Category: Urban Sketchers

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

Emeryville Marina Chevy’s Sign at Sunset (Updated)

Emeryville Marina Chevys Sign at Sunset, ink & watercolor
Emeryville Marina Chevy's Sign at Sunset, ink & watercolor

(Apologies for posting twice–forgot to include all three images the first time).
I noticed this palm tree-lined street when I was exiting Highway 80 in Emeryville and suggested it as a place for our Urban Sketchers group to meet. I guess the directions I provided to the spot weren’t very good because everyone else went down to the end of the marina and I sketched alone all evening.

Photo of sketch before I painted it
Photo of sketch before I painted it

I knew we’d meet at Chevy’s Mexican Restaurant at 8:30 so I wasn’t worried. This was one of those really fun drawings where I started by deciding what I most wanted to fit on the page (the lamp post, palm trees, Chevy’s sign and water). I started with the lamp post because I could use it to figure out where other things lined up to it. And then I just kept seeing and drawing more and more until it was all in there.

photo of the scene
photo of the scene (slightly different angle)

I painted the sketch just as the sunset was at its brightest and everything looked so pretty, pink and yellow. It’s such a lovely spot, and yet so urban, within a couple blocks of two major freeways and the entrance to the Bay Bridge. You can see Cathy’s sketches of  the bay bridge and the freeway on our Urban Sketchers Bay Area blog.

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

Cafe Rouge, 4th Street, Berkeley

Cafe Rouge at Sunset, Ink & watercolor, 5x7"
Cafe Rouge at Sunset, Ink & watercolor, 5x7"

We were all a little late for our Tuesday night sketching. We met by Peet’s Coffee and then wandered off to sketch what caught our interests. It was cold out and the sun was setting but Cafe Rouge looked warm and inviting with their red chairs and umbrellas.

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Building Drawing Ink and watercolor wash Interiors Landscape Painting Places Pt. Richmond Urban Sketchers

Point Richmond: Sip and Swim

Richmond Plunge (AKA Natatorium), ink & watercolor 5x7"
Richmond Plunge (AKA Municipal Natatorium), ink & watercolor 5x7"

It was so cold, cloudy and windy the morning my plein air group met to paint in Pt. Richmond I decided to start out by sketching from my car. The old Richmond Plunge, now completely and beautifully restored, is the first thing you see when you drive into Pt. Richmond. After I finished the sketch I crossed the street and explored the building and pool. Wow! I’m inspired to start swimming again.

Little Louies, Pt. Richmond, Ink & watercolor, 7x5"
Little Louies, Pt. Richmond, Ink & watercolor, 7x5"

After my tour of the Natatorium, I headed to the main street of this little town, looking for a spot out of the wind to sketch. But I was seduced indoors by seeing my friend Sonia sketching at a table sipping a warm cup of tea. I joined her at the window table with a huge tray of apples on it and ordered a cup of coffee.

I started by drawing the apples on our table and then just kept going, drawing each next thing I saw. I was a little worried about getting the wonderful patterned floor tiles right, but took it slowly and they came out ok.

I liked Little Louie’s so much I returned the next morning with a friend for breakfast. I had a fabulous spinach, mushroom, bacon and cheddar omelet that was so big I had to take half of it home for lunch.

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

Good Enough For Jazz (at Caffe Trieste, Berkeley)

Randy Craig Jazz Band's guitarist, Terry at Caffe Trieste, ink & watercolor, 7x5"
Randy Craig Trio at Caffe Trieste, ink & watercolor, 7x5"

On a rainy Tuesday night (in June! it never rains in June here!) we met at Caffe Trieste, a small very “North Beach” coffee house in Berkeley. The place was packed, but Micaela arrived early and saved a great table for us. Soon the wonderful Randy Craig Trio squeezed their equipment into a corner and started playing, accompanied by a woman singer.

Gelato at Trieste, ink & watercolor
Gelato at Trieste, ink & watercolor

I loved getting to sketch accompanied by live music! The musicians were great and their choice of songs was really interesting and brought back memories of the records my dad used to play, including a great rendition of Twisted, made famous in the 50s by Lambert, Hendricks and Ross (seen here playing with Count Basie at the Playboy Club):

and later by Joni Mitchell. We ended up staying later than our usual Tuesday night 6:30-8:30 because we didn’t want to leave while the band was playing (and we probably couldn’t have squeezed out between the crowded tables anyway).

