Tacoma- West Coast Sketchcrawl

Andrea and I journeyed by train to join several other Portland sketchers at the West Coast Urban Sketchers Sketchcrawl in Tacoma. We were there for just the day on Saturday but the West Coast Sketchcrawl is an all weekend event.

Many people up and down the coast (I also met a sketcher from Missouri!) gathered to sketch Tacoma on this hot but still comfortable in the shade Saturday. All of these sketches were made with a pointed search for shade and a good view....!

Bridge of Glass with glass trees.

Bridge of Glass and the Museum of Glass funnel

A sculpture installation at the Tacoma Art Museum called the Blanket Project and Old Union Station

Structure with steps leading down to the base of the Museum of Glass funnel

Bridge of Glass and Old Union Station

A couple of years ago I had traveled there with some other sketchers and knew what a wonderful place Tacoma was to sketch. Unfortunately with just one day of sketching it was not enough time to explore widely so I pretty much stuck to the area around the History Museum, Art Museum, Old Union Station and the Museum of Glass.
A wonderful day filled with sketching along with many sketchers to meet.

Tacoma: City of Destiny

Four of us Portland sketchers took the train north to Tacoma, Washington last weekend to meet up with sketchers from all over Washtington state. It was a blast.

I used my water-soluble felt-tip brush pen to whip out a few fast postcards on the train ride north:

Train to Tacoma

    We met with about thirty other sketchers in Tacoma around the Museum of Glass this past weekend. The site was awash with architectural gems to draw....heaven!   

small color sketch of Tacoma skyline

                                     

 I found myself a nice open plaza with a great view of all of these interesting architectural shapes. The contrast of modern bold shapes with reflective surfaces and old bold shapes with arches and architectural details and patinated surfaces was a visual delight.


 

a panorama of the architectural structures around the Museum of Glass in Tacoma

There was so much that was visually stimulating that this panorama just moved from one great shape to the next.

A view of Chihuly Bridge of Glass

After a full day out sketching in Tacoma there was only a little bit of energy to do some sketching on the train.

Tacoma Sketchcrawl

Four of us rode up to Tacoma on the train to join other NW Urban Sketchers in Tacoma. It was a fun trip: hearing about the symposium, sketching, talking with other sketchers and perusing the sketchbooks. I'm definitely a little fish in a big pond (or in this case, a big bay), but it was inspirational seeing the works of so many terrific sketchers, including our own! Here are my attempts, but be sure to check out the other Portland sketchers' works as well as posts on the Seattle blog.

Sitting on a bench in the shade of the glass bridge, I sketched the Museum of Glass. After seeing the dramatic contrasts others had, I tried to darken my darks at home, although I'm not sure it made much of an improvement.

These giant glass sculptures, near the entrance to the glass bridge, were really beautiful in the light. If I were to try these again, I'd place them in their setting.

My attention span for drawing buildings is about three windows, and that held for this sketch.

The light on the Museum of Glass was gorgeous at the end of the day, so I decided to just focus on that.

It was a very enjoyable day and I got a lot ideas to try to work on, but mostly it was just a pleasure to sketch and visit with our friendly sketchers to the north. I'm looking forward to when we host them next in Portland. In the meantime, I'll keep working on some of the things I'm learning from others. Thanks, everyone!