trees before the super bowl

old north 7th st Davis

I really like drawing two-page panoramas, as you have probably realized, but the format of my blog is not super conducive to looking at them. It shrinks them to around 600 pixels across, making it a bit too small. You can click on the image of course and see it in full widescreen glory on my Flickr page, and without all the fairly tedious accompanying text. I feel the need to write a few things down here, very self-indulgently and only occasionally caring about ending sentences, but over there I’m like Silent Bob. I could change the format of my blog, but I really like this format, it works for me when I’m reading through it. I’ve looked at other layouts, but they’re all a bit bloated, not for me guv. For me it’s still 2007 in terms of blog formats. That time went by fast. I wish my eyes still looked like they did in 2007. I’m glad Spurs don’t play like they did in 2007. Anyway, back to the drawing. This is in old North Davis, corner of 7th and B, on a bright Sunday after my birthday (whatever that is) I got out on the bike for a bit and sat at a table outside a school and draw the scene above. It was the trees that drew me in, especially the two on each side, which were textured on these dark orange-brown leaves wrapped around their trunks. I was fascinated by those textures, and I loved the shapes of the bare trees behind. It’s what I appreciate about this time of year, right before the blossom and the buds. I sat there quite a while, until it was time to head home and watch some of the Super Bowl. It was already halfway done by the time I got home, but I didn’t really watch it, until late in the game, and that’s only because it was the San Francisco 49ers and they are my wife’s family’s team. We watched it with the Spongebob commentary and graphics, because it was a bit more fun. It was annoying how often they cut to Taylor Swift, who is the most famous singer in the history of the world at the moment (I have as yet been unable to convince my family that she is a descendant of Jonathan Swift, and was named after former England manager Graham Taylor, which is why she has songs called “Do I Not Like That” and “Can We Not Knock It”). We had listened to a whole one of her albums in the car ride back from Truckee, and I swiftly fell asleep. I’ve got nothing against Swift though, she is alright, seems like a good person. I just didn’t want the team her current boyfriend (I think he’s called Chelsea or Millwall or something) plays for to win though, because we were cheering for the 49ers. Actually I didn’t really mind. People watch the Super Bowl for the adverts anyway, that’s what they say. Tottenham have as good a chance of winning the Super Bowl as the Premier League. More maybe, since they play NFL games at our amazing stadium in N17 (which I learned is the most northerly stadium ever to host an NFL game). I was disappointed at the end though, even though it was one of the most exciting and thrilling ends to a game in history, when the Subaru advert just pipped the Geico commercial at the last minute to take the W, as they say here. Sports are funny, you win Bowls, Cups, even Wooden Spoons, you could end up with a whole kitchen set. Chance would be a fine thing, following Tottenham.

2 thoughts on “trees before the super bowl

  1. Laura (PA Pict) says:
    Laura (PA Pict)'s avatar

    I think this is a particularly lovely drawing. The composition is strong and you really have captured a wide range of visual textures but I think what I most like is just that seasonal vibe that is hard to put into words, the being on the cusp of change I suppose.

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