let’s draw davis at orange court

September 8, 2023September 8, 2023Leave a comment

Last month I organized a Let’s Draw Davis sketchcrawl, the first one I’ve organized in a very long time. The meet-ups have still been happening regularly for a while, though due to my own busy weekend schedule I’ve not usually been able to join them, let along organize any. Hopefully that will change now, and I’m going to start getting out and sketching with other sketchers a bit more regularly again. It was a very hot morning in the middle of August, and we had a pretty good turnout as we met up in the shaded courtyard of Orange Court. I stood for what seemed like ages drawing the scene above, a view I’ve drawn before, I like all the different angles and shapes, and all the warm colours against the blue sky. I wish my scanner had done a better job on it though, I think the settings were a bit off. It was also really hot and dry – I found it very difficult to paint, because my watercolours were not only drying too quickly on the page (that may be the paper too, using the slightly thinner Stillman & Birn Alpha instead of the watercolour Moleskine) but also in the pan, I found it difficult mixing and judging the water to add. Here are some of the other sketchers I drew. The guy in the soccer shirt, Alejandro, I have sketched him a few times before, and I have drawn him in a Wolves shirt. I wasn’t sure what this jersey was – black and white stripes, made by Charly, they make a lot of Mexican teams’ kits, but I didn’t recognize the badge nor the colours. I was stumped. I like a challenge when identifying a kit, but I couldn’t figure it out. It turns out it was the kit of a team called Cuervos (Crows), which is not a real club but is from a popular Spanish-language Netflix show. Still it looked a bit like it might be a Charleroi shirt, and I just had to sketch it. I am a little bit obsessed with football shirts as you know.

Other sketchers posted some lovely drawings on the Let’s Draw Davis FB group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/LetsDrawDavis. I don’t know if there will be a sketch-meeting this month, but I’m planning to organize one on the UC Davis campus on October 14 – details coming soon.

Let’s Draw Davis – August 2023

August 9, 2023August 8, 2023Leave a comment

Before we continue with our Scottish adventure, I just wanted to let you know (those who live in or near Davis anyway) that I will be organizing a sketchcrawl this Saturday, August 12, in downtown Davis. I’ve been organizing sketchcrawl / sketching events called “Let’s Draw Davis” since October 2010, on and off; I’ve had a fair amount of time off, for one reason or other, in the past few years, and I actually can’t completely remember when the last one I organized actually was. A couple of years I think. I didn’t organize any while I was coaching that first season of AYSO United club soccer, and then after I stepped down as coach I still spent a lot of my weekends watching my son’s games, and just didn’t get around to setting any sketching events up. I got a bit shy. Fortunately, other urban sketchers in Davis (Marlene Lee mostly) have been running Let’s Draw Davis as monthly meetings, often on Sundays in Central Park, and the Facebook group seems to have been pretty active. (‘Facebook’, something else I hadn’t looked at for years). Well, I had a free Saturday coming up and decided that now would be a good time for me to start getting out there again. I met up one evening in London while I was back with the London Urban Sketchers, and that was really nice, looking at everyone’s sketchbooks at the end. I’m hoping to take more of an active part in these again, and will try to organize one in October for the new UC Davis school year too. This weekend though, in this hot summertime, we’ll have a morning sketchcrawl in the shady courtyards downtown. It’s summer so we may not et a lot of people, but if you fancy joining us for a bit of sketching, do come along.

DATE: Saturday August 12
TIME: 10:30am (start) – 1:00pm (finish)
LOCATION: Orange Court, E Street (start and finish at the same location)
FB EVENT PAGE: www.facebook.com/events/157365444045831

We will meet at 10:30am at Orange Court (129 E St), and then you can sketch about this part of downtown (by yourself or in a group as you prefer), before meeting up again at 1:00pm back in Orange Court to take a look at our sketchbooks.

All ages/levels are welcome, this is a fun informal way to meet other sketchers and take a look at our town through our sketchbooks. All you need is something to draw with and something to draw on. (And maybe something cold to drink in this hot summer weather…)

Maybe we’ll see you there?

Let’s Draw Davis! July 2017

July 4, 2017Leave a comment

It’s July, so it’s time to sketch. Mind you, it is time to sketch in all the other months too. But “Let’s Draw Davis” is back – and definitely monthly again. It used to be monthly until I got very busy and wasn’t able to organize it so often, but now there are three of us organizing these sketchcrawls, taking turns each month – many thanks to Alison Kent and Ann Filmer. July is my turn, so if you’re in Davis, join us on Saturday July 15!

