if you go down to the woods today

April 6, 20113 Comments

The final sketches of the Arboretum sketchcrawl, this is the Redwood Grove. These redwoods are only about fifty years old, tiny little things really, I barely noticed them. It’s quite a peaceful place, the redwood grove,, running along the creek. Redwoods grow naturally in the coastal ranges, not in the Central Valley. Ewoks are nowhere to be seen. You may notice, hidden somewhere in the above picture, that there was a photoshoot going on, with a young woman dressed like Alice (of Wonderland fame).

It was nice to see the Arboretum with so many sketchers dotted around, people stopping and watching us, seeing what we were drawing. Personally, when I see others out drawing, I want to draw things myself, so hopefully it had that same effect on people. Hopefully, someone saw us and decided, I like drawing, I’m going to get a sketchbook and go and draw some of my town myself, maybe even go on the next sketchcrawl? Well, the next Worldwide Sketchcrawl is in just over a week – April 16th. I’ll not be organizing a Davis one on that day (I’ll be joining the San Francisco crawl, in the Mission) but that day is also Picnic Day, so a great excuse for you to bring a sketchbook and sketch Davis’s big annual celebration.

Below, the sketchers who remained till the end: Dick, Tom, Jenny and Marlene. They all produced some great work! We had about thirteen sketchers in total that day, and it was a really nice afternoon. thanks to all those who came along – the next Let’s Draw Davis sketchcrawl will be in May (likely the 14th), at the Farmers Market. See you next time!

Let’s Draw Davis! Flickr group

crossing bridges

April 6, 2011April 6, 201112 Comments

When I first moved to Davis at the end of 2005, my wife told me about this cool thing she’d read about called ‘Sketchcrawl’, and that it was happening all over the world on the same day, and that there would be one in Davis organized by some local sketchers sketching the ‘Arboretum’ (another word that entered my vocabulary). I shyly met with a group of sketchers all buried in sketchbooks at Mishka’s cafe on a chilly morning and followed them to the Arboretum, by the creek, where evryone panned out and sketched away until it was too cold to do so. It was great, and though I didn’t draw outside for several months afterwards, and didn’t join another sketchcrawl for even longer, it was my first ever sketching day in Davis – the first of a great many. So for this latest Let’s Draw Davis sketchcrawl I was eager to show other people what a great place the Arboretum is to draw, but also to see for myself how my sketching has changed in the past five and a half years.Below is the same scene as above, sat in almost the same spot, but with my now differing styles.

: the same scene in december 2005

And below, here I am with Moleskine #7. More sketches to come!

drawing davis on a nice spring day

April 4, 2011April 4, 20111 Comment

It was time for another ‘Let’s Draw Davis’ sketchcrawl – our fifth one – this time at the UC Davis Arboretum. There were thirteen sketchers in total, mostly from Davis, but also from Sonoma, Sacramento, Oakland and the foothills. We met at 11 outside Borders, and spent the first hour or so in the little garden right next door, the Arboretum Terrace. That is a nice spot which is often forgotten about, and was a plesant way to start a relaxing day of sketching.The weather was nice, warm, though the wind was kicking up a bit. I drew the scene to the left, with powerlines passing overhead.

Below, sketching the sketchers: this is Sandra and Barbara, with Barbara’s dog Demi. Sandra has been on some of the previous sketchcrawls in Davis, but this was Barbara’s first ever sketchcrawl. Great to see you!

Below, Helen and Scott, sketching away.

More to come!

it’s raining; let’s not draw davis…

March 18, 2011Leave a comment

The rain is coming down heavy, and so tomorrow’s sketchcrawl at the arboretum is postponed…

…and rescheduled for Saturday April 2nd, when I am told we will have lovely sunny weather (we can hope!). So if you’re in Davis, join us on April 2nd! Everyone is welcome to sketchcrawl with us, even if you’ve never sketched before and justa want to give it a go. What better time than with others who love to draw? And at the Arboretum in the springtime, there is much to draw.

Of course, I’ll still sketch tomorrow, just at home, in the dry…

let’s draw the arboretum

March 6, 20112 Comments

It’s Spring! Rain, sun and blossom. And so it’s time for a sketchcrawl in the UC Davis Arboretum, where the flowers will be blooming and the red buds will be blossoming.

Time for another let’s Draw Davis sketchcrawl, hopefully on a nice bright sunny warm March day (please)..!

