number five is alive

July 1, 20104 Comments

The last page of Watercolour Moleskine Sketchbook #5. I have #6 ready to go. This is a scene I have sketched twice a year since 2007, once in the summer, once in the winter – with leaves, without leaves. Run them together, it’s like you can see the world breathing in and breathing out. This, being on the last day of June, is the summer one. I decided against the normal colours though and went black and white and blue, to give a familiar, green scene an air of the ethereal.

You can see all the other incarnations of this scene in January blog post “and the seasons they go round and round“.

So Moleskine #5 ran from the start of November 2009 to the end of June 2010. It has been an interesting journey, physically as well as metaphysically, one with an ‘A’ and a ‘B’, not necessarily on that order. You probably say that when finishing your sketchbooks too. As with others it encompasses Davis, London, Vegas, San Francisco and Sacramento. I have tried to design pages a little more in this one, and paste different papers or materials in (particularly brown paper envelopes). Here are some of the spreads.

You can see all the pictures from this sketchbook at the following Flickr page: MOLESKINE #5

an urban sketch

June 30, 2010June 30, 20102 Comments

This is Urban, who until his retirement this week was our computer guy at work. I took the opportunity to sketch him at his farewell lunch because I need practice drawing people on the spot, and also because this makes it literally an ‘Urban sketch’. Thought you’d like that. I drew it in my moleskine diary.

Speaking of Urban Sketchers…one month until the Portland Symposium…

come up to my lighthouse

June 26, 2010June 25, 20103 Comments

The Monterey Peninsula is remarkably beautiful; we were there last summer. This is Point Pinos lighthouse, overlooking the Ocean and Monterey Bay at windswept Pacific Grove. It is the oldest lighthouse in continuous operation on the West Coast, dating back to 1855.

When I was younger, I thought it would be cool to live in a lighthouse. Not so much for the whole helping ships navigate the night thing, more because of that show ‘Round the Twist’, an Australian kids show where the family lived in a lighthouse and lots of strange things happened. At least, that’s how I remember it.

This drawing is a present for someone who really likes lighthouses.

everyone’s a winner baby, that’s the truth

June 25, 2010June 25, 2010Leave a comment

Except for France (see previous). The World Cup is very exciting now! Apart from the Brazil – Portugal borefest, and for every finale of Slovakia – Italy, you get a finale of Chile – Spain. The second phase begins, with Landon ‘Groupwinner’ Donovan leading the USA against Ghana, and England facing their old nemesis: England v Germany, game on, it’s too early in the tournament but who cares, the World Cup begins (and probably ends) here.

Cartooned quickly in my football journal.

allez les bleus! en est tous ensemble…

June 25, 2010June 25, 20101 Comment

Poor France. Seriously, I feel for their fans. I haven’t always felt so. Back in 2002, I lived in the south of France when they were champions of the World, Europe and the Inner Solar System. Public opinion prior to the Japan/South korea World Cup was that you could have Pele, Maradona, Puskas, Cruyff, anyone out there and France would still win without breaking a sweat. The player’s faces were on every yoghurt carton, every soda bottle, every TV advert; Zidane was a god whose image was omnipresent; and that awfully catchy song by ancient Franco-Belgian pop star Johnny Halliday, “Allez les Bleus!” Such was Gallic confidence, you could buy their shirts with the second golden star already sewn on.

And then they went to the far east, and failed to score a single goal. They came home stunned; nobody could quite believe it. The bubble burst. Never again would the previously soccer-cynical French public let themselves get so carried away with expectation. Therefore, it was a bit of a surprise that they came within a headbutt of winning the trophy in 2006. Even more of a surprise, retrospectively at least, is that the manager that took them so close four years ago is the same one who is so universally reviled now, Raymond Domenech, who I attempted to draw above in my football journal.

What happened? I recall their pitiful display at Euro 2008, when he held a press conference not to explain the dismal defeats they had suffered, but to propose to his girlfriend. France had no confidence in him, and yet kept him on, knowing he’d be replaced after the World Cup with former player and favourite, Laurent Blanc. They scraped through a qualification play-off, thanks to a Thierry Henry handball, but in South Africa it all went ventre-up. Player revolts, Anelka being sent home, training ground bust-ups – other teams would give their right leg to play in this tournament and this is how they all behave? And then against host nation South Africa, Domenech refuses to shake the opposing manager’s hand. French football is in chaos. The French president himself is demanding answers from this shambles.

