pence art auction 2023

October 8, 2023Leave a comment

Late September, I went to the Pence Gallery’s annual art Auction party, which is always a nice event with food and drink and music. They don’t have the exciting Live Auction any more as it’s all online, but the Pence director Natalie Nelson did give an announcement when the online bidding is about to close, and it’s fun seeing everyone check their phones to see if their bid has been outbid, or if their art has sold. I had to sketch of course, so I grabbed a beer and some Dos Coyotes food and stood out on the courtyard, with the evening getting darker, and sketched the lived band, I think they were called According to Bazooka. I always like sketching to music, it helps to have some rhythm to draw along to. I had to squint my eyes to see in the gloam, especially to draw the drummer who was mostly behind the woman in front. I was sat at a table with some of them afterwards and showed them my sketchbook, I think they liked it. Thought I am not sure, as I did overhear the man singer telling someone else about it saying that it wasn’t very flattering, but maybe it was about something completely different. Below is my quick sketch of Natalie thanking everyone who made the event a success, and giving the five minute warning that the auction was about to close. I drew that one quickly with the fountain pen.

Here are my two pieces that were in the event, ‘Deacon Brodie’s Tavern’ and ‘Bar Italia’. And both sold! I was very pleased to hear that, I was quite happy with both those drawings. And then I cycled home and watched the F1 Japanese Grand Prix.

drawing wyatt deck

October 1, 2023September 29, 2023Leave a comment

Our September ‘Let’s Draw Davis!’ sketchcrawl was held in the UC Davis Arboretum at Wyatt Deck, a favourite spot for sketching and relaxing. Several of us met up and sketched around the area, while behind us we could hear them setting up at the Gorman Museum for their grand opening day of music and dance and art, so there was a backdrop of cool sounds and singing to sketch by. It’s always better to sketch to music (good music anyway, I’m not a fan of scratchy street violinists, or those ones that bang plastic buckets, or those little accordions playing the same tune over and over that you get on the streets of Rome or somewhere). This was really good soulful music. Actually one bit did go on for quite a long time and made me think of a James Bond soundtrack, I felt like I was sketching in a spy movie. An urban sketcher would not make a good spy, we’d be too obvious, but we might make a good diversion for a spy. I’ve never been that into James Bond, to be honest. Anyway, I sketched with my Lamy fountain pen on Wyatt Deck, still getting the hang of drawing with that medium again, it’s all about decisions, art, and figuring out what you like.

I went back to the beloved brown-black uni-ball signo for the next sketches, drawing the scene above of the view across Lake Spafford towards Mrak Hall, and the former location of that lovely tree that was cut down recently. What a shame. I really wanted to draw these trees on this side of the lake, that one that is leaning right into the water for a drink next to the other one that wears its heart on its trunk, by the look of it. There were people walking by, and joggers. I did spot other sketchers too, who were not there for the sketchcrawl (or they didn’t want to do the meet-up bit; I was like that when I started). The Arboretum staff were setting up a couple of stalls with information for people visiting, stickers and maps and so on, so I had a little chat with them and got some stickers (I love a sticker).

When I was done with that sketch I wanted to draw some flowers, so I drew those red flowers was like, ok I’ve done that. I had fifteen minutes before the final meet-up so I did another one of the Wyatt Deck, and then we all met to look at each others’ sketchbooks. Always fun to see how others have drawn the same spaces, in their different styles, always something to learn. After that, my family and I went over to enjoy the Gorman Museum, before going downtown for a milkshake. That’s a nice Saturday. That evening after a rest at home I went to the Pence Gallery’s Art Auction Party; my two pieces both sold, which was great news. Then I went home and watched the Japanese Grand Prix. That’s a good Saturday.

The next Let’s Draw Davis! sketchcrawl has been set for Saturday October 14, also on the UC Davis campus but this time over by the MU; details about it are found here: https://www.facebook.com/events/703049981188081/. I’ve also put the flier in the sidebar of my blog here. If you like urban sketching and would like to draw some of Davis with us, come along!

You can see the results of the September sketchcrawl at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/LetsDrawDavis