DATE: Saturday March 19, 2011

START: 11:00am (meet in front of Borders, at Davis Commons, 1st Street; there’s a coffee shop and tables outside)
Walk and sketch along the Arboretum…
FINISH: at Lake Spafford (on the north side, near Mrak Hall), at 3:30pm to look at each other’s sketchbooks.

The UC Davis Arboretum (http://arboretum.ucdavis.edu/) is a wooded pathway which runs along Putah Creek. We can sketch individually or as a group, however you prefer. Might be an idea to bring a packed lunch!

See you there!

Let’s Draw Davis! Flickr group

Let’s Draw Davis! March 19 Facebook Event

reporting the sketchcrawl

February 4, 20112 Comments

I told you that the local UC Davis student media production studio, Aggie TV, were at our last Let’s Draw Davis / Worldwide Sketchcrawl in January, reporting on our day of sketching… well here it is! The report is by Kate Calderazzo, filmed and edited by Todd Kaiser. It’s a really nice piece, two and a half minutes long, that really captured the relaxing feel of the event. Click on the image below to see it (this links to the report on Aggie TV’s facebook page)!

I did my best not to appear like Father Dougal

we all drew davis!

January 26, 2011Leave a comment

Here are the sketchers who made it to the end of the sketchcrawl in Davis on Saturday. We had over twenty-five sketchers on the ‘crawl, which is a great turn out – it was wonderful to see so many sketchers out on the streets of Davis! The weather helped, I’m sure. Spot the sketchers dotted around the E Street Plaza below…

Here I am being interviewed by Aggie TV, the local campus TV station, about the sketchcrawl. That was a surprise! I’m glad I brushed my hair.

You can see more photos from the sketchcrawl (and previous crawls) on the Flickr group “Let’s Draw Davis!”. This third ‘Let’s Draw Davis’ meet-up went really well; I hope to organize them monthly, so look out for news about the next one very soon. Sketching on location is so much fun, and it’s great to meet so many other people who like drawing stuff. The new catchphrase, “it’s ok to spend all day sketching”…

And check out the rest of the world’s sketches from Worldwide Sketchcrawl #30 on sketchcrawl.com!

Ok…back to scanning my London sketches…

it was a sunny january day…

January 23, 2011January 23, 20116 Comments

Yesterday’s “Let’s Draw Davis” Sketchcrawl in Davis was quite an event! We had glorious weather, warm and sunny, and an amazing turnout – I met lots of new sketchers, plus some familiar faces, it was a great sketchcrawl. There were at least twenty-five of us, maybe more. We were even joined by Aggie TV, who filmed us sketching and interviewed me about our sketchcrawls, and that this was part of the 30th worldwide sketchcrawl happening in cities across the planet. We were also joined by ‘Walking Bob’ Schultz, who wrote a piece about us in Davis Life magazine on Friday. You can see that article on DavisLifeMagazine.com. Pretty cool!

We all met at the E Street Plaza at 11, and sketched about the square in clusters, sketching in different styles and sketchbooks. Above are actually three separate sketches which I drew attached to each other. In the middle, the sketcher with the orange hat is Cynthia Sterling, who drove over from Napa. After a while, some of us stopped and went for lunch at a Thai restaurant in Mansion Square, just off E St. I sketched a few fellow sketchers below…

More to come!

let’s sketchcrawl davis!

January 8, 20111 Comment

Saturday January 22 is the 30th Worldwide Sketchcrawl, in which sketchers in cities around the globe will take to the streets and sketch away, as we do. Here in Davis, we’ll be doing the same, so why not join us? We’ll meet at 11:00 by the clock fountain on the E St Plaza (between 2nd and 3rd Sts, opposite Chipotle) and sketch about the downtown until around 3:30pm, when we’ll meet up at the clock fountain again (or in Peet’s Coffee across the road if it’s too cold) to look at each other’s sketchbooks.

Sketchcrawls are fun ways to get out and look at your cities in a new way, and meet other people who like going round drawing stuff. And I love drawing stuff!

If you need any more info, please send me a message, or go to:

All you need is something to draw with and something to draw on! Oh and maybe a scarf. Let’s draw Davis!

the red lion

November 30, 2010November 30, 2010Leave a comment

The quest for the NaNoDrawMo fifty marches on… these three were drawn on the Davis sketchcrawl. I was drawn to those very red pipes outside the cinema on F street. There was something I wanted to say about the colour red and that particular weekend… oh yes! That Team in Red 2, Spurs 3! Great way to start the weekend, that.