess the bones have lasted this long...

We also took a couple of ferry rides over to Bainbridge.  The ferry is a lot of fun in itself, and a great way to see Seattle from the water, and Bainbridge is a neat little island with some nice places for lunch and good bakeries.  (No, dad doesn't really look like Mr. Howell; I'm just not a portrait artist.)

We also took a trip to the zoo so mom could see the gorillas and I could see the snakes.  We also saw the wild chowders, but preferred the sandwiches.

There was brunch at Urbane, which serves natural organic, free-range water, and some good food too. Then of course a trip to Pike Place Market and then to the Frye, where they have 3 Wyeths on display, a nice cafe, and a moss mound in the garden that still looks like a half-buried meteorite and is the only place in Seattle where moss won't grow.

That's all for now - stay tuned for the replacement of my window.

1,000 cranes

The statue at Peace Park seems to have all 1,000 cranes on it.  I don't think I did it justice in this sketch - the real thing is far more beautiful than this, and not a sight you often see in a place that gets rain and wind.

Good show in a bad neighborhood

The next time you donate plasma, drop by the OK Hotel and check out Tamara's show.  It's a neat little space and she's got her brick paintings up along with a few landscapes that I hadn't seen before (and like a lot). The venue entrance is under the viaduct not too far from the ferry dock.  I took the 66 to get there:

More about the show on her blog: http://tamara.stephas.com/2010/07/not-an-exit-new-paintings/

(And yes, that noise you hear in the background is indeed the Blue Angels at it again.)

Some bad drawings

I took Juliette's drawing workshop this past weekend, and I haven't drawn figure in ages and haven't used charcoal in ages.  Of course, you know going into a workshop that it's just 2 days so you're not going to produce a masterpiece, but you are in fact there to absorb skills. But you still wish you could do better than you did.

On the upside, they were filming for her upcoming DVD, so I may get my 15 minutes of fame!  (I was wearing my "Shut up and draw" t-shirt).

It was great to finally get a chance to study with Juliette even if it was only for a short time!

The SIGGRAPH sketchbook

OK, I finally finished scanning all 60 pages.  Colors are a little off and I doubt if you'll be able to read all of the writing since it gets compressed so much, but I did it as an online book on Issuu  (if you "click to zoom" then you don't get the ads):
http://issuu.com/margplum/docs/sketchbook 

Entertaining Angels

While I sit here scanning my sketchbook from SIGGRAPH (60 pages) the Blue Angels are rehearsing for their show this weekend. 

Talk about noisy!