the angel of second street

May 28, 2024May 27, 2024Leave a comment

This is a lunchtime sketch from downtown Davis, sat in the shade on 2nd Street near D Street. The unusual sculpture in front of me, looking like a tiny version of Gormley’s Angel of the North but up on an iron girder, is ‘Great Angel’ by Cedric Wentworth, 2012. We like a bit of public art in Davis. The little brown leaf across the street is called “Untitled (Spicebush Leaf)” by Gilbert Menke, 2006. You can find a map showing all the public art in Davis at the City of Davis website. A city needs art, and artists. Incidentally we will be doing another Let’s Draw Davis this Saturday at 10am meeting up outside the Bicycling Hall of Fame, finishing up in the same place at 12pm, which I realized after arranging it is the same time the Champions League final starts (so I’ll miss the kick off). Real Madrid vs Borussia Dortmund. Should be good.

By the way WordPress, sort out this crap editor. When I try to paste something such as a bit of text or a link, it takes that as a cue to erase the rest of the post. Stop messing about with the post editing tools!

back in the good life garden

May 27, 2024May 26, 2024Leave a comment

Another from campus, I was attempting a panorama of the RMI (Robert Mondavi Institute) for Food and Wine Sciences, from one of the few shady spots in the Good Life Garden (“morning Margo” “hello Jerry”) but I couldn’t be bothered to colour it in. I’ve sketched here before of course, it’s close to my office. I do wonder sometimes, I get in a rut with my sketching. Like, drawing the encampment on the Quad, it was at a bit of a distance but it’s still showing something different, a moment in time worth documenting. Sometimes though I’m just drawing a place because it’s there, and will probably look the same in 10, 20 years. I do remember when it wasn’t there of course, it was built in my work-life-time. I still have a wine glass from the grand opening, as it was around the time of the UC Davis centenary so it had that motif on it. I think that was from then anyway. My former supervisor got herself about four or five of those free glasses, it was a fun little trip. She passed away several years ago, sadly. I learned of former colleague who died a couple of months ago, very sad to hear, he had retired a long time ago. While looking for his former workmates to tell, I learned of another who died last year, who was on the original team of staff I worked with when I joined our department. Made me quite pensive this week, thinking about all those people, all those old times, when I was brand new to this university. Now it’s my job to make people feel at home in our place of work, as it was theirs before me. Life goes on, doesn’t it, and I keep on drawing it.

the 2024 davis world cup…

May 26, 2024May 26, 2024Leave a comment

Today is the second day of the annual AYSO Davis World Cup, a youth soccer tournament held every year in parks around Davis. The HQ is in Community Park, and we’ve got all the flags up and everything. My job on the committee is designing the logo and medals and t-shirts etc, and looking after the website. this year I went for a retro theme with a toned down colour scheme, I was happy with how it looks on the shirts and medals. On the Saturday morning my wife (who handles ordering all the tournament swag and does more general committee help) and I went over to the building to help with the set-up, and later on I sketched the building (above). The weather was a little cooler than it’s been but still warm and sunny, with a breeze kicking up the allergens. The scouts were nearby, their job is collecting trash and bringing water/Gatorade to the volunteers. There are a load of volunteers involved (we’re all volunteers), from the committee through all the field marshals and gophers and the many many referees, and of course all the coaches, I used to be one. I don’t think I miss the coaching, although it was most fun on the tournaments like this, and this one is special – every team is given a country that they become for the tournament, they get a flag and are expected to have little gifts based on that country to give to players on the opposing team. The only time I coached at the tournament was at the U10 level, as my (very good) U12 team had to stop playing in March 2020 because of that Covid that happened. I’ve been a parent a few times, and been on the committee since 2019, drawing up so many logos. Today I was back in the building helping sort out all the medals (first place is so shiny!) which will be given out tomorrow. I had a little lunch and sketched the inside of the building:

Here are the Davis World Cup logos for this year:

It’s the whole three-day weekend, I’m hoping that it all continues to go smoothly, and that all the teams enjoy it!

