Category: Places

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Drawing Ink and watercolor wash Life in general People Places Sketchbook Pages

Baby Night at The Cerrito Theater; Hot Yoga; and Detoxifying Debunked

Baby Night at the Cerrito Theater, ink & watercolor
Baby Night at the Cerrito Theater, ink & watercolor

Before we met the others at Nong Thon on Tuesday night, Cathy and I sketched in the dark outside the restaurant by the Cerrito theater and El Cerrito Yoga. Tuesday night is baby night at the theatre and families lined up, loaded down with babies and baby gear, to see the Social Network. The Cerrito serves beer, wine and pizza (along with usual movie fare) while you watch the movie.

El Cerrito Yoga, ink & watercolor
El Cerrito Yoga, ink & watercolor

We could see into the warmly lit, crowded yoga studio and did some quick gesture drawings. This is one of those Bikram yoga studios where they say they crank up the heat to “increase flexibility and flush toxins.” I’m not sure I’d enjoy spending the evening in a crowded room full of people sweating out their toxins, whatever “toxins” are.

I know some people swear by sweating, fasting, or colonics to get rid of “toxins” and I wondered if there is any scientific evidence that tells what these toxins are and why releasing body fluids would get rid of them. I found this great article that scientifically (and hilariously) debunks the whole concept, as does this one on Wikipedia.

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Animals Drawing Food sketch Ink and watercolor wash Places Sketchbook Pages Urban Sketchers

Sketching at Nong Thon Vietnamese Restaurant

Green Mussels at Nong Thon, ink & watercolor
Green Mussels at Nong Thon, ink & watercolor

We met to sketch at the new Vietnamese restaurant, Nong Thon, on the corner of Central and San Pablo in El Cerrito and we had a great time. The restaurant is large, open and has been completely redesigned. The food was delicious and the service was beyond fantastic.

Ox= FAIL; but some thoughts for next time
Ox= FAIL; but some thoughts for next time

In the entry there is an elegant, life-size statue of an ox standing in real growing grass (below a skylight). My friends made beautiful renditions of the ox but I got all snarled up on its proportions. I’ve saved a page in my sketchbook to go back and give it another try. The waiter told me that in Vietnam boys ride on the ox playing a flute to pass the time, as they till the soil.

I’d called ahead to make sure it was OK for us to come sketch and they generously reserved a whole section of the restaurant for us where we’d have the best views and could move around to sketch different scenes.

You can see some of my friends’ sketches on our Urban Sketchers blog. Micaela is going to India for a wedding soon so her ox looks very “Indian Water Buffalo.” Beth and Sonia both went in the direction of Babe the Blue Ox.

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Building Landscape Mexico Oil Painting Outdoors/Landscape Painting Places Virtual Paint-Out

San Miguel de Allende, Mexico (Virtual Paintout)

San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, 9"x12, oil on panel
San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, 9"x12, oil on panel

It was so wonderful traveling around sunny San Miguel Allende, Mexico (virtually via Google street view and my paintbrush!) while it was cold and rainy here. I tried “driving” around to find the church at the end of the road, but just like I do with real driving, I got lost and never found it.

Once I’d adjusted the image in Photoshop to straighten the walls, crop to 9×12″ and warm the color a bit, I used the “gridding-up” method to create a drawing first. I displayed the image in Photoshop using”View/Show Grid” set to overlay a tic-tac-toe like grid). Then I drew a matching grid on my paper and started drawing, one square at a time.

Using the grid makes it easier to accurately see and draw the shapes in the image, section by section. Drawing first instead of going directly to paint helped me to understand what I was seeing and to notice interesting patterns like the pipes sticking out of the buildings and the circular motif of the windows in the building on the left as well as the church in the distance.

What a gorgeous little town! I’d love to visit there sometime!

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

Cancun Restaurant: Tuesday Night Sketching

Cancun Fajitas, ink & watercolor

Now that it’s dark by the time we meet we’re back to scouting out indoor sketch sites. We met up Tuesday night at the Saturn Cafe (to carry on from last week’s sketching at Jupiter). But we found the atmosphere at Saturn kind of sterile, gray and sad despite their vibrant Barbie-pink soda fountain theme so we headed across the street to the vibrant, warmly lit Cancun restaurant.

