Tag: People

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Faces Ink and watercolor wash Life in general Movies Painting People Sketchbook Pages

The Big Lebowski: I Don’t Get It

In 1998 when the movie The Big Lebowski first came out, my father, who considered himself an intellectual, raved about this movie. So I went to see it on his recommendation but couldn’t figure out what he saw in it.

Now the star, Jeff Bridges, is in a new movie and people are again talking with great reverence about his role as “The Dude” in The Big Lebowski, which some critics rate in their top comedies of the past 25 years. My son even had this movie in his collection, so I borrowed it, thinking if its popularity spans that many generations, I should give it another chance.

I watched it. I still don’t get it. At the end, when “the stranger” (Sam Elliot) who begins the movie with his narration returns to the bowling alley for another sarsaparilla and concludes the narration, I decided to sketch him so at least I had something to show from spending two hours with these morons.

Is it a guy thing? Is this a movie that makes guys feel good because they’re not as bad of losers? Do people really think the Dude’s pothead approach to life known as “The Dude abides,” was worthy of worship (there is actually a church based on his character, called Dudeism)?

I loved the Coen Brothers’ movie Fargo (mostly because of Francis McDormand) but even she couldn’t save their most recent movie, Burn After Reading, which, after renting it accidentally, I thought had to be the most pointless movie I’ve ever seen.

If only the millions of dollars spent on making stupid movies (much of which goes to already obscenely wealthy movie stars) could be spent on feeding people, funding education, the arts, or making the world a better place.

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Berkeley Faces Ink and watercolor wash People Sketchbook Pages

Berkeley Main Library and Peets Coffee Sketches

Berkeley Public Library, ink & watercolor
Berkeley Public Library, ink & watercolor

The Berkeley Public Library is a beautiful old building that was lovingly preserved and added on to a few years ago. We met there to sketch last Tuesday night, enjoying the ambiance and craftsman furnishings in the lobby of the old section. I experimented with trying to get the perspective from where I sat in a room filled with wood, metal filigree screens, brass door frames, carved ceilings and handcrafted furniture.

I asked Cathy to take a picture of me sitting in the high-backed chair with diagonal arms so I could sketch it later. I messed up my face (in the sketch) so I just pasted on a fresh piece of watercolor paper and did it again.

Me for real
Me for real
Me sketching in funny chair
Me sketching in funny chair

When the library closed at 8:00 we headed across the street to Peet’s Coffee, hoping that their manager (who looks like Harry Connick Jr. and dresses in fancy 1950s suits and ties and an Elvis pompadour) would be there for us to sketch. He was there but he was wearing a different costume: suspenders over a tight white t-shirt and a fedora. I asked him why he wasn’t wearing a suit and he said he hadn’t known in advance he would be working that night so wasn’t dressed for work.

Last time we were there I asked him if he was in a band and why he dressed so cool. He said he just liked to, and that years ago when he was in a band he dressed much more sloppily. (My dad was famous for starting up conversations with strangers and asking similar questions which used to embarrass us kids but I guess I inherited his curiosity.)

The manager never stopped moving and was often out of my sight but one of his buddies who seemed to be channeling Keith Richards (only looking much more alive) hung out for a while and he at least stood in one place long enough to sketch him.

Peet's: Rocker Dude
Peet's: Rocker Dude

Cathy was facing a tiny, ancient man in a weathered, WWII leather aviator cap who parked his 1940s era bicycle behind me in the store’s entry way, giving her a perfect view for sketching him and the bike. He was selling bike parts to a young man. When he left she showed him the sketch of his bike (but not of him because it was just too funny) and got the information about his bike for her sketchbook.

Before they closed at 9:00 I was able to get in a quick sketch of these people at a nearby table.

Peet's People
Peet's People
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Berkeley Drawing Faces Food sketch Ink and watercolor wash Painting People Sketchbook Pages

Tuesday Night Sketching at Brennan’s Berkeley

Brennans, ink, watercolor and logo
Brennan's Bar and Restaurant, ink, watercolor and logo

I stood outside on a dark, drizzly night in front of  Brennan’s Bar and Restaurant last Tuesday night, drawing until my sketchcrawl buddies arrived.  Brennan’s recently moved to a new building, a former train station a block away from their former location under the University Avenue overpass in Berkeley.

I’d propped up my sketchbook on the hood of a truck parked nearby and immersed myself  in figuring out the building. “HONK! HONK!” Suddenly the truck honked at me.  I jumped, and moved away, thinking someone was approaching and would get in their truck and drive away.  But nobody showed up so I went back to drawing. But then every few minutes the truck would HONK at me again.