Warm up sketches
Warm up sketches, the singers and the audience

So I used the extra time to add to the warm-up sketches page above. They’re nothing special, but as my boss often says, “Good enough for jazz!”

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

Sketching Ikuko’s Garden

Ikuko's Garden, ink & watercolor, 7x5"
Ikuko's Garden, ink & watercolor, 7x5"

My friend Ikuko invited our Tuesday night sketching group to sketch in her lovely and lovingly tended garden. I picked a spot that was still in the last bit of sun and sat in a lawn chair to sketch and relax. For a change I tried to just be loose and free and it was really fun.

Ikuko's at Sunset, ink & watercolor, 7x5"
Ikuko's at Sunset, ink & watercolor, 7x5"

I was interested in all of the odd contraptions on top of her fireplace and the glowing light of the sunset on the bricks and the windows. I managed to fit almost everything I wanted on the page (with a little rearranging from real life; the mail box was below the frame but I liked it so stuck it in.) I was a little annoyed when I finished the sketch that I’d “messed up” the house numbers (the 2 is too big) but a week later, who cares!

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Bay Area Parks Drawing Ink and watercolor wash Landscape Other Art Blogs I Read Outdoors/Landscape Painting People Places Sketchbook Pages Urban Sketchers

Golden Gate Park with Laurelines and JanasJournal

Conservatory of Flowers, Golden Gate Park, ink & watercolor, 5x7"
Conservatory of Flowers, Golden Gate Park, ink & watercolor, 5x7"

When Laura Frankstone of Laurelines was in San Francisco for a long weekend I had the great pleasure of joining her for an afternoon of sketching in Golden Gate Park. Laura and I had corresponded and participated together in many art blogging activities since 2006, but this was the first time we met in person. She is a brilliant artist, a delightful person and great fun to sketch with.

Below are our sketches of the Conservatory. I added watercolor to mine (above) in the studio later since it was windy, foggy and cold sitting on the grass and so were ready to go explore the (way too hot) conservatory.

Laura's on left, Jana's on right
Laura's on left, Jana's on right (click to enlarge)
Photo of the Conservatory with my sketch
Photo of the Conservatory with my sketch

After getting all steamy inside the Conservatory of Flowers’ jungle-like atmosphere, and touring the Wicked Plants exhibit, we came back out to sketch people on the lawn.

Girls Picnic in Golden Gate Park, ink & watercolor, 7x5"
Girls Picnic in Golden Gate Park, ink & watercolor, 7x5"

We agreed to paint these later too, since time was short and we wanted to keep moving. Below are our two sketches.

Girls in the Park; Laura's above, Jana's below
Girls in the Park; Laura's above, Jana's below

If you click the image above to enlarge it you can see how Laura even captured the girl on the left’s cheek bulging with her snack.

Our last stop was the Tea House in the Japanese Tea Garden. The garden is an absolutely beautiful place with incredible plantings, sculptures, buildings, ponds, trees, moon bridges and more. I wanted to live there.

View from Teahouse in Japanese Tea Garden, ink & watercolor, 5x7"
View from Teahouse in Japanese Tea Garden, ink & watercolor, 5x7"

While our tea was the most delicious jasmine tea we’ve ever had, our experience was not exactly the “meditative cup of tea overlooking the peaceful waters of the garden” because men were doing construction and running a small but loud and smelly bulldozer back and forth on the path behind what I sketched above. The combination of noise and exhaust were less than ideal but unlike me, Laura didn’t complain once.

Moments after we sat down in the Teahouse another woman sat down beside us and pulled out a sketchbook (before we had ours out). She was an art history student visiting from Boston and we all sketched happily together. The waitresses kept coming over to praise our drawings. I said, “You must see people sketching here all the time.” She said no, we were the first she’d seen.

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

Sketching Oscars Burgers, Berkeley

Oscars Burgers at Sunset, Berkeley, ink & watercolor
Oscars Burgers at Sunset, Berkeley, ink & watercolor

Now that it stays light later we can finally go outdoors for our Tuesday night Urban Sketching sessions. We met at the corner of Shattuck and Hearst in Berkeley and I sketched Oscars Charbroiler from across the street. They’ve been grilling burgers, hot dogs (and now vege burgers) over fire on that corner since 1950. It was sunset by the time I painted it, hence the pink sky.

