Austin Skyline, from Town Lake Park (larger)

Saturday October 25th was SketchCrawl #20. I flew to Austin the night before to meet up with Lisa who drove down from the Dallas area. She got the word out and six local sketchers joined us for the event. What a great day! The weather was perfect and we were able to walk around central Austin and sketch a bunch of great subjects.

At Whole Foods World Headquarters (larger)

Texas Capital Dome (larger)

In the Driskill Hotel (larger)

Stevie Ray Vaughan
Statue (larger)

I had never been to Austin before. We picked the city as our destination because it was easy for both of us to get to and we wanted to spend time there. What a cool place! Here are some photos from the day:

Me, Sketching Stevie

Me, Studying the Dome
(not George 🙂 )

Nancy, Lisa and Anna

Ed and Janet

The date for SketchCrawl #21 has been set: Saturday January 10, 2009. Where will you be sketching?

See Also:

• SketchCrawl #20, Austin Group Sketches
• SketchCrawl #20, 87 Other Worldwide Locations
• SketchCrawl #21, Planning Forums
• My Other SketchCrawls

Posted in Austin, Food, Interiors, Landscapes, SketchCrawl, Still Life, Travel Sketching | Leave a Comment » | View 17 Comments »

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Canyon Road Grid (larger)

Last month I went on a lively trip to Santa Fe with book club friends. There we met up with former member and fellow sketchblogger Lisa Reed and had a fabulous time exploring, eating, sketching and laughing.

I have a bunch of sketches from the trip to share, and thought I’d start off with the grid pages.

The top one is inspired by pages Lisa and I did this spring on a SketchCrawl in San Francisco. These are very fun to do! I draw out the boxes first, and then find little subjects to fill them.

Daily Grid (larger)

The second grid is similar to one I did this summer on a cabin trip, and chronicles each day. This is a great way to capture the often forgotten moments of a trip.

And hey: to all the many of you who have inquired about my whereabouts and well being lately – thank you! I have indeed been busy, but am still here and have much to share. Stay tuned for plenty more sketch-stuff. In fact, next weekend Lisa and I are meeting up in Austin to celebrate the 20th World Wide Sketchcrawl. Care to join us?

Continued:

• Santa Fe 2008 Sketchbook

See Also:

• New Mexico 2007 Sketchbook, Part One: Taos
• New Mexico 2007 Sketchbook, Part Two: Santa Fe
• Other Travel Sketchbooks

And Don’t Miss:

• Lisa’s Santa Fe Sketches

Posted in Food, Landscapes, New Mexico, Still Life, Travel Daily Grids, Travel Sketching | Leave a Comment » | View 13 Comments »

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Still Life: Apples (larger)

Someone said “paint those apples”. So I did.

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Five Days at the Cabin (larger)

We recently spent five days with good friends at our cabin in the Sierra mountains, eating, relaxing and inventing cocktails. Inspired by Amanda Kavanagh’s wonderful travel pages, I decided to make a chart of our grand adventures.

This was was a blast to do, especially adding the watercolor. I laid out the page the first day, then filled in a new column each evening. I really like how it came out.

Coming up next, sketches from the trip!

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Sketching in restaurants can be a real challenge: people move around a lot, and food and dining companions expect some attention as well. I usually end up sketching quickly, and always add the watercolor later on.

Bar César (larger)

Here are three sketches done recently in local restaurants. The first two are in the bars, César and T. Rex.

The last sketch is at Venezia, an Italian restaurant with a unique decor. The walls are painted to make the space look like an outdoor cafe in Venice, and terraces, pigeons (fake, not real!), a fountain and a real laundry line complete the look.

The laundry is changed regularly to match the season: Santa suits, bathing suits, long johns, for example, and even lingerie at Valentines Day. I always get a kick out of that.

T. Rex Bar (larger)

Venezia Restaurant (larger)

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Cappuccino (larger)

At SketchCrawl #17 I met fellow sketchblogger Lee-Roy for the first time. He drove up from Los Angeles for the event and to spend a few days in the Bay Area. The day after the Crawl he came over to Berkeley to have a look. We met up in the North Berkeley neighborhood, aka Gourmet Ghetto, and took a little walking tour. It was cold though, and we’d already gotten frozen the day before, so we decided to seek refuge in Bar César. There we passed a lovely afternoon, talking and eating and drinking and sketching.

