This early 20th century building (dated 1909 on the top ornamentation) is in Georgetown, Washington DC, on M street. I did the drawing in May 2004 on a sketching expedition downtown. The sketch is done in markers, which is unusual because I hardly ever draw on site in markers. I was in a coffee house so I had a place to sit down and put my markers within reach. I don't take my markers on drawing trips because they take up too much space and I can't stock enough colors. Markers often come in portable sets but these sets are useless for on-site drawing because the pre-selected sets contain only bright colors and no pastel, earth tone, or grayscale shades. If you spend the bucks and get the shades you want individually, you'll soon find your collection getting too big to schlep around to drawing sites. This drawing was done with a limited number of water-based (Staedtler, no longer available) and alcohol-based (Copic) markers. Another problem with marker drawing is that you can't blend them smoothly from one color to another. I had this problem with the blue sky on the picture, which I went over with a semi-opaque white marker when I got home. I wouldn't be averse to trying marker on-site drawing again but I'd have to build my portable selection carefully (and expensively, as Copics cost 6$ apiece). I've moved on to colored pencils for my on-site drawing at wineries and elsewhere, since colored pencils are easier to take with you and you can blend them.
Markers on sketchbook page, about 6 1/2" x 10", May 2004.
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