Tag: let’s draw davis

of the people, by the people, for the people

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davis sketchers

Saturday was another hot day, but another day of sketching in Davis. We held the latest “Let’s Draw Davis” skecthcrawl, this time in old North Davis, outside the Co-Op on G Street. I don’t go to the Co-Op very often (I just don’t get over there, though I used to be a member) but I really like the place, and they have great seating outside for a group of sketchers to converge and start drawing Davis. I took as always the opportunity to draw some of the sketchers before moving on to the more architectural items. There were about twelve of us total, a pretty good showing for what was going to be a hot day (about half braved it all the way to the end, where we met for a cold drink and ice cream outside Dairy Queen, a block away). It was fun chatting to other sketchers about sketching, materials, techniques, and I was excited to report all about Lisbon.
Davis Co-Op

co-op clockThe Davis Food Co-Op is one of those beloved local institutions, fully owned by its shoppers, having grown out of a living room in 1972. Being completely owned by its members, it is another example of the way the Davis community works together, promoting sustainability, healthy living and education. It started out of a living room in the early 1970s, and is now a full-service grocery store. To find out more about the Davis Food co-Op, check out the FAQs on their website.

On the right is the clock that sits outside. There’s fellow Davis sketcher Allan (Numenius) sitting in front, I caught him in the above sketch as well.

Below, the Davis Food Co-op Teaching Kitchen. They offer classes in cooking here to people of all ages (including young kids). It’s right across from the Co-Op on G Street. This in fact is the last page of my eighth watercolour moleskine (though I still have several sketches from that book yet to post). This moley took only two months to complete!! Sketching old north Davis is nice as the leaves start to change colour. It’s still the height of summer, but as we get into autumn it becomes gorgeous around here. Fall is the best season in Davis, with clear sunny days and crisper mornings, but on Saturday it was getting into the big nineties so after spending about an hour sketching below, we went to the Dairy Queen to cool off and check out each other’s sketchbooks. Another great sketching day!

 G St, Davis

The next Let’s Draw Davis day will be Saturday September 17, on the UC Davis campus. The next after that will be on October 15; I am starting to plan ahead, and I have started a new website for information about the sketchcrawls (it’s still pretty bare, and will be an information site, rather than overloaded with blog posts): http://letsdrawdavis.wordpress.com. Check it out, and I’ll see you at the next one!

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

let’s draw old north davis!

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let's draw old north davis!

It’s time for another Let’s Draw Davis sketchcrawl! This time, we will be sketching in old North Davis, starting at the Davis Co-Op on G Street, sketching the neighborhood, and then meeting up again outside the Dairy Queen, by the railroads at 5th Street.

Join us for another sketchcrawl in the city of Davis, California, on Saturday August 27. This sketchcrawl is free and open to all who have an interest in drawing, from beginners to old hands. This is a great way to connect with other local artists and people who like to draw, to learn from each other and to look at our city in a new refreshing way.

All you need is something to draw on and something to draw with!

DATE: Saturday August 27
START TIME: 10:30am
START LOCATION: Outside the Co-Op (6th / G Street)
END TIME: 3:00
END LOCATION: Outside the Dairy Queen (5th / I Street)

Everybody is welcome so feel free to forward this onto anybody who may be interested. See you there!!

Let’s Draw Davis Flickr group 

Let’s Draw Davis Facebook event

window dressing

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wardrobe dresspreeti girl dress

The last few sketches from Saturday’s sketchcrawl: things seen in shop windows. I like drawing the colourful dresses, it’s very rewarding drawing all that fabric. The pink one was in the window of ‘the Wardrobe’ on E Street, and the blue dress was in ‘Preeti Girl’, on the corner of E and 2nd.

