PrideFest and the Run For Equality

June 10, 2025June 9, 20251 Comment

This month is Pride Month, and this weekend our city held its annual Davis PrideFest at Civic Park. It started in mid-afternoon, so we went down and enjoyed all the festivities. The afternoon June heat was a bit much to take, especially in the direct sun, so we stayed long enough to watch some of the drag performers, and the Sacramento Gay Mens’ Chorus, and walk around to all the booths getting stickers and fun things. It was organized with the support of the Davis Phoenix Coalition. It is important to show support, especially right now. I did a little bit of sketching, having coloured my page in Pride colours so I could just do quick sketches, I still found it tricky because the only shade was very far from the stage area. It was a good atmosphere overall, families and kids playing and lots of support for the local LGBTQ+ communities. We didn’t stay too long, it was very very hot and there was very little shade, but we had a nice Kona Ice in rainbow colours before heading home.

One thing I did make this week, having seen other examples online where people had mashed up their national park photos to create a Pride flag, so I decided to do something similar, and created the flag below from a whole load of my Davis sketches. It was fun to put together! Once I started I could not stop and it was interesting to go through all of my Davis drawings from the past couple of decades that I have been here – I really have drawn a lot of this town. It has turned into quite a body of work. Anyway here it is!

And on Sunday we had the annual Run For Equality. I had printed out a copy of the flag of sketches and pinned it to my sleeve, as you can see below. It was my first organized run since the 10k in November and I have been lazy, that’s for sure. I finally got back out just a couple of weeks ago and starting my old 3 mile run looping around the blocks of north Davis. I’m a lot slower, heavier for sure, well it’s been a heavy half year, weighed down by everything that is going on (and all the food). It does feel good when I run though. This was the first time I have taken part in this run. The Run For Equality was founded in honor of Mikey Partida who is a local Davis runner that was targeted in a horrendous hate crime over ten years ago. I remember it in the news back then, it was shocking. This prompted members of the community led by his mother to form the Davis Phoenix Coalition, and this run/walk event was created to honour those who have suffered bigotry and intolerance. Mikey was announced at the start, and that was an inspiration to all of us about to run. (At that point a known local ‘phobe attention-seeker also showed up at that moment to try and make it all about her, but I don’t give them any attention.) This wasn’t a huge run like the Turkey Trot so it felt more communal, and runners seemed to give each other positive vibes, and it was easier to see the people you knew. It’s the same course as the Labor Day Run which loops back along the same path, I saw the son of a guy I know through soccer (when his son was much smaller) whizz past at the front on his way to coming first about ten minutes ahead of me, his dad a few minutes behind him. I wore my sketch-flag on my sleeve (see below). I had been a little nervous about doing the run, being my first in ages, but I was pleased with how it went and cannot wait for the next one, which will be the Moonlight Run in July, the one held in the evening. Running (like sketching) definitely helps beat the bad away, but then you get home and see The News and it’s back down again. Actually I got home and we had donuts and watched Time Bandits, one of my favourite films and infinitely more fun than the News.

JFK to PHX to SMF

June 9, 20251 Comment

And so we ended the Spring Break trip to DC (the nation’s capital) and New York (the real capital) (yeah I know, New York isn’t even the capital of New York) (it’s a bit like explaining that Harry Kane was not the captain of Spurs, that being Hugo Lloris, despite being England captain). We flew from JFK in, ahem, first class. Yep, through the magic of airline points we managed to get a deal that got really good seats in first class all the way back home. Well, all the way to Phoenix, and then another short flight but those seats were nice too. These ones however had the little compartment with the massive screen and the lie-flat seats. No cushions or blankets though. It was strange to be seated at an angle on a plane. The attendant was very attentive (yeah don’t put your hand on my shoulder when asking me if I want a drink mate), though I did not know what to order, I felt I had to be fancy, but I just got a wine which I didn’t even finish. I sketched, watched Avengers: Infinity War, tried to sleep a little, basically it was like being on a plane but with more room. My teenager was there to my left watching some movie (Hunger Games maybe), I wish we had had a game of Battleships because that would have been perfect (you probably can’t play Battleships on a plane though). It was only my second time in first class, and mate, it’s hard to go back. But we only get a brief glimpse into life on the other side of the curtain, and then it’s over.

