Category: Berkeley

Picante Sketches with Strange Lights

Post author By Jana Bouc
Post date April 3, 2011
10 Comments on Picante Sketches with Strange Lights

Picante Cocina Mexicana's Mask Lights, Ink & watercolor

Last week the Urban Sketchers Flickr group had lighting as their theme so our Urban Sketchers group focused on lighting too. When I walked into Picante the first thing I noticed was the way the wall sconces shined up at wonderfully bizarre masks all around the room.

Along with the great masks, the ceiling is festooned with row after row of vibrantly colored hanging Mexican cut-paper art work.

Several different diners and children stopped at our table to complement our sketches. The children were particularly enthusiastic. And (as usual) everyone told us they can’t draw. And as usual we told them that anyone can draw if they just practice and that it doesn’t have to be good, just fun.

Tags Art, Berkeley, Drawing, Ink and watercolor wash, Pen and Ink, People, Sketchbook Pages

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

St. Patrick’s Day Decor at Spengers

Post author By Jana Bouc
Post date March 17, 2011
4 Comments on St. Patrick’s Day Decor at Spengers

Spengers was decorated with green shamrocks when our Urban Sketchers group met there on a Tuesday before St. Patrick’s Day. Other than all the green, it was business as usual. I love the way cellphones keep people engaged and posing like this guy at the bar, even when drinking.

Spengers has a huge collection of ship models and other sea-themed objects on every wall, ceiling and in every corner. I drew this standing in front of the display case, trying to stay out of the waiters’ path. And as usual I incorrectly labeled the sketch “Brennan’s” — a nearby bar and restaurant that I always get mixed up with Spengers.

Tags Art, Bar sketch, Berkeley, Drawing, Ink and watercolor wash, Pen and Ink, People, Ship Model sketch, Sketchbook Pages, Spengers Restaurant

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

Sketching at Saul’s Deli

Saul's Deli & their famous pickles, ink & watercolor

We always enjoy a visit to Saul’s Deli in Berkeley for sketching and dinner. I got my usual grilled trout dinner but was too hungry to draw it before eating. One of the owners of Sauls, Karen Adelman does the wonderful quirky drawings on their menus and website and always makes us feel welcome to come and sketch there.

More Saul’s sketches from my pals Micaela, Sonia and Cathy on our Urban Sketchers site.

Tags Art, Berkeley, Drawing, Food sketch, Ink and watercolor wash, Pen and Ink, Sketchbook Pages

Berkeley Drawing Ink and watercolor wash People Places Sketchbook Pages Urban Sketchers

Second Line Parade: Treme New Orleans Brass Band

Post author By Jana Bouc
Post date February 21, 2011
5 Comments on Second Line Parade: Treme New Orleans Brass Band

Treme Brass Band sketches, ink & watercolor

To celebrate their 50th anniversary, Arhoolie Records held a “second line parade” led by the New Orleans-based Tremè Brass Band. The parade started with a fantastic concert at Berkeley’s Civic Center Park

In the video below you can see and hear the band (and me trying to sketch them, looking like a bobble-head doll as I look up at the band and down at my sketchbook. I’m at top right of the screen, starting around 30 seconds in, wearing bright green.)

After they played 20 minutes or so, we danced (and sketched) along behind the band to the Berkeley BART station, with many people twirling handkerchiefs or parasols in the air as is the tradition in second line parades. They performed another brief concert, and then more people joined in the parade as we moved along Shattuck Avenue.

Playing by the BART station (note guy recording sound with mic on boom)

The parade ended at Freight & Salvage on Addison Street where we were again treated to more great Dixieland music. By then I was pretty far back in the crowd so gave up trying to draw the band but noticed these guys on the roof videotaping the event as we arrived.

This was one of those “It doesn’t get any better than this” experiences: Fantastic live music, sunshine and sketching! I knew the sketching would be challenging because of the constant movement, so only had as my goal to have fun and give it a try. I definitely had fun!

Tags Arhoolie, Art, Berkeley, Drawing, Ink and watercolor wash, parade, Pen and Ink, People, Sketchbook Pages, sketching, Treme Brass Band

Berkeley Drawing People Places Sketchbook Pages Urban Sketchers

Brennan’s Bar Sketches

Sketching at Brennan’s Bar and Hoffbrau in Berkeley is always fun. When we met there for Tuesday night sketching last month Cathy had just returned from her sketching workshop that was held at Disneyworld in Florida so the first part of the evening was her amazing show and tell. You can see her Disneyworld sketches on our Urban Sketchers blog here and here and Micaela’s Brennan’s sketches are here.

