Drawn the Road Again

Tag: Pacific Northwest

  • Book bonanza

    Book bonanza

    Bookstores are a big part of our annual holiday shopping rounds, and my two most sketch-able favorites are Powell’s in Portland— —and Elliott Bay in Seattle. Of course I’m probably going to love any indie bookstore, but both of these places have such inviting spaces that I could stay and sketch for a year. If…

  • Lumberjacks for a day

    Lumberjacks for a day

    Every year the Tailor and I go to the mountains with our friends to pick out and cut our own Christmas trees. Some people, when I tell them this, look at me like I have three heads and ask, “Why don’t you just go to a tree farm?” Well, sure, it’s more work (and a…

  • Decking the halls

    Decking the halls

    When we head to the mountains on Sunday to get our tree, the holiday decorating will officially begin. At our old house, most of our decorating focused on the mantel—since we don’t tend to go overboard with that sort of thing anyway, sometimes it was the only place that hinted at anything festive. At our…

  • Tea and cakes

    Tea and cakes

    Life seems to be going at a thousand miles an hour these days—between work and the season, it’s hard to find any sort of break. So when I came upon this sketch today, it reminded me to take a deep breath, looking forward to the next quiet moment.

  • Wintergreen

    Wintergreen

    The Tailor and I took a little overnight trip to southern Oregon this weekend, blaring Christmas music the whole way down and back. It might seem odd when I tell you that the music fit in perfectly with the scenery in this sketch—but in this part of the world, the holidays mean brilliant greens, rather…

  • Blue islands

    Blue islands

    Speaking of indigo, I think I go through more blue paint when I’m in the San Juans than I do anywhere else. I don’t think I’ve been anywhere that has so many different shades and hues of blue in one place. Capturing anything that comes remotely close to what I see there is a big…

  • Indigo-a-go-go

    Indigo-a-go-go

    It’s on my list today to refill the pans in my paintbox—starting with indigo, which is most in need of it. Before I moved to Washington, I didn’t use indigo—it just wasn’t a color I needed often, and if I did, I could mix a reasonable facsimile. But now that I live here, and the…

  • Mountain shadows

    Mountain shadows

    A lot of people are going to be up early today to participate in holiday craziness—but for me, this time of year has a completely different incentive to be out before the sun. Because if you live in the South Sound area and you’re very, very lucky, you might catch that rare phenomenon where the…

  • Cozy companions

    Cozy companions

    For the first time in many years, we’re not hosting Thanksgiving this time. But we are continuing our tradition of spending the holiday with friends. So when the turkey’s been eaten and all the plates cleared, I’m sure the scene won’t be so different than this one—just in a different location. To me, that sounds…

  • Gobble gobble

    Gobble gobble

    I pulled over and started sketching this little farm, with the idea of doing some sort of pre-Turkey Day post today. And then this guy wandered right up to the fence—and into my drawing. I guess it’s a good thing (for him) that emu isn’t traditional Thanksgiving fare…