A new aspect of the sketchcrawls that we are trying is that there will be a short sketching tutorial at the start by the organizer (me in this case), before heading out to sketch. So at 10am I will give a brief urban sketching tutorial, a few basic tips and techniques to try. We will start at Orange Court, the little courtyard off of E Street (between 1st and 2nd), and the theme this time will be to explore the hidden spots of Davis – the alleys and courtyards of downtown. We will finish up at the space behind the Pence Gallery, off of D Street, to look at each other’s sketchbooks.

As always this sketchcrawl is FREE and open to the public. All you need is something to draw on and something to draw with. Oh and maybe a cold drink, because it’s always hot in Davis in July. There are plenty of places nearby to cool off!

For more information and to see the other upcoming dates of the Let’s Draw Davis sketchcrawl series, please visit the new Facebook page: www.facebook.com/LetsDrawDavis

Let’s Draw UC Davis!

November 1, 20162 Comments

Join us for another sketchcrawl in Davis, California! This time we will sketch around the exciting area of Vanderhoef Quad, on the UC Davis campus. This is home to the UC Davis Welcome Center, the huge Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts, and of course the brand-new Manetti Shrem Museum of Art, which has its grand opening the very next day. Not far from here is the Robert Mondavi Institute for Food and Wine Sciences, an interesting place to sketch with its Good Life Garden (Jerry and Margo live next door), and of course the UC Davis Arboretum and Lake Spafford are just a couple of minutes’ walk away, a peaceful place to sketch.

START: 10:30am, middle of Vanderhoef Quad
FINISH: 3:00pm, same place

As always this sketchcrawl is FREE and open to anyone of any age/level who just wants to get out and sketch, and meet other people who like to sketch. All you need is something to draw with!

Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1589040501405221/

Sketching Wren’s London

June 7, 2016June 7, 20161 Comment

While we’re talking about sketchcrawls..!

“SKETCHING WREN’S CITY”… Join us for a sketchcrawl in London, through the City of Sir Christopher Wren, architect of St. Paul’s Cathedral and so many other churches and buildings in the years following the Great Fire of London, 1666. Hey, that was 350 years ago!

Starting at 10:30am outside St.Paul’s Cathedral, and finishing up at 4:00pm at Wren’s Monument to the Great Fire, we will explore the city in groups or individually as you prefer, looking for the London built by Wren after the Great Fire.

This sketchcrawl is FREE and open to anyone of any age who likes to sketch. I will provide Pete-drawn maps and some handy info. All you need is something to draw with and something to draw on!

This sketchcrawl is a reversed re-run (or “re-Wren” if you will) (or “re-Pete”?) of the 2014 Sketching Wren’s City event, which was a lot of fun. I’ll post reminders closer to the event, and you can sign up for the sketchcrawl on Facebook if you like: https://www.facebook.com/events/265601303793686/

Tell your England sketching friends! This being the weekend before the International Urban Sketching Symposium in Manchester there will be a few sketching events around that time of year. The day before (July 23) there is a sketchcrawl with the London Urban Sketchers at Trafalgar Square – should be fun!

Hope to see you in London!

Let’s Draw Davis! July 9

June 7, 2016Leave a comment

“Let’s Draw Davis” is back! Join us for a sketchcrawl around downtown Davis on Saturday, July 9th.We’ll go from the Central Park near the Farmer’s Market and sketch in a group or individually as you prefer, heading downtown towards the E Street Plaza to look at each others sketchbooks.

DATE: Saturday July 9th, 2016

START: 10:30am, Central Park (at the picnic tables by the carousel)

FINISH: 3:30pm, E Street Plaza (by the fountain)

This sketchcrawl is FREE, and open to anybody at all, beginners or seasoned artists, anyone who wants to just get out and do a bit of drawing and meet others who like to do the same. All you need is something to draw with and something to draw on! (And maybe a hat, and sunscreen). And afterwards, if you like we can cool off in De Vere’s Irish Pub.

If you have any questions, leave a comment below!

Facebookers: Here’s the FB event for Let’s Draw Davis: https://www.facebook.com/events/581331518693535/

**I have been rather busy on weekends these past couple of years and had little time to organize these once monthly sketching meet-ups, but I felt that it’s time to start getting us sketchers together again! I plan to start organizing more in the Fall, likely on Sundays (those Saturdays belong to AYSO soccer these days…) so if you can’t make this one, stay tuned!