“Allez les bleus, en est tous ensemble,” sang Johnny Halliday, “allez les bleus, en est tous avec vous.” Not any more they’re not.

the return of the king (hall)

June 20, 20103 Comments

In Summer 2007 I found a pleasant spot by Putah Creek with a nice view of Mrak Hall, and drew it. In the foreground, across the green pea-soup of an early-Summer creek, two small green hillocks. I came back a year later to sketch the same spot; the hillocks were gone, razed to make way for the proposed King Hall law school extension. Fences were up, construction yet to begin. A year later I sketched there again, and the shell was up, the view of Mrak blocked. Another year has passed, and King Hall’s extension is almost complete. I drew the above picture on Friday lunchtime, while trying to avoid the England match, which I was recording to watch later (little did I know it was truly worth avoiding). I think it’s interesting to see how a view has altered over the few years that I’ve lived here.

The drawings from 2007-2009 are below.

a city in three acts

June 19, 20103 Comments

Sacramento on a Tuesday. After watching Portugal draw with the Ivory Coast, I bussed across the Causeway to the capital city. The colourful and historic Crest theater on K street was just asking to be sketched. It’s a gorgeous building, opened in 1949 (though there was a theatre there since 1913) I’m not a big fan of downtown Sac, never really as busy as a downtown should be, the only bustle being the hum of the light rail and the shuffle of the panhandlers. It does give me some ‘urban’ to sketch though.

I prefer it in Midtown, further up the road. There is a little more character, and some pretty cool shops. There is a whole little arts district by the railroad tracks now called ‘MARRS’ (midtown art retail restaurant scene). I had to stop in the Streets of London pub on J Street to watch the Brazil vs North Korea match. It was a good one. I drew the middle picture at half-time. Brazil won 2-1. I had fish and chips. The chips were not good.

After some more sketching and shopping and strolling, I went to catch my bus by the Capitol building, the last subject of this triptych. This building is always in the news here, because of the state budget crisis. State workers in suits marched here and there past beggars and palm trees, not a furlough day for them today (though it was for me, hence my midweek sketching trip). And so back home.

pretty girls, pretty boys

June 16, 2010June 16, 20103 Comments

I went sketching on a very warm Tuesday in Sacramento, the capital of California. After stopping by the Streets of London pub to watch Brazil play North Korea, I wandered up J Street to the art store, and sketched two of the magnificent old colourful buildings opposite. This stretch of J Street in Midtown Sac has some great old wooden houses, as colourful as any painted ladies you’d see in San Francisco. These two stand out, one pink, one blue. A girl and a boy. I decided against drawing the whole picture, and even colouring the whole picture, partially due to time restraints, partially due to stylistic choice. I like the result.

forza soda!

June 15, 2010June 15, 20102 Comments

To celebrate the 2010 World Cup, we are eating and drinking things from (or at least associated with) all (or at least many) of the countries involved (though how involved Australia were in their 4-0 drubbing by Germany I don’t know). Above: Italian Soda. We have also had Baguette and Boursin (France), Burritos, Margaritas, Quesadillas (Mexico, but we don’t need a World Cup for all those!), and a bottle of Carlsberg Elephant (Denmark). England has been represented by that Trifle, of course, but I also had a can of Strongbow, and as for America, well we live there and I think we had McDonalds the other day. Many other world foods and drinks to check off the list (I’m particularly looking forward to the Swiss chocolate). The Italian soda though was very very good. I had another one today, while out sketching in Sacramento. It may be my new favourite drink on a hot day.

Tomorrow we’ll have South African curry, with a nice South African wine. I do love a curry. I just need to get some vuvuzelas to blast all through dinner, and it’ll be complete.

station to station

June 14, 2010June 14, 2010Leave a comment

The mercury rose to there or thereabouts, and it felt very, very hot. I got out on my bike, my freckly celtic skin plastered in sunscreen, not sure what I wanted to draw, It’s like going to the library, you know; you think you’ve read all the books you could possibly want to read, and then you realise: hang on, I’ve not read Fahrenheit 451, I’m going to read that! So in what felt like a similar temperature, I sketched the train station. I have in fact drawn this building before though, so that analogy doesn’t really work, but it was like, 2006, and I didn’t really like it. I don’t like drawing this building, attractive and sketchable though it is. Something about the arches puts me off. However, my toddler loves trains and I knew he’d like it (see how he influences my sketching decisions now, it’s like he makes my mind up for me; well, someone has to).

Incidentally, I did read Fahrenheit 451. I didn’t like it. I got to about four pages from the end and never picked it up again, like, I couldn’t care how it finished. I felt a bit like that with the last season of Lost, too. I’m four pages to the end of moleskine #5 too… but this one I can’t wait to finish.