Category: Urban Sketchers

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Building Drawing Ink and watercolor wash Life in general Painting Sketchbook Pages Urban Sketchers

Oakland Chinatown Sketch and Group Photo (Plus One)

Oakland Chinatown, ink & watercolor, 5x8"
Oakland Chinatown, ink & watercolor, 5×8″

Early on the morning after Thanksgiving our Urban Sketchers group went to Oakland’s Chinatown for some sketching. It was business as usual in the busy produce markets, herb shops, meat and seafood stalls, and Chinese restaurants, with no sign of Black Friday.

I found a spot to sit in front of a bank and had fun drawing all the details in the architecture. I started in pencil because the scene seemed so complicated. It’s easier to get it “right” with an eraser but it takes so much longer to draw it twice, in pencil and then in ink. I had to add the watercolor at home from a photo because by the time I chose my spot and did the drawing, it was time to meetup with the group.

While I drew, local people stopped to watch and give me encouragement, whether in excellent or broken English. My favorite was the plump, elderly lady who said something in Chinese, grinned, and gave me a big thumbs up. The amazing thing about sketching in public is that no matter how good or bad you’re doing, people always say nice, encouraging things.

Chinatown-plus-1-outtake
Chinatown-some of the Urban Sketchers plus-1 (that’s me, second to right)

Since many of us were there, we took photos for our group blog. I used the timer on my camera, setting it on the edge of a defunct fountain in the center of this plaza. I didn’t realize I was including the lady on the end. She must have been really tired as she nodded off and slept through our photo session. The photo we ultimately used on the USK blog masthead here was kindly taken by a guy who watched me repeatedly duck under the yellow warning tape around the fountain, set up the camera, and dash back to sit with my friends.

Categories
Albany Drawing Gardening Ink and watercolor wash Outdoors/Landscape Places Plants Urban Sketchers

Airstream Trailer Coffee Kiosk at Flowerland Nursery

Flowerland Cafe, ink & watercolor, 6x8
Flowerland Cafe, ink & watercolor, 6×8

Lately food trucks pop up all over the Bay Area; former roach coaches are the new gourmet dining spots. But this is the first vintage Airstream trailer food truck I’ve seen and it doesn’t travel. It’s set up on blocks inside Flowerland Nursery on Solano Avenue in Albany (California–next door to Berkeley) and run by Local 123 Cafe.

I can’t think of a better place to enjoy a good cup of coffee than in a lovely garden. The lovely folks at Flowerland Nursery put interesting chairs and tables throughout the nursery, turning the whole place into a sort of garden café. You can get your coffee and then sit among the palms, the native plants, fruit trees or climbing vines to enjoy it.

And when you finish your coffee, you can take home the chair you sat on or the plant you sat beside (for a price of course).

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Building Drawing Ink and watercolor wash Landscape Places Sketchbook Pages Urban Sketchers

Happy 75 Cerrito Theater! (Sketching on a Cube of Stone)

Theater, ink & watercolor, 6x8"
Theater, ink & watercolor, 6×8″

Well that’s a confusing title! What I meant was that I sketched while sitting on one of the giant cubes of stone set into the sidewalk along San Pablo Avenue in El Cerrito. I assume they are meant to be used as seats. According to this brochure, a primary goal of the recent street upgrade program that included the stone blocks was “to identify El Cerrito as a distinct place…” I guess the city fathers (and mothers?) felt that poor little El Cerrito just didn’t have enough “there” there.

The Cerrito Theatre is having its 75th birthday celebration this week.  It originally opened on Christmas Day in 1937 as an art deco “motion picture palace.” It closed in the 1960s and was used as a furniture warehouse until a community group worked to bring it back to life as a theater in 2006.

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

PiQ Cafe Sketches

PiQ Cafe Counter, ink & watercolor, 6x8"
PiQ Cafe Counter, ink & watercolor, 6×8″

PiQ Cafe (Pane Italiano Qualita) serves espresso and bakes pizza and Italian pastries near U. C. Berkeley. It’s a busy place in the evening with lots of sketching opportunities. I got a fabulous Decaf Americano coffee and drew the pastries instead of eating them.

Half Price Books from Inside PiQ Cafe, ink, 8x6"
Half Price Books from Inside PiQ Cafe, ink, 8×6″

My sketch buddies sat at the outdoor sidewalk tables and drew the bookstore across the street but it was too cold and dark out there for me (Cathy’s sketch and Cristina’s sketch). I drew the bookstore too, but from inside the café.

PiQ has a unique restroom arrangement: you carry a metal pitcher attached to a key card into their elevator, take it down to the basement and follow signs around a corridor to the bathroom and then repeat the trip.

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

Molly B’s and the Imperial Tea Court

Molly B's Window Display, Ink & Watercolor, 8x6"
Molly B’s Window Display, Ink & Watercolor, 8×6″

Molly B’s is a shop in North Berkeley’s Walnut Square with great window displays. They were closed but the window was lit up when I was there sketching. I think they sell ladies clothes and underwear. According to one Yelp reviewer, the store has “Beautiful fabrics, witty designs, and some amusingly bizarre skirts and trousers.”

ourt Still Life, Ink & watercolor
Imperial Tea Court, Ink & watercolor

After I finished my sketch at Molly B’s we met upstairs at the Imperial Tea Court for a little more sketching and sharing. These were a couple of large containers on the counter (and a guy sitting at a table).

And if I’m ever going to get caught up on my blog posting (I’m not even out of September yet!), I am going to have to learn to keep it short. So that’s it for this post.