I did people-sketch at the airports, both JFK and PHX. I hate airports as you may know, and sitting around in departure lounges is slightly better than rushing about in corridors or going through security lines. I had done a lot of people sketches with that thick black pen on this trip so this was a good way to pass the time.

And finally, the last leg from Phoenix to Sacramento. It was late afternoon, nearly the evening, and we were all exhausted from the travel. I was watching Withnail and I, another classic. After watching Infinity War this was a change of scenery, but I imagined Uncle Monty and Thanos switching places, putting a new spin on his question “Are you a sponge or an infinity stone?” It was late, I was tired. I sketched to calm the old flying nerves, and slept well when we got home. I hope it’s not as long again until the next time I see New York, but I guess there’s only so much excitement I can take.

Imagining Central Park quite a bit

June 5, 2025June 5, 20251 Comment

Big fan of Central Park. It’s another of those places with very imaginative names, but it fits the trades description. It’s pretty massive too. Places that Central Park is bigger than include the entire country of Monaco, the entire Vatican City, all of London’s Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens, Green Park and St. James Park combined, though still slightly smaller than the gap between Tottenham’s most recent two trophies (by the way, Come on you Spurs! More on that later). I have walked through it in the Fall, when the leaves were golden and crunchy like a bowl of Corn Flakes, I have walked through it in the Winter when the lakes were frozen and my eyes turned to glass, and now I’ve been there in the Spring when the leaves were still slightly autumn-coloured or wintery bare but the Sun was out and the flowers were getting ready for the bee season. Central Park is special though, surrounded by all those tall buildings. There were more of them than the last times I came. I was waiting to meet up with my family there, so spent some time walking about and sketching. I drew the Gapstow Bridge above, while sat on a bench by the water. It was a bit chilly, but really not bad. A lot of people passing by and taking the old selfies there, as they do. You don’t see as many selfie-sticks these days though do you, I think they need to make a retro comeback. Maybe I have just stopped seeing them. It was clam on that bench though, peaceful. That’s why I love a park. I walked about, heading in the general westward direction, until I came to the busy street on the West of Central Park, whatever that street is called.

I found the Dakota Building, where John Lennon lived and died. I have wanted to sketch it for years. It was sunny on the path where I stood but it was view I liked best. I love the Beatles, and felt a lot of sadness about how John was murdered right here. As I sketched I could hear the sound of someone murdering the song Imagine, over and over. Imagine if they would sing something else, I wondered. I had bought a postcard of John Lennon a couple of days earlier at a shop in Greenwich, and had been taking it around with me taking some photos with the real New York backdrops. I did the same here (below). He was a complicated fellow, but we love him. Me and him, we both moved from England to America, though in his case he was never able to set foot back home again. He will always be part of New York City now, and the area of Central Park nearby to the Dakota that was dedicated to him is called Strawberry Field, and has that little circular mosaic that says ‘Imagine’, often decorated with little flowers and Hershey kisses. It is nice.