Eating French Fries and Watching NBA Playoffs
Eating French Fries and Watching NBA Playoffs

When we went inside for one more sketch. There was a big screen TV on the wall tuned to sports. It was the end of an NBA playoff game and people were watching while stuffing their faces with burgers and fries like this guy who never looked at his food, just shoveled in the fries while watching the game.

Another guy came by and complemented our drawings and asked if we came there every week to sketch. Uh, no…maybe once a decade? Though I have to admit I’d skipped dinner, got hungry, and ate one of their burgers. It was good.

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

Middle East Market, Berkeley

Middle East Market Teapot, Berkeley, ink & watercolor 5.5 x 7"
Middle East Market Teapot, Berkeley, ink & watercolor 5.5 x 7"

When I read this interesting story about the owner of the market, “From Ecuador via war-torn Iran to melting pot Berkeley” on Berkeleyside, I thought it would be a good place to sketch. I was right.

It is bright and colorful with a large variety of Middle Eastern products and freshly made food. It was quiet there on a Tuesday evening so the gentleman manning the shop was fine with us sitting at the cafe tables in the back and roaming the shop to sketch. I got so drawn into the teapot that I only had time to do one sketch before they closed at 8:00. We usually sketch from 6:30 to 8:30 or 9:00 so it was a short evening.

Categories
Benicia Drawing Ink and watercolor wash Landscape Life in general Outdoors/Landscape Painting Places Plein Air Sketchbook Pages Urban Sketchers

Losers, Finders, Keepers: Sketching Benicia

Benicia Waterfront Street Light, ink and watercolor,7x5"
Benicia Waterfront Street Light, ink and watercolor,7x5"

I accidentally overslept so when I finally arrived at our Benicia paintout at 11:00 I was an hour late. I didn’t see any other artists around. The wind was blowing so hard that I sat in my car to sketch, listening to NPR on the radio. Everything was going great, I was drawing with my favorite Lamy Safari Extra Fine Fountain pen and then painted with my watercolors set up on the passenger seat.

Benicia Waterfront, Ink and Watercolor, 5x7"
Benicia Waterfront, Ink and Watercolor, 5x7"

I turned to draw a different view, but when I reached for my pen it was gone. I searched everywhere, inside the car, under the car, nearby on the ground. No pen. I retraced my path when I’d gotten out of the car to look around and take photos. Nothing. I asked people walking by but nobody had seen my pen. I returned to the car and searched every nook and cranny again, twice.

An hour later I gave up and used a Pitt Artist Pen to do the drawing and added watercolor. I was so sad. I’d really come to love that pen. When I finished the sketch I used my iPhone to look up and call all the stationary and art stores in the Bay Area, but nobody had a Lamy with an Extra Fine nib.

Just then fellow painters Carol and Ling drove up and I told them what happened. They insisted on helping me find the pen despite my whining, “It’s hopeless, it’s just gone.” Carol checked under the seats and in the driver’s side door pocket. She told me to check the passenger’s door pocket. It was the one place I hadn’t looked (why I hadn’t looked there I can’t explain) and there it was! Yay! Joy!

I went from a sad loser to a happy finder and now every time I use my pen I get that happy feeling again. Definitely a keeper.

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

Sketching at Kensington Circus Pub

Kensington Circus Pub, ink & watercolor, 5x7"
Kensington Circus Pub, ink & watercolor, 5x7"

It was a cold and rainy night so we met indoors at the cosy Kensington Circus Pub (named for the traffic roundabout it faces in Kensington, on the Berkeley border. It’s a very pleasant place to sip a beer and sketch. After eating a delicious sandwich I spent most of the evening facing the bar and doing the sketch above. I wore my L.L. Bean flashlight hat to see to paint and it worked great.

Old friends plotting at Kensington Circus Pub, ink & watercolor, 5x7"
Old friends plotting at Kensington Circus Pub, ink & watercolor, 5x7"

Then I turned to face the other direction and sketched these gentleman who were in a booth a few feet away but didn’t seem notice or care that we were drawing them. They were meeting to dine, drink and plot a business venture from what I could overhear.