Category: 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

Drawing Ink and watercolor wash Interiors Other Art Blogs I Read Painting Places Sketchbook Pages Urban Sketchers

Honda of El Cerrito: Sketching Cars

Post author By Jana Bouc
Post date February 8, 2011
7 Comments on Honda of El Cerrito: Sketching Cars

The El Cerrito Honda dealership was kind enough to allow our Tuesday night urban sketchers group to come and sketch in their showroom. There were chairs and tables for us to sketch and paint in comfort and interesting architecture and cars to draw. I remember boys drawing cars all the time but never thought that someday I’d go out of my way to draw cars too.

The artist Rebeca Garcia Gonzalez told me that she likes including cars in her paintings because they remind her of jewel-like candies. In this post she not only included cars, but got a passerby to stand and pose for her and included him in the painting!

I drew this car at the end of the evening and it was so close to me that it got way out of proportion and then started looking like a shark with whatever that thingee was on top. It’s good to develop the ability to see and draw cars because they’re everywhere, and leaving them out of a scene can look strange.

Artist Beth Bourland told me a funny story about this car sketch on her blog. She kept working on her drawing after the cars drove away. Some passerbys looked at her sketch and then at the empty street in front of her, and back at the sketch, wondering if she was seeing things.

You can see Cathy’s Honda sketches on our Urban Sketchers blog here.

Tags Art, car sketch, Drawing, El Cerrito, Honda of El Cerrito, Ink and watercolor wash, Pen and Ink, 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

Drawing Faces Life in general People Sketchbook Pages Subway drawings Urban Sketchers

Mohawk Fashion Victim: Subway Drawings

Post author By Jana Bouc
Post date February 3, 2011
8 Comments on Mohawk Fashion Victim: Subway Drawings

Mohawk Fashion Victim, Ink & sticker, 8x5"

You can imagine my glee when this gentleman in full Mohawk sat down across from me on BART. Entranced by his cell phone, he never noticed me sketching and held perfectly still. It must have taken him a long time to get his hair to stand up so perfectly–and why? Especially first thing in the morning? I awarded him a sticker (on his page) from National Geographic.

UPDATE: Larry Hatfield sent me this link to a great Mohawk at a crazy website: People of Walmart where photos of actual shoppers and products at Walmart make you laugh, cringe and/or swear never to go to a Walmart.

And above, bonus BART rider sketches, people reading actual books, not a cellphone/Kindle, etc. And below some subway feet sketches.

I was amused by the variety of guys shoes, from super point to square toes to waffle soles.

Tags Art, BART, Drawing, Faces, ink sketch, Pen and Ink, People, Sketchbook Pages, subway drawing, Subway drawings

Building Ink and watercolor wash Landscape Life in general Outdoors/Landscape Painting Places Sketchbook Pages Sketchcrawl Stanford Urban Sketchers

International Sketchcrawl #30 at Stanford University

Post author By Jana Bouc
Post date January 24, 2011
10 Comments on International Sketchcrawl #30 at Stanford University

Rodin Sculpture Garden Trees, Stanford, ink & watercolor

It was fun to meet the South Bay members of our Urban Sketchers SF Bay Area group Suhita and John, and to meet some of the members of Sketchcrawl Silicon Valley at the Stanford sketchcrawl on Saturday. Cathy and I made the hour plus drive down there and met at noon. We started with lunch at the outdoor cafe with a view of the Rodin Sculpture Garden (sketched above at the end of the day after everyone left and it is my favorite because I love those funny, imperfectly groomed trees).

Sculpture of "Faith" in front of Cantor Center

My first sketch was the one above, of a statue called “Faith” in front of the Cantor Center for Visual Arts. Starting with “Faith” seemed good, since it helps to have a little faith that the sketching will go well. By 1:00 there were about 10 of us and everyone went off to follow their muses with a plan to regroup around 3:00. I followed Cathy who knew her way around, since my muse, like me, has no sense of direction.

