My Mixed Feelings About Cars

[By Tina Koyama in Seattle] Recently a friend who sees my sketches frequently on
Facebook said, “You must really like drawing cars!” I was taken aback. Like
many urban sketchers, of course I enjoy drawing old classic cars – big land yachts with fins and shiny chrome
grills – but ordinary, late models parked all over Seattle? The SUVs and pickups
and Priuses that all look the same except that most are silver and the rest are
black? Pffft. Nothing about them appeals to me.

Maple Leaf neighborhood

With all those reflective surfaces, difficult lines that are
neither straight nor organic, and ridiculous foreshortening when they’re parked
on the opposite side of the street – why in the world would I want to sketch cars?

Montlake neighborhood

And yet I could see how my friend could have that
impression. All winter and early spring when I do most of my sketching from my “mobile
studio,” my subjects are limited to what I can see from my (usually) legally
parked car. It’s always something else that catches my eye – trees, street
shadows, utility lines – but those darn cars are in the way.

What caught my eye was a pair of orange bikes near the Volvo — but then the pickup pulled in and blocked my view.

Despite my lack of interest in them, however, drawing cars every
winter is good practice. I admit that my sketches of cars have improved over
time, so I’m begrudgingly thankful to them for that.

Maple Leaf neighborhood

Maple Leaf neighborhood