Category: Sketchbook Pages

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Drawing Faces Ink and watercolor wash People Places Sketchbook Pages Sketchcrawl Urban Sketchers

International Sketchcrawl 35: San Francisco, Part I

Waiting with flowers at MacArthur BART Station
Waiting with flowers at MacArthur BART Station (sketched standing on the platform and color added at home)

Sketchcrawl 35 was fantastic! The weather in San Francisco was unusually beautiful, warm and sunny and there was so much to see and do. I’m posting the sketches in three parts since what we saw in each part of the day was so different.  Part I covers the trip into the city through lunch.

Reading an Actual BOOK on BART
Reading an Actual BOOK on BART (paint added at home)

So rare to see someone reading a real book and not just fidgeting with their digital whatevers.

He reminded me of Jay and Silent Bob in Clerks
He reminded me of Jay from the movie Clerks

The guy in the sketch above reminded me so much of the slacker Jay from the movie Clerks I had to post this photo of him and Silent Bob below.

Jay and Silent Bob in Clerks
Jay and Silent Bob in Clerks

Thank goodness for the Internet or I would have been saying, “Doesn’t he look just like that guy in that movie….” and had no photo to show you.

Cathy and another sketcher at Caffe Trieste in North Beach
Cathy and another sketcher at Caffe Trieste in North Beach (sketched and painted on site)

Cathy was sitting at my sidewalk table sketching someone behind me so I sketched her while the group gathered at Caffe Trieste, the starting point for the sketchcrawl. There was scaffolding over the entryway, which provided an interesting drawing challenge.

Molinari's Deli where we bought lunch
Molinari’s Deli where we bought lunch (sketched in the store, painted at home)

Cathy and I bought lunch for later and then stood in opposite corners of the store to sketch the counter guys at Molinari’s Deli in North Beach. (Click the link to Molinari’s to see the picture prominently displayed in their store of their salame with the Pope). They turned up their radio for the end of the Barcelona vs. Madrid soccer finals. It was fun hearing the super-excited announcer yelling the play-by-play in Spanish as a player ran down the field, made a goal and won the game.

Part II will be my drawings from Dr. Sketchy’s Tease-O-Rama and Part III is more in North Beach and Fisherman’s Wharf.

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Drawing Ink and watercolor wash Sacramento Sketchbook Pages Urban Sketchers

Train Trip to the California State Railroad Museum

1908 Train #112 Redwood Empire Route, ink & watercolor, 5x10"
1908 Train #112 Redwood Empire Route, ink & watercolor, 5x10"

Our sketch group took a train trip to Sacramento and visited the California State Railroad Museum. The enormous building ( 225,000 square feet) contains many full-sized trains. This one called out to me so after looking around a bit, I sat against a pillar on the hard floor and started drawing.

I used pencil first to get the basic shapes down since it was so complicated. Then I switched to ink and the time flew by. A friendly docent started talking to me and I realized I only had a few minutes left before we had to leave for our train ride home, so I quickly added watercolor, which I touched up a bit when I got home.

Micaela and Susan sketching on the train
Micaela and Susan sketching on the train ride

The museum has a Pullman-style sleeping car, a dining car, and a Railway Post Office, all of which you can walk through, along with many life-size displays demonstrating railroad life in the early years of California. I especially liked the little telegraph office with the lady at her desk with a little dish holding egg shells and a salt shaker from her breakfast. She must have had to work long hours in her lonely outpost. Click here to take a 360 Virtual Tour of the museum (or go in person—it’s fantastic!)

Davis Train Station as it rolled by
Davis Train Station as it rolled by

We walked from the train museum to the train station for our ride back home. When we  stopped at the Davis station I tried to draw it. But it must have been a “whistle stop.” I barely had time to sketch the tree and a bit of the lamp-post when we were rolling again.

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Berkeley Ink and watercolor wash Interiors People Sketchbook Pages Sketchcrawl

The Drunken Boat, Burlesque Convention, International Sketchcrawl Reminder

Cathy Sketching at Le Bateau Ivre, Sepia pen and watercolor, 8x5
Cathy Sketching at Bateau Ivre, Sepia pen and watercolor, 8x5"

We had a wonderful Tuesday evening sketching and dining at Le Bateau Ivre (The Drunken Boat) in Berkeley. The ambiance and food are fantastic. We sat in the dining room with lovely brick walls and a fireplace. When we sketched there last year we sat in the café area which is equally charming.

International Sketchcrawl 35 is Saturday, April 21!

Here is a link to the Sketchcrawl website where you can find out if there is a group sketching near you (or start a location yourself).