Each time I jumped and then I heard guys laughing. One of the three silly, half-drunk men joking around near the bar was using his remote to play around with me.  He came over to see if I was drawing him, as his friends said I was doing. Uh, no. But I told him he could pose for me. He declined and they left just as Cathy and Sonia arrived.

Brennan's Turkey Leg Dinner, ink and watercolor
Brennan's Turkey Leg Dinner, ink and watercolor

We went in and ordered dinner. I have a thing for turkey legs so while Cathy and Sonia each ordered half turkey sandwiches, I got this huge plate of turkey, mixed veges, boiled cabbage (yuck, what was I thinking?) and boiled potatoes. The turkey was great and I took home enough for two more meals.

Old Dudes at the Bar, ink
Old Dudes at the Bar, ink

I switched to using a Pilot Varsity fountain pen, adding water over the lines with a waterbrush to make washes. It was so convenient sketching at Brennan’s. The light was good, the atmosphere full of energy, and we sat  right near a water and condiments station so we could fill and empty our water containers a few feet from our table. Since it’s cafeteria style dining there was no waiter to care how long we sat there.

Dining alone, ink
Dining alone, ink

Cathy suggested we do some contour drawing so I drew the condiments at the next table.

Condiments and Irish Coffee
Condiments and Irish Coffee

I used to go to Brennan’s back in the 70s for their Irish Coffee (and for pitchers of beer with my women’s softball team after our games). Now that I’m not consuming sugar or much caffeine that wasn’t an option. But I did get a cup of decaf and it was worse than our office coffee so I figured I probably wasn’t missing much.

Couple talk
Couple talk

This couple was pretty good about moving between two poses. I found that if I just waited a bit they would return to the position I was drawing.

Really nerdy guys
Really nerdy guys

These guys at the bar were soooo nerdy. The guy on the left was actually wearing orange pants.

This week we’re going to the Berkeley main library to draw.

Categories
Ink and watercolor wash Life in general People Sketchbook Pages

Waiting in Line for Avatar

Waiting in Line for Avatar, Ink & watercolor
Waiting in Line for Avatar, Ink & watercolor

I think we picked the craziest day to go see Avatar at a shopping center theater: the day after Christmas when shoppers were out in force, filled with pent-up shopping frenzy after a whole day of closed stores.

I purchased  tickets online the day before and we left two hours early for the theater which was a good thing because we got stuck in an Emeryville traffic/parking nightmare for about 45 minutes.

Only two cars at a time were making it through each light change to turn left into the street leading to the parking lot at Emeryville’s Bay Street 16 AMC Theater. After sitting through at least 10 light changes we finally made it into the next line-up-and-wait scenario on the narrow road leading to the garage. Then when we’d finally crawled our way close to the garage entry we saw a sign saying “Garage Full” blocking the entry to the garage. The only option was for cars to exit back on to main the street we’d just come from.

I decided to just move the sign and the rubbery barriers and go in anyway, since we could see people leaving the garage and we knew they were letting people in at the other end of the shopping complex.  Jessica was smart enough to run over and try out the ticketing button to see if it would raise the arm and allow entrance. Of course they’d programmed it so that it wouldn’t.

So back out into the awful traffic we went. A few blocks away we saw parking spaces by an old boarded up restaurant, parked, and speed-walked through the outdoor shopping center to the theater since it was starting to rain. I picked up our tickets from the ticketing machine and we entered the theater. We were still an hour early and only the 10th people in line. We were warm, dry and comfortable and I got to sketch some of my fellow waiters-in-line.

Our seats were great and the 3-D glasses were comfortable and worked well, even over my glasses. The Imax theater filled completely, even down in the front rows where you’d be looking up at the screen the whole time.

And the movie was fantastic—so beautiful and transporting. I still feel like I am in the incredible world Cameron created for Avatar. I had objections to a couple bits in the movie but overall, it is truly a masterpiece of filmmaking, a gorgeous work of art and imagination, and a feat of technological brilliance as well.

Categories
Berkeley Ink and watercolor wash Interiors People Places Sketchbook Pages

A Sketchy Christmas

Sketching at the Claremont Hotel, ink & watercolor
Sketching at the Claremont Hotel, ink & watercolor

The Claremont Hotel in Berkeley is all decked out for the holidays and a good place to sketch when it’s cold outside. We met there Tuesday night and had our choice of comfy places to sketch. That’s Sonia in the sketch above, drawing a piano that is just off to her left.

I found a spot near their fancier bar and restaurant with another grand piano where (I thought) a talented jazzy piano player was entertaining the diners. I really liked the way he riffed on holiday music (although his repertoire seemed not too extensive as he began repeating the songs after about an hour).