If you’re unfamiliar with the term “muffin-top,” it’s the bulge protruding above the belt from wearing too-tight jeans, especially widespread [pun intended] a few years ago when fashion dictated ever lower waistlines on pants with shorter tops).

This was my first sketch of what I saw in front of me, just trying to do something simple to warm up before tackling more complicated stuff.

Tags Art, Berkeley, Drawing, Ink, Interior sketch, Pen and Ink, People, pub sketch, Sketchbook Pages

Berkeley Ink and watercolor wash Interiors Painting People Places Sketchbook Pages

Sketching at Le Bateau Ivre (The Drunken Boat)

Post author By Jana Bouc
Post date February 13, 2011
4 Comments on Sketching at Le Bateau Ivre (The Drunken Boat)

Le Bateau Ivre is a cafe I used to visit often when I first moved to Berkeley so it was great to rediscover it with my Tuesday night sketch group. The food is wonderful and the atmosphere warm and inviting. Le Bateau Ivre is in an old house on Telegraph Avenue and each room has its own charming personality and decor.

Details of the room and music and my drawing mistake

I fell in love with the classical music playing in the cafe and was holding up my iPhone to the speaker, hoping that the Shazam or Soundhound apps could guess the recording. The owner of Le Bateau Ivre saw me and asked if the music was too loud. I explained what I was trying to do and she ran to get the CD and showed it to me. I took a photo of the cover which I later pasted on to this page. The CD was Heinrich Ignaz Franz van Biber: Sonatae a Violino solo of 1681.

Tags Art, Berkeley, Drawing, Ink and watercolor wash, Moleskine, Pen and Ink, People, Sketchbook Pages

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

North Beach Pizza in an Old Berkeley IHOP

Post author By Jana Bouc
Post date February 5, 2011
4 Comments on North Beach Pizza in an Old Berkeley IHOP

North Beach Pizza Berkeley, ink & watercolor

North Beach Pizza in Berkeley is housed in a former International House of Pancakes. Pizza is a sort of large pancake, I suppose, but I wouldn’t want it served with maple syrup. We had a good time eating, chatting and sketching the night away, six of us in one cozy booth.

I drew the pizza before sharing it with Cathy and Micaela (her sketch is here on our Urban Sketchers site.)

Tags Art, Berkeley, Drawing, Food sketch, Ink and watercolor wash, Pen and Ink, Sketchbook Pages, sketching

Berkeley Drawing Food sketch Ink and watercolor wash Painting Places Sketchbook Pages

The Draw Your Food Diet (at The Junket and The Bread Workshop)

Post author By Jana Bouc
Post date January 15, 2011
14 Comments on The Draw Your Food Diet (at The Junket and The Bread Workshop)

Turkey & Swiss at The Junket, Lamy Safari, Carbon Platinum Ink & watercolor in Moleskine Watercolor — Turkey & Swiss at The Junket, El Cerrito. Lamy Safari pen, Carbon Platinum ink & watercolor in Moleskine

Whenever we meet to sketch at a cafe we always try to sketch our food before we eat it and we always joke about what a great diet it would be to do that at every meal. It not only helps to slow down eating, but it also helps to speed up sketching! This leads to looser, more playful sketches which I think are more fun to make and to see.

Sonia and I met for lunch at The Junket, a deli in El Cerrito Plaza. My Turkey and Swiss Sandwich on a sourdough baguette (sketched above) was the best I’ve had in years. It was my second choice though, as we originally ordered Chicken Dumpling Soup. But when I saw them spooning it into a bowl, it had the consistency of gloppy, yellow gravy. I asked if it was cream-based (Sonia is allergic to dairy) and they said no, they knew it wasn’t because they reconstitute it with water. Um…no thanks. I switched to the half sandwich and Sonia got salad and we were happy.

Grilled Veges & Brown Rice at the Bread Workshop, ink & watercolor in Moleskin — Grilled Veges & Brown Rice at the Bread Workshop. Ink & watercolor in Moleskine

On our next Tuesday night sketch-out we met at the Bread Workshop. They had contacted me the week before to ask if they could use this previous sketch I did there to illustrate a newsletter they are sending to supporters and I gladly said yes. They reserved a large table for us with a view into the bakery so that we could draw the bakers working.

