king kenny

April 13, 20124 Comments

This is Kenny Dalglish, current manager of Liverpool FC and unquestionably an Anfield legend. He returned last year as manager almost two decades after leaving the post, two decades in which Liverpool had not won the league title, 1990 being their last one (and that one being under Mr.Dalglish). His tenure at the second half of the 1980s saw perhaps their best ever team, which if English clubs had been allowed to play in Europe surely would have had more big trophies to sit on. First (and only) Liverpool manager to win the fabled ‘Double’ back when it was a rare and coveted acheivement (these days we barely bat an eyelid at a double, Chelsea won it two years ago, remember?), and that was as player-manager. He was also arguably Liverpool’s greatest ever player. Even as a Spurs fan, I’ve always liked King Kenny. These days he presides over a team unable to break back into the top party, despite new US owners, and, because success must be instant these days, is therefore under pressure to be, well, Liverpool famously do not sack their managers. They always ‘leave by mutual consent’.

This weekend sees the FA Cup semi-finals in England, and while my main focus will be Sunday’s all-London tie (Spurs -Chelsea! Come on Tottenham!), Saturday will see a Merseyside derby, Liverpool vs Everton, on the eve of the 21st anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster. It’s even more poignant that Kenny, manager on that tragic day, is leading this current team into that match. Anyway, this is King Kenny, a true football hero.

I drew this in my Stillman and Birn gamma book with micron pen and watercolour. To the non-footy followers of this blog, who may not have read this far anyway, coming soon will be sketches from my new house (been a bit lazy on the scanning front…)

dome sweet dome

April 12, 2012April 12, 20122 Comments

Here’s an example of a drawing I did ages ago, and for some reason or other forgot to post: the Domes at Baggins End, Davis. Built in 1972, there are fourteen in total, a cooperative stduent housing community. I sketched here at the end of July, the last week in which people were living in these strange Tatooinesque buildings, or so it was thought at the time. Just a week later they were empty, uninhabited for the first time in thirty years. Nobody here but us chickens (and there are quite a few chickens; as I sketched, they gathered around me to take a look, and peck the ground at my feet). Last academic year, the UC Davis powers-that-are decided that the Domes were not fit for habitation, and declared they would not renew any leases. As you might imagine, the Domes residents past and present were none too pleased. A ‘Save the Domes’ campaign was begun, plans were put in place, and eventually they won, and the Domes were once more open for new leases. As of Spring 2012 many improvements have been made, to both the site and the Domes themselves, and this most Davis part of Davis lives on! I must go back and draw again some time.

Find out more about the Domes at daviswiki.

two moons

April 10, 2012Leave a comment

Last Saturday was national beer day, apparently, so I partook by having (and drawing) a couple from the Blue Moon Brewing Co. They make a nice wheat beer, but also make nice seasonal beers, my favourite of which is the Winter Abbey Ale, below, which is now off the shelves. Above is their Belgian style pale ale, Pale Moon, which was also very nice. I drank them and drew them (except for the bottle below which I drew later) while watching a movie on cable, “I Am Number Four”, which I think may have required more than two beers to fully appreciate the subtleties of.

first sketches in my new neighbourhood

April 8, 2012April 9, 201210 Comments

Happy Easter! And finally, some sketches. I moved across town, a move which coincided with an extremely busy work period, all of which meant lots of tiredness and little time to sketch. Well yesterday afternoon, a week after moving in, I carved out some time to explore my new area of North Davis. After six years south of I-80 I am now looking at Davis from a different angle. This means I get to explore parts of town I never got around to seeing before. I started with the unusual building on the corner of Oak Avenue (not street as I said below) and Covell, part of the Our Faith Lutheran Church. It has a funny little lookout perched atop it like a crow’s nest. Well, why not? There is another one in the gardens, just sat there by itself. Mysteries of architecture.

More conventional is the main church itself, a little further down Oak. I drew the sign, then crossed the street to draw the building. There is the Moleskine spread below. Feels good to be back in the sketchbook! And there is a lot more neighbourhood to draw…

By the way, tomorrow (well it’s today now, Monday April 9th) is the fourth anniversary of petescully.com! (It is also seven whole years since the original one began, while sat in the basement of the Maughan Library on Chancery Lane) Happy blogiversary!

(And it’s also my little sister Lauren’s birthday too; Happy Birthday!)

let’s draw g street!