Outside the bar at the Claremont
Outside the bar at the Claremont

At the end of the evening I walked into the bar  to thank the piano player, having imagined what it must be like playing holiday music in a bar, night after night, the same tunes over and over, while people celebrated. The bench was empty! The piano was playing itself, the keys popping up and down on their own.

I liked both of these sketches more as ink drawings before I overworked them with paint. I’ve been really tired this week which often leads to mucking around when I should be moving on to the next page.

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

Quickie Dinner at Whole Foods, Oakland

Dinner at Whole Foods, Ink & watercolor, 8x5"
Dinner at Whole Foods, Ink & watercolor, 8x5"

Last night I needed to grab a quickie dinner between work and a 7:00 meeting so I stopped at the nearby Oakland Whole Foods. I looked over the salad bar,  passed up the make your own trail munch bar (?!) and the soul food bar with pulled pork, black-eyed peas and greens, seriously considered the Indian and Chinese bars but settled on some pretty, steamed organic veges and some Mexican items.

The dining area was hopping with activity, filled with a perfect sampling of Oakland’s demographics, with people of all ages, races, preferences, and functionality. I ate quickly so I’d have a few minutes to sketch the view from my table. Then I ran out of time and had to leave, so I added watercolor at home.

And now I’m on vacation! Yay

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

Sketchcrawl at Shattuck Plaza Hotel

Shattuck Plaza Hotel details, ink & watercolor
Shattuck Plaza Hotel, ink & watercolor

(Updated) We met at the newly remodeled Shattuck Plaza Hotel in Berkeley to sketch on Tuesday night. The lobby of the historic building has been transformed from an old-fashioned residential hotel with good”bones” to something entirely different.  The walls are covered in a variety of black and white patterned wall paper from florals to paisley to stripes that seems to vibrate. The floors are a patchwork of checkerboard marble in between sections of rug the designer describes as “red and mauve 1960s flower-power pattern”. There are two huge crystal chandeliers, a red one that was newly created and the other, an original, that is 100-years old.

I was going to try drawing all of the different patterns on the walls, floors and furniture, but couldn’t stand looking at them, as reminded me of watching the patterns behind my eyelids during my migraine of only a few days prior. So I sketched a few of the lamps, sconces and furniture I could see from where I sat. Then we headed out into the cold for our next stop.

Monks at Peets Coffee, ink & watercolor
Monks at Peets Coffee, ink & watercolor

We went to Peets Coffee across the street and relaxed to the classical music while we sketched people. The monk knew we were drawing him and when they were leaving, came over and asked to see our sketches. I told him he had a beautiful smile.

He looked a bit embarrassed by my comment, but said thank you, and told us he doesn’t usually get out much, that he was here visiting  with his grandmother and brother after living the past ten years in Thailand.  He seemed so genuinely happy and at peace and made me want to return to my long-neglected Zen meditation practice

Categories
Faces Glass Ink and watercolor wash Painting People Sketchbook Pages Still Life Subway drawings

Sketching with Mariah in a Too Busy Week

Sketching Fruit with Mariah after Tacos
Sketching Fruit with Mariah, ink & watercolor

This afternoon I went for a hike with Jessica and Mariah in perfect autumn weather and then J made tacos for dinner. After dinner Mariah (age 10) plopped her sketchbook, watercolor pencils, and Niji waterbrush on the table, pulled the bowl of fruit over in front of us and said “Let’s sketch.” How could I resist!

Mariah’s sketchbooks are such treasures. When we first started sketching together a couple years ago she preferred drawing from her imagination but now avidly draws what she sees too. Watching her abilities and understanding of what she sees grow is such a pleasure. Especially since she’s around the age when many girls stop drawing when they realize they can’t do it perfectly.

I also really admire how she has many pages of “just practicing” as she called them in her sketchbook (pages someone else might tear out thinking they were “failed” drawings).  She doesn’t fear leaving them there or “wasting” the page. They’re just practice. Sometimes there are three pages in a row like that. No big deal. Such wisdom. I wanted to post her fruit sketch too but she turned the page while it was wet and it got all blurry. She just couldn’t wait to start the next sketch: the box of taco shells she said she really wanted to draw but didn’t know why.

I’ve managed to squeeze in a few other nothing-special sketches in the middle of a two-week, too-busy period (work, family, life!) and here they are:

Subway Ladies
Subway Ladies, ink and watercolor

Friday night my watercolor group came over and we painted together. I did a couple quick sketches of them while we sat around the table. Judith had a new shorter haircut.

Judith, ink in Niji waterbrush
Judith, ink in Niji waterbrush

Sharon worked in water-soluble oils instead of watercolor and somehow got yellow paint on the wall that wouldn’t come off until I tried my Magic Eraser and it came right off.

