worldwide sketchcrawl 38…

January 20, 2013January 22, 20132 Comments

Januarys are busy, and this week has been busy, busy, busy. Busy weekend too, what with a super-hero themed kids birthday party to prepare for, but yesterday I stopped and took part in the 38th Worldwide Sketchcrawl here in Davis California. We met outside the Pence Gallery on D St at midday, and immediately set about sketching the fabulous Antiques Plus antiques store. I drew using my dark brown uni-ball signo um-151 pen, and had intended to colour this, but you know how it is, there are sketchers to talk to, and I sketch more slowly when I chat! But it is great fun all the same. There were about eighteen of us in all, some new faces and some regular sketchers.

The courtyards and alleys between E and D Streets are very cute and with the trees so leafless, full of interesting shadows.

It was a mild sunny day, warm in the sun but nippy in the shade. At the end of the sketchcrawl, we met up at De Vere’s Irish pub to warm up and chill out, and checked out each others sketchbooks. I have wanted to sketch this bookshelf for a while so took the opportunity to get stuck in, wearing down the brown micron. It was very nice to meet some new sketchers, catch up with sketchers I haven’t seen in a while, and to see the regular faces too, all with great and stylistically varied sketchbooks. I definitely picked up a few tips.

Check out the rest of the world’s results from the 38th Worldwide Sketchcrawl on the SKETCHCRAWL FORUM!

autumn at the art center

November 14, 20122 Comments

(click on the image for a larger version)

Last Sunday was the November “Let’s Draw Davis” sketchcrawl, in the conveniently-located-across-the-street-from-me Community Park. Since it had been prophesied to be a cold day, only a few of us showed up, greeted by crisp autumn sunshine and blazing fall colours. after a very quick ‘people’ sketch or two I set to work on a panorama. The previous Friday evening I had attended a fun event at the Davis Art Center called the ‘Arty Party’, in which there was lots of drawing, some drinking and eating, and I even won a game of Pictionary, a game I’ve not played in a couple of decades, surprisingly. It was nice to get out and be social and talk to people about art, and in fact they will be selling some cards of my drawings in their annual Holiday Sale (Nov 30-Dec 2), including a recent one of the Art Center. I was talking about how I’d never drawn the building before, because it wasn’t an easy one to draw – trees in the way, lots of angles, it had always seemed very difficult. And then almost as soon as I had said it, I said to myself, difficult, huh? Really? So I determined to give it another go. I liked my first version – it says ‘Davis Art Center’ on it – but really wanted the panoramic version in my Moleskine sketchbook. I stood in the sunshine for just over two hours (my wife even came by and brought me a sandwich!) and sketched away. I started in the middle and worked my way outwards.

I didn’t end up doing any more sketches on the sketchcrawl (I popped back home to call my Mum in England and have a cup of tea), but met with the group at the library afterwards, where we all showed off our sketches. In the end I think about eight people came, which was pretty good for a cold day (though it wasn’t cold, really California, really..). Next one will be in mid-December, when it might really be cold…let’s keep drawing Davis!

Finally, here is the drawing of Davis Art Center I started on location before I went to Portland (and finished when I got back), showing the main entrance and part of a sculpture in the foreground. I love this place, they do a lot of good for our artistic community in Davis, and long may they do so.

let’s draw davis community park

November 7, 2012Leave a comment

Hey sketching folks, it is time for another Let’s Draw Davis sketchcrawl, this time back up at Community Park in north Davis, from the Davis Art Center to the Library. The Fall colours are very colourful at this time of year and if it gets too cold, the library is a great place to sketch.

DATE: Sunday November 11, 2012
START: 11:00 AM, outside Davis Art Center (F & Covell)
FINISH: 3:00 PM, inside Mary J Stephens Public Library (14th & B)

As always this sketchcrawl is free and open to anyone who likes to draw. I hope to see you there!

Facebook event

Pete

widescreen e-street

October 23, 2012October 23, 20122 Comments

On Sunday, about seventeen sketchers of Davis (and surrounding areas) got together again for another urban sketch crawl, this time downtown at the E St Plaza. I must admit I didn’t do quite so much ‘crawling’ this time, and spent most of the day in the same spot, sketching people in the morning (see below) and spending over a couple of hours in the afternoon stood up drawing the above panorama, a two-page spread in my Moleskine. You can see a larger version on my Flickr site, and below is a detail. This was drawn in uni-ball signo um-151 pen.

