Category: Building

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Building Drawing Ink and watercolor wash Landscape Outdoors/Landscape Sketchbook Pages

The New Oldie But Goodie

Matthew's New Old Car, ink & watercolor, 7x5"
Matthew's New Old Car, ink & watercolor, 7x5"

My neighbor Matthew who lives in the house across the street with three teenagers. I think this new old car must belong to one of them since he already has a car and a truck of his own. What interested me about the scene was the way the light was glowing on the car on this very bright early afternoon. And also the crows’ nest in the tree.

I sat on the little concrete porch outside my kitchen door looking down the cement path towards my front yard garden ahead on the left. I drew the basic shapes with pencil first, to get the drawing started with things where they belonged.

Why do I feel I have to apologize or confess when I draw in pencil instead of starting directly in ink? I like using both and sometimes I want things to be a little less wonky than they are when I just go for it in ink.

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Bay Area Parks Building Drawing Ink and watercolor wash Landscape Painting Places Sketchbook Pages

John Muir House and Trail

John Muir House, ink & watercolor, 7x5"
John Muir House, ink & watercolor, 7x5"

The scent of bay leaves perfumed the air as I sketched the John Muir House in Martinez. I love details and although I hear often that “good” art demands simplifying, I give myself a treat and break that rule whenever I please.

I intentionally drew the house with the top smaller than the bottom because that’s how it appeared to me, sitting close and looking up. Later I realized the palm trees also appeared to tilt in towards each other at the top. Drawn parallel, they make it look like the house is tilting back away from them. Oops.

I took a break between drawing and painting to explore the house and climb up to the attic lookout/bell tower. The view from there incongruously includes not only the lovely grounds with fruit tree orchards and gardens, but also the nearby freeway. You can see my friend Cathy’s sketches of the John Muir property (and the freeway) on our Urban Sketchers blog here.

On the John Muir Trail in High Sierras, photo copyright Robin Bouc
On the John Muir Trail in High Sierras, photo copyright Robin Bouc

John Muir is known as the father of our National Park system; he convinced President Roosevelt to protect Yosemite, Sequoia, Grand Canyon and Mt. Rainier as National Parks. My son Robin has been hiking the High Sierra John Muir trail in sections for several years now and has taken some amazing photos, including the one above. You can see more of the photos he took this year in the remote wilderness on the trail here, and here (including his cute dog, Nilla who was one tired pooch on that trip!)

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Albany Building Drawing Ink and watercolor wash People Places Shop windows Sketchbook Pages

Evening Outside the Burger Depot

Burger Depot, Ink & watercolor, 5x7"
Burger Depot, Ink & watercolor, 5x7"

Trying to get in one last outdoor evening sketch session of the season, we sketched at the bottom of Solano Avenue in Albany. I stood under a street lamp and by the time I finished drawing it was dark out.

The proprietor of the Burger Depot who has owned the shop for over 30 years saw me trying to paint standing, with my palette and water on the ground, and brought over a plastic chair and a little table for me. The street light and light from inside the shop gave me just enough light to see what I was doing.

I was initially drawn to the scene by two seedy looking guys sitting in a window seat but they left before I could draw them. Fortunately the other two guys eating there were wonderful models who kept returning to the same positions, making it easy-ish to draw them.

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Building Drawing Ink and watercolor wash Landscape Life in general Painting Photos Places Sketchbook Pages

Port Costa Post Office and Bikers

Port Costa Post Office, ink and watercolor, 5x7"
Port Costa Post Office, ink and watercolor, 5x7"

Port Costa is a strange, tiny, rundown town and a popular destination for motorcyclists out riding the winding roads in herds on noisy Harleys. At the end of  town, by the railroad tracks and behind their cracked and crumbling Post Office I sketched above, is the Warehouse Cafe, a seedy bar in a ramshackle warehouse with cheap, stiff drinks, a funky outdoor deck, and a surly female bartender (perfectly described in this collection of hilarious Yelp reviews).

