final stretch of the year

January 3, 2014Leave a comment

This was the very last bit of urban sketching I did in 2013. I went down to C Street and sketched this frat house, with the Davis Community Church on the corner of 4th St, in the very clear blue sky weather. Well, I say weather. This is the Land that Weather Forgot. The first New Year’s Eve I ever spent here, there was a massive rainstorm, and whole swathes of the local area were flooded. I remember cycling to the edge of town on New Year’s Day to look at what were effectively new lakes where fields used to be. I was so new to town I just expected it to always be like that. Well, it isn’t. It didn’t rain very much in 2013, barely at all. Lately the weather has just been well, nothing. Not even cloudy. It’s not like I want ice storms and tornadoes or anything, but it feels like whoever is in charge of weather here left it on one setting and then went missing. Anyway… 2013 is over, and here’s the last panorama. This frat house is new, built only recently. It replaces a very similar looking frat house, one much older that was demolished last year. That building was well known among former Davis students, a fairly grotty place by many accounts, but much loved and one of the oldest (perhaps the oldest) building in town. Well this one i here now, overlooking Central Park, and it catches the afternoon shadows in the same way so finally it’s in a Scully sketchbook. I like a panorama. Below are the two halves of it, larger so you can see them better.

rows of houses all bearing down on me

January 2, 20143 Comments

Happy New Year! I hope 2014 is at least one year better than 2013 was. Here is a panoramic sketch I did a few days ago in downtown Davis, on the stretch of 3rd Street in between C and D. We’ve had some pretty mild weather here lately, sunny, not that cold. Quite dull in fact. Good weather for standing in the street sketching, but not the sort of weather you expect around the end of the year. While sketching this I listened to a couple of podcasts, one about history (the Black Death) and one about language (the Old English alphabet). Gettin’ medieval on yo’ ass, as they say. The small building in the middle with the crazy coloured patterns on it, that is an old building I’d wanted to sketch for a few years simply because it was so old and ramshackle, and then they went and gave it that psychedelic paint job. This is the way in Davis nowadays, every blank surface downtown has to have some colourful mural emblazoned on it, some very good, some not quite as good. This particular one works quite well I think. Currently being painted on the side of the building on the far right of the sketch is a very colourful abstract piece, though in this case I don’t know that a bright mural along the edge of a house like that really adds to the overall look, but it’s a matter of taste. Curb appeal.

Here is each side of the panorama for a closer look.

So, a Happy New Year to you, in Davis and around the world!

and all the pictures on the wall

August 21, 2013August 21, 20132 Comments

To round off all the pub drawings here is another panoramic I attempted last weekend at the University of Beer, on 3rd & F (Click on the image to see the bigger picture). This is one of the newer places in Davis and is a beer-geek’s dream; I have sketched it before from the far side of the bar (see image at the bottom of this post) but didn’t quite manage the two-page panorama, so I came back to sketch that far wall. As you can see, it is worth it. they have beer signs, both metal and mirrors, from all over the world (though mostly the US and Belgium). It was a very hot day and I was just not motivated for outside sketching, so I got a footy magazine (the Premier League is finally BACK! Hallebleedin’lujah!) and popped into the ‘UoB’. After about ten minutes looking through their extensive menu and studying the beer taps I opted for a Monty Python’s Holy Grail ale – I’ve never had one before, it was very nice, and made me want to put the movie on when I got home. One of the barman had an Arsenal hat on (backwards; I suggested it maybe should stay so) and we discussed the chances of our teams in this coming season (as you know, I’m Spurs all the way). I started sketching, and quickly realized there are many more details in this place than I knew; they now have loads of beertaps lining the ventilation pipes near the ceiling. To be honest it was nice to sketch some people – the three fellows to my left were sharing stories about Davis in the olden days, while further down the bar there were other conversations of varying degrees of volume; but on the whole this was a very pleasant place to spend an afternoon. One of the barstaff remembered me from the last time I sketched here (he is in fact in both sketches, so I had him sign the second one) and I spoke to him and one other about my favourite Belgian beers (Charles Quint and Fruit Defendu, if you’re ever wondering). I followed on from my Holy Grail ale with a really nice beer called Summer Solstice, by Anderson Valley, a creamy brown beer with a very caramel-like taste, and it was delicious. If Quality Street made beer, it would probably taste like this. I had their Winter Solstice beer here back in February and that too was incredible.