I wanted to sketch the sketchers, needing to practise some people drawing. Amazingly I was able to get a quick sketch of my four-year-old son, when he stood still for a few minutes to draw a rocketship (mostly it was all about the sprinting about). On the right is Syd, another of the sketchers.

And here are two more sketchers, Emily and Scott.

Next Let’s Draw Davis sketchcrawl will be in November, date to be announced soon…

september sketchcrawl at the silo

September 16, 20122 Comments

Yesterday we the sketchers of Davis met at the UC Davis Silo, my usual everyday sketching spot, for the latest ‘Let’s Draw Davis!’ sketchcrawl. There were about thirteen of us all in all, familiar faces and new sketchers also. I love meeting new fellow urban sketchers, but it is especially fun seeing people draw the same things that I sketch on my everyday lunchtimes, in new and different ways. I started by spending a long time drawing this wing of the Silo in brown pen. My son was there sketching with me in the morning; he’s a sketchcrawl veteran now. It was another warm day, so it was nice to sit in the shade. UC Davis is quiet this weekend, but this week thousands of students will return or start their new journeys in Davis, and the craziness begins. I can’t wait of course, being a busy and exciting period of work for me, but at the same time it’s nice to savour the quiet moments when I can.

There’s also a lot of last-minute construction work going on on campus too, it seems. This work machine was parked near the Silo and just begged to be sketched. I drew this in micron pen and coloured it in watercolour. I don’t know what ‘MF’ stands for but I can hazard a guess (it reminded me of “TFU” in the robot wars episode of Spaced).

My last one of the day was a fairly quick one of the back of Hart Hall, and I decided to make it a bit livelier by splattering paint all over the page for a bit of texture. After this we all met in the shade outside Shields Library and looked at each other’s sketchbooks, and talked about pens and paper and methods, which is always fun. The next one will be in October, on the date of the worldwide sketchcrawl; details to come at some point soon!

let’s draw america’s coolest campus!

August 17, 20122 Comments

I wasn’t able to schedule an August sketchcrawl (and boy, was it hot this month!), but Let’s Draw Davis in September instead! This time we will meet on the very calm and quiet UC Davis campus – calm and quiet, before the thousnads of students return shortly afterwards! UC Davis was recently ranked ‘the coolest school in America’, and how much cooler would it be if we all sketched it? A lot cooler!

We will meet at the Silo, in the middle of campus. The Silo itself probably won’t be open for food, being the weekend, so you may want to bring a packed lunch. It’s an interesting area to draw, and we can meet at the tables bewteen the main building and the Bike Barn. From there we will sketch around campus, on your own or in groups, before reconvening outside the main doors of Shields Library (or just inside if it’s too hot) to check out each other’s sketchbooks.

START: 11:00am, @the UC Davis Silo (map)

FINISH: 3:00pm, outside Shields Library (map)

If you can’t find your way around campus, I recommend visiting the UC Davis website where they have an excellent online campus map: http://campusmap.ucdavis.edu/. Why not check out the UC Davis Virtual Tour as well?

As always, everyone is welcome to join in, regardless of sketching ability. All you need is something to draw with and something to draw on, and once you start looking you’ll be amazed at what you find.

Hope to see you there!

FACEBOOK EVENT PAGE

drawing davis on bastille day

July 15, 2012Leave a comment

Yesterday was worldwide sketchcrawl #36, and we in Davis sketchcrawled downtown, meeting at Mishka’s coffee in the morning. There were about thirteen of us in all, and my sketch of Mishka’s is above. I took way too long on it of course, but it was a pleasant morning and there was no need to rush.

It was also Bastille Day, so before lunch I sat outside Soccer and Lifestyle with my son and I drew the France football jersey. Luke drew the Germany away kit (his is on the right). Good job! He joined me for most of the ‘crawl, drawing scenes from a story he had concocted about a man called ‘David Hotspur ‘who invented the France shirt and it was so good that he won a prize (but poor Monsieur Hotspur died before he could get it, a sad tale). We like out football shirts in the Scully household.

We sat outside the Hotdogger on E Street and sketched there, for quite some time. This was my last drawing of the day and then I went to meet the other sketchcrawlers, gathered on Davis Commons, to check out each others sketchbooks. It was a fun day! I nearly forgot all about the urban sketching symposium in Santo Domingo (I hear it was a lot of fun…)

Nice to meet everyone who came along, I hope to sketch with you again!

worldwide sketchcrawl 36, downtown davis…

July 13, 2012Leave a comment

While the urban sketchers are all busy at the Urban Sketching Symposium in sunny Santo Domingo, I’ll be here in sunny Davis, sketching away this Saturday on the Worldwide Sketchcrawl! It’s WW Sketchcrawl #36, and there are similar sketchcrawls happening all over the globe – see the Sketchcrawl forum for details, there may be one near you.

