COAST TO COAST BY TRAIN
Sketching at the Tacoma Amtrak station.
This was the first drawing in my beautiful new sketchbook, and the first one is always a bit intimidating. Since my plan was to fill up the book with things I saw on my trip, Tacoma was page one.
Here is that sketch.
Looking out the window of my Roomette aboard the Empire Builder in Seattle in the late afternoon, waiting to depart.
A few sketches along the way.
Shelby, Montana
It was early in the morning, and this was the first time off the train since Seattle the afternoon before. The air was brisk and refreshing.
Havre, Montana
Two armed TSA agents with a German Shepard came up behind me and looked over my shoulder while I was sketching this. I suppose mine was a suspicious activity, and they were friendly enough.
I believe 32005 was my car---my roomette was upstairs. So much fun!
Chicago
The Baha'i House of Worship in Wilmette
I scheduled my arrival in Chicago to coincide with the Centenary of the laying of the cornerstone of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar by Abdu'l-Bahá on May 1st, 1912. As it turned out, I was there exactly at the moment, 100 years later.
In regards to the sketch itself, I used Google Street View before leaving on my trip to find a good station point for an interesting drawing. In order to fit the temple on the page, I needed to be some distance away, so with the help of Google I found a spot with a portion of Lake Michigan.
The Chicago River
There was a guy blowing a saxophone behind me as I was sketching this. It was kinda annoying, to tell you the truth. He did a great job with my request for Moondance, though.
Red Line in the Chicago Loop
I walked around awhile until I found the view I wanted AND a place to sit while I sketched. This one took about 45 minutes to draw, I would guess, and these days, it has become very uncomfortable to stand and sketch for that long without getting a knot in my shoulder the size of a monkey fist. It took three trains to pass for me to capture enough detail to depict it.
After two days in Chicago, I rode the Capitol Limited to Washington D.C.
Union Station, Washington D.C.
The interior of the station was being renovated and scaffolding precluded any sketches, so I found this spot in the portico at the South entrance. I was uncomfortable with the heat and humidity, and this was the 2nd of May! Heh, I'm spoiled in the Northwest.
A quick sketch of the Capital Building in the early morning.
North Lawn of the White House
Washington Monument
Lincoln Memorial
This is my favorite drawing from the trip. There are a few errors, but I can live with them.
The U.S. Treasury
Next, it was a regional train to Richmond, Virginia.
It seemed like everyone was listening to IPods or carrying on a conversation with an invisible person. I really like meeting people, but these devices, including cell phones, has altered social intercourse in a very profound way.
Main Street Station in Richmond. I drew this while waiting for the Palmetto to take me to Fayetteville, North Carolina.
The Atlantic Ocean from the beach at Kill Devil Hills on the Outer Banks.
I flew home--first from Norfolk, Virginia to Newark, New Jersey, and then home via Seattle.
You can see Manhattan in the sketch, with the Empire State Bldg and the new Freedom Tower.
It was a great trip, and fun to record it this way.
jt