Stanford Memorial Arch, ink & watercolor

The sign on the building said “Memorial Arch and Court Erected by His Mother, 1898 in Memory of Leland Stanford Jr. Born to mortality May 14, 1868…” I ran out of room to record his year of death but he only lived until age 16 so his mother donated the land Stanford was built on to create a memorial for her son.

From a distance the front of the chapel appears to be glowing gold but when you get closer you can see it’s covered with a stunning mural made entirely in mosaic. Coming from an urban environment where things are crowded, noisy and grungy, Stanford was amazing. The Stanford campus is tremendously spread out (over 8,000 acres), with most buildings only one or two stories, but massive nonetheless. Everything is immaculately clean, with amazing gardens, gazillions of trees (well, officially 43,000), and quiet. At $51,000 a year for tuition, room and board I suppose one should expect a lovely environment!

Tags Art, Ink and watercolor wash, Landscape, Pen and Ink, Plein Air, Sketchbook Pages, sketchcrawl, Stanford

Drawing People Sketchbook Pages Subway drawings Urban Sketchers

Wintery Rider on Way to Work

Post author By Jana Bouc
Post date December 29, 2010
5 Comments on Wintery Rider on Way to Work

There’s something about this sketch that really says winter in Northern California to me: bundled up, boots on, bare trees out the window, and a sense of quiet.

Now that I only work in the office two days a week I have fewer opportunities for sketching on my 13 minute subway ride but always enjoy the adventure of trying to sketch someone, not knowing if they’ll get off in a minute at the next stop.

Tags Art, BART, Drawing, ink sketch, Pen and Ink, People, Sketchbook Pages, subway drawing, Subway drawings

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

Drawing Ink and watercolor wash Places Sketchbook Pages Urban Sketchers

Sketching at Pastime Hardware, El Cerrito

Post author By Jana Bouc
Post date December 16, 2010
7 Comments on Sketching at Pastime Hardware, El Cerrito

Wire Winding & Measuring Machine, Ink & Watercolor

The crew at Pastime Hardware remembered us from our previous night there last year and treated us like honored guests. Cathy tackled the wall of spooled wires (see our Urban Sketchers site) but I fell in love with this ancient machine (above) for measuring long lengths of wire. Nobody there knew what it was called. Behind it is a rack of copper tubing.

Orion Key Grinding Machine, ink & watercolor & collaged piece of Ace brown bag

While I sketched the key grinding machine, an employee swept nearby, preparing for closing. He showed me his dustpan full of gold dust, explaining it falls from the key machine. I’m still battling the stupid landscape-format Moleskine that makes drawing and painting standing up difficult (for me, anyway). I had to completely surrender to wonkiness on this one but was glad for the handy nearby stool I sat on for drawing the wire winder.

I’m also glad for some upcoming vacation during which I will bind a new journal and sketch like crazy to finish this one.

Tags Art, Drawing, El Cerrito, El Cerrito, Ink and watercolor wash, Pastime Hardware, Pen and Ink, Sketchbook Pages

Drawing People Sketchbook Pages Subway drawings Urban Sketchers

Bundled Up and Busy on BART

Post author By Jana Bouc
Post date December 7, 2010
7 Comments on Bundled Up and Busy on BART

I’m wrapping up the last of my sketches in my last handmade sketchbook with these two subway sketches and next time, my end-of-journal self portrait. I didn’t get around to binding another journal one in time and so switched to a Moleskine watercolor sketchbook as a stopgap.

The Moleskine would be perfect if only it wasn’t in horizontal format. I hate the way two-page spreads become very long and skinny. Trying to sketch in it vertically is awkward to hold. Working in it for a few weeks has given me the incentive to get a new book bound ASAP!

Tags Art, BART, Drawing, Ink, ink sketch, Pen and Ink, People, Sketchbook Pages, subway drawing, Subway drawings