San Francisco, CA: I walked along the Embarcadero, beneath the Bay Bridge, through South Beach, on my way to AT&T Park. I wanted to draw the ballpark because my wife is a big Giants fan. On the way, I passed Red’s Java house, which I have wanted to sketch for some time. I’ve never been in here (and my lack of cash meant I didn’t go in this time either, plus I’d already eaten at Gott’s), but I know it’s historic and I always like a well-worn building in my sketchbook. I seem to recall Anthony Bourdain popped in for breakfast in one of his shows. This place has been here for the best part of a century, serving the dockers, later the dotcommers and then the Giants fans. Beyond, in the turquoise bay waters, huge container vessels from Korea, China, the Rest of the World came in to dock on the far side in Oakland, Alameda, or wherever, unloading their cargo to be hauled across the United States and its big economy. Behind me, lycra- and iPod-clad joggers jogged on. The Java drinkers at Red’s presumably watched, and I sketched none of it. For me, the building is story enough.
Author: pete scully
Pete is a sketcher from London who now lives in California.
a stitch in time
I took the train down to San Francisco this weekend past. It’s a lot more expensive than it used to be. However, it’s nice to get out of Davis after a busy, busy week. I had no plan, and only decided to get that early 7:55 train shortly after waking up. I rushed to get to the train, my hair a mess, not even taking the time to stop at the bank for some cash. The train itself was packed with knitters, chattering and knitting, on their way to some big knitting thing in Santa Clara, Stitches West. I was sketching, and not chattering.
When I got to the city I stopped at Gott’s Roadside at the Ferry Building for breakfast, before setting off aimlessly for some sketching and walking.
space oddity
During the busy days it is even more important not to stop sketching regularly. It helps to focus and normalize your thoughts, if only for a short while. I must admit, despite being ridiculously busy in 2013 I am feeling quite sketchbook prolific, fitting them in when I can. The nice weather and wintery trees have helped enormously. I took two thirds of a lunchtime to sketch one more slice of 2nd St (continuing the block I have been sketching this month), with this picture of Odd Fellows Hall. This is a, well, um, they hold gigs here occasionally, I know that. I’ve never been in here, perhaps I’m not an odd enough fellow, though that is up for debate. I stood and sketched quickly, and added the colour later on at home. Anyway, like a Monopoly player I am busily ‘collecting’ my Davis street blocks, and this side is pretty much done, yeah just the end of this building but you get the idea. Here then is the (near) complete block:
I should draw the other side some time…
wie vater, so sohn
We were eating lunch, and watching old Batman episodes on YouTube. My son turns to me and says, “can we go and ride our bikes somewhere and do some sketching?” Er, yeah of course! Don’t need to ask me twice. We didn’t ride far, and he drew batmobiles, and there was a chilly breeze so our hoods stayed on. I think this is what he thinks I do when I go out sketching, and he’s not wrong!
the head that wears the crown
I just realized that when I posted the drawing of the Antiques Plus building on D St the other day I went on about it being Presidents Day, when in fact it was just Sunday. Presidents Day was on the 18th, and on that day I cycled over to the other side of the park near where I live and drew St.James’s Parish Church. This modern building has been on my “oh yeah I forgot about that place, I should draw it some time” list for quite a while. Well, not without good reason, it’s interesting enough but a lot wider than I expected. I sat in the sun and scowled at the wind but now I have marked it off. There are a few more churches and religious buildings to draw in Davis, though not of particular architectural significance. This one, while not exactly the Sagrada Familia, at least has an unusual spire, almost like a modernized chess piece. It almost looks like Burnt Oak Library has been given a new crown (admittedly that will only really make sense if you are from Burnt Oak, which while some of you are, most of you are not, but as Alan Partridge might say, you get the general idea). This was sketched in brown uni-ball signo um-151 pen with Cotman watercolours in a watercolour Moleskine, one which is very nearly finished.
an illustrated journey
EXCITING NEWS! And believe me, this is pretty exciting. Many of you will have heard of Danny Gregory, renowned sketcher and author of books such as A Creative License, Every Day Matters and An Illustrated Life. Well his newest book “An Illustrated Journey”, a sequel of sorts to An Illustrated Life, was just published, featuring the travel sketchbooks of about forty artists of, well, like to travel. And I’m one of them! I haven’t received the book yet but I’ve had a peek online, and it looks like an incredible read. I loved ‘An Illustrated Life’ when I got that a few years ago, so I was hoping for a sequel. Many of the featured artists I am familiar with (such as through Urban Sketchers or Flickr) and friends with / big fans of, others I’d heard of and am eager to learn more about, and many more I didn’t know so I’m looking forward to finding out about.