Port Costa Bikers Saddling Up
Port Costa Bikers Saddling Up in Front of Post Office

The bikers roar into town, have themselves a breakfast beer or two and ride out. While they seemed like a bunch of  tough, old burn-out guys with beer guts and women who looked “rode hard and put away wet,” they were very polite when I asked them questions about their (very expensive) bikes.

Bikers Lining up to Leave (Arrow is where I was sitting to sketch)
Bikers Lining up to Leave (Arrow is where I was sitting to sketch)

It turned out that the corner where I was sketching (red arrow in photo) is where they line up before tearing out of town in a caravan of ear-splitting noise, leaving behind a cloud of flying dust and gravel from the barely paved road. I had to pull my sweatshirt over my face and plug my ears every time a group tore off. My friend Beth Bourland posted some great pics of the day here including one of me so focused sketching I didn’t even know she took the picture.

Besides the bikers, it’s a fun place to paint so my plein air group meets there once a year. And then same thing always happens: we set up for our critique on the patio at the Warehouse Bar and just as we start to talk about the day’s work, they crank up the music on the outdoor speakers so loud that we can’t hear a thing and have to move all our stuff down the street to a quieter spot. Is it a coincidence? Does their music always go full blast at 1:15? Or are they trying to keep away the wrong sort of customers (us)?

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Berkeley Building Drawing Ink and watercolor wash Painting Places Shop windows Sketchbook Pages Urban Sketchers

Cafe Rouge, 4th Street, Berkeley

Cafe Rouge at Sunset, Ink & watercolor, 5x7"
Cafe Rouge at Sunset, Ink & watercolor, 5x7"

We were all a little late for our Tuesday night sketching. We met by Peet’s Coffee and then wandered off to sketch what caught our interests. It was cold out and the sun was setting but Cafe Rouge looked warm and inviting with their red chairs and umbrellas.

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Building Drawing Ink and watercolor wash Interiors Landscape Painting Places Pt. Richmond Urban Sketchers

Point Richmond: Sip and Swim

Richmond Plunge (AKA Natatorium), ink & watercolor 5x7"
Richmond Plunge (AKA Municipal Natatorium), ink & watercolor 5x7"

It was so cold, cloudy and windy the morning my plein air group met to paint in Pt. Richmond I decided to start out by sketching from my car. The old Richmond Plunge, now completely and beautifully restored, is the first thing you see when you drive into Pt. Richmond. After I finished the sketch I crossed the street and explored the building and pool. Wow! I’m inspired to start swimming again.

Little Louies, Pt. Richmond, Ink & watercolor, 7x5"
Little Louies, Pt. Richmond, Ink & watercolor, 7x5"

After my tour of the Natatorium, I headed to the main street of this little town, looking for a spot out of the wind to sketch. But I was seduced indoors by seeing my friend Sonia sketching at a table sipping a warm cup of tea. I joined her at the window table with a huge tray of apples on it and ordered a cup of coffee.

I started by drawing the apples on our table and then just kept going, drawing each next thing I saw. I was a little worried about getting the wonderful patterned floor tiles right, but took it slowly and they came out ok.

I liked Little Louie’s so much I returned the next morning with a friend for breakfast. I had a fabulous spinach, mushroom, bacon and cheddar omelet that was so big I had to take half of it home for lunch.

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Building Drawing Flower Art Ink and watercolor wash Outdoors/Landscape Painting Places Sketchbook Pages Urban Sketchers

Sketching Ikuko’s Garden

Ikuko's Garden, ink & watercolor, 7x5"
Ikuko's Garden, ink & watercolor, 7x5"

My friend Ikuko invited our Tuesday night sketching group to sketch in her lovely and lovingly tended garden. I picked a spot that was still in the last bit of sun and sat in a lawn chair to sketch and relax. For a change I tried to just be loose and free and it was really fun.