I wasn’t much up to that challenge as it was my first night out after being sick for two weeks and my sketching felt rusty. You can see Micaela’s wonderful sketch here and Sonia’s here and here. The food was fantastic: my grilled veges (above) were so flavorful!

Bread and Baker at Bread Workshop, ink & watercolor

This was the extent of my drawing bread and bakers. The Bread Workshop are advocates of sustainable foods and practices and ranked as one of the top ten greenest restaurants in the Bay Area. Everything I’ve had there has been delicious and they were playing great music that night, going from George Benson to Billy Holiday to Tom Waits in succession.

Tags Art, Berkeley, Drawing, El Cerrito, Food sketch, Ink and watercolor wash, Moleskine, Sketchbook Pages

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

Sketching in the Bar at Spenger’s Fish Grotto

Post author By Jana Bouc
Post date December 21, 2010
3 Comments on Sketching in the Bar at Spenger’s Fish Grotto

Spengers Bar #1, ink & watercolor — Spenger's Bar (beer & a cellphone), ink & watercolor

Last week two new members joined our Tuesday night sketch group and we had a great time sketching in the bar at Spenger’s, an old, formerly family-owned seafood restaurant filled with ship-themed objects including giant mounted fish trophies (which we learned are just plastic), models of old ships, steering wheels, ropes, etc.

Sonia Sketching at Spengers, Ink & watercolor — Sonia Sketching at Spenger's, Ink & watercolor

I tried several times to draw some of the mounted fish but mostly failed except for the one on the back wall above. Then I drew the lanterns hanging from the ceiling (below), interested in the perspective and how they overlapped as they receded in space. Then I used the rest of the page for a different view.

Lanterns, Martini & a Cellphone at Spengers, Ink & watercolor — Lanterns, Martini & a Cellphone at Spenger's, Ink & watercolor

I was drawing the guy in the foreground with the hat, cellphone and martini, when I noticed the man behind him kept smiling at me when I looked up. I wondered aloud whether it might be a bad idea to stare at men at the bar—would they think we were flirting with them?

Everyone around our table laughed as it turned out we were all intently drawing the same foreground guy. He was a good sport and when we all finished we showed him his many portraits.

You can see Cathy’s and Sonia’s sketches on our Urban Sketchers blog.

Tags 4th Street, Art, Bar sketch, Berkeley, Drawing, Ink and watercolor wash, Pen and Ink, People, Sketchbook Pages, Spenger's Seafood Grotto

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Thanksgiving Turkey Leftovers

Post author By Jana Bouc
Post date November 28, 2010
16 Comments on Thanksgiving Turkey Leftovers

Thanksgiving After Dinner Sketch, ink & watercolor

Most of the year my sister Marcy’s dining room is her art studio, and the table is full of art projects in process. For thanksgiving dinner she graciously hauled all of her studio stuff into the spare room and set a beautiful table for ten, complete with grandma’s china, table cloth and candles. When dinner was over the table’s real purpose called out to me and I sketched and painted by the warm glow of the candles.

The next day in honor of our turkey feast, I painted wild turkeys from photos I’d taken last summer on an evening walk in Tilden Park.

I started with oils but found it frustrating, especially on the small panel (above) so I switched to ink and watercolor in my sketchbook (below).

The turkey guy above was strutting his stuff, showing off for a lady turkey. When she ignored him and wandered off down the path, turkey dude and his buddy followed behind, shaking their tail feathers, still trying to get her attention.

Stayin Alive' Turkey Walk — Stayin' Alive Turkey Trot

I imaged the turkey dudes strutting to the song “Stayin’ Alive” by the BeeGees that starts with:

“Well you can tell by the way I use my walk.
I’m a woman’s man; no time to talk…”

OMG! Those tightie whitie pants! Here’s last year’s Thanksgiving Leftovers post (same table).

Tags Animals, Art, Bay Area Parks, BeeGees, Berkeley, Birds, Drawing, Ink and watercolor wash, Oil Painting, Pen and Ink, Sketchbook Pages, Stayin' Alive, Thanksgiving sketch, turkey