Urban Sketches

Honolulu Sketches

Last July, we went to Hawaii for our friends’ wedding and then stayed the week to celebrate my birthday. My sister, who lives in Honolulu, is an amazing hostess and planned a very memorable birthday for me. We hiked up Diamond Head where the park stamp my sketchbook with the “Summit Finisher” stamp. I didn’t finish the sketch of Diamond Head Crater until yesterday (shame on me) though, using reference I photographed while we hiked there.

The 2nd drawing is of Lanikai beach which I did sketch on my birthday. It’s of the mokes (2 islands) and the little reef inbetween where we snorkeled.

The 3rd drawing was drawn at Waimanalo Beach where my husband and I spent the whole day. My sister recommended it as it was quiet and located in a small neighborhood. I saw 2 boats in the sand and thought it would be a fun challenge. The real the challenge, however, was the humidity that made both inking and watercoloring difficult.

The 4th drawing was at the Dole Pineapple Plantation. I learned so much about pineapples. I especially had no idea how they looked out in the wild or the fact there were so many kinds.

Urban Sketches

Barnegat Lighthouse State Park Sketches

When I went to visit my hometown a couple weeks ago, I had the pleasure of shadowing my youngest sister, Lauren, a wildlife biologist. She’s spending her summer surveying piping plovers, an endangered bird, along the NJ coast. Every day, she visits different beaches and counts plovers and their eggs, which are found among broken shells and sand.

We went to Barnegat Lighthouse State Park, known for “Old Barney”, the historic lighthouse that’s on the northern end of Long Beach Island. Originally, I was going to paint the lighthouse while Lauren worked, but I realized this is an amazing opportunity to record a “day in the life” of my sister. She pointed out shorebirds as we walked together. 

Later, Lauren met up with 3 other biologists to put up an exclosure, a wire mesh fence that protects plovers’ nests from various predators. They had a small window to set this up, as setting up the exclosure prevents the plover from warming their eggs. I was so impressed by the whole process I couldn’t help myself from trying to capture it.

We ended the day with chicken wings at Chegg, an awesome way to end “Take your Ate to Work Day”! Thanks again, Yowen, for a fun day at the beach, much needed for this Seattle transplant. 😉