Category: The Best Coast

Big towSeattle, WA

"Toe Truck" sketch by Chandler O'Leary

Seattle is one of the most tow-happy cities I’ve ever encountered. If you’ve ever tried to decipher the convoluted weekday parking rules downtown here (where signs say things like, oh, I dunno, “2-hour parking except third Wednesdays in months with an “R” in them, between 3 and 6 pm, and then only if driver is… More

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Perfect panoramaMt. Rainier National Park, WA

Mt. Rainier sketch by Chandler O'Leary

For the many days of the year, these mountains are invisible. If you showed up in western Washington in November, you might not even know we had mountains here. Our rainy Northwest climate makes these peaks disappear into the clouds on most days—even, sometimes, when you’re right there, standing amongst them. Not in the summertime,… More

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Perennial pagodaPoint Defiance Park, Tacoma, WA

Point Defiance Pagoda sketch by Chandler O'Leary

This Sunday my town is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the pagoda at Point Defiance Park. Originally a streetcar station, the building features an Arts & Crafts design, Japanese-style roof and Welsh ceramic roof tiles. A teenage arsonist nearly destroyed the structure in 2011, but the subsequent restoration brought back several of the original features… More

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Ghost lodgingPanama Hotel, Seattle, WA

Seattle Panama Hotel sketch by Chandler O'Leary

The Panama Hotel was the centerpiece of Seattle’s once-thriving Japanese community, until every one of the neighborhood’s residents was rounded up and imprisoned during World War II. Many stowed their personal belongings in the basement of the Panama for safekeeping—and never came back to claim them. The few who did return after the war found… More

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Field geometryOn the western edge of the Sacramento Valley, CA

California carrot field sketch by Chandler O'Leary

Wednesday’s post reminded me that like lighthouses, I seem to have a whole collection of farm field drawings—like this sketch I did last year. I always thought the inherent lesson in one-point perspective (sketching nerds unite!) is what made these fun to draw. But now I think it’s the geometry. There’s just something so satisfying… More

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