We all have a very busy life. We get caught up in the daily rat race and feel that we never have time to do the things we love. Granted, we cannot always achieve everything we want because the day as of this morning still had 24 hours to fit activities in it! So what to do when I want to sketch but important activities such as work get in the way? I constantly search for “Sketching Opportunities.” Sketching opportunities are everywhere! While riding on the bus, while at the shopping mall, while taking a break in the office or place of work, while going for a stroll or even while you are hiking! One of my fellow Urban Sketchers Frances call my sketches Kamikaze sketches because I complete them so fast. Granted sometimes I feel that I am placing lines all over the place and I wish I had more time to focused on the details but the reality is that it is either a Kamikaze sketch or not sketch at all and I choose to do my Kamikaze sketches and have fun at it.

The following sketches were done with limited amounts of time. The first one was done during lunch last week at a place called Warthog BBQ In Fife, WA. The place is amazing inside, a dream for a sketcher like Taro Holmes who embraces interiors in such a magical way. The interior is rustic, has lost animals on the walls as well as many different items such hanging fruits, bright red lanterns among many other things. This sketch is only a small area right across from my table.

The following three sketches are from another Sketching Opportunity at Mt. Rainier National Park in WA. I went for a hike there yesterday and again it was another stunning summer day. I could swear the entire nation was at Mt. Rainier because of the amount of people visiting! My time was limited as I was not hiking alone therefore I had to steal and opportunity to pull my sketch book, Macron 005 pen, water brush and my smallest watercolor set and be ready to sketch! The first sketch was at the Visitor Center. There are a couple of buildings here, picnic tables, an exhibition center which is very nice and in the background there is a hotel. All of this is located in the area of the Park called Paradise. From this area people have plenty of accessibility to trails from the more benign to the more challenging ones. I didn’t have much time while working on this sketch and I started it when I arrived and finished it on our way home.

The next two sketches are from the junction at DeadHorse Trail with the Skyline Trail. From there you can have a beautiful view of Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Baker right behind the Tatoosh Range and on the opposite direction, a stunning view of Mt. Rainer and the Nisqually Glacier.

My final Sketching opportunity came Friday during lunch. Kamikaze style sketch at the University of the Puget Sound in Tacoma, WA. This day students were outside the classroom doing group work as the day was beautiful. Here in the State of Washington summers are a treasure since our winters are long and wet.

I hope I was able to share how I take advantage of every opportunity to sketch, document and share my experiences with other Urban Sketchers one drawing at a time. Go out and find sketching opportunities, they are everywhere. Do what you love and find creative ways to fit it into your life schedule.

Happy sketching,

Daisy