that ‘draw everything in davis’ guy

September 30, 2023September 28, 2023Leave a comment

This was the first two-page panorama in this particular Stillman and Birn sketchbook. It’s a scene I have drawn before, the little building called ‘University House’, one of the oldest on campus, with the rear of Voorhies to the right there. I stood in the shade, it was the week before classes, so relatively quiet on campus but tour groups were starting to lead large groups of new students around. While sketching this, a passing man asked me, “hey aren’t you that Instagram guy?” I was not sure if I was. I do post to Instagram (it was UC Davis that originally asked me to set up an account, actually) but not all my sketches, as I sometimes forget. Plus whenever I post, I hear my wife’s phone go off with a loud alert, and feel a bit self-conscious. “My supervisor told me about you,” the man said. I suppose I was that Instagram guy by now, as the man said he follows me and liked my drawings. That was nice, so I said thank you, and hoped that I was in fact that Instagram guy and not some other Instagram guy. I’m not sure I want to be known as that Instagram guy (I’m usually that fire hydrant guy, which to be fair I am), but it’s better than that Twitter guy (I’ve posted there more often – sorry, it’s called ‘X’ now isn’t it, FFS billionaires, seriously). I wouldn’t want to be that Facebook guy either, that sounds like it would be someone infamous. I most definitely would not want to be called that Truth Social guy (no chance of that), but I think that particular title is permanently taken. I wish people called me that MySpace guy, that would be pretty retro. Or that GeoCities guy. My first website when I was at university in the late 90s was GeoCities, but I replaced it with an Angelfire website. What’s next, Threads I guess. Threads. It sounded like a good idea, but it was named after the scariest film of all time, the film that gave me more nightmares in the mid-80s than Chris Waddle’s haircut, and still does. I’m still here, still on my old blog, plugging away on WordPress, still sketching in my sketchbooks, that Sketchbook guy. No I don’t want to be called that, actually, I prefer Pete. I’m not a fan of when people style themselves things like that ‘the sketcher guy’ or something, it feels like putting a beach towel down on a sunbed. Now I’m worried that there is another sketcher out there in Davis called ‘that Instagram guy’ and I’ve just claimed credit for whatever it is they do. I thought about back in Lisbon in 2011, at the urban sketching symposium, I was talking to my friend Florian (most amazing sketcher, who sadly died in 2016) about football stickers or something, when an American woman interrupted and said to me “Oh it’s you, my friend really wants to meet you!” Florian and I looked at each other while I had to stand there waiting for a few minutes until her friend came over. Finally the friend, another American lady, came over and the first lady said, “this is Paul, you wanted to meet him.” The second just looked at me and said “no, that’s not him,” and they both walked off without explanation or apology. I think she thought I was Paul Heaston, who wasn’t at that symposium. Florian and I (both red-headed urban sketchers like Paul) just looked at each other a bit nonplussed. I thought about that John Lennon bit from A Hard Day’s Night. “She looks more like him than I do.”

sketching the new gorman museum

September 29, 2023September 28, 2023Leave a comment

There’s a new exciting museum on campus. Well when I saw ‘new’, it just celebrated its fiftieth anniversary, so not new exactly, but it just opened up in a brand new location near the Arboretum. It’s the Gorman Museum of Native American Art, at UC Davis, and occupies a building that has been completely transformed for the new museum, including the installation of a large, circular public artwork by the artist Tsinhnahjinnie, and is based upon Native American basketry designs. The grand opening of the museum was last weekend; I missed the Friday ribbon-cutting, but I did visit on Saturday when there was live music and dance, and public viewings of all the amazing art. I went with my family after our sketchcrawl at Wyatt Deck, and loved all the artwork. I drew the building earlier in the month. I have sketched this building before, several years ago when it was the Nelson Hall and housed the Della Davidson Performance Studio (this was for the UC Davis Arts Explorer guide in 2016). In fact I’ve attended many meetings and events in that building over the years, but what I always think of was that I went to my New Employee Orientation here back in 2006, when I was fresh-faced newbie to UC Davis. It is interesting having watched this campus evolve over the years.

News article announcing the Gorman reopening: https://lettersandscience.ucdavis.edu/news/gorman-museum-native-american-art-uc-davis-reopening-new-expanded-home
Information about the Gorman Museum: https://gormanmuseum.ucdavis.edu/

the hydrant’s robotic arm

September 29, 2023September 28, 2023Leave a comment

It’s always time for a fire hydrant. This one is outside our building on the UC Davis campus, and recently grew an unusual robotic arm, which is propped up by some metal leaning device, making it look a bit like Charlie Chaplin, I suppose. I do love drawing fire hydrants though. Recently I gave a talk to the Urban Sketcher Jacksonville group (via Zoom, I didn’t fly out to Florida), they were very friendly and we all did a drawing of a fire hydrant at the end which was nice. That was my demo, drawing a hydrant, simplest thing there is really. Other sketchers who are more typical art teachers probably do much more complicated demos, but I’m always very nervous drawing live (especially from a photo) so my demos usually feel a bit flat. I was able to talk to people about sketching which is always the most fun. I tried to avoid going all Rolf Harris with those “can you guess what it is yet?” phrases because ugh, Harris. Still, the hydrant we sketched actually had a fun little smiling face and seeing everyone else draw the happy hydrant made us all feel good, I think. Draw fire hydrants, they are perfect urban sketching material.

what d’you want, a medal?

