Cherry Blossoms

The cherry blossoms in D.C. have now reached peak bloom, and I returned to the same spot I sketched from in February. No ice this time - but plenty of tourists with selfie sticks.

I also sketched the Japanese Lantern and the Pagoda, which sit among the cherry trees by the water. The Lantern was a gift from the city of Tokyo in 1954, and the Pagoda was a gift from the mayor of Yokohama in 1957. And the cherry trees themselves, of course, were also a gift from the people of Japan. It is now one of the most popular attractions in D.C., especially in the Spring, as well as a symbol of the friendship between our countries.

Jefferson Memorial

This weekend I paid a visit to the Jefferson Memorial and the Tidal Basin.  A black and white image seemed appropriate for the grey day, so went with the dry twig and Chinese ink technique I learned about from Kiah Kiean.

The Memorial itself is modeled after the Pantheon, a building Jefferson himself admired (and imitated in his design for the Rotunda at the University of Virginia).  The inside has inscriptions from his writings, including the Declaration of Independence.

The Tidal basin was still frozen over from colder weather earlier in the week, but it was actually relatively comfortable outside today.  This has long been a favorite place of mine to walk around - and it's much less crowded in February than it is in April when the cherry trees are in bloom.

Sketchcrawl at the Tidal Basin / Mall

For the 39th World Wide Sketchcrawl, the D.C. sketchers met at the Tidal Basin near The Mall. Since this was the prime week for the famous cherry blossom blooms, the entire area was packed, but our sketchers finally got situated and did their thing. The weather was great, and since I've missed the last few Sketchcrawls I was happy to be able to attend this one.

First up, my sketch of the Jefferson Memorial from across the Tidal Basin. I think I was the only sketcher who did not use any color, but I still included a few cherry blossoms in this one:

Here is a photo of my view while sketching!

While I was there waiting for the rest of the group to head back toward The Mall, I did some blind contour drawings of the MLK Memorial which was right behind me while I made the last sketch:

We walked around for quite a bit, but ended up at the Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden, where I drew this bronze statue (Seated Yucatán Woman by Francisco Zúñiga):

It was a fun day, and I'm looking forward to the next one!

Tidal Basin

For the 39th World Wide Sketchcrawl, the D.C. sketchers met at the Tidal Basin, because the cherry trees are (finally) in bloom this week. As usual when the famous trees are blooming, there was a large crowd (and a few fishermen).

At the FDR memorial on the Tidal Basin, there are a number of sculptures representing scenes from the Great Depression. This sculpture by George Segal shows men standing in line for bread. Tourists like to pose for pictures as if they're part of the line of bronze statues.

After lunch, we went over to the Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden, where we found more subjects to draw. You can see the rest of my sketches on Flickr, or at the Sketchcrawl Forum. We had seven sketchers in all this time, and I enjoyed seeing the takes the others had on the same subjects. It's always fun to draw with other sketchers.

Thomas Jefferson Memorial