I am very honoured to be included among such illustrious company. One of my sketches – of Vipin’s in Burnt Oak, of all places, the shop where I used to buy my pens and pencils when I was a little kid, a shop completely unchanged in three decades – is on the front cover. (I can’t wait to go and show Mr and Mrs Vipin!) I’ll probably write a bit more about it once I get my copy, but why not order yours now at your local bookstore, or online at places like, you know, amazon. Also, head over to Danny Gregory’s blog, were he talks a bit more about the book and has been posting video interviews with some of the artists already (very enlightening!): http://dannygregory.wordpress.com/
Thanks Danny for putting me in your book!!
waiting for the moment to find me
Last Monday was Presidents Day. For those who don’t know, Presidents Day is, well, just a day off. Unlike British summer bank holidays, my experience of Presidents Day is usually nice sunshine, perfect for some urban sketching. I had it in mind to sketch bigger and slowly, take my time on the details, and after an hour and a half or so (without colouring) a big drawing of Dairy Queen, I moved on. I’ll post the DQ pic when it’s finished. What else to draw? I wasn’t sure. so much of Davis to sketch, but so much already sketched. Sometimes it is about catching a building at the right time of day. Well, I’ve drawn this a few times but never quite how I wanted to, but in this late winter afternoon sunshine the setting was just perfect. This is Antiques Plus, on D Street. I love this building, in fact most of these buildings in this little quarter of Davis are sketchworthy. I used Micron pen size 02, and the picture is larger than my usual sketchbook size, at around 8″x6″ or so, on Canson watercolour paper. Because the sun was going down, I had to do most of the colouring-in at home, with my trusty W&N Cotman set (and for me, it is ‘colouring-in’, really: I don’t consider myself a painter, I’m much more about the drawing, the linework, though I do vastly prefer the drawings to have colour as it brings them to life). On the right is the Pence Gallery, and on the left is the Mustard Seed. I’ve now drawn most of the buildings in this block too, just a few more to go…
Speaking of the Pence Gallery… exciting news, I will have a mini-show there on the wall of the stairwell this coming April. This may well be one of the pieces displayed!
the boy bale
He’s been brilliant lately, hasn’t he? This is Gareth Bale, Tottenham Hotspur’s great young Welsh star, drawn on another Chinese envelope. I have him up between the drawings of Messi and Ronaldo next to my desk, and he is probably in that company. His free kicks lately have been spectacular, Spurs have barely needed a striker with Bale moving about up front. He needs to do something about his barnet though. Young people, eh.
and mark it with a pin
The weather is so nice these days that it’s hard not going out and sketching the whole time. I did manage some yesterday lunchtime though. I have wanted to sketch this downtown building for a while, and sketched the one next to it recently. These are the offices of Lyon Real Estates, and usually hidden behind trees, except on these nice Winter days when trees are bare. It still wasn’t easy though, with cars in the way, and I stood holding my sketchbook awkwardly trying to get it all in before the end of my all-too-brief lunch. Eventually I will have sketched all of 2nd St.
pigeon street
It’s been a funny week. State of the Union address, Rebuttal by thirsty Republican, flaming Meteors crashing into Russia, the Pope resigns, North Korea detonating a nuclear weapon underground and causing an earthquake, Oscar Pistorius shooting his girlfriend, a big fight on top of a moving train in Turkey between a spy and – no hang on, that last one was the James Bond movie I saw last night, Skymall or something. It’s been a busy week for me as well. Lovely weather, but my lunchtimes have been disorganized, so little sketching. Yesterday I did pop into the building next door to where I work, for some reason, and saw their display of stuffed birds in glass cabinets. The Bohart Entomology Museum is in there, not that entomology has anything to do with birds. I was interested in the bird skeletons. This was all I had time to draw, a pigeon. Look! I am drawing birds! Not so much a rat with wings (and pigeons are certainly not rats with wings, they’re not even mammals), more the leftovers of late-night fried chicken left in a greasy box on the N5.
When I think of pigeons, sure I think of Trafalgar Square in the olden days, and do you (in the UK) remember those short TV kids movies that would sometimes be on the BBC at about 5pm on a Friday, terrible old movies they were, but they would always open with a shot of a deeply grey Trafalgar Square with deeply grey pigeons suddenly taking off? Yes you do. But when I think of pigeons I really think of Pigeon Street. Remember that? (again, thinking more of UK folks of a certain age) Pigeon Street was great. Well when I say great, it wasn’t as good as Rainbow or Emu or any of those shows, even Tickle on the Tum was better, even Michael Bentine’s Potty Time, but Pigeon Street had its charms. Fortunately I cannot remember what they were, or I would have to tell you. But I’ll bet one thing it never had was a skeleton pigeon.