September 28, 2023September 27, 2023Leave a comment

This has been the summer when I got right back into running, and I did lot of it. In the period from the start of August to the end, I went from running 2 mile average to 3 mile average and cut almost two seconds off my mile, nearly getting up to the pace that I was running back in 2020 when I was disrupted by all the wildfire smoke. I’ve had periods of running since and run a few races (getting my best time in the Turkey Trot back in Nov 2021) but the past year has seen a bit more weight gain than I’d like and not enough running, largely compounded by getting some horrible plantar-fasciitis in my foot which took a long time to get over. Anyway, I ran the Davis Labor Day Run on September 4th, a different route than I’m used to, and there were a lot of people involved this year. I missed the same race last year due to those issues with my foot (it was also one of the hottest days of the year), but this year I can say that I absolutely caned it, and got my personal best 5k race time of 26:53 (my previous best was 27) though I did feel I could have done better, having had some pretty good training times that week (usually my race pace is a bit faster, motivated by other runners). I started immediately pushing for the next race. However, a couple of weeks ago I felt a bit of a pain in my right leg that I’ve not wanted to make worse, so I’ve given running a bit of a temporary forced rest until that gets better. It does pound the old legs you know, and I probably overdid it in August. I have good running shoes, but I might want to upgrade again. The Turkey Trot is in November, a week before Thanksgiving, and I want to get in good shape for that, get this leg better, lose some more belly, and try to beat my time. Anyway, I got another nice finisher’s medal, and had the usual celebratory breakfast at Black Bear Diner.

Pete Labor Day Run 2023

living room in red

September 28, 2023September 26, 20231 Comment

I was on the couch, not feeling too well, and I wanted to draw in red pen, so I looked at the cat (number 1 of 2), lying there asleep, and drew the living room looking towards the kitchen. Drawing in red pen is interesting. Not a lot interesting to add here though.

Kobe Mini Mart

September 27, 2023September 26, 2023Leave a comment

I was downtown, early September, and I decided to draw the Kobe Mini Mart, a small Japanese store on E Street. It’s a cool little store that has nice pens, as well as lots of different Japanese foods and other goodies. It’s right next to the pub formerly known as De Vere’s. I stood across the street to sketch, outside Nick the Greek, and got bumped into more than once by people coming round the corner not looking where they were going. I stood as out of the way as possible, but still. There was a car parked in front of the store for a bit, but thankfully it moved and I drew that part of the street quickly, hoping that it wasn’t replaced by some really tall vehicle. That’s always a worry with urban sketching, tall vehicles. That said, the sidewalk is pretty high on this stretch of road. I liked sketching this.

big red letters and a really big cat

September 27, 2023September 26, 2023Leave a comment

I did that thing where I used some masking tape to make a perfectly lined rectangle, so that I could draw and paint over the edge, and then peel it off satisfyingly for a lovely straight line, like all the proper artists do on Instagram. I went downtown and drew the brand new TKE frat house, which replaced the older looking frat house that was there for years, that I definitely sketched a few times over the years. It’s next to the Natsoulas Gallery which has that massive cat outside, part of which you can see here. It was a pretty hot day when I was sketching this. And then I pulled the tape off, and yes I got that dead straight line, but it was less dramatic than I’d liked, and I remembered that actually I like non-straight lines don’t I. Also I am not as smooth as those Instagram artists, and managed to pull up half the page with me when pulling up that tape. I mean that’s fine, it has a bit more texture now. I found myself wondering what TKE stands for. ‘Total Kinetic Energy’. ‘The King’s Elephant’. No, I got nothing. It looks a bit like the word ‘TAKE’ without the A, so I suppose you might look and say ‘Take Cat’ and then start singing Take That songs, but that’s a stretch. It’s a bit hard to ignore those big red letters though.

bedroom sketching

September 26, 2023September 26, 2023Leave a comment

Here are a couple of sketches from the start of this month. I found this fountain pen that had been in my office for years, it was from China, given by a former student I think, I’m not even sure how long ago. I thought I should put some ink in it and see if it worked ok. So I filled it with some Platinum Carbon ink and did a few sketches (including the one of the lemonade stand downtown), and the one below against the pink background. I decided I didn’t like it enough; it drew ok, but the ink definitely leaked a bit, and you don’t want that ink on your clothes. So I decided against using that pen any more. I did however dig out my old Lamy Safari, assuming that it would be all dried up and unusable. It was not difficult to clean, so I filled that up with platinum carbon ink and drew the scene above, the view from my bed. I was watching an old episode of Anthony Bourdain. You can see my electric guitar leaning up against the bookshelf. It’s also in the sketch below, it’s a Squier Telecaster in Lake Placid Blue, and it’s very nice to play. I love playing my guitar; I may not be very skilled technically, but I can play decently enough for what I like. I realized a while ago, I can’t play all that fiddly stuff you see guitarists do, I love strumming chords and rhythm, and that’s because that is the sort of music I like. I don’t listen to fiddly guitar hero stuff, so I don’t play it. I’m always a bit embarrassed about my guitar playing, because ‘real’ players play ‘properly’, but I only play for me and I get better where I want to get better. Now I wish I were a better singer, that would be nice, but I don’t even like my speaking voice let alone my singing voice. I am sure my neighbours growing up didn’t much either. We liked a sing-song in our house though, that’s where all the Irish music came out. Anyway, do I like drawing with fountain pen? I think so (because I just bought two more Lamy Safaris in different nib sizes) but we’ll see. I just don’t want to have to refill my ink thing while out and about, because my ink well is well messy. Bedroom sketching. Reminds me of the heady days of the Pandemic, when that was our cocoon.