Pete

let’s draw uc davis

September 15, 2013Leave a comment

Time for another sketchcrawl in sunny Davis…join us next Sunday September 22 for some sketching on the UC Davis campus!

We will meet at noon at the Good Life Garden, located in the courtyard of the Robert Mondavi Institute for Food & Wine Science (http://rmi.ucdavis.edu/). From there we will sketch individually or in a group as you prefer, before reconvening at 4:00pm at the Wyatt Deck in the Arboretum to check out each others’ sketchbooks.

As always this sketchcrawl is free and open to anyone who likes a bit of location drawing. It’s a great way to really explore our town, and meet (and learn from) other sketchers.

Hope to see you there!

let’s draw davis! a summer evening sketchcrawl

August 16, 2013Leave a comment

Join us for another Sketchcrawl in Davis! This time in the evening…Wednesday August 21, at Picnic-in-the-Park (the Wednesday Farmer’s Market, Central Park). We’ll meet at 5:00pm by the Farmer’s Market entrance, sketch around the park (there will be a band and lots of other fun sketching opportunities), and then finish up at De Vere’s on E St at 8:30pm. It’s Davis Beer Week and so a bit of Drink’n’Draw in the pub afterwards can be had too (I believe 21st Ammendment will be taking over the taps at De Vere’s that evening). If you’re in Davis, perhaps I will see you there!

WHEN: Wednesday August 21

START: 5:00pm, Farmer’s Market (corner of C & 3rd)

FINISH: 8:30pm, De Vere’s Irish Pub, E St

Sketching Jack’s London: July 17

July 3, 20132 Comments

London! Here is a sketching event just for you, a midweek, afternoon-evening sketchcrawl around the old neighbourhood of that notorious elusive villain, Jack the Ripper.

Join us as we sketch around Whitechapel, in search of its past. We will begin at 3:00pm meeting outside Whitechapel tube station, and then sketch individually or in groups. This event is FREE and open to anybody with an interest in sketching, all you need to bring is something to draw with and something to draw on (although I have made some very special micro-sketchbooks for all participants… see photo below).

As with last year’s sketchcrawl around Temple and Fleet Street, I will provide hand-drawn maps with some interesting information (and it will include the locations of the Ripper’s ‘canonical five’ murders). We will finish up outside Christ Church Spitalfields at 8:00pm. There we will check out each other’s sketchbooks, and then maybe pop across the road to the Ten Bells for a pint in the Ripper’s very own local.

Of course, the London of Jack the Ripper is gone. Thankfully, one might add. The slums were cleared, the squalor washed up. The twentieth century happened. The Blitz happened. History happened. Hipsters happened. Yet traces of Jack’s London still remain, some invisible, some ignored, and some pretty hard to miss. In this sketchcrawl, let’s look for the old East End, the smog-chipped bricks, the weather-worn cobbles, the winding streets, the smell of old pubs, the sudden towering steeples, the London that the nineteenth century left behind. Whitechapel, Aldgate, Brick Lane, Spitalfields, the edge of the City. The Elephant Man. The Krays. Jack Sheppard. Ashley Cole. Er, Jack London stayed here for a while. Even Big Ben and the Liberty Bell were born here. Jack the Ripper is gone, a legend for the tourists, but old London is still there, hiding in the modern world, AND WE ARE GOING TO SKETCH IT!!
(or of course, you can just sketch the hipsters…)

specially made ‘sketching jack’s london’ micro-sketchbooks!!!

Hope to see you there!

Facebook event page

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let’s draw the market

May 13, 20131 Comment

Join us for another sketchcrawl in Davis California! I’ve not had as much time lately to organize these as often as I would have liked, but the sun is out and the birds are singing, and so there’s no excuse not to do some urban sketching. This time we will meet at the Farmer’s Market (meet at the corner of 3rd and C) at 10:30am, and sketch the market and the are around before meeting up again at 3:00pm by the Carousel in Central Park to check out each others sketchbooks.

WHEN: Saturday May 18, 2013
START: 10:30am Farmer’s Market (3rd and C)
FINISH: 3:00pm Central Park, by Carousel

This event is free and open to anyone who likes sketching. It’s fun to meet other sketchers, and urban sketching is a great way to look at the town where we live.

Facebook Event page