Ikuko's at Sunset, ink & watercolor, 7x5"
Ikuko's at Sunset, ink & watercolor, 7x5"

I was interested in all of the odd contraptions on top of her fireplace and the glowing light of the sunset on the bricks and the windows. I managed to fit almost everything I wanted on the page (with a little rearranging from real life; the mail box was below the frame but I liked it so stuck it in.) I was a little annoyed when I finished the sketch that I’d “messed up” the house numbers (the 2 is too big) but a week later, who cares!

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Berkeley Building Drawing Ink and watercolor wash Interiors Landscape Painting People Places Sketchbook Pages Urban Sketchers

Sketching Oscars Burgers, Berkeley

Oscars Burgers at Sunset, Berkeley, ink & watercolor
Oscars Burgers at Sunset, Berkeley, ink & watercolor

Now that it stays light later we can finally go outdoors for our Tuesday night Urban Sketching sessions. We met at the corner of Shattuck and Hearst in Berkeley and I sketched Oscars Charbroiler from across the street. They’ve been grilling burgers, hot dogs (and now vege burgers) over fire on that corner since 1950. It was sunset by the time I painted it, hence the pink sky.

Eating French Fries and Watching NBA Playoffs
Eating French Fries and Watching NBA Playoffs

When we went inside for one more sketch. There was a big screen TV on the wall tuned to sports. It was the end of an NBA playoff game and people were watching while stuffing their faces with burgers and fries like this guy who never looked at his food, just shoveled in the fries while watching the game.

Another guy came by and complemented our drawings and asked if we came there every week to sketch. Uh, no…maybe once a decade? Though I have to admit I’d skipped dinner, got hungry, and ate one of their burgers. It was good.

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Building Landscape Oil Painting Places Virtual Paint-Out

Le Clemenceau, French Riviera (Virtual Paintout)


Le Clemenceau, French Riviera, oil on board, 6x6"
Le Clemenceau, French Riviera, oil on board, 6x6"

Six inches is just too small! I chose a 6×6″ panel for this project because I thought I’d just do something quick for Virtual Paintout and then get on with my “real” painting projects. But I end up putting just as much work into this small painting as I would a big one.

When it was “finished” I kept seeing one more little thing to adjust until suddenly it was 7:00 p.m. and it was too late to go to my REAL paintout/sketch group. And I had paint all over my hands because I’d taken off my gloves when I thought I was done an hour before.

What’s important is that I had fun and as with every painting, learned something. And I got to spend some time “on” the Cote d’Azur. Wow is that place spectacularly beautiful and loaded with wealth, from what I could see wandering around on Google Streetview. Here is the original scene on Streetview.

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Berkeley Building Drawing Ink and watercolor wash Interiors Painting Places Sketchbook Pages Urban Sketchers

Inside Berkeley’s Maybeck-Designed First Church

First Church of Christ Scientist, Berkeley
First Church of Christ Scientist, Berkeley

The American Institute of Architects named this church one of the three finest uniquely American churches. I saw a picture of the spectacular interior and knew we had to sketch it. I contacted the architectural heritage group, Friends of First Church (see photos on their site), and one of their members was generously willing to open the church for our Tuesday night Urban Sketchers group.

She graciously gave us a tour and told us a little about the history and architecture and then we picked our spots and started drawing. The interior is sweeping and complicated, with “a pair of great crossed trusses spanning the central pace overhead.”

Interior photo from where I sat, First Church Christ Scientist
Interior photo from where I sat, First Church Christ Scientist

I tried to envision how I would get everything I wanted onto my page and then just started drawing in the left corner, working my way across the page, drawing directly in ink. I drew up until the last minute so had to add the watercolor at home.

That’s a pipe organ behind the choir loft. They’re trying to raise funds to restore it.  Everything is embellished with gilt so the room has a golden glow. The architecture and design includes many styles and periods, including Gothic, Romanesque Byzantine and Arts and Crafts.

Spending the evening in that beautiful, quiet, exquisite space was so special and we are very grateful to the Friends of First Church for so graciously sharing this jewel with us.