Tag: stillman & birn

the forgotten pump house

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grain silo south davis

Down by the Putah Creek bike path in south Davis sits an old pump house (or perhaps it is a barn for really tall horses), which in six and a half years of living here (wow! that long?) I have never drawn. Until now. It reminds me a little bit of the Shrieking Shack. I needed some fresh air after spending all day in with a sore throat, and the weather outside was warm and spring-like. This is nearby where I live. It is a peaceful spot, a nice place for a Sunday stroll. Next to here is the Woodbridge nature area, home to all sorts of birds and bats and bugs. There are a lot of bugs out right now, biting away. This was drawn in my gamma Stillman & Birn book, with the brown-black uniball signo pen.

you make me dizzy miss lizzy

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old car, davis, 3rd st

I really needed a haircut. You know how it is, your hair is fine, just the right length, then one day all of a sudden it’s way too long, and you’re like Yahoo Serious or someone. I’m someone who needs his hair short. So I finally made it to the barber’s downtown, and there were about five people ahead of me, so I took that opportunity to go and sketch something. There was an interesting old car parked out on 3rd Street, so obviously that’s where I went. I stood in the shade outside the former Blockbuster Video and drew in my Stillman & Birn gamma series book. I was about halfway through, when the driver came and drove it away.I finished it off at home.  I didn’t even get to see what make of car it is; can you guess for me?

a look at the book of the art of urban sketching

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The Art of Urban Sketching

I am really enjoying The Art of Urban Sketching. It’s also fun seeing people from all around the world enjoying it as much as I am, and hopefully being inspired to get out and draw by every page. I like it so much, that I will be at the Avid Reader bookstore on 2nd St, Davis this Friday, Feb 24th at 7:30pm, talking about the book, about Urban Sketchers, and about urban sketching in general. If you fancy coming along to hear me yap on and on and maybe pick up a copy of the book (and support one of your local independent stores), pop by the Avid Reader at half seven this Friday evening!

PS: here is an excellent video of Gabi Campanario, the book’s author and founder of Urban Sketchers, talking about the book on local Seattle TV this week along with Gail Wong of the Seattle Urban Sketchers group. Enjoy!

The Avid Reader, Davis

The Art of Urban Sketching (Facebook page)

Urban Sketchers

i’ll be sitting when the evening comes

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sf ferry building

Last weekend, my wife and I stayed in San Francisco, at the Hyatt Regency by the Embarcadero. Can’t get enough San Francisco! The views from the Hyatt are exceptional. After a day walking around the Mission, we took a break at the hotel before dinner and I drew the view from the hallway window: the Ferry Building, with the Bay Bridge spanning eastwards. The Sun was going down, so the light was constantly changing. Below, a quick sketch of the room. Both drawn in the Stillman and Birn sketchbook.

san francisco hyatt regency

san francisco, one morning in february

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the golden gate bridge, from telegraph hill
First post in a few days, but I’ve got some drawing done… I went to San Francisco on Saturday for a whole day of sketching, because the weather was nice and it was nearly my birthday (in fact it’s today). The first thing I did after arriving at the Ferry Building was head straight up Telegraph Hill. Well no, the first thing I did was buy a walnut brownie, as I always do, but then I went uphill. I wanted to draw a big panorama. the problem is, unless you go up Coit Tower itself (and why would I do a sensible thing like that) the good views are mostly broken by trees. For the sketch of the Golden Gate Bridge above I had to stand on a wall besides quite a steep shrubby slope. But what a view! And no morning fog. the bay bridge from telegraph hill

I did much the same for the second one, looking in the other direction. That’s the Bay Bridge, with the Ferry Building in front of it, and the financial district overshadowing it. These were drawn in my Stillman and Birn sketchbook, the one I got from the Lisbon Symposium, but only just started using. It was very nice too. Watercolouring will take a little getting used to after so long with the watercolour moleskine (you can’t lay it on quite as thick) but it’s pretty nice with the pens, so far. These were done with a micron 01. More SF sketches to come…