say hello to my little friends

January 27, 20123 Comments

I’ve been drawing fire hydrants this week, ones I have not drawn before. The taller yellow one below was drawn at the end of last week’s sketchcrawl; the stumpy yellow one above is on the corner of 2nd and University. The other two are drawn on brown envelopes – I work with graduate applications, and recieve mail, transcripts, from all over the world (well, mostly China). I like to recycle the envelopes from time to time for some drawing, and well it’s that time of year. The one above was drawn on an envelope from Southwestern University of Finance and Economics in China, and is a hydrant from the UC Davis campus (they are white and blue). The one below is drawn on an envelope from Sri Lanka, and is found in the parking lot of Davis Commons. There are still one or two styles of hydrant in Davis that I’ve not yet drawn, I’m sure!

inside the walls of the old city hall

January 27, 2012January 27, 20123 Comments

You know the old City Hall building in Davis that I have sketched about a million times? This one here? Well I noticed the last time I sketched it that there was a sign outside saying ‘City Hall Tavern’, which was news to me. Apparently, this building (a wing of the restaurant Bistro 33, and the former police station among other things) has now been converted into a bar, so after the fun of last weekend’s sketchcrawl I popped by for a pint of Weihenstephaner. It’s very modern inside, dark walls and cycle-themed (there are rotating bike sheels all over the ceiling), and some sort of games room which was blocked by a curtain. It would be an interesting bar-room to sketch, though I only had time to do a quick one of the bar area itself. I’ll go back some time for a bigger sketch. It’s certainly an interesting use of this historic space.

Here are some previous outside drawings of the old City Hall building. It’s on F Street, near 3rd, Davis:

the (slightly scary) wheels on the bus

January 25, 2012January 25, 20121 Comment

Also from last Saturday’s sketchcrawl…after lunch at Crepeville I found that big yellow ex-schoolbus (if ever it was a schoolbus? I’m not so sure) that I have seen around Davis for ages. It was on C Street, and so I crouched nearby and put it in my Moleskine. As I was sketching, a lady walking by with her dog stopped and asked me if I was that guy who drew the picture of the Dairy Queen. Yep, I did!

This is a slightly peculiar bus. Obviously it’s privately owned, you’re not going to see it out picking up fares, and there is a Viking helmet in the front window. But look at the spikes on that wheel! They really are that big, like something out of Ben Hur or something.

Funnily enough, I think I have drawn this bus before. If it’s the one that used to be parked out near the PG&E plant just east of downtown Davis, then I have; here it is.

worldwide sketchcrawl #34, let’s draw davis

January 22, 2012January 23, 20121 Comment

On Friday there was a massive rainstorm in northern California, with flood warnings and downpours so loud I could barely sleep. “But Saturday is the sketchcrawl!” I sighed. Not to worry – it all magically stopped, and the sun came out and the world warmed up and what a lovely day for sketching. It wasn’t a massive group, but it was a fun day sketching by the farmer’s market. I always sketch more slowly on these events, because I spend a lot more time talking while sketching, but that’s one of the fun things about sketchcrawls, meeting and sharing experiences with other like-minded folk. I started by sketching the other sketchers:

Above left is Marlene Lee, sketchcrawl regular and an inspirational artist; right is Jennica Forrest, who I met on the last sketchcrawl at the community park.

Above left is Leah Jin, who I know from UC Davis, and above right is Morning Waters, an artist from Fair Oaks, California on her first Davis sketchcrawl. Nice to meet you!

This was the day of the 34th Worldwide Sketchcrawl, and people in cities the world over were out braving the cold to sketch their cities, and be part of a global sketching community. Check out their results on the sketchcrawl forum...

More Davis sketches to come!

out in the cold

January 19, 20125 Comments

Another from Martin Luther King Jr day, sketched in the morning in old North Davis. Opposite the Co-Op actually. It was bright and sunny, but freezing cold! Totally brass monkeys. My fingers did complain to the management. My pens were cold too, and so I had a rotation policy in place, keep two warm inside my pocket while the other braved the cold, switch, continue. I was getting my paints out to colour it when my painbrush said, are you having a laugh? So I went and got some lunch instead.

I spent the rest of the afternoon sketching down at 2nd street, a big panorama in another accordion sketchbook, but after two hours (and six pages, to be filled in and detailed later) I retired. Once it’s all done I’ll scan and post it, but the cold weather is now bringing rain with it so in the meantime, here’s a picture preview…

old yellow MG

January 17, 2012January 17, 20128 Comments

I had a day off on Martin Luther King Day and so I spent the day out sketching stuff. It was bright and sunny, but freezing cold. The first thing I drew was a beauty, a yellow MG parked over near the railroads. How could I resist? I have been meaning to draw more cars when I see them out and about, so I’m glad to have chanced upon this. Micron 01 and watercolour in my moleskine, and it took about half an hour to draw, before moving on to freeze my fingers off somewhere else…

lightning mcqueen shoes

January 16, 20121 Comment

Back to this series, though I actually am not sure if there’s another shoe between the last one and this. These shoes however are the main ones, the favourite footwear: Lightning McQueen shoes. They have little red lights on the soles that flash when my son runs in them. Drawn monochromatically in black copic multiliner, as per the convention of the series, but this is one shoe where you really need the colour! These shoes are getting bigger and bigger.

lego garbage truck

January 14, 2012January 15, 20121 Comment

This name makes much more sense than what it’s really called. My son got this for Christmas (let’s face it, it was for me too). He calls the bigger AT-AT a ‘garbage truck’, which really is a better name, so this smaller two-legged version is the ‘Lego Garbage Truck’. Drawn tonight in my Star Wars moleskine while watching Reservoir Dogs.

a look at the gallery

January 12, 2012January 12, 20121 Comment

This is the Pence Gallery where I had my show last month. I had wanted to go and draw the building properly for a while, as it’s a very interesting design, but usually the foliage hides it a bit (but I love January!). I started this on Tuesday lunchtime, and then finished it off last night at home. Canson watercolour paper with uniball vision micro pen and cotman watercolours.

Incidentally, if you missed the show, you can see all the drawings that were on display on this new page here: Pence Gallery Show December 2011. Hope you like it!

nemo mortalium omnibus horis sapit

January 11, 2012January 12, 2012Leave a comment

This was a nice beer, Pliny the Elder, from the Russian River Brewing Co in Santa Rosa CA. A gift from my mother-in-law (cheers Lois!), it’s quite strong at 8%, and something of a cult favourite among beer afficionados (try saying or typing that after a few). Written all around the label are recommendations that you actually drink the beer, not save it. It’s a living thing, beer, you have to treat it right or the taste will go funny. Sometimes it’s easy to forget that (and I had a beer at Jupiter in Berkeley last month that really was very much so off). This label makes sure to remind you. “Pliny the Elder is a Historical figure, don’t make the beer inside this bottle one!” “Age your cheese, not your Pliny!” “Respect your Elder: keep cold, drink fresh, do not age!” “Do not save for a rainy day!” Good advice. Well it hasn’t been rainy here in quite a while, nor will it according to KCRA3 Chief Meterologist Mark Finan, so chin chin, bottoms up!

Drawn in the ‘beer bottle and glass’ brown sketchbook. “In Vino Veritas”; that was from Pliny the Elder, did you know.