A couple of weeks ago my wife and I took a couple of days in Portland, to do all the Portlandy things like eat and drink and look at books, see some old friends, oh and dress up as pirates. I’ll post my Swashbucklers Ball sketches soon. On the Saturday we wandered about downtown, checking off the list (food, check, beer, check, shops, check, voodoo doughnuts, check), and I got a little bit of sketching in before heading back to rest at the hotel (before putting the pirate costume on). I really like Powell’s Books, the block-sized independent bookstore between the Pearl District and Downtown. (I couldn’t find my new book there though…) We had spent an hour or so of the evening before mooching around in there, so this time I wanted to sketch it. I’ve sketched it before, but that sign is so iconic.

I also sketched a rusty fire hydrant outside, you know, because fire hydrants.

And this one was sketched fairly quickly while standing in line at Voodoo Doughnuts. We were in line for about twenty minutes, and there was a group of college basketball players behind us in the queue, who were fascinated by the drawing. A nice group of lads, all out in their tracksuits (and watched over by Coach), my wife took a picture of them all when they finally got their doughnuts. Voodoo is a great place. I love Portland, and every trip is too short! I want to go back again…