This week in fact is Davis Beer Week, a celebration of craft beers in Davis, and so if you’re in Davis you should pop by here, or de Vere’s or any of the other great beer spots in town. This has really become a beer-lovers town lately, and it’s not surprising – UC Davis has an excellent beer-science facility. People here really know their Chit.

I must point out – this sketch was done in a Seawhite of Brighton sketchbook I picked up in London. Smooth paper and takes a light wash, not as robust as the watercolour Moleskine but I’m looking forward to playing with it some more.

**Incidentally… you can buy a print of the University of Beer panorama above at my Society6 store (society6.com/PeteScully), just follow this link. There is free shipping worldwide until this Sunday (Aug 25).**

University of Beer as sketched in May 2013

i look at the world and i notice it’s turning

May 3, 2013May 3, 20139 Comments

De Vere’s Irish Pub, Davis. Click on the image to see it larger and in more detail. It was the end of the week (the weekend usually is), and an evening out at the comic shop followed by some beer and sketching was in order. This is a nice pub. I like drawing pub panoramas in my Moleskine, and this one took only two and a half beers (it’s always something-and-a-half; I like to spend that last half pint looking at the sketch, pencil case away). I have drawn curvilinearly in here before, but now it is time to pull back and see more of the room. I didn’t speak to anyone, just got on with the sketching. It wasn’t very busy on this particular Saturday evening, and it was warm outside. This is an exceptionally warm Spring. We have had some terrible winds, but warm winds, and the weather has been pushing the 90s (actually this week it’s been pushing the mid-90s, it’s like Britpop).

If you’re interested, this is how it looks in the sketchbook.

and the clock waits so patiently on your song

April 16, 2013Leave a comment

The 39th Worldwide Sketchcrawl took place in the Castro, San Francisco. This here is Castro Street (click on the image to see a larger version), and I was very eager to sketch a panorama of this scene. The magnificent Castro Theater could take up an entire day of sketching all on its own, so full of detail it is. I enjoyed speaking later to other sketchcrawlers who had attempted it, some having drawn more detail and some having drawn less, each impactful in their own way. It’s a tricky one. For me, the horizon was the thing – I had intended on sketching a lot more of the beautiful slopes of old houses on that hillside, but the smaller size of my sketch and the level of foreground detail meant leaving it out would be better. Well, that and I would have been there until about Thursday. No, with this sketch I wanted to capture the sweep of Castro Street, sinking and rising among San Francisco’s many hills. The Castro is well known as the predominantly gay neighbourhood of the city, and you’re not really left in any doubt of that! Rainbow flags adorn lamp-posts, bars, houses; this is an area which is open and proud. I was stood at Harvey Milk Plaza sketching this, and if you have seen the movie Milk, you will know a bit about the Castro and its history, and the great gay rights campaigner and city supervisor Harvey Milk. I saw a documentary about Castro Street once; this community really has a fascinating history. Anyway as I stood sketching this, first in the morning before the sketchcrawl meeting, and then going back to finish it off after lunch, the wind really started picking up, making me rue not bringing little clips for my sketchbook. Is topped without going the whole spread, and I stopped in the right place. Here’s another tip – sketch a scene with a clock in it somewhere, and you can keep good time, without checking your watch and worrying about being too slow.

