The inside back cover of watercolour moleskine #7, these are just some of the materials used in this sketchbook.
So, Moleskine 7 started in December in London, with the first page being drawn in a blizzard. With the last page being at the end of May in Davis you might think it went from a blizzard to a heatwave, and in any other year it may have, but right now Davis is unseasonably cold, wet and windy.
You can see the whole sketchbook, from Dec 2010 to May 2011, on the Moleskine 7 flickr set.
The last regular page, and chronologically the last drawing done in Watercolour Moleskine #7 – another sketchbook finished! This is the corner of 2nd and G Streets, downtown Davis. That’s Froggy’s there, a popular local bar (they do nice burgers, but the acoustics are horrible), and the Aggies’ barber shop (I have never gotten my hair cut there). I had to do the colour at home, because it started to rain while I was sketching. It was the last day of May. So far, June (normally a very warm and sunny month) has seen epic thunderstorms and tornado warnings. A funnel cloud was seen over Davis on Thursday, and Aubrey Huff hit three home runs yesterday and one the day before. Mad June!
So now I am ‘between sketchbooks’. Well, in reality I’m not, I have my WH Smith sketchbook which I love working in and several others not yet started, but I haven’t yet got my new watercolour Moleskine – number 8 – which are always the ‘main canon’. I want to pick up some more WH Smith books though when I’m back, if they still do the ones with the fabric cover and the long piece of string.
I cycle past this barn in south Davis often; it’s just off the bike path, by Putah Creek winery. I have always like its colour and how the shadows hit it, so finally this weekend I cycled over and sketched it. I love the randomness of the windows, and almost ramshackleness of it’s structure.
At my wife’s nephew’s graduation party in the countryside outside Santa Rosa, there was a great old car in barn, a Volkswagen I believe, but a snazzy red sports car nonetheless. My son enjoyed playing in there (“mind your fingers, daddy!” he said as he closed the door), and I had my WH Smith sketchbook in my pocket, and could not resist a couple of quick sketches. I want to sketch more old cars. On the same day was the annual Peggy Sue vintage car even in Santa Rosa, but I missed that. Maybe next year!
petescully 