Cancun kitchen area, ink & watercolor
Cancun kitchen area, ink & watercolor

I enjoyed drawing all the odd angles and perspective in the multi-level ceiling and light fixtures. But when I finished I wondered why’d I’d chosen to draw the least colorful area of the cafe which has wonderful Aztec-themed murals on all the walls.

The young woman taking orders asked to see my sketch at the end of the evening, wondering what we were all doing and why I’d been looking in her direction so carefully. I was embarrassed by how poorly I’d drawn her face (drawn in ink there was no fixing it) but she smiled and said they were nice sketches.  (More sketches from Cancun by my sketch buddies on Urban Sketchers Bay Area).

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

Jupiter Pub: Tuesday Night Sketching

Jupiter Pub, Pitt Artist Brush pen & watercolor
Jupiter Pub Sketch #2 with little boy, ink & watercolor

Last week we met up at Jupiter Beer Pub for sketching, pizza and beer on their outdoor patio. It turns out to have been the last warm night of the year and the place was packed. It was quite dark where we were sitting at the beginning of the evening, the last  table way at the back of the courtyard (at top of sketch above) so my Pitt Artist’s Brush Pen with a thicker line made it easier to see what I was drawing (barely) than my fountain pen and I added the watercolor at home.

Jupiter, Ink & watercolor
Jupiter sketch #1, Ink & watercolor

As it got later and the crowd thinned out we were able to move to the main area of the patio where I sat in a wonderful Adirondack chair and sketched the courtyard where we’d started the evening (sketch #1 at top).

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

Roof Garden Lunch at the Cathedral, Oakland

 

Lunch in the Cathedral Garden, ink & watercolor
Lunch in the Cathedral Garden, ink & watercolor

 

Every now and then I manage to get out of the office at lunch time long enough to eat and even sketch for a few minutes. Across the street from our office building is a huge modern cathedral that looks more like a concrete prison with an upside down glass ship on the roof.

Their roof garden follows the concrete theme, with a sort of maze of square concrete planters with benches that force you to sit straight upright on them. But there are trees, shrubbery, and perfectly maintained grass (a delightful treat to pull off sandals and enjoy on bare feet).

I keep wondering why I never see any birds in the roof garden even though it is across the street from Lake Merritt which is a bird refuge, full of pigeons, waterfowl, pelicans, egrets and more. And it is kitty-corner from Snow Park favored by huge flocks of Canadian geese and pigeons (and always covered in big slimy goose turds). Do the guards chase the birds away? Are pigeons Catholic?

Update: I wrote to the Cathedral’s contact person and she explained why there are no birds: “With regard to the birds, I think the main reason for the lack thereof is the cleanliness of the facility. Birds will congregate wherever there is food. Our janitorial staff is always sweeping and keeping the grounds neat and clean.” It’s true, the place is very clean.

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

Sunset at the Doubletree Hotel, Berkeley

 

Sunset Hornblower, Berkeley, Ink & watercolor
Sunset Hornblower, Berkeley, Ink & watercolor

 

On the last night of the heat wave we met to sketch behind the Doubletree Hotel in Berkeley by the bay to cool off. The debate between candidates for California’s governor was on the radio so I listened on my iPhone while I sketched and it added a little spice to the evening. Who knew ol’ Jerry Brown was so funny?

 

Doubletree Lobby Chairs, Ink & watercolor
Doubletree Lobby Chairs, Ink & watercolor

When it got too dark we explored the hotel, looking for sketching options. We considered the pool, the restaurant and the bar, but the seating area in the lobby was so comfy we plopped down and spent the rest of the evening drawing the chairs. You can see all of our renditions together on the Urban Sketchers Bay Area Blog.

 

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Building Landscape Oil Painting Outdoors/Landscape Painting Places Plein Air

Alvarado Bar, Grill and Pupusas: Painting Plein Air in Gritty Richmond

Alvarado Bar and Grill, San Pablo; oil on panel, 8x10"
Alvarado Bar and Grill, San Pablo; oil on panel, 8x10"

I recently began painting twice a week with the East Bay Landscape Painters whose members are preparing for a show of urban paintings of unexpected, nothing-special spots. For two Saturdays we painted on the unlovely corner of McBryde and San Pablo Avenue in Richmond.