Meanwhile, I also sketched this lovely cuddly cow that was in the window of the Mother and Baby Source on 2nd Street. Cows are popular in Davis, some even call us ‘cow-town’. Cows are funny creatures. What is a Cow’s favourite TV show? Graze Anatomy. Ok I’ll restrain myself from any more of the the many bovine-related puns out there. Anyway, the next sketchcrawl in Davis will likely be on July 23, the day of the Worldwide Sketchcrawl (though I won’t be there, as I’ll be in Lisbon…)toy cow

waiting on the corner staring through you in your different world

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2nd st sketching salvador

More from Saturday’s Davis sketchcrawl… we moved from the station and went down Second Street, and I stopped outside Subway to sketch the little row  where the Village Bakery is found. The restaurant there is Our House, which is, er, in the middle of, yes you get the idea. there used to be a nice Tapas place there, we went to a couple of times. For this sketch I decided to try out the Uni-ball Signo UM-151 most awesome pen ever, to see how it worked on the rougher watercolour moleskine paper, and how it really takes a wash. As expected, it did dull the wash a little, and being a thin nib it meant harder work on a larger drawing such as this (I have other pens that can do the job but it was a try-out) but on the whole it worked pretty well. I was sketching with Stockton artist Salvador Castío and Rio Vista artist Janice L-h. There is Salvador there in the drawing; I have followed his work for a while, and it was great to see it in real life, larger than expected, very strong lines and precise hatchwork (see his blog here). Janice’s sketching work was great, she had wonderful books of drawings from all over northern California, but her Davis sketches were amazing, an excellent style (check out Brightflyer, her Flickr site). I sketched her too, below, using purple micron pen with a background of the scribbles of paint from the previous drawing.

2nd st sketching janice2nd st motorcycle

Also above, a motorcycle sketched on 2nd Street. I would have sketched the whole thing but I ran out of page. A few more sketches to come…

drawing davis on a hot june day

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lets draw davis june 2011

Saturday was another ‘Let’s Draw Davis’ sketchcrawl, and after a very hot week several sketchers braved the sun and came out to sketch Davis. It was nice to see new faces, as well as some familiar ones too. One of the things I like about these sketchcrawls is the opportunity to not only sketch with other artists but also to talk about sketching, pens, paper, technique, sketching bags, etc. It’s always nice to know you’re not the only one who thinks about these things. It’s nice sketching down by the station. Apart from the odd train rolling in and rolling away again, it’s very quiet, and peaceful, with lots of places to sit and lots of shade. Anyway, for this sketchcrawl I was working in two sketchbooks – the main watercolour moleskine, and the small ‘red moley’, which I started last weekend (and am already halfway through). These few colourful pages are in the small red moley, quick sketches, people sketches, on pre-washed paper. Above, Rio Vista sketcher Janice sketches the station in the sun, flanked by Jana from Sacramento and Nathan from Davis (both also sketched below). Trying out something new! I like the effect of the purple sketch.
lets draw davis: nathanlets draw davis: jana

I have to draw the station of course. It’s a lovely old building, but dare I say it’s a bit of a bugger to draw. I have attempted it a few times, but always have trouble with the precision and location of the arches for some reason. Still as a reasonably quick sketch you get the idea and that is the point after all. 

davis amtrak

More to come!

Let’s Draw Davis Flickr group

drawing downtown davis june 25

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let's draw davis, june 25

It is time for another Let’s Draw Davis sketchcrawl folks, this time on Saturday June 25th! It will begin at 11:00am from the Davis Amtrak station (it was nice sketching there before, lots of benches, lots of history) and will amble through the old downtown area, before finishing up at the E Street Plaza at 3:30pm.

This is as always FREE and open to everyone, regardless of age or skill level. It’s a good chance to met other sketchers and artists, to see how they do things, to learn from each other. Plus the summer sun has finally arrived in Davis so it’s another excuse to get outside! (I’d wear a hat though…)

All you need is something to draw with and something to draw on. I personally use ink and watercolour in a sketchbook. In fact if you’r interested my materials are all listed on my ‘materials’ page.

DATE: Saturday June 25th, 2011

START: 11:00am, Davis Amtrak Station (2nd & H)

FINISH: 3:30pm, E Street Plaza (by clock fountain)

See you there!