I went over to Strawberry Field to wait for my family to show up, and I found where the music was coming from. There was a guy with a guitar singing Imagine, and a lot of people sat on benches imaging stuff, and a lot of people standing next to the big mosaic also using their imagination. The pained renditions of ‘Imagine’ aside, the singer was pretty good when doing his own stuff, but was clearly sick of singing that song over and over for the tourists. I assume it’s a requirement of the gig. I imagined Han Solo singing it, and saying he “can Imagine quite a bit”. Then I imagined Michael Caine (as Han Solo) singing it. Then I imagined a version of Star Wars where the main characters were played by the Beatles, John as Han, Paul as Luke, George as Obi-Wan, Ringo as Chewie, Yoko as Leia. Mal and Neil as C-3PO and R2-D2. Allen Klein as Darth Vader. Billy Preston as Lando. Brian Epstein as Yoda. George Martin as General Dodonna. Dick James as Jabba the Hutt. I really want to see this now. Maybe John could be Luke, so Aunt Mimi could be Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen combined. I sketched while I imagined, and then got my own photo taken next to the sign, because I too am a tourist.

metal pipes of manhattan

June 3, 2025June 3, 20252 Comments

I can’t go to a new city and not record some of the hydrants and other metal pipes sticking out of the ground, can I. I have sketched a New York hydrant before (on a well-below-freezing day) but there is quite a diverse selection. However I am at the stage now where I see a movie or TV show set in ‘New York’ and I see the hydrants and I just know it’s filmed in like Cleveland or Toronto, because the hydrants are all wrong. I don’t care that much, but it’s like when an American Hallmark movie is set in Scotland and everyone has a fake Irish accent. Anyway, here are some of the ones I drew in New York. I liked the pipe above spouting out of the ground like a metal worm down on 23rd. The New Yorkers like to put stickers on their hydrants and pipes, it makes them look a bit more personalized, like your water bottle. The hydrant below was also on 23rd, sketched on a Chelsea morning. Nice to see the hearts around it, scrawled into the concrete. I saw that yellow ‘SK’ sticker on a lot of pipes around Chelsea.

This one covered in stickers and rust was on 6th Avenue, one of those hydrants you see with the two little poles next to it like bouncers, protecting it from errant cars banging into it. “Geddouddahere!” There was a pizza place near here where we ordered a massive New York pizza on our first night and ate it in the room, bloody delicious. New Yorkers know how to do pizza. Sorry Chicago those big deep dish pies were a bit much for me, tasty though they were.

This one above was on West 28th, sketched as I was walking out toward the High Line one afternoon. I like exploring the city, seeing what I come across along the way. This hydrant had those bouncers as well, but it also had a little metal X on its head that reminded me of a hot cross bun. Now the thing below, on the corner of 23rd and 7th, I drew on the way back, it’s obviously not a hydrant but is some sort of telecommunications post. I saw some others dotted around. Do they still work? Probably, but I just liked the look of them so I had to sketch one. “We are the Future” says the graffiti”. There’s that SK sticker again. It was busy here at this intersection, a lot of interesting characters about, I could have sat and people sketched for ages, but hydrant sketching is easier, and hydrants don’t complain if you get the size of their nose wrong. I didn’t see anyone famous, but I never do. My family did spot Michael Emerson – Ben out of Lost – on this very street while I was still sketching Brooklyn Bridge, out walking his dog with his distinctive little glasses on (on him, not on the dog). As big Lost fans this was a big deal. But that is just New York for you, and to paraphrase another former New York resident, not seeing famous people is what happens when you are busy sketching fire hydrants.

Way Up Above New York City

June 2, 2025June 2, 20254 Comments

My dream as a sketcher is always to go high above a city and sketch everything below – not too high above, I still want to see things. (Click on the sketches and you will see it all in bigger detail). New York City is easily the most exciting place for this. Our hotel was located on 6th and 28th in Chelsea, in sight of the One World Trade Center, the Chrysler, and the Empire State Building which loomed outside our bedroom window. It was too big to include in the view above but would be just to the left of that view. The above panorama was drawn while sitting on my bed. The light and colour of this view changed enormously throughout the day, and I did this in a couple of sittings, about a couple of hours total at most, but I drew much of it in the late afternoon/early evening while the sky was all purples, pinks and blues. Below, cars moving slowly in lines, the famous yellow cabs weaving in and out, and people the size of ants, all looking for the jam. What excited me most is not all the windows or the depth or the movement, or the feeling that I am in the Spider-Man video game, but the water-towers.