gaza protests on the quad

May 26, 2024Leave a comment

As on many campuses, here on the UC Davis Quad a group of students protesting the events in Gaza has set up camp over the past few weeks. It’s a closed off encampment with a big fence around it, unlike the Occupy camp back in 2011. So far it’s remained peaceful, and I hope it stays so. I did a quick sketch of it from the MU; while I sketched, another group set up a long banner in opposition, highlighting the hostages still held after the events on October 7 in Israel. There was a news reporter there, we had helicopters above for a bit. It remained peaceful though, and I hope it stays so, they have a right to protest. Although there have been acts of vandalism across campus, and I’m hoping that it does not attract groups intent on just causing trouble, as we’ve seen elsewhere. Still I had to sketch the camp, documentation of another moment in the campus’s history, it’s all important and there will be more moments. The Whole Earth Festival was scheduled not long after this, that’s usually on the Quad but they decided to move it this year out to Russell Field (not as much shade there).

any old iron

May 25, 2024May 24, 20241 Comment

This backflow preventer is on E Street in downtown Davis. I was starting a new little sketchbook, a pocket sized Moleskine. I like having a smaller book to carry around. It’s been a while since I’ve drawn one of these, though I still draw a hydrant every now and then, rarely in Davis since I’ve kinda sketched them all before. This one looks different depending on the angle. I could draw it from the side, it looks different. Boring conversation anyway. So, there’s going to be a General Election in the UK on July 4th? That was a shock announcement, Rishi Soon-to-be-gone getting soaked outside Number 10, but the first thing I thought is why have it on a national holiday? Wow, I’ve been living out here too long. May we live in interesting times alright. Still I do love a General Election. I like the elections in America, which seem to last years with campaign ads and endless rallies, it’s usually just a few weeks of fun in Britain, and then you wait up late watching Paxman or Dimbleby on Newsnight and the Swingometer with Peter Snow, quickly cutting to the returns on stage at Dunny on the Wold, with the Standing at the Back Dressed Stupidly and Looking Stupid Party (yes I just rewatched that episode of Blackadder, as an attempt to explain the British political system to my son; turns out satirical silliness is not quite as bizarre as current reality), and the results come in that night, and the next morning oof! the PM is booted out of Downing Street, see you later, no waiting a couple of months for them to pack up all their state secrets. And then we give it a couple of years and the PM is ousted and replaced by someone else in the party with no General Election, and then someone else has a go for a laugh, at least that’s how it’s been for the past decade. And don’t get started on the House of Lords. Fun times. When I was a teenager I’d make a chart in the fortnight up to the election showing the opinion polls for each day as they move up and down, and then on election night I’d fill in the seats as they were announced, until I would get bored and say sod it, because it was a Thursday and I had to get up for school next day because GCSEs. I am glad it’s on July 4 this time because now I can stay up late here (we’re eight hours behind so it’s not that late) and miss all the fireworks because I need to see who has won Oldham West and Royton or somewhere. Can’t wait.

Lando’s Papaya Winner

May 24, 2024Leave a comment

I do love the Formula 1. Also love a bit of Lego. This is the latest McLaren Lego set, and I happened to get it on the same weekend that McLaren’s young British driver Lando Norris happened to win his first race. Well done Lando! We like him here, he’s my son’s favourite F1 racer, and it feels so long since we had a McLaren win (that Ricciardo one); when I was growing up they were often the best. These days it’s nearly completely impossible to win a race with that fella Max Verstappen whizzing around in his Red Bull, it’s become a bit of a phenomenon but it has made it a bit boring and predictable, more so even than during the golden period of Lewis in a Mercedes or Schumacher in a Ferrari. So for Lando to win, and to be competitive with McLaren’s upgrade, with his team-mate Piastri also looking competitive (and Max’s team-mate Checo Perez not really getting close), plus Red Bull starting to crack in a big way after a few untouchable years, things are looking up. I sketched the Lego version afterwards of course, although I think my scanner doesn’t quite get the sketch right on screen. I’ve noticed this with a lot of my sketches lately, when comparing to older sketches scanned with my older scanner, and I’ve tried all the settings but it’s just not as crisp. I think I’ll try a new scanner. Like McLaren got, time for a technical upgrade. Anyway, this weekend it’s the Monaco Grand Prix, often a bit of a procession as a race, but I do love it for all the history and glamour. In fact we will go to Monaco this summer, first time in over 20 years. This weekend we’ll be cheering on Lando hoping for another win. They have changed their livery for this weekend from the usual papaya, switching to a Brazilian yellow in honour of Ayrton Senna, who died thirty years ago this month at the San Marino Grand Prix in Imola. I remember it so well. I remember being really shocked the day before when Ratzenberger died in Qualifying, and was surprised the race went ahead the next day. When Senna died, at the height of being The Best, it was huge and I was really hit by it, I don’t think I’d seen a super famous sportsman I was a fan of die while in that sport that I loved. Thirty years ago, wow.