If you are in Davis tomorrow and fancy some sketching, why not join us at 10:30am outside Mishka’s Coffee on 2nd St – from there we will sketch all day around downtown Davis (in the shade), and then meet up again at Davis Commons (that grassy area with the tables and shops on 1st St, at the end of E St) at 3:00pm to check out each other’s sketchbooks. Anyone can join, it’s totally free and all you need is something to draw with and something to draw on. Hope to see you there!

Sketchcrawl #36 forum

Let’s Draw Davis!

Let’s Draw Davis! Flickr Group

gee! let’s draw G street

April 16, 2012April 16, 2012Leave a comment

On Saturday, after a week of storms and rain and puddles, the sun came out and so did the sketchers, for the latest “Let’s Draw Davis” sketchcrawl. There were fourteen of us in all, and we met at the corner of 2nd and G Streets. The location of this crawl was along G street, which is a historic part of old downtown Davis, and makes for some properly ‘urban’ sketching. I took a while sketching the above scene, that big old white building on the northwest corner of G and 2nd, chatting to folk as they passed by. One guy I spoke to was back in Davis for the first time in 40 years, having lived there in the late 60s and early 70s, and so I was interested to hear about how Davis was back then, as he was interested to hear how I felt it was now. Below, a couple of international sketchers (from Spain and from Iran), both sketching the ‘Froggies’ bar opposite.

Above, an interesting iron fence nearby to Ace Houseware, plus a fire hydrant on 5th and G and the brand new bank building opposite. I didn’t sketch quite as much as I would have expected (and there’s one sketch of a phonebox I’ll post separately because I want to say some hilarious things about phoneboxes), largely because I was getting a little frustrated with my Micron pens, which don’t like the Stillman & Birn paper as much as I might have liked, at least not in the way I use them. I felt like I was wearing them down much more quickly than usual. Still it was good to get out and draw stuff, and I was amazed at how productive some of my fellow sketchers were. We all met up outside the Davis Co-Op at 3pm (which in hindsight was a long way to go for a fairly short sketchcrawl), and checked out each other’s books, which is always one of the most fun parts of the day.

Sketchbooks at the end of the day...

To see some of the other sketchers’ work, please go to http://www.flickr.com/groups/letsdrawdavis/, the Flickr group. The next Let’s Draw Davis sketchcrawl will be in May…date and place to be determined. If you can’t wait that long, this coming Saturday April 21 is Worldwide Sketchcrawl #35, in which hundreds or maybe thousands of sketchers across the planet will get out and draw their cities, and it sounds like there will be one in Davis too (I might make it the tail end, as I’ll be going to Picnic Day before that).

In the meantime, you may like to know we now have a Let’s Draw Davis page on the Davis Wiki, set up by fellow long-time Davis sketcher Pica (who produced the amazing accordion sketchbook above).

let’s draw g street!

April 6, 2012April 6, 2012Leave a comment

No posts for a while; I haven’t been off the map exactly, I have just moved across it, a little. Being so busy and moving house as well means the sketchbooks have been packed away, but they are eager to get back out and filled up again. So next Saturday, April 14th, why not join the sketchers of Davis for another “Let’s Draw Davis!” sketchcrawl!

This time we will sketch along G Street, in the historic heart of Davis.

START: 10:30am, corner of 2nd and G st

FINISH: 3:00pm, outside Davis Co-Op, 6th & G st

As always, this event is free and open to anybodu who likes to sketch. You can come for the whole sketchcrawl, or just for a little while, it’s all about getting out and sketching our town. At the end, participants will show each other their sketchbooks, which is always really fun. All you need is something to draw with and something to draw on!

(Please note: the 35th Worldwide Sketchcrawl is a week later, on April 21st, but I decided to avoid putting the sketchcrawl then because that is the same day as the UC Davis Picnic Day. But check out the Sketchcrawl Forums to see if there are any sketchcrawls near you, I think there may even be one in Davis or at least the Sacramento area)

Let’s Draw Davis April 14th: Facebook Event

http://letsdrawdavis.wordpress.com