The distinctive New York water-towers really are everywhere you look., especially in the view above which was drawn from the roof of our hotel, just a few floors above our room, about 30 stories or more above the street. I was looking south towards the One World Trade Center on the left, and across Chelsea on the right. I was a little overwhelmed by how many water-towers there were, and on another day I might look at the pictures I took and draw a big detailed one, all coloured in. On this day I stood up on the roof of the hotel, which was open to the elements with just an elbow-high glass fence keeping me safe. It was thankfully not too windy. It was late afternoon/early evening, the sky was an interesting collage of shades, and the tall towers in the distance were just blue-grey silhouettes. I drew fast (this took less than an hour and a half) but could not quite finish it, and left a gap which I never had time to fill, and felt that my mind’s eye would fill in the gaps. My eyesight is not that great anyway, and while I sketched one of my lenses actually fell out of my glasses, thankfully falling on my side of the barrier and not hundreds of feet to the sidewalk of 28th Street. I popped it back in. There were taller buildings to my right, and my eyesight was not so bad that I could miss the sight that greeted me there, a man at the window completely, well, ‘stark bollock naked’ as we say and possibly oblivious to the fact anyone could see him at all. I tried not to stare, and thankfully he was not very long. By the window I mean. I think I understand that song about being ‘caught between the moon and New York City’ differently now. I kept drawing (not that obviously) until I could draw no more, and we went for dinner. I was so glad to have the opportunity though to draw New York from above, which is always a dream, and to stay in a hotel where I have the time to actually do it and not feel rushed to leave, even though I still drew faster than usual. New York, all those movies, all those photos, all those paintings and songs and stories, all that culture that has played with our imagination, all right there below me. I want to draw more of it!

Sketching the Stonewall Inn

May 29, 20252 Comments

As Pride Month starts, here’s another place I sketched New York that is so important to LGBTQ+ history, and present, the Stonewall Inn National Monument. I remember hearing about Stonewall from my old professor at university but never really knew much about it, other than it was in New York, and central to the civil rights struggle for the Queer community. The Stonewall Riots began here in June 1969, kicking off a fight for LGBTQ+ civil rights and a larger gay rights movement in America and around the world. That fight goes on, and it’s not a fight that is going away. The current lot in charge have removed the ‘TQ+’ from LGBTQ+ and expunged any references to trans, non-binary, intersex etc individuals on the official government run Stonewall National Monument website, in an erasure of the monument’s actual history. they even took down the recommended reading list. I won’t link to that site now. I’ll link instead to the Stonewall Visitor Center, that was very interesting. I came down here twice, once to sketch it in pen and some paint (finished off the paint at the hotel), stood in the little triangle across the street which is part of the Monument, which has some very moving memorials and a lot of flags showing support for our trans friends, and then back again to get my sketch stamped at the Visitor Center, and look around some more. I got some nice metal pins. I didn’t go into the Inn itself, but I was glad to finally visit this important place, and walk some more around the Village. This area is cool. More New York sketches to come…