at froggy’s corner

May 19, 20242 Comments

It was a Saturday, I needed to do a sketch, I went downtown, yada yada yada. Same old story. I’m quite a boring person, truth be told. Oh well. I headed to G Street, which is still blocked off to traffic since the pandemic, so that it is more of an outdoor eating and drinking space, although a few weeks ago someone who had possibly done a lot of drinking and maybe other stuff decided to take a drive up that street and crashed into a bunch of seating. I would have read more, but I don’t subscribe to the Davis Enterprise so that was all I could really gather from the glimpse I could read before it vanished. Anyway, on this Saturday the was a little market going on, people selling second hand clothing, music was being played, there was some dancing but that might have just been the way they were walking out of the pub, and I got excited to see some old football shirts on one rack; one had a big hole in the front, the other was clearly fake. No thanks guv. I decided to stand on the corner of G and 2nd and sketch Tommy J’s, aka Froggy’s, I have drawn this place before. I used to like coming here, many years ago, and it’s not really changed much. I always loved their chicken burgers especially. They were one of several local food places featured on a TV show recently (one of that Guy Fieri guy’s shows, though thankfully he was barely in it himself) where they were looking for the best dish in Davis. I was surprised to see Sudwerk on there, having eaten there recently with the family and been quite underwhelmed (sorry Sudwerk, I still love your beer), especially when the dish they put on the telly was called fish and chips, but mate, that is not fish and chips. The ones who won it in the end was the Hotdogger, and I agree, they have some pretty great hot dogs, although I only eat the chicken variety (and not very often). Anyway, I was glad to see Tommy J’s on there, because their food always hit the spot. I must go there to eat again sometime. On this day, I sketched from the corner, standing outside the smoke shop. I had my headphones on for the most part, I was feeling a bit grumpy, and I wasn’t really enjoying my sketching. I don’t know why exactly, but I go through this, where I just don’t enjoy the process as much. Like, I love to sketch, and it does help me relax and divert my mind elsewhere, but some days I just feel like I’m chiseling away and just feeling awkward. You would think I’d be over that. I see some people’s works online, and look I don’t go comparing myself or any of that nonsense, but I see such confident lines in some people and get annoyed with myself for not being able to draw circles. I am feeling in need of a reset button, if that makes sense. I will find that again, but sometimes I am just in a funk about it. The one above I started sketching when it was sunny, but it got cloudy, so it looked a bit gloomier by the end. One guy decided to stand in front of the trash bin for a while, I didn’t want to add him in though. Another bloke came over to the little drinking fountain and started filling a large super-soaker type water gun up, but it looked like he was filling it with cranberry juice as well, so I watched him suspiciously. Another guy came up and said something to me I couldn’t hear, I took out my earpods and he was saying “come on you spurs” (I was wearing one of my many Spurs shirts) and holding his hand up for a fist bump; I still didn’t completely understand and was holding my pen, so he said it again and I got it, and was like, oh yeah, right. It was a couple of weeks after we had been thwacked 4-0 by Newcastle, and a day before we were about to lose 3-2 to the other lot down the road. I guess I’m surprised there are still fans out there. It was quite a busy afternoon, a good thing I suppose, but I got as far as I could with my sketch and went over to Froggy’s to sit and have a beer, and draw the inside. The last time I did was, I don’t know, must be over a decade ago. That is ages. I sat and drew with the brown fountain pen, but again, I wasn’t really feeling it. I didn’t eat, because I was having dinner at home shortly after, but I captured what I could. Not really a classic, but it’s me drawing what’s in front of me. I was a bit nervous thinking about Spurs v Arsenal the next day. We ended up going 3-0 down before fighting back at bit, and losing only 3-2. As I write the season just finished, and it got a bit worse for us, but then we still managed fifth, and the other lot didn’t win the league. Speaking of football, on the wall of the bar there is a mirror advertising Newcastle Brown Ale, with the famous blue star, which as you may know is the best sponsor of any football shirt in history.