San Francisco looks to be a particularly juicy sketchcrawl, starting in North Beach and ending at a free Burlesque Queens sketching marathon at a hotel at Fisherman’s Wharf, hosted by Dr. Sketchy’s Anti-Art School. The  burlesque performers are in town for the Tease-O-Rama, a “showcase and convention dedicated to the thriving neo-burlesque revival.”

Unfinished sketch of stuff on table with bits of business card
Unfinished sketch of random stuff on table with bits of business card
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Sketchbook Pages Subway drawings

(Mostly) Subway Sketches

Subway is TOO LOUD
Subway is TOO LOUD

I’ve gotten so used to sketching people in public that sometimes I forget to be subtle. Then I get glares or confused looks from people who can’t figure out why I keep looking at them. One day a guy down the train was holding up a camera and continuously filming everyone which I found annoying. Filming seems more intrusive since my drawings rarely capture a close-enough likeness for anyone to worry about.

Here are some random people sketches, mostly from my 13 minute subway ride to work. They are displayed first in a slide show (with arrows to click through) and at the bottom in “gallery” format. In gallery format you can click to enlarge a picture.

Please take the poll in between the two so I can learn which type of display for multiple pictures you prefer. THANKS!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

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Animals Drawing Ink and watercolor wash Sketchbook Pages

Hoppy Easter Bunnies (and a Guinea Pig)

Baby Bunnies Chillin' & Chowin' Down, ink & watercolor, 5x8"
Baby Bunnies Chillin' & Chowin' Down, ink & watercolor, 5x8"

My local bunny rescue/pet supply store Rabbit Ears, has a bunch of bunnies available for adoption including this litter of 6 week old babies and their mom. While I sketched them, they took turns sleeping piled together, eating from their big bowl of bunny chow, grooming themselves and each other, and dropping little bunny pellets.

More bunnies (left side of spread), ink & watercolor, 5x8"
More bunnies (left side of spread), ink & watercolor, 5x8"

I left the babies and wandered around the store, drawing rabbits in different enclosures. It’s hard to figure out bunny parts with all that fur hiding everything.

Lucy the Guinea Pig
Lucy the Guinea Pig (Detail)

I think my favorite sketch is Lucy the Guinea Pig. I was surprised to see she had no visible pupils in her little red eyes.

Bunnies & Guinea Pig, right side of spread
Bunnies & Guinea Pig, right side of spread

The lop-eared rabbit’s name is Snickers. As soon as I started to sketch him he and his cage-partner Oreo got so busy grooming each other I couldn’t see his face to finish the drawing.

Full spread in sketchbook
Full spread in sketchbook

Happy Easter, Passover and Spring!

Categories
Drawing Sketchbook Pages Urban Sketchers

Industrial Antique Sketching at Automatic Response Systems

1950 Royal Typewriter, Pitt Brush Pen, 5x6"
1950 Royal Typewriter just like my grandpa's, Quick sketch, Pitt Brush Pen, 5x6"

Automatic Response Systems offers drive-in shredding service for your boxes of old bank statements and tax returns, secrets on your hard drives, naughty videos, or anything in between. Their Willy-Wonka like equipment rolls your papers up a ramp, grinds them in a massive shredder and flies them away through huge see-through tubes.

They recycle everything they shred, from the paper to the paper clips. Their old, brick, northwest-Berkeley industrial-zone warehouse is also home to an amazing collection of antique office and industrial equipment. The owners graciously allowed us to come sketch there on a stormy Tuesday night.

Steam-Powered Victorian Drill Press, 16"x5, ink & watercolor
Steam-Powered Victorian Drill Press circa 1900, 16"x5, sepia ink, gray brush pen & watercolor

This enormous drill press is about 8 feet tall and much more substantial than my sketch makes it look.  I started drawing it from the top which was further away from me (so appeared smaller) than the base, but not as much as I drew it (oops). It was incredibly complicated and a fun challenge to draw. Be sure to see my friends’ much better drawings of this amazing equipment posted here and here on our Urban Sketchers blog.

1840s French Depose (pot metal) Sculpture, ink 8x5"
1840s French Deposé (pot metal) Sculpture, sepia ink, grey brush pen, black brush pen, 8x5"

When we first arrived I warmed up by sketching this life-size bust of a beautiful woman who, unlike in my sketch, did not look at all worried about how I was drawing her.

We hope to go sketching there again as there was so much more to draw. And if you need anything shredded in the S. F. Bay area, this is the place to go (or call—they pick up too)!

Categories
Drawing Food sketch Sketchbook Pages Urban Sketchers

Chicken Pot Pie Celebration

Chicken Pot Pie Celebration, ink & watercolor, 5x8"
Chicken Pot Pie Celebration, ink & watercolor, 5x8"

When we met for sketch night at Fat Apples Restaurant I decided to celebrate my move into the new studio with a sinfully decadent chicken pot pie. It came with a great salad and two unnecessary rolls since there was already too much to eat. By the time I finished sketching it, the pot pie cooled off just the right amount to eat. Yum!

