Tag: micron pen

give trees a chance

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So rested he by the tumtum tree
And stood awhile in thought.

the arboretum

I’ve been a little uninspired by drawing in Davis lately. Oh the Davisites will not like me for saying so, but I’ve just not wanted to draw the place much, prefering little shoes. Hey, I have drawn a lot of Davis. I have just been craving a little more urban; I like trees and bikes and all but some barbed wire and brickwork could be fun too. A couple of summers ago, I would draw here in the UC Davis Arboretum on most lunchtimes, but it all got very samey. Plus (and more importantly) I would go through my green paints like there was no tomorrow. After some days of near-agoraphobia, I felt the need to go outside today – I actually wanted to draw some of the construction vehicles opposite work, but they seemed to be all off on their own lunchbreak – so ended up back down here in the tree world by the creek. It’s nice here, you can hear the insects and the birds and the ducks, and the traffic and the joggers and the lunchtime gossipers; bring your mp3 player to blot out this din. Still, it was pleasant to draw there. Maybe I’ll do it again tomorrow. Or maybe I’ll draw another shoe.

my fair lady

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I painted the ladies again. Well I drew them first. San Francisco’s famous old houses, sloping down Alamo Square, with the City in the background.

painted ladies again

The last drawing I did of the Painted Ladies was in sepia. I added colour this time. They are supposed to be colourful after all. This will very likely be for sale on my long-time-coming Etsy shop which is of course not yet ready. Keep your ears peeled.

I do love these buildings, but now when I see them I think of that awful Sleep Train Mattress Center commercial on TV (“a ticket to a better night’s sleep”), which uses them (or near approximations).  the thing about those commercials is they always do these special holiday greetings for events throughout the year. They use the standard American commercial ‘Happy Holidays’ line at Christmas, fair enough. For Easter, however, they used the over-generic “Happy Spring”, Easter being a bit religious for them (though I can go into how the word and the bunny and egg-hunting have absolutely nothing to do with Christian religion). And yet, throughout March, they constantly wish you a Happy St.Patrick’s Day. Which is wierd, because that is a religious, Christian event (or at least it is in Ireland); it’s named for a saint. Sure, it’s an event for the Irish – though as we know, everyone wants to be Irish on March 17, so they can pretend to be an Irish sterotype and pretend they like Guinness (I’m London Irish, and I can’t stand Guinness). It’s just funny how ‘Christmas’ and ‘Easter’ are seen to offend on religious grounds in the eyes of commercial-makers, yet the saint’s day of a very Catholic country is not. Just an interesting observation. Anyway that’s what crosses my mind when I think of those adverts, and now, by association, these buildings. But I still love them, whatever holiday it is.

who ate all the pi’s

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I’ve mentioned the Davis frat houses before, and I will mention them again, because I drew another one (or rather, a different part of one I’ve drawn before). There are lots of them, lining the streets just outside campus. they are currently pretty quiet, but give it a month or two and these places will be rocking out to the new academic year. Rushes, hazing, all of that fun stuff that comes with these strange greek-lettered clubs. Some frats are old, really old, while others cater to certain fields, such as law, or ethnic groups. The one below, Theta Xi, is presumably the frat-house of apprentice cab-drivers.  However I still can’t find the house of the boating fraternity (Rho Rho Rho)…
fraternising

If I had gone to university in America, I would not have been a frat boy. I would have gone to the parties though, for sure.  I can’t help wondering if those greek letters are just an old form of textspeak, like Omicron Mu Gamma, Beta Phi Phi, or, from the society of proctologist comedians, Lamda Mu Alpha Omicron.

czech out

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little prague

I cycled downtown last night, while the air was cool, and looked for the latest World Soccer magazine (not to be found), looked through countless books written for year-and-a-half-year-olds (didn’t end up getting one; I’ll let the one-and-a-half-year-old choose for himself, he knows best), and stopped off for a beer in the Czech-style pub, Little Prague, always an excuse of course to do a drawing. Bar-sketching is tricky for me, as there are always a lot of bottles, plus the light is never that great, and my eyesight isn’t either (I think I need a new prescription on my glasses). But this pub has lots of interesting things to draw, at least. Up there, Fox 40 News, the mouthpiece of the dreaded Murdoch (but even so they were kind enough to show one of my drawings on TV a couple of months back).  I noticed that they had the closed captioning on, and that it was lagging a little behind, so they would talk about one story, eg Steven Tyler falling off stage, while the pictures would show an elderly woman and a shop fire; I did wonder at first, Tyler has really let himself go. I focused on the details. The pub’s music wasn’t very good. A couple were dancing.  There was a Russian wrestler sat to my left who complimented me on my drawing.