another from the old north

May 16, 2024May 16, 2024Leave a comment

I love the old houses in Old North Davis, that historic neighbourhood just above 5th Street that I cycle through on my way home. This little on on D Street is so pretty with all the colourful flowers around it. I like to refer to the brilliant John Lofland book “Old North Davis” where he details the history of most of the buildings in these few blocks. If I’m right, this one is at 516 D (p.121 of his book) and was built in 1920, and the book shows a picture of original residents the Vansell family outside with a much-less developed neighbourhood behind. I think this is the one anyway. There’s a For Sale sign outside; I actually saw this house on Zillow too, and it is going for the price of just over a million bucks! It’s not as small as it looks from out here, but a million smackeroos, whew. Who knew D Street is the new Bishop’s Avenue. That’s inflation for you. For example, looking at the chart on Zillow, it was worth less than half of that at the same time I bought my own house in north Davis. What a pretty place though, and historic. The neighbours around there generally keep the places looking nice. I know from my own small weed-strewn back yard how hard that can be sometimes. I think I’d want a garage for a million big ones though. And a butler too, and a giraffe. At least we have the carport here, to keep the car shaded from this Davis sunshine (and the trees dropping massive pine cones down) (and the occasional tree as well). I wonder sometimes, if I’m here long enough, will I sketch everywhere that is in Lofland’s book? Maybe.

penny farthings at the picnic day parade

May 15, 2024May 14, 2024Leave a comment

Last month was the annual UC Davis Picnic Day, the largest university open house event in America, and a tradition that’s been going on since 1909. It’s also a day that usually fills me with a bit of dread, with so many people coming to campus, I usually try to find a way to get out of town. It can be pretty busy, not to mention all the parties going on. Still it can be fun, and we always like the parade. So this year we went down and found a spot by the Quad to watch the Picnic Day Parade go past. It was a good one this year, and I tried to get a quick sketch of it all, though it’s not easy to draw things marching past. I sketched the crowd and the trees before the parade arrived, and while I’d thought I might sketch the marching band or maybe even the fleet of DeLoreans, it was the Penny Farthings I ended up sketching, the symbol of the city of Davis. After the parade, we walked about a bit, my wife and mother in law got some plants from the Plant Science dept, we all got an expensive round of smoothies, then we decided to ditch campus and walk downtown to the Farmers Market.

Here’s a lot more information about Picnic Day: https://picnicday.ucdavis.edu/history

May the Porsche be with you

May 14, 2024Leave a comment

I saw this beauty down on 2nd Street in Davis, opposite the Varsity. Lovely Porsche. I don’t know the model, I assumed it was a Carrera, a 911 maybe. I should be like an expert on these things, but having not studied them whatsoever I think that disqualifies me from being an expert. I just love how they look. It reminds me of my favourite Autobot from the Transformers, Jazz, who was a Porsche. Beautiful shape this one. I stood outside the Avid Reader Active and sketched this (adding the colour later), it’s always nice to have a classic car in your sketchbook. I saw another silver Porsche parked around the corner, and an even shinier Auston Healy a couple of blocks away. I wish I could have sketched them all! It’s been a while since I went to one of those classic car events.