Umbrellas Inside Fat Apples, ink & watercolor 5x8"
Umbrellas Inside Fat Apples, ink & watercolor 5x8"

Fat Apples has these two large café umbrellas in the middle of the restaurant at a counter where your can eat instead of at a table. It was interesting drawing them from below and to the side and trying to understand what was going on in there. Everyone finished sketching and was waiting for me so I didn’t get to complete the sketch. That’s a waitress with pigtails behind the counter. She actually had a pony tail but turned her head so I drew it in two places.

(Question: Why is a pony tail single but pig tails come in pairs? Pigs only have one tail, right?)

I’m still working on getting a post written and photos taken about the studio. I tried making a 360 degree video in the studio, explaining what I was showing, but when I watched it I discovered I lost track of where I started and actually did 360 degrees plus another 90. It was fun so I’ll try again.

Categories
Bay Area Parks Landscape Life in general Plein Air Sketchbook Pages Walnut Creek Watercolor

Bad Mood Cloudy Day at Borges Ranch That Ended Well

Borges Ranch Shell Ridge Area, ink & watercolor, 5x8"
Borges Ranch Shell Ridge Area, ink & watercolor, 5x8"

My mind was as cloudy as the skies when my plein air group visited Borges Ranch for a Saturday paint out. I was mad because a beautiful bookcase promised to me on Craigslist sold to someone else. I needed it badly. After I donated lots of books along with my rickety old bookcase I still had many I was keeping with no place to put them.

I was too grumpy to hang out with my painting friends so I hiked away from the ranch on the Shell Ridge trail, which is beautiful and quiet except for the sounds of birds. I set up my folding stool and sketched in ink with watercolor washes, facing one direction (above).

Borges Ranch Shell Ridge Open Space, watercolor, 5x8"
Borges Ranch Shell Ridge Open Space, watercolor, 5x8"

Then I turned to face the opposite direction and worked directly in watercolor. I was starting to feel better, enjoying freely painting all the gorgeous colors of spring.

Happy Ending

On the way home from Borges I passed an “Estate Sale” sign and pulled over. Usually estate sales just have a lot of crummy, over-priced furniture, ugly knicknacks, and icky used bathrobes. But this home was huge and completely remodeled, with a master bath better than any spa, a huge dreamy kitchen, and best of all (for me) a home office with TWO bookcases exactly like the ONE I almost bought for $100…and I got them for $20 each! The nice estate sales guy even loaded them in my car for me.

I learned a good lesson: Don’t waste time being grumpy! The second bookcase now holds my cookbooks and gardening books just outside the kitchen which makes them much more accessible than they were before and it looks nice there too.

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

Saul’s and The Actual Cafe: Sketches

Saul's Valentines Day Dinner, ink & colored pencil, 5x9.5"
Pickle Eater Wearing Cape Behind Susan Sketching, ink & colored pencil, 5x9.5"

By the date on this sketch at Saul’s Deli you can see how behind I am in posting. I have just a bit more organizing to do in the studio. Once that’s done I will share pictures of the studio and then can not only catch up on posting but also on sketching and painting.

Actual Cafe: Bike Hangs From Ceiling, Ink & watercolor, 8x5"
Actual Cafe: Bike Hangs From Ceiling, Ink & watercolor, 8x5"

We had a great Tuesday sketch night at the Actual Cafe in Oakland. It’s an interesting place with a huge mural on the wall, a lending library, bicycles hanging from the ceiling, and regularly scheduled art events. They host bingo games to benefit non-profits and, being a bike-friendly establishment, use an old bike rigged up to spin a bingo cage and send bingo balls down the chute.

And now off to the studio.

Categories
Art theory Ink and watercolor wash Life in general Outdoors/Landscape Sketchbook Pages

Dawn in Scottsdale and Notes from Portrait Class

Dawn View from my Scottsdale hotel window, ink & watercolor 5x8"
Dawn View from my Scottsdale hotel window, ink & watercolor 5x8"

I was too excited to sleep much during my week at the Scottsdale Artists School, despite my quiet, comfortable hotel room. One morning I woke as the sun was coming up, with the moon still shining brightly. Everything outside my window was glowing so I immediately grabbed my sketchbook and paints. What a great way to start the day, even if on only a few hours sleep.

I promised to share what I learned from Rose Frantzen but after typing up 5 pages of notes, I’m not sure they will be helpful to anyone without having been there and seen her working and guiding us. That said, here is a bit of my notes:

Continue reading “Dawn in Scottsdale and Notes from Portrait Class”