Ten years ago this month, my friend Tel and I took a trip to Prague, Big Prague, spending almost two weeks there. Oh, there are stories alright, memories, it was a fun trip but so long ago now. I’m less hectic now. I’d love to go back to Big Prague, but I imagine the beer is more expensive there now. In Little Prague, I drank Krusovice. It’s a nice beer. I’m pleased with how this turned out. It’s the height of summer, and it’s pretty cool.

have i got moos for you

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They call us Cowtown. I don’t know who ‘they’ are, and I’m only presuming they mean cows of the bovine nature, but it is apparently a nickname for Davis. Yet in all the time I’ve been drawing here, I have never once drawn a cow. Until now.

cows

These cows live in a field not far from where I work. I suppose they are research cows. I am told that some cows here have special windows in their stomachs so you can see what is going on. Again, no jokes about the windows having beef curtains, please. Anyway, I didn’t see any belly-windows. I imagine it would be a pane anyhow. I have been meaning to draw the cows for quite some time, but have avoided it because there’s never anywhere to site (remedied by bringing a chair this time), and there’s no shade so it’s always too hot and sunny (so I wore a hat and put on sunscreen). I didn’t mind the smell, though I don’t eat red meat, but the additional insect activity annoyed me, predictably. So a half-hour sit-down later, and I had drawn the cows. they kept moving about. Some tried to get on top of other cows (not like acrobats, though that would be fun to draw), and there was a lot of mooing, though they were kind of rubbish moos, more like squeals. I like a good proper moo, myself. something like Bully the dart-playing bull used to do on Jim Bowen’s Bullseye. Let’s have a look at what you could have won. Moooo….

big-toe shoe

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The navy blue Stride-Rite (why don’t these companies spell properly? Makes it sound like a magic incantation for silly walks), next of my son’s shoes, and the first with a hard sole.

#5: big-toe shoe (side view)

And, as you can see, a very big toe. The sole is thick moulded rubber, useful for when baby takes long hikes on treacherous mountain trails, while the rest is squidgy and hard to draw. The toe is interesting because it’s so big. This shoe is the real deal, presented here in two views. I love the shape of the top drawing. You’d be forgiven for wondering what the drawing below actually is. It is the rear view; it is not Darth Vader’s ski-mask. They might be a giant spider’s fangs. When I started drawing it, I was in a well-lit room, but when I did the shading, the room was considerably darker. It’s useful sometimes to know when to stop.

#4: big-toe shoe (back/top view)

Drawn in Micron Pigma 02 and 01, in a small Moleskine cahier.

soccer shoe

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3, soccer shoe

Third in the Luke’s Shoes set. Another slip-on Robeez shoe, this time with a football (or ‘soccer-ball’) on it. I drew it a bit darker than intended, perhaps due to not knowing when to stop, but I’m still pleased with the overall effect. This was a very difficult thing to draw. It barely stayed in any sort of shape. In real life it is red and black, and would often get comments of ‘cute shoes’ from passers-by. But all baby shoes are cute, aren’t they?

Speaking of football, I was sad to hear about the passing of the great Bobby Robson, one of the real old gents of football, who perhaps may not have won the glittering silverware at home that some managers have, and unappreciated as England manager (aren’t they all?) until he was on his way out, but what he did at Ipswich and at clubs around Europe, and as the mentor of Mourinho, stood him in the highest respect. RIP Sir Bobby.

see you on the other side

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Having just drawn Mrak from the other side of Putah Creek, and noted over the past few years its vanishing appearance, I chose to draw from the front side (or it may be the back; like Buckingham Palace, the front is really the back and vice versa).

mrak from the other side

back in mrakAnd naturally, I have drawn it before, and therefore you get to see how the view is slowly vanishing even on this side, as a forest grows at its very toes. Well, not exactly, more that the last time I drew it was late Fall or early Winter (whichever it is called here), and the trees did not have many leaves. But it illustrates the recurring theme. That drawing was way back at the start of Moleskine #2; I am now more than halfway through Moleskine #4.

sensible shoe

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#2: sensible shoe

Second in the series of Luke’s Shoes, these were in fact the first ones he ever wore, sensible little blue and brown shoes he often liked to take off and eat. Before babies can walk their feet are chubby with more rounded soles, and so the shoes are more flexible. Now he walks, his shoes have sturdier soles. I’ve learnt a lot about baby shoes. Well, not that much. He on the other hand is learning (or teaching himself) how to put shoes on, any shoe, big or small, and is frustrated that he can’t get these ones on his feet any more. Kids are funny. But then again, I’m the one drawing shoes. “My dad’s wierd, he draws shoes” will probably be what he tells people when he’s older, but that’s ok. I kind of made it one of my art goals to learn to draw shoes, which I don’t really draw often, so it’s a good place to start.

rocket shoe

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luke's shoe #1: rocket shoe

I’m starting a new series; this is #1. I am drawing my son’s shoes; as he gets bigger, so do they. The series will take a long time to finish. He doesn’t wear these ones any more, but he wore them before he was one, before he could walk. They are elasticated at the ankle so it’s hard for babies to take them off and throw them from the stroller. Plus they look really cool, with the little rockets on them. Everyone – well, women – always commented on his lovely shoes. He doesn’t wear them now, instead he runs all over the place with his rocket-powered feet. 

Drawn in micron 02 in a moleskine cahier, if you’re interested. I’m going to fill the whole little book with Luke’s shoes.