April 6, 2012April 6, 2012Leave a comment

No posts for a while; I haven’t been off the map exactly, I have just moved across it, a little. Being so busy and moving house as well means the sketchbooks have been packed away, but they are eager to get back out and filled up again. So next Saturday, April 14th, why not join the sketchers of Davis for another “Let’s Draw Davis!” sketchcrawl!

This time we will sketch along G Street, in the historic heart of Davis.

START: 10:30am, corner of 2nd and G st

FINISH: 3:00pm, outside Davis Co-Op, 6th & G st

As always, this event is free and open to anybodu who likes to sketch. You can come for the whole sketchcrawl, or just for a little while, it’s all about getting out and sketching our town. At the end, participants will show each other their sketchbooks, which is always really fun. All you need is something to draw with and something to draw on!

(Please note: the 35th Worldwide Sketchcrawl is a week later, on April 21st, but I decided to avoid putting the sketchcrawl then because that is the same day as the UC Davis Picnic Day. But check out the Sketchcrawl Forums to see if there are any sketchcrawls near you, I think there may even be one in Davis or at least the Sacramento area)

Let’s Draw Davis April 14th: Facebook Event

http://letsdrawdavis.wordpress.com

but is it really a barn?

March 29, 20122 Comments

It’s been (and continues to be) a very busy week. I’ve not even had lunchtimes. So there has been very little sketching, but today, on my late lunch, I just had to get out into the sunny weather (after the massive rainstorm of yesterday) and draw a familiar looking building which in fact I have never drawn before. It’s called The Barn, for some reason, on the UC Davis campus (actually I have drawn that cactus in front of it, fairly recently). This was in the Stillman & Birn gamma book using uniball vision micro and watercolour. Going a week without drawing… that’s tough, man. Nearly forgot which end of the pen to draw with, man.

in the city of blinding lights

March 23, 20123 Comments

Roberto Mancini (which is Italian for Robert of Man City), or at least a close approximation, drawn in the Stillman and Birn gamma book, mostly in copic multiliner until it decided to give up on me. I have been practising drawing Mr Mancini, but still I haven’t quite captured his eyes; they’re too dark, too intense, as though Tevez is giving him evils. Still, this is progress, not perfection, and I’ll keep practising (until they sack him). I have a soft spot for Mancini. I was a big fan of his as a player at Sampdoria (my Italian team preferisco back in the giorno). And he’s a good looking fellow too. After all the untold riches City have had heaped upon them lately, I suddenly felt sorry for them when United went top recently; City fans are long suffering, and to be pipped now would be gut-wrenching. They look destined, despite winning every single home game, to ‘do a Newcastle’. (Notice how I’m not talking about Spurs nbeing pipped into 3rd by Arsenal. Lots of pipping going on.)

davis hillel house

March 22, 2012Leave a comment

Opposite Toomey Field on the edge of UC Davis, on the corner of A & 4th, this is the Davis Hillel house. Actually, it is the temporary one; the real one is being redeveloped next door. Hillel offers community support for Jewish students, including 100% kosher food; I know this, because I worked on a number of occasions in the kitchen at the Hillel house in central London, as a waiter for a very amiable Jewish caterer called Ron. I liked the look of this particular building; many of he buildings in this quarter of Davis have a lot of character. their new building will be two storey, and perhaps I will go and sketch the progress. However, just this week the allergens returned, and the sneezing and sniffling season has begun. Oh well. This was sketched at lunchtime yesterday, with colour added later.

first tee-ball game!

March 21, 2012March 21, 20124 Comments

Yesterday my son played his first ever tee-ball game, and has now entered the big world of baseball. His team, the Orioles, played the Pirates on a lovely March early evening; my Luke, wearing the number 1 (how cool!), made a couple of nice hits and while fielding made a great throw to get someone at first base. Sport at this age is so cute. They don’t keep score in tee-ball, and nobody is really out, everyone gets a chance to run the bases and hit the ball, and it’s all a lot of fun for them. Both teams therefore win (they won’t ever call it a draw!), and they all get snow-cones afterwards. My boy’s growing up; we’re very proud parents!

glove is all you need

March 20, 20124 Comments

This was fun to draw: my son’s baseball glove (or is it a mitt? I already drew one Mitt in this sketchbook). The baseball glove is such an archetypal piece of Americana, and naturally it is completely alien to me. My four year old son had his first baseball game today – tee-ball, to be precise, and it was great, good job mate! – and while he is much more comfortable with the old baseball than a learner such as I, he did take to wearing it on his head for periods while out fielding. That is what I would do too, probably.

Drawn with micron pigma 03 in the gamma series Stillman & Birn book.