I set up my easel by the air and water pumps at this gas station and set to work. I sketched out the composition and started painting the building when a huge semi truck double-parked right in front of it and began unloading produce for the market next door. My view was just about like this so I started on the empty lot next door. Half an hour later the truck left and I could finally paint the bar. I was happy with the above painting; a rare occurrence when I paint plein air.

Pupusas and Desayunos; oil on panel, 8x10"
Pupusas and Desayunos; oil on panel, 8x10"

The next Saturday afternoon we returned to the same corner. It was hot so I set up in a shady spot under this tree in front of a used car dealership and painted the Pupusas place across the street. Rebeca Garcia-Gonzalez also painted the Pupuseria, except she worked on an enormous canvas (maybe 24×30″) and her painting was fantastic! She also tells a funny story here about the day and the idea behind painting nothing-special spots.

While we were having our critique in the shade of the Fish and Chips place, one of the artists who’d left her chair and easel set up across the street by the pupusas shop just happened to look over her shoulder. She saw a guy jump out the side door of a van and pick up her folding chair. She started yelling at him, ran across the street and grabbed it back before he could stick it in the van. He took off and returned to our critique.

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Berkeley Building Drawing Ink and watercolor wash Interiors Landscape Life in general Painting Places Shop windows Sketchbook Pages Urban Sketchers

Alcatraz Liquor Deli and A Cuppa Tea, Berkeley

Alcatraz Liquor Deli, Berkeley; Ink & watercolor
Alcatraz Liquor Deli, Berkeley; Ink & watercolor

We met at the corner of Alcatraz and College on a warm evening and sat at tables outside A Cuppa Tea to sketch. Two women sat down beside me with cups of tea and began talking about prison while counting passing dogs. They asked about our sketching group, noticing us drawing, and then shared that this was their Tuesday night routine, and they were up to a dozen dogs already.

Although I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, hearing them talk about life in prison and the girls in their halfway house was just too interesting. It seemed ironic that having recently gotten out of prison they chose to meet on the corner of Alcatraz (the infamous  prison located in the middle of the San Francisco Bay).

A Cuppa Tea, Berkeley, Ink & watercolor
A Cuppa Tea, Berkeley, Ink & watercolor

It was great having the light of the cafe to sketch by as it got dark. When I could no longer see the street scene I turned around and drew the inside of the cafe through their window.

When we all finished sketching we went inside to see each others sketches. There were  signs all over saying, “Tables for customers only!” (To fend off the students who clog all the cafes in town with their computers and piles of books).  So Sonia bought another lemonade and when we left a few minutes later we left tips for the waitress.

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

Insect News Network @ Philz Coffee; Sketching Cedar & Shattuck, Berkeley

Sala Berkeley Back to School Sale Window, ink & watercolor
Sala Berkeley Back to School Sale Window, ink & watercolor

Cedar and Shattuck in Berkeley on a warm fall night was perfect for our Tuesday night sketch-out. I started a few blocks south to draw the window display at “Sala.” Their windows are always great and have inspired me to draw them before. I was hurrying and didn’t quite get the proportions right so instead of  tall willowy mannequins, these gals look a bit squat.

Cedar & Shattuck corner signs, ink & watercolor
Cedar & Shattuck corner signs, ink & watercolor

It got dark so quickly there was time for just one more sketch before we went indoors. There’s a new Philz Coffee a couple of doors down from the corner with a large upstairs room filled with comfortable sofas, arm chairs, and big dining tables with fancy dining room style chairs. They were having a special event, “The Insect News Network.”

Insect News Network Show, ink & watercolor
Insect News Network Show, ink & watercolor

The host with a microphone interviewed a bug scientist guest about the life cycle of various bugs that are found in urban gardens. They displayed slides and passed around live bug specimens in jars. Both were good speakers and made it all seem quite fascinating. It was great having entertainment while drawing. Their summing up statement was that “insects rule the planet; humans are only along for the ride.”