Let's Draw: Husky Stadium
a walkthrough of my process with a commissioned work
This month is too busy for a live demo, so here is a process writeup instead. Hope you enjoy it & please say hi if you’re at SketcherFest in Edmonds, WA this weekend!
Earlier this year, I got a commission to paint this sports arena in Seattle. It hosts the University of Washington football team (go Huskies) and I have never been inside it.
I somehow enjoy drawing stadiums, especially from a distance. I had to do it a lot for my work on the Tru Hilton murals and found that the process of simplifying their massive complexity to be a fun challenge.
The customer requested my interpretation of this photo of the stadium. I don’t love working from other people’s photography (especially not real photographers’ work) for a lot of reasons. I definitely prefer to work from life or from Street View images (these feel more neutral). But the client wanted what they wanted, so as long as I took substantial liberties it’s OK I guess.
As always, the first step is always making a bunch of tiny rough sketches. Since it was to be based on a photo, there weren’t that many choices to be made here. Mainly, I was trying to decide how to place the big building.
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