Christianson's Nursery

We were a little worried about being cold, but we huddled in the front greenhouse room and were fine.  The red pots attracted my eye and proved to be challenging!

Sketches by Missy
Dec. 22, 2014

Anne's sketch from Christenson's Nursery

Joyce's hat with foliage!!

Sketch by Anne

Dec. 2014

ASk's Annual Sketch Party

 This colorful bowl of ornaments caught my eye.

and, a poinsettia....

Our annual Holiday Sketch Party at Aleli's beautifully decorated house is one of ASk's favorite events.  Friends, food, drink, and sketching....what more could there be?

Sketches by Missy

Sec. 2014

Pat In Action!

Pat found a place in the library for some holiday sketching!!

Jerlyn's Sketches from the Holiday Party!

Sketches by Jerlyn
Dec. 2014

Joyce's Santa

Joyce sketched this woodsy Santa.

Sketch by Joyce
Dec. 2014

ASk Holiday Party Sketch

Linden's juicy-wash poinsettia!

Sketch by Linden
Dec. 2014

Pink Bearded Santa

What a wonderful holiday sketching party hosted by Aleli.  At Aleli's fabulously decorated home, the hardest task is choosing what to draw (oh, and not going back for thirds on the Christmas cookies!!).  I took a bit of artistic license while sketching one of her Santas and Christmas trees.

Happy Holidays to my sketching friends!!

Anne's Sketches from Keystone

Anne hunted around the three floors of the Keystone Building and found these gems tucked away in corners.  So colorful!!

Sketches by Anne
Dec. 8, 2014

Delectable Deception Distillery

What a great place to sketch!  The bottles of moonshine were placed below the GIANT martini glass just calling to be painted.  We will return to see the beautiful hammered copper still in motion.

Sketches by Missy
Dec. 1, 2014

Anne's Latest!

The top sketch was done at Carolyn's house.  The bottom was sketched at Deception Distillery.

Sketches by Anne Elkins
Nov/Dec. 2014

Joyce's Bottle and Olive Jar

Joyce's sketch from Carolyn's house!
Nov. 2014

Deception Distillery

The barrels, the Arnold Holstein still and Paul pouring a sample after the tour. 

The first day of December was freezing cold with crusted snow and ice still lingering on trees, ponds and in the shady spots of the landscape. However, the Anacortes sketchers were warm and cozy indoors at the elegant tasting room of the Deception Distillery. Thanks, DD, for your warm welcome and hospitality!

We got a tour of the distillery and adjoining barrel room as well as the warehouse full of beautiful marble slabs. The hammered copper kettle with its pear shaped helmet and two steam columns looked like a beautiful polished musical instrument. 

Sketchers and their sketches. 

Sharing our sketches of the day. 

Thanks to Missy, we all got a new pen to try. It has water soluble ink and she wielded it beautifully in her sketch of the lamp at Carolyn's last week. We all admired it. So she brought each of us one today! Thanks again, Missy!

Footnote: Apologies for the blurry photos. I forgot my SD card for the camera, so used my very cold iPhone.

Having Some Fun With Line

We had a lovely afternoon at Carolyn's house last Monday. She had all sorts of interesting things to sketch set up in her home.

Sketches by Missy

Jane's Santa

ATC by Jane

Nov. 2014

ASk at Carolyn's

Joy

Art and life

Michele's Sketch Journal Spread

There were so many great sketches today. Check back as the artists post them. 

Smugglers' Cove

A welcome place to sketch on a cold November day. 

There were lots of choices to be made: coats on or off, shop or sketch? Why choose when you can do it all?

Anacortes has unlimited choice of subject matter, no matter what the season. Indoors or out, there is bound to be the challenge of choosing from more than what one could sketch in a lifetime.

This is especially true of our location at Smugglers' Cove on Commercial Street this afternoon. Thanks to Kristen, the owner, we were invited to come in from the cold on this chilly autumn afternoon. Smiles, happy greetings, hugs and lively conversation ensued! We tried on vintage hats, recognized toys from our childhood and marveled at the eclectic bounty from which to draw. Everyone eventually found a little spot, or two, of their own. Gradually, with concentrated focus on our sketchbooks, the shop became quiet and I overheard Kristen on the phone in the other room; "......I've got sketchers here....."

The Cardinal Cafe

While sketching at Gordon's a couple of weeks ago we came upon the Skagit Valley College culinary arts students.  We were told that they cook gourmet lunches for the public.  Everything is made from scratch.  Jerlyn, Linden, Kalena, and Missy headed over this afternoon to try it out.  What a treat!!   The service was suberb and the visiting chef from Puerto Vallarta came out to the table to tell us about his Mexican cuisine which included plantain appetizer with tomatillo guacamole, shrimp serviche, salmon tents (?), empanadas, and mango sorbet swimming in hibiscus consommé with a fushia sugar spoon!!  Wow! Of course, we sketched.

The Shabby French Market

It felt so very French with 1940's jazz and pop tunes on the air. I turn a corner and there's a picture on the wall in a little alcove. It's a sepia photograph of a carriage driving down the wide dirt street of Commercial Avenue in 1910 and the Keystone Building is on the corner. That building now has a shop called The Shabby French Market, the perfect place to sketch on a rainy autumn afternoon.

The Keystone Building then (1910) and now. 

I spent a wonderful day downstairs with the Anacortes Sketchers, drifting through time from one spot to another on a journey of discovery.

From top: Carolyn, Anne & Missy, Jane

A Return to Gordon's!

Another great afternoon, although a tad cooler, was spent sketching amongst the colors of autumn at Gordon's.  This may be our last outdoor sketching time for awhile!

A Day of Fall Colors!

Sketches by Missy
October 2014

Kalena's Sketches from Gordon's

Sketches by Kalena
October 2014

Gordon's Skagit Farms

Fastest sketchers in the PNW, "The Originals" of ASk

All the way north to Gordon's Skagit Farm I saw heavy dark clouds, getting heavier looking and darker the closer I came. I wondered how many sketchers would be there. No worries, by the time I arrived there were a carload or two and more trickled in as the time ran on.

Always something new, always something happening at Gordons'

Then the chefs arrived! All dressed up in their white chef coats, a group from Skagit Valley College Culinary Department came to pick their ingredients for the week. They even had film documentation taking place. Did you know that you could have a gourmet lunch at SVC on Wednesdays and Thursdays for a very reasonable price, made especially tasty by the culinary chefs and their students?

Back: Emily, Kalena, Jerlyn, Anne-Front:Michele, Jane, Missy, Aleli

Meanwhile, we all continued sketching and here you can see the happy results!

Check back this week as we upload more closeups of the work we did today.

Join us next week as we revisit Gordons'. See our schedule.

There's so much to sketch, you just can't do it in one visit alone!

Skagit River Produce and Alexander Beach

                             Skagit River Produce had the colors of fall in every direction.

Sketches by Missy
Oct. 2014

Sketching Alexander Beach and Lake Chiquita from the living room of Cheri and Howard.

Late Summer Sketching at Rosario Beach

ASk had two wonderfully sunny afternoons at the end of September sketching at Rosario Beach.  I think I could come back every week and find inspiration here.

Sketches by Missy

Sept-Oct, 2014