Washington Square people

May 28, 20251 Comment

Big fan of Washington Square Park. Always enjoy coming here when I’m in New York. If there’s anywhere to just sit and chill, with New York all around you, this is it. On my trip here in 2016 we stayed nearby here on Bleecker, right in the heart of Greenwich Village. On the first morning in New York City this time, I headed out a little early, planning to meet the family downtown later, and headed to Washington Square. I noticed my Pigma Graphic pen was running low on ink, which would usually mean that oh well, nothing I can do about that. But I’m in a big city, of course I can find a replacement pen in one of the first shops I come across. This is New York, you don’t have to look too hard. New pen in hand I went to the park with the big arch to sit and draw the people. Well I drew the Washington Square Arch first, above, looking up towards the start of Fifth Avenue. It’s not Marble Arch, but what a world-beating location. Greenwich Village is where NYU (New York University) is located so there are a lot of students around. I would have liked to have gone here. I remember looking around here on our trip in 2002 when I was thinking about doing a Masters degree, but I saw how much it would cost, and ended up staying in London to do a Masters at King’s, and then moving to California in 2005. All worked out. It was funny listening to people talk, I wrote some of it into the sketch, some students who I think were visiting NYU or maybe just new here, talking about their experiences. “I don’t want to sound dramatic,” one young woman said dramatically, “but the three hour time difference has literally ruined my life.” Most overheard conversations are generally boring as hell but this one made me laugh. In fact I overheard a lot of amusing conversations in New York, it’s almost as if being in a big city is more interesting in general than, you know, Davis. I overheard two guys while walking around in Chelsea who spoke in the most thick and colourful New York accent, completely opposite to the regular vanilla-flavoured California voice (which I like, don’t get me wrong, but we are kings and queens of the generic). These guys would have needed subtitles on American TV. One had a scratchy throaty voice and the other was pure cartoon Noo-Yoik, discussing some TV show or movie they had seen, it was the highlight of my year.

What is it about New York that makes me want to draw more people than in other cities? Big city people are different, they dress different, they move and stop different, they talk about different things, and they sound different. I don’t know, I like the diversity. I notice it in London, and in a place like New York my urban sketcher radar is on overdrive. I drew people in Washington Square with the thicker black pen that allows me to just go quickly. Here are a bunch.

I liked the guy sitting with a tall wizard hat, I think he was reading tarot cards or telling fortunes or something.

I was walking this area with my teenager after a morning at the Guitar Center (a morning well spent) when we sat in Washington Square for a bit and I drew this group of young women sat near to us, chatting animatedly. The big bushy jacket of the one on the left was interesting.

Return to Pete’s Tavern

May 16, 2025Leave a comment

A little place of mine in New York is Pete’s Tavern, down in Gramercy Park. For really obvious reasons. It is one of the oldest bars in the city and still a very popular pub, in a well-to-do neighbourhood, on the corner of Irving and E 18th. On the first day while the family rested at the hotel I walked down as far as Pete’s, and stood across the street to start the sketch above. I didn’t get that far, because I was eager to go inside and have a beer after the walk through the city, so I drew the outlines and did the rest later on. I came in and ordered a Pete’s Ale, and spoke to a guy at the bar who was waiting for his friend to arrive (when they did he said “this is Pete” and I said “welcome to my Tavern!” because I am cheesy). Pete’s has been going since 1864, same as my jokes, and is a great place to sketch. I remember first finding it on our trip to New York in 2008, but I spent a fun day here celebrating my 40th birthday with two of my best friends from London back in 2016. Here’s my post from 2016. On that day I sketched a similar view to the one below, but in the afternoon, and on the way through several more beers than I could have now.

On the last evening in New York, after dinner and a walk in the rain, I decided to get on the Subway and go down to Pete’s for a last time to sketch the inside. It was a busy evening, but I found that same spot at the bar, got a Pete’s 1864 Ale and sketched fast before jumping on the Subway back. I enjoyed this one, plus I got a couple of beermats that say ‘Pete’s Tavern’. Until next time, Pete’s!