Here is a car parked a bit further down Castro Street. I was trying to figure out what I wanted to sketch – there is a lot to choose from – but when I saw this it looked like the distant cousin of this other car I had drawn once, and I just HAD to sketch it. Now whenever you draw a car on the street you are always running the risk that the driver will drive away. I checked the meter, still plenty of time left, but I took a couple of reference photos first, and then started sketching, sat on the kerb. Behind me, a stall on the street was offering free HIV tests at a nearby clinic; further down, tourists were giggling at the skimpy male underwear in the shop windows. I got as far as the outline, the license plate and about half of the details before the car’s young owner came and drove it away. He didn’t see me sketching; if he did, I hope he didn’t think I was a traffic warden. I considered putting more money in the meter if he could leave it there a bit longer, but it gave me an excuse to go and sketch other things. Which I will show you in the next post…

In the meantime, check out the other great sketchers from around the world at the 39th Worldwide Sketchcrawl Forum.

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…

the varsity, but bigger

August 22, 20121 Comment

Hey remember a couple of weeks ago I went and drew a panorama in my Moleskine of that stretch of 2nd St with the Varsity Theatre? I intended to redraw it larger, in colour, and submit it to the Pence Gallery for their annual Art Auction next month. I got cracking on it this weekend past, and learned an important but obvious lesson – larger drawings take longer to do. But it means you get to spend more time enjoying it!

Which meant a couple of late nights, but I couldn’t sleep anyway. I drew on a large sheet of thick Strathmore watercolour paper, whose inherently rougher feel than my watercolour Moleskine made my micron pens cry a little bit, but the uniball signo dx um-151 super-accurate-fineliner-pen and the trusty laugh-in-the-face-of-watercolour-paper uniball vision micro came to the rescue (yes there should be a superhero comic about pens, and I might write it) when the microns were starting to feel the strain, like relief pitchers. I took photos for a step-by-step, in case you absolutely have to know whether I drew left to right or right to left or middle to out (it’s that one, though I painted it in reverse order).

And here is the final thing, framed and ready to go. Larger than I usually draw, at roughly 10″ x 20″. I hope it sells!

in the middle of our street

August 7, 20125 Comments

On Sunday I had to get out to draw. I cycled downtown and stood on a bench (yes, stood, so I could see over the large vehicle in the way) on 2nd Street and drew a famiiar scene, but this time as a double-page spread in that lovely brown pen I have. I do like drawing these panoramas. This took about two hours, maybe less, stood in the shade on that bench. The funny thing about standing so high is that people don’t look over your shoulder quite so much. One other thing about sketching these panoramas is you have to scan them in two sections, stitch them together, and then they are so hard to post. If you want to see a bigger version, click on the image above. Below, you can see how big it is in real life. And the thing is, I intend to redraw this as a bigger and more colourful drawing.

Here is a close up of the middle section, for those who can read the tiny writing and are interested in the movie times…

look around, round, round

April 29, 2012April 30, 20122 Comments

(Click image to see larger size)
Here is something I drew a while ago (Martin Luther King Jr Day, in January, hence the flags), in my panoramic accordion sketchbook, but did not scan and stitch together until now. I sat out there for a couple of hours, followed by another hour or so on a day later that week, and just sketched and turned and curved as best I could. It’s a good exercise, but tricky all the same. It looks even more different now it’s on a computer screen. The plan is to fill the whole book with similar scenes from Davis as the seasons change. Other seasons may be more colourful, but this represented sunny winter. There is a detail below. All drawn on an accordion sketchbook from Cass Arts in London in uniball vision micro pen.

sanfranciscorama

February 12, 2012February 13, 20122 Comments

The last one from last weekend’s trip to San Francisco, finally scanned and stitched together photoshopically. I don’t get to draw great vistas in Davis, not like this anyhow. All those panoramas from the Art of Urban Sketching and Sketching in Lisbon books have inspired me a little, so while up Telegraph Hill last weekend (where I saw none of the famous parrots but did see quite a few hummingbirds) I sat on my stool and drew what I could. I was there for almost an hour and a half before the sunshine got the better of me, but I didn’t fancy overdoing the details anyhow, I liked the skyline as it was. I mostly used a uniball vision micro.