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.

let’s draw davis!

January 10, 2012January 10, 2012Leave a comment

It’s time for another Let’s Draw Davis sketchcrawl! January has been nice so far, weather-wise, lots of mild sunny days with bare trees, so great sketching weather. This time we’ll be starting at the Farmer’s Market, and finishing up at the Delta of Venus. It’s also the day of the 34th Worldwide Sketchcrawl, in which sketchers all over the planet get out and draw their cities and towns.

START: 10:30am, Davis Farmer’s Market (C & 3rd)

FINISH: 3:00pm, Delta of Venus Cafe (B St)

As always, this is free and open to anyone who likes to draw. All you need is something to draw with and something to draw on!

Facebook event page: http://www.facebook.com/events/301621166540875/

Flickr group: http://www.flickr.com/groups/letsdrawdavis/

Hope to see you there!

be my gust

January 7, 2012January 7, 20123 Comments

The wind was up today. It was like those swirling late autumn days from about a month ago. But most leaves have already been swirled, and now the trees are nice and bare and it’s perfect for sketching the buildings of Davis, because finally you can, you know, see the buggers. The last time I drew Old City Hall on F Street, there was too much foliage to contend with, and the shadows were just blobby masses, but now we get striking dramatic shadows, long and far-reaching even in the middle of the day. I love January. I’m always super busy (and super stressed), but at the same time super creative. I drew this at around 2pm today, after a big messy chicken burger at Froggy’s (Swiss and Shroomer, much recommended).

Perfectly bright weather – but I underestimated the wind a little. Well, I didn’t really but I was still getting blown about all over the place. I sat on the sidewalk beside my big Alphabet Moon bag (I had just been there to buy a wooden railway bridge; so sad that it’s closing down, but all of Davis was in there today buying out the stock). This whole thing took about an hour and a half, in my large Canson watercolour pad, most ot the paint being done on site (the rest – the sky, the greenery – being completed over a beer at Woodstock’s around the corner while waiting for the bus, out of the wind).

they call me the roller

January 6, 20122 Comments

Beautiful day out today. I mean, freezing this morning, but very sunny by lunchtime, although a bit nippy. I just had to get out and sketch. Despite being ridiculously busy in January, I always enjoy sketching in this month. We often have mild, bright Januarys here. But I didn’t draw a street scene or campus view with the sun shining through bare, leafless trees, because I saw this, a little mini steamroller, sat on Shields Avenue on the UC Davis campus. What a beauty! I’ll draw sunny skies tomorrow. Today was all about steamrollers.