habemus papam

May 12, 20251 Comment

And so, we have a new Pope. I happened to be working from home last Thursday when I saw the news headline pop up that there was white smoke seen from the chimney at the Vatican, indicating as you all know that the Conclave had reached a Conclusion. I switched on the live footage (actually turned on Sky News for some reason) and watched as the crowds gathered in St. Peter’s Square, as all the speculation mounted and people tried to predict who the next pope might be. It’s not like predicting the next Dr. Who or James Bond, because these days you have a fair idea about that, but with the Conclave they say you enter as a Pope and leave as a Cardinal, meaning the list of favourites never win election. Nobody was predicting Robert Prevost from Chicago, so when the cardinal came out and said “Habemus Papam!” (not “abemus”, as I wrote, my Latin is bad) and announced who it would be, it was for sure a surprise. He took the name Leo XIV, and is the first American* Pope. (*from the US; the first American Pope was the last one, Pope Francis, who was from Argentina, but this is a question for trivia bores next century). Pope Francis died on Easter Monday, I liked him a lot. I’ve not seen many Popes in my lifetime, John-Paul II came in when I was a baby and was Pope until just before I moved to America* (*the US), and I remember that Papal Conclave back in 2005 when they got Ratzinger. I’m not a Catholic myself but many of my family are, and a lot of my neighbours growing up in Burnt Oak so the Pope was a big deal for a lot of them. I thought there might be an Italian Pope again for the first time in my life, or maybe even an African Pope, but I was very surprised to see an American* (*US) Pope emerge. He’s spent a lot of time in Peru and is strongly connected there, and even spoke in Spanish for a bit while addressing the crowd at the Vatican. I sketched the TV and wrote down some of what people were saying on the news. He’s young at only 69 (so people kept saying) so might be the Pope for a good while yet. So there we have it, a new Pope, and he’s from Chicago. That’s pretty cool.

DC Part 5 – Ben’s Chili Bowl

May 8, 2025May 8, 2025Leave a comment

The final sketches from our recent trip to Washington DC were very different from the other places, as this is not a museum or a marble monument, but a humble diner up on U Street, a few stops up from downtown on the Metro. This is Ben’s Chili Bowl. I’d seen it in an Anthony Bourdain episode on TV and even the thought of it made me feel hungry, indeed I’m feeling peckish right now thinking about those cheesy fries. Ben’s Chili Bowl is, as the sign says, a proper historic Washington landmark, having been an important local staple during DC’s era of the fight for civil rights. This area around U Street is historically known as the ‘Black Broadway‘, with the large Lincoln Theatre next door to Ben’s being one of the most iconic venues of a cultural and musical renaissance showing acts like Duke Ellington, Nat King Cole and Ella Fitzgerald. A couple of blocks down, the Bohemian Caverns (formerly Crystal Caverns and originally Club Caverns when it opened in 1926) was the preeminent jazz club of the city. While Ben’s wasn’t here during the golden age of jazz, it opened in 1958 by Ben and Virginia Ali in a period of great cultural change in DC, a time when segregation was only just starting to end. Martin Luther King Jr regularly ate here, and the March on Washington in 1963 led to the Civil Rights Bill; Ben and Virginia were there and donated food to the marchers. During and after the DC Riots of 1968 Ben’s kept its doors open to provide food and shelter. Check out this fascinating interview with Mrs. Virginia Ali, widow of Ben and co-founder of the diner, who tells some amazing stories. You can learn more about Ben’s Chili Bowl on their website (but it will make you hungry).

I had the cheesy fries (not being a meaty chili eater myself) and sat inside to sketch quickly; I only did outlines and the people because I wanted to eat my cheesy fries, and go outside the draw the outside. Next door to Ben’s is a bar called ‘Ben’s Next Door’ which was quite popular, but I didn’t go inside. A massive group of schoolkids arrived with their teacher on some sort of field trip, and they were all going into Ben’s for a milkshake after looking at the large murals in the alley between Ben’s and the Lincoln Theatre, ‘Ben Ali Way’. The murals were painted a few years ago and show a series of black leaders and heroes, with the faces of Barack and Michelle Obama prominent at the alley’s entrance. Obama came here in 2009, knowing what an important landmark this was during the civil rights era. I miss them.

And so that concludes our little trip to DC, it was an interesting place and I’m glad I finally went; if I ever come back, I would want to spend more time in the museums, appreciating them while we can, and then come back up to Ben’s for some more cheesy fries. Next up, sketches from our trip to New York City. There are a lot!