three years later

March 16, 20144 Comments

One thing about sketching UC Davis for such a long time now is that you get to see how buildings change, if not necessarily in appearance, certainly in name. The last time I sketched this building was in March 2011, three years ago if you do the math (sorry, I mean, do the maths), when there was also pink blossom on that tree. Back then, it was the Cross-Cultural Center. I seem to recall it was empty for a while, but used by some student groups in an unofficial capacity. These days it is known as the Educational Opportunity Program Information Office Building Type Thing Place, which admittedly is a long name. Spring in Davis, weather in the upper 70s and low 80s, last opportunities to draw those tree shadows on buildings.

While sketching this, I was listening to a podcast about Hadrian’s Wall. I have been listening to Melvynn Bragg’s “In Our Time” series of podcasts, which go back more than a decade and cover a wide range of topics from history to science to culture, and so on. Highly enjoyable listening while you sketch. I did however have to stop and finish this off at home, but I did about 90% of the penwork (added some of the detailing later) on site and coloured it in at home while watching, well, the final season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars on Netflix. From one Empire to another.

urban sketching: complete guide to techniques

March 15, 20143 Comments

I am pleased to tell you that some of my drawings are currently to be found in an excellent new book by fellow Urban Sketcher, Thomas Thorspecken, the USk correspondent in Florida. You should check out his website Analog Artist, Digital World. I have been a fan of Thomas (aka Thor) for a few years now, for his colorful and energetic sketches of performances and events, and have sought his advice in the past – you can learn a lot from him. Well, he came out with a book, which is very much a ‘how to do it’ book, right down to giving advice on scanning and correcting images in Photoshop (which is very familiar territory to a regular sketchblogger), as well as nuts and bolts such as perspective and composition, even giving step-by-steps by Thomas and other artists. I’m honoured to have been included; here is one of mine:

And another:

Thanks for including me Thomas! To everyone else: buy the book! Learn a lot!

south hall

March 14, 20142 Comments

This is South Hall, UC Davis. One of the oldest buildings on campus. There is another building next to it called, er, North Hall. There used to be a West Hall as well but they got rid of that one. There was no East Hall of course, that would be silly. South Hall is more than a hundred years old, and was originally a student dormitory, but now houses such things as Advising Services. Sketched over a lunchtime and coloured in later on.

and death shall have no dominion

March 13, 2014March 13, 20144 Comments

There is an old barn out on Covell Boulevard in Davis, on the edge of town in the flat wilds of Yolo County, weather-beaten and rusty, propped up defiantly like an old tramp. It is a popular icon, photographed and probably painted many times before as if it represents a little slice of “America Lost”, because as you know we don’t need barns any more, we just download all our hay these days. We’ve passed this barn so many times, and for the past couple of years my son has been insisting that I sketch it. I was waiting for the right moment. It’s kind of far away to draw too well, you can’t go an sit right up to it (well you can but you’d be trespassing, and I have this image of Yosemite Sam in farmer’s dungarees chasin’ after me shootin’ away at my heels). I sat across the street near the shops (yes there is a supermarket and a Rite-Aid and all sorts of other shops right opposite, sorry to spoil the image of rural idyll) while cars and trucks whizzed past. It was a nice overcast Sunday morning. And now the Barn is drawn. Can’t beat an old barn. I can’t imagine it is too long for this world, and there is a big housing development happening up in this area in the near future called The Cannery, so the times are a-changing; all things must pass, etc and so on.

don’t go breaking my hart

March 12, 2014Leave a comment

Hart Hall, UC Davis. That is George Hart, not the guy who invented Morph, was named after three different body parts and who regularly asked kids all over Britain to send him drawings they would never get back for a gallery they would see only briefly. I suppose there are a lot of Harts. Miranda Hart, Joe Hart, White Hart Lane, and my old drama teacher at Edgware School, Mr Hart. Actually I used to work for a Hart called Mike who owned a bookstore, a top bloke by the way. But this is Hart Hall, a nationally recognized historic building no less. Many years ago it was called ‘Animal Sciences’ (which would be a good name for a bad 80s film) and glows a nice colour in the sunshine, though you’ll have to take my word for it, as I didn’t really fancy painting it that day. Sketched in brown uni-ball signo um-151 pen in a stillman & birn alpha book.

blossom

March 11, 20144 Comments

Blossom. There is a lot of it these days, Spring is in full force. This is at the side of the UC Davis Bike Barn, sketched one sunny lunchtime. I do love pink blossom, it brightens up the world.

tibet nepal

March 9, 20142 Comments

This is Tibet Nepal, on the corner of 3rd and G Streets, Davis. I wanted to sketch this building while I can, because it was scheduled to be demolished, forcing the businesses inside to relocate, including my own barbers, Razor’s Edge, just down the block. Not good news. (See the article in the Davis Enterprise). It was to be replaced with something more modern. more stories, So, I took my sketchbook down one lunchtime and recorded the building for posterity. And then… that very evening there was a meeting in the city chambers to discuss this building’s fate, and the building has been saved! Well, not saved, but it has received a stay of execution. Demolition is probably still coming, but it has for now been paused (Davis Enterprise article). Now I have often sketched buildings that subsequently I have learnt were closed or demolished, but in this case, maybe the opposite is true? I don’t know about that. Anyway, this is Tibet Nepal, and it’s not going anywhere just yet.

amazing! spectacular!

March 8, 20142 Comments

Latest of my son’s shoes. I have some more to scan from the black and white pen-drawing book which details them all in chronological order (and I will scan and post those soon), but I enjoy drawing them in colour in the “book of his things”. This is his Spider-man shoe. Well, Ultimate Spider-man – have you seen that cartoon? I just watched it the other day for the first time, it’s pretty good. As with many of his other themed shoes, this is made by Stride-Rite. Those feet they are growing…

the mighty quinjet

March 3, 20143 Comments

The Lego is very far from being done with yet. Plenty more the draw…it’s addicting, to make, to draw, all of it. We’ve even decided to go to Legoland – the one in California, not the original one in Billund which I always wanted go to. I know there’s one outside London now at Windsor, where the old Windsor Safari Park used to be, presumably the Lego monkeys don’t climb all over your car and nick your windscreen wipers. This excquisite piece of action Lego is the Avengers Quinjet, which you’ll recognize if you’re a fan of Marvel comic book movies. This was a big set, and took a few hours to build. Highl;y enjoyable as well. That’s the deadly Black Widow flying the plane there, and to the right is the villainous trickster Loki, riding on an alien chariot driven by a ‘sorry Chitauri’ – you’ll understand that phrase if you, as we have done, have watched the Lego Marvel ‘Maximum Overload’ cartoon. The great thing about fathering a six year old boy is you get total justification to do and buy all of this stuff (“oh, it’s for my son…”). Who am I kidding, I was like it before, I’m just…more so now. And all this Lego is the best.

who let the hogs out

February 28, 20141 Comment

This is the Heitman Center, UC Davis. Well, it’s the Hog Barn really. I’ll always know it as the Hog Barn. See the pig on the weathervane? Well these days it doesn’t house sows or lodge hogs, nor is it digs for pigs. It is modern and clean and used for staff development classes, with flip-charts and coloured markers and overhead projectors. I went to a class there recently, though I left halfway through, it was a bit of a boar.