Categories
Building Drawing Ink and watercolor wash Places Sketchbook Pages Urban Sketchers

The Actual Cafe and Neighborhood

Around the Corner from Actual Cafe, ink & watercolor 6x8"
Around the Corner from Actual Cafe, ink & watercolor 6×8″

When we arrived at the Actual Cafe in Oakland to sketch, the sun was just starting to set. It seemed a shame to go indoors while it was still nice out so we sketched around the corner from the cafe first. Even though it’s in a rundown neighborhood, this house had some charm, with its pillars and rounded porch roof.

Susan Ford's Sketch of Me Sketching
Susan Ford’s Sketch of Me Sketching

While I was sketching the house, Susan was sketching me sketching the house (above). She also got the house next door and the cute car as well.

Actual Cafe Espresso machine and counter, ink & watercolor, 6x8"
Actual Cafe Espresso machine and counter, ink & watercolor, 6×8″

And then we went inside. I had a delicious cappuccino (decaf these days) and sketched their snazzy Italian espresso machine. As you may have noticed, these are from September; I’m still trying to get caught up on posting sketches and paintings but I just keep making more. That’s a good thing, right?

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Sketchbook Pages Urban Sketchers

Halloween City Sketching: Great Spooky Fun!

Halloween City Masks and Punkin Pups, ink & watercolor, 8x5"
Halloween City Masks and Punkin Pups, ink & watercolor, 8×5″

We had so much fun sketching at Halloween City, a popup store in the former Petsmart in Albany (next door to Berkeley). They had a great sound system and were playing a variety of good music from stormy classical to Halloween-themed pop hits and dance music.

The Spooky Butler "Skulls anyone?" ink & watercolor, 8x5"
The Spooky Butler: “Skulls anyone?” ink & watercolor, 8×5″

Along with all the costumes, masks, props and decorations they had a bunch of displays with computerized life-sized ghouls that pop up or start talking or laughing. This spooky butler was part of one of those displays.While I was drawing him the store manager had to climb into the display to change one of the ghoul’s suits. I wonder why.

They also had some inexpensive skeletons and skulls that were close enough anatomically to the models I’ve wished I could afford for studio anatomy practice that I may go back and buy one.

You must see the fantastic sketches from the other Urban Sketchers in our group. You can see Cathy’s funny post here, Micaela’s here, Ceinwen’s comprehensive set here,  Cristina’s here and Sonia’s here.

Categories
Albany Drawing Sketchbook Pages Urban Sketchers

Sketch Rendezvous at the Rendez-Vous Cafe

Someone else feeling like me, ink & watercolor
Someone else feeling like me, ink & watercolor

I wasn’t feeling well the night we sketched at the newish Rendez-Vous Cafe-Bistro and it looks like I sketched my feelings onto my friend’s face. She was cheery and having fun but my pen gave her an expression reflecting how I felt instead.

Kid's Menu Spaghetti & Meatballs with my legs under table, ink & watercolor
Kid’s Menu Spaghetti & Meatballs with my legs under table, ink & watercolor

There was a guitar jazz duo playing lovely music and the waiter kindly let me order  spaghetti and meatballs from the kids’ menu since I just wanted a small portion. As you can see in the sketch above, after I sketched my food on the table I continued down the page, over the binding, and sketched my legs and feet under the table.

By the end of the evening I was feeling much better, as almost always happens when  I sketch, especially with such good friends.

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Drawing Ink and watercolor wash Kensington Painting Places Sketchbook Pages Urban Sketchers

Street Light Battle and Dinner at the Gas Station?!

Kensington Street Lights, ink & watercolor, 8x6"
Kensington Street Lights, ink & watercolor, 8×6″

The little village of Kensington is battling over their streetlights. According to El Cerrito Patch, “A number of residents in the upscale community complained in late July when PG&E began removing the distinctive old streetlights on wood poles and replacing them with generic “cobra head” lights on shiny steel poles.” The replacement project was put on hold and community meetings planned to sort it.

I wanted to sketch the controversial street lights so we met on The Arlington, Kensington’s main street for our Tuesday night sketch-out. I found a spot to sketch where I could see all three of the street light types (though of course not so close together as in the picture above).

Kensington Chevron with Whip-Out Food Truck, ink & watercolor 8x4"
Kensington Chevron with Whip-Out Food Truck, ink & watercolor 8×4″

It got dark quickly so we sat outside the Sugar Cone Cafe at their sidewalk tables and sketched by the light from their windows. Across the street at the Chevron Station, people were lining up to get dinner from the Whip-Out Food Truck. It’s funny how food trucks have gone from being “the roach coach” that served awful food to factory workers to the new gourmet thing.

You can see some of the delightful sketches my sketch buddies Cristina and Ceiny did that evening of the festive cafe and the food truck on our Urban Sketchers blog. I give Cathy credit for the pool of light in front of the gas station that I added to my sketch after I saw it in hers (which I’ll link to when she posts it).

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Berkeley Drawing Sketchbook Pages Urban Sketchers

Happy Toesday: Random Bits

Streetlight on 4th Street Patio, Berkeley, ink and water, 8x5
Streetlight on 4th Street Patio, Berkeley, ink and water, 8×5″

When uninspired and all else fails, draw a street light. Even better when there are two lights on the same pole. And a sign.

4th Street Yuppie Dad
4th Street Yuppie Dad
My Big Foot
My Big Foot

Finished the street light and spotted yuppie dad waiting for tot and mom to do more shopping at the stores on 4th Street selling mostly expensive stuff nobody needs.

No street light? No problem. There’s always a foot. I put this foot sketch on a birthday card for my son with an apology for passing on the big, narrow feet that make shoe shopping so hard.

Thomas Livingston Antiques, Adeline & Ashby, Berkeley
Thomas Livingston Antiques, Adeline & Ashby, Berkeley

A quick little leftover sketch from sketching on Ashby and Adeline. The building is bright red and full of interesting details that will be fun to draw when I have more time.