Category: Interiors

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Food sketch Ink and watercolor wash Interiors Sketchbook Pages

Every Day in May 3 and 4: Curtains and Spice Bottles

Every Day in May 4: Spice Bottles, ink and watercolor, 8x5 in
Every Day in May 4: Spice Bottles, ink and watercolor, 8×5 in

I have a whole rack of Penzeys spices but these are my favorites that sit out on the counter for daily use. Their pepper is nothing like the tasteless stuff from the supermarket; it has wonderful flavor and I put it on almost everything. Their cinnamon is sweet and delicious and the Sandwich Sprinkle is great on salads, veggies and meat.

Every Day in May 3: Curtain, ink and watercolor, 8x10 in
Every Day in May 3: Curtain, ink and watercolor, 8×10 in

I have such a tiny bathroom I had to sit on the sink to draw this. My favorite part was drawing the funny patterns on the glass blocks in the window. When I remodeled the bathrooms in my duplex I requested glass blocks in the shower and a window that opens set inside the glass blocks. The wavy glass was fun to draw and is meant to provide privacy but in reality, it’s not perfect. Good thing the neighborhood doesn’t have a few of the window! Also featured in the sketch is my Black and Decker dog washing shower attachment that makes it super easy to wash my dog and she loves hopping in the tub for her spa treatment.

Every Day in May 3-4: Curtain and Spice Bottles, ink and watercolor, 8x10 in
Every Day in May 3-4: Full page, 8×10 in
Categories
Berkeley Building Ink and watercolor wash Interiors Sketchbook Pages

Sketching at the Laundromat

Solano Laundromat, ink and watercolor 10x8 in
Solano Laundromat, ink and watercolor 10×8 in

I haven’t been doing much urban sketching or dream drawing lately, while I try to complete a couple of commissioned dog portraits (that are taking forever) and attend figure/portrait drawing sessions and do other life stuff. But here’s a quickie from sketch night at the laundromat, a favorite place to sketch. I’m glad I have my own washer and dryer so I don’t have to go there to do laundry, but I do enjoy the perspective challenges and patterns of rows of rectangles, circles and black and white shapes, as well as the little still life of soap and baskets.

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Animals Every Day Matters Ink and watercolor wash Interiors Sketchbook Pages

Every Day in May #1: Window (and Cat)

EDIM 2014 #1-Window. Ink and watercolor, 5x7 in
EDIM 2014 #1-Window. Ink, white Sharpie and watercolor, 5×7 in

Yay! It’s May 1 and that means it’s time for Every Day in May. Each year the Every Day Matters (Facebook) (Flickr) groups posts a list of cues and members commit to doing one drawing a day, all month long. The cue for day one is “Window.” My calico cat Fiona snoozing in her fuzzy bed, on a blanket, in a box from Costco, beneath the window in my home office, on a sunny (too hot) day was fun to draw.

Do you think there are enough prepositions in that last sentence? One of the few things I remember from all the stuff we had to memorize in school was a list of prepositions in alphabetical order. I can still cite them…. “about, above, after, against, along, among, around, at, before, beneath, beside, between…..” But why on earth did we need to memorize that list!!!!???

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Ink and watercolor wash Interiors Sketchbook Pages Urban Sketchers

Picante, Waitress at Work

Picante Service Area, ink and watercolor, 5.5x8 in
Picante Service Area, ink and watercolor, 5.5×8 in

I used a Pentel Tradio Pulaman Fountain Pen for drawing at Picante Mexican restaurant. I love this pen with its smooth chisel tip. Since it isn’t waterproof I could add washes of water to make the gray areas. But Picante is such a colorful place I had to add a little color too. I ordered delicious fish tacos but was too hungry to draw them.

 

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Food sketch Interiors Oakland Sketchbook Pages Urban Sketchers

Cato’s Ale House, Oakland

Catos Ale House, ink and watercolor 7.5x10 in
Cato’s Ale House, ink and watercolor 7.5 x 10 in

When we planned the Urban Sketching evening for Cato’s, a great old pub, little did we know that a large group of Kaiser doctors were also planning a happy hour event that night too. The place was totally packed but a large group of urban sketchers made it work anyway. We gathered around several tables and sketched eaters, drinkers and sketchers (and in my case, dinner).

My hamburger was delicious but I ate it too quickly, anxious to get sketching and a bit overwhelmed by the noise and crowds. That was my first night out sketching since adopting my pup, who was waiting patiently and not all that happily in her bed in my car in the parking lot of the PetFood Express store across the street from the pub.

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Ink and watercolor wash Interiors People Sketchbook Pages Urban Sketchers

The Exotic Loring Cafe and On a Starbucks Bag

Loring Cafe, Oakland, ink & watercolor, 8x10"
Loring Cafe, Oakland, ink & watercolor, 8×10″

Oakland’s Loring Cafe has the most eclectic decor and architecture I’ve ever seen in a restaurant. In addition to the arches, pillars, sculptures, palms and vibrant lighting, the restroom is like a brick-covered Hobbit house with no sink. To wash your hands you step out of the restroom where there is a large, round, stainless steel, multi-user industrial sink with little signs explaining how to turn on the faucets and get soap. Quite a unique washroom experience!

I’m glad I had my jumbo Moleskine watercolor journal with me since there was so much to capture in one drawing (above).

Sketched at Starbucks on Starbucks Pastry Bag
Sketched at Starbucks on Starbucks Pastry Bag

As my note in the sketch above says, I was just recovering from a bad cold and was so tired after my walk to return movies to the video store I had to stop at Starbucks to sit before I could walk back home.  I’m always grateful there are still video stores to provide entertainment during an illness. The only good thing about being sick is the opportunity to catch up on movies. Fortunately I don’t get sick often, and this sketch was done back in April. I think I’m caught up now on old sketches.

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Berkeley Ink and watercolor wash Interiors Sketchbook Pages Urban Sketchers

Swingin’ at Caffe Trieste, Berkeley

Tuesday Night at Cafe Trieste, ink & watercolor, 8x10"
Tuesday Night at Cafe Trieste, ink & watercolor, 8×10″

We’ve been going to Caffe Trieste in Berkeley for our Tuesday night sketching once or twice a year and each time we’ve been lucky to be there when the Randy Craig Trio is playing. I love their assortment of classic jazz and swing with piano, standup base, guitar and two women singers.

They seem to have a regular following because each time we go I see many of the same people in the audience.