Sharon, ink in Niji waterbrush
Sharon, ink in Niji waterbrush

We were all so tired after a long week but it was great to get together and paint. By request, I demonstrated how to get a good “bead” of juicy paint when making a flat wash and everyone took turns doing a few rows of the wash down the page. Together we created a really nice even page of purple.

A few more days of craziness and things start settling down again. Can’t wait!

Categories
Albany Ink and watercolor wash Interiors People Places Sketchbook Pages

Sketching at Albany Bowling Alley, Bar and Cafe

The Bar at Albany Bowl, ink and watercolor
The Bar at Albany Bowl, ink and watercolor

Now that it’s getting dark right after work, we’re having to find indoor spots to sketch and this week we visited another planet known as the Albany Bowl. Since it was early evening on a Tuesday night, the customers were mostly people who like to bowl while drinking pitchers of beer and eating vast quantities of fried food, rather than the gang-types known to hang out there during the later hours.

Their bar, pictured above is the cleanest smelling bar I’ve ever been in. There wasn’t the slightest scent of beer or cigarettes, just fresh air and a whiff of chlorine bleach, oddly enough. It was also nearly empty since most people were doing their drinking while they bowled. Semi-hidden in the sketch above is the bartender who I “erased” with scribbles and paint after I goofed up his nose.

Cathy and I sat in tall comfy barstools along the back wall and sketched, creating a great deal of confusion for the bartender who couldn’t figure us out, though he didn’t seem to mind when we politely said, “No thanks” when he came over to take our orders. We just kept on sketching.

Albany Bowling Alley Cafe, ink & watercolor
Albany Bowling Alley Cafe, ink & watercolor

We had a similar experience in their little cafe, which from the outside appeared to offer retro-diner sketching opportunities, but in fact, had very little going for it besides the stools and miles of formica. When I said we didn’t want food, just wanted to sit and draw pictures, the young waiter didn’t get it until I showed him my sketchbook. Then he said OK and left us alone. The waitress asked to see what we’d done when we were leaving, and she squealed and laughed when we showed her. I pointed out the waiter’s little beard in my sketch and he smiled.

We tried drawing the bowlers in action; I did a page of gesture sketches and then we decided we’d had enough of the noise on this planet (constant music, announcements, bleeps and bloops from video machines, people yelling) and decided it was time to go home.

Condiments at Albany Bowl Cafe, ink & watercolor
Condiments at Albany Bowl Cafe, ink & watercolor

I really miss being able to go outdoors for our Tuesday night sketching. While urban interiors are interesting, and drawing anywhere is fun, I miss gardens and birdsong which I much prefer to neon lights and the annoying sounds of video games.

Categories
Gouache Ink and watercolor wash Life in general Painting People Sketchbook Pages

No Stopping the Seasons…or the Arrows of Time

Can't Stop Trees, ink and watercolor
Can't Stop the Seasons, ink and watercolor

On my walk to Peets Coffee and the bookstore today I saw so many things along the way that I would have liked to sketch. But I was feeling tired and under-caffeinated so I made a mental note to take the same route on the way back to sketch them.

It struck me as ironic to see a sign saying “STOP” beside a tree (above) with leaves that are changing colors and falling. We can’t stop the seasons, time keeps steadily moving on, the days get shorter, and I’m so aware of each passing day being one less to do all the things I want to do.

As I wrote that, I pictured myself with a quiver of arrows that represent my days, and each day I select an arrow and shoot it from my bow…and that gave me an idea for a sketch….

Arrows of Time, ink and gouache
Arrows of Time, ink and gouache

And that made me wonder which is better:

  1. To carefully select the daily arrow (of time) and aim to make sure the day is spent intentionally, doing the things that matter;
    or
  2. To be adventurous, pick an arrow at random and shoot without aiming and (as my old yoga teacher used to say when instructing us to take a seemingly impossible pose) “just see what happens” — let each day be its own adventure.

UPDATE: Diane Patmore just left this most wonderful comment:

“Perhaps that sign is telling us to stop and look at the tree?”

That snapped me right out of my melancholic meanderings. Indeed, the only way to slow time is to live in the moment, and enjoy it as it’s happening! Yes! Stop and look at the tree; appreciate its beauty and the color of changing leaves. Accept its reminder that change is inevitable and resisting change causes suffering.

Breathe in the wonderful October air and be grateful to be breathing at this very moment. Ahhh. I feel much better now!

P.S. The book I bought was Imaginative Realism by James Gurney that I read about this morning on Making a Mark. It’s an excellent guide to illustration and art in general.