Let’s Draw Davis: June 25 Facebook Event

Let’s Draw Davis Flickr Group

Aggie TV report about our January sketchcrawl

‘Let’s Draw Davis’ posts on petescully.com

 

and if you know your history…

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hattie weber musuem of davis

The remaining sketches from Saturday’s sketchcrawl in Davis, the last one first: the Hattie Weber Museum of Davis, above. It’s a former library (it’s named after Davis’s first paid librarian), built in 1911 – it’s a hundred years old! But it used to be on F Street – buildings tend to move about in Davis. I was in there a few weeks ago, and was pleasantly surprised to find that they had a print of one of my drawings on the wall. The drawing of old City Hall, fromcentral park garden, davis my ArtAbout event in January (it’s one of my favourites). So that’s pretty nice, I’m in a museum!

After sketching sketchers sketching at the market, I had a nice lunch at Crepeville with Napa-based designer Cynthia and her son Nathan. I sketched the interior (see bottom sketch) and had a huge-normous scrambled egg thing.

After lunch, it was back to the park. I was actually a little unsure what to draw next, so I chose to head for the gardens, and sketched the large mosaic-covered urn feature called “Flutter and Hum”.

After sketching the Museum, it was getting a bit cold. Of thirteen who came, only three of us ended up finishing at the end for the show and tell, and having been up very early to watch the FA Cup Final I was knackered! (Speaking of the FA Cup Final, I don’t like it when other matches are played on Cup Final day, it should be about that game alone, and that shoudl be the season closer. I’m no great fan of Man City’s millions, but they won their first trophy in 35 years, only to have their day overshadowed by overacheiving neighbours Man United winning a record 19th league title. But back to sketching…

It was another nice sketchcrawl in Davis though and I look forward to the next one – some time in June, date and place to be decided…

crepeville

Let’s Draw Davis Flickr Group

saturday’s alright for sketching

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let's draw davis farmer's market

The sketchers of Davis (and nearby areas) got together again last Saturday for the sixth ‘Let’s Draw Davis’ sketchcrawl. About thirteen of us gathered and spent part of the day sketching around the Davis Farmer’s Market, and Davis Central Park. It was the same day as the Tour de Cluck, hence the sketch of the woman with that chicken thing on her head. I sketched some of the other sketchers; above are Marlene, Jenna, Victor and Alison (though it really looks nothing like her; I haven’t quite mastered that angle yet!). I need to sketch people for practise, and have been practising lately. I also a local singer David Hafter, whose version of Leaving on a Jet Plane was really brilliant. There he is below, with the guitar.
david hafter at farmer's marketperforming tommy

Also singing in the park, above right, were the cast of Tommy, currently playing at UC Davis. They performed six of the rock opera hits, and were largely brilliant (the two singing above certainly were, though I did a bad job of the uniformed man’s face). I don’t know why they sang Pinball Wizard in such Mockney accents though, as Roger Daltrey never did. Still, you should go and see them, it looks like being a very exciting show.
allan sketching cherries

And here is Allan, who I have sketched before on recent sketchcrawls, sketching cherries at the Farmer’s Market. Below, how it all looks on the page, for those who might be interested …

Lets draw davis...
More to come!

let’s draw davis: farmers market

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let's draw davis: may 14 2011

Time to announce the next ‘Let’s Draw Davis’ sketchcrawl! If you’re interested in drawing and sketching, why not join us in capturing our little city on paper in pen, pencil, paint or whatever you choose! The event is free and open to everyone, regardless of drawing ability – from the humblest beginner to the humblest master. All you need is something to draw with and something to draw on. We’ve had good tur-outs at our previous sketchcrawls, and they are a nice way to meet (and learn from) other people who also like going about drawing stuff all day.

We’ll start off at 10:30 am sketching at the Farmer’s Market, and then sketch in the park and surrounding area all day until about 3:30 pm.

DATE: Saturday, May 14, 2011

START: 10:30 am, entrance to Farmer’s Market (3rd/C St)

FINISH: 3:30 pm, Central Park (by the Carousel)

The Davis ‘Tour de Cluck’ is also that day, so there may be some interesting folk about to sketch. See you on the 14th!

‘Let’s Draw Davis’ Facebook event  –  ‘Let’s Draw Davis’ Flickr group