March on Washington 2013

This weekend marks the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech. Tens of thousands of people gathered on the National Mall near the Lincoln Memorial to commemorate the occasion, and to call for justice, as there is still more work to be done. Civil rights and labor groups from around the country marched along the original 1963 route to the Lincoln Memorial, and gathered to listen to speeches from civil rights leaders, including Martin Luther King III. There was also music and chanting in the streets. It was a powerful experience, and I'm glad I had the opportunity to march with them.

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.

MLK Memorial Washington DC

MLK Memorial Sketch during the opening week August 2011. 1st sketch done of the memorial by a member of the public since opened.