A Break in Seattle

May 3, 2010

In mid-April I spent a week in Seattle, Washington for a work conference. I stayed at the Hilton Hotel near the Sea-Tac Airport which was far removed from the exciting city’s sites. Luckily my hotel was conveniently located opposite a light rail station and the journey downtown was only thirty minutes. Having visited Seattle two years ago I was vaguely familiar with the layout of the city and knew which areas I wanted to attempt to photograph, however my favorite locations are not accessible by light rail. One evening early in the week I ventured out to the Westlake area and photographed the Space Needle and the Washington Talking Book & Braille Library building. I had no idea the library existed. The building’s light green exterior illuminated by bright lights in the twilight hours peeked my interest, and I managed to snap a few photos before the sun completely set.

The week after returning I managed to produce this simple rendition of the Space Needle, however I struggled with my reproduction of the library. Without access to an Art Students League studio and not being able to assemble an easel that was lent to me, I resorted to tackling my canvas on the table surface in my apartment. After several attempts throughout the course of the weekend  I just could not get into the piece and returned to it this past Saturday, determined to tackle the challenges it presented. Previously I struggled with the colors and values; only the composition seemed to work. However this weekend I reworked it from start to finish. The finished product is cartoonish and well worth the frustration it caused. Viewing it from far away (in other words from my bathroom which is not very far away considering my apartment is smaller than 500 square feet) proved effective once again.