It was great fun to get to know another avid sketcher. Lee-Roy is quite talented indeed and did a wonderful sketch of the bar, right down to the many bottles and blue tiles. I love it!

At Bar César (larger)

And speaking of SketchCrawl, the date for SketchCrawl #18 has been announced: March 29, 2008!

See also: Other Sketches at César

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Washington St. from Waverly Place (larger)

Saturday was the worldwide SketchCrawl 17 event, and over sixty of us gathered in the Chinatown neighborhood of San Francisco to spend the day sketching. It was a blast!

On Jackson Street (larger)

My friend Lisa joined me for her first SketchCrawl, and we met up with Cathy who I had met at the last Berkeley Crawl. The three of us spent the day wandering Chinatown, sketchbooks in hand. It was sunny but cold, and bundled up we persevered.

We had a great Chinese lunch and joined the full group at the end of the day to share our work. There is a lot of talent out there! It was very inspiring to see everyone’s work. I am always amazed at how differently we all tackle the very same subjects.

Storydesign took a picture of Lisa and I sketching on Clay Street, and made a close-up of my sketch:

Sketching on Clay Street (original)

Sketching on Clay Street (original)

At Grant & Clay (larger)

On Clay Street (larger)

Funeral Procession (larger)

At Stockton & Broadway (larger)

Related:

• More SketchCrawls

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Cafe Sketch, Berkeley (larger)

As the weather gets colder I find myself sketching indoors a lot. Last weekend I took my sketchbook to the Espresso Roma Cafe on Hopkins Street in Berkeley and made this sketch. /2008/01/06/cafe-sketching/

The perspective was a little quirky because I was sitting close to the subject and had to turn my head a bit to see the whole thing. It couldn’t be helped, there was a wall right behind me, but I’ll keep that in mind when choosing indoor subjects.

What have you been sketching indoors?

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Picasso Ceramics: Fish, 1951 (larger)

Picasso Ceramics: Double Face, 1950 (larger)

Picasso Ceramics: Head and Face of Bull, 1950-51 (larger)

Picasso Ceramics: Face Pitcher 1959 (larger)

A few weeks ago I went to Las Vegas with a good friend for a couple of days of rest and relaxation and a chance to explore the Bellagio Resort. What a visual feast! Vegas (Update: The Vegas Strip, I mean) is a crazy, tacky place, but I have to say the Bellagio is lovely. I especially like the Chiuhuly sculptures (including the amazing lobby ceiling), and the Conservatory Garden, which was transforming from Fall to Christmas while we were there. We also had a great time eating well, (most notably at Picasso and Olives), seeing "O", people watching, and enjoying the fountain shows.

Picasso, from Photo at Exhibit (larger)

The highlight of our trip though was a small and charming exhibit of Picasso ceramics at the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art. Well-focused and assembled with care, including photos, a great timeline and video, it kept us happily absorbed for an afternoon. In contrast, the Modern Masters show at the Guggenheim Hermitage Museum in the Venetian was a haphazard assortment of barely related pieces, seemingly intended to impress rather than illuminate.

As always in museums, I sketched with pencil then did the ink and color afterwards. I find that when I can finish a sketch all on the same day, the results are fresher. That is not always possible when traveling, but I try!

More information on the Exhibit:

• ARTINFO
• MGM Magazine

Posted in Food, Las Vegas, Still Life, Travel Sketching | Leave a Comment » | View 7 Comments »

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Well it’s happened: I have been at this for a full year!

The experience has been so different and so much more amazing than I ever expected: I am just stunned. Most especially wonderful are all of the great people I have met, both online and in person, as a result of this endeavor.

Because I played around with the blog before publicly announcing it the actual anniversary date is murky. I have decided on today because it was one year ago when I received my very first comment, and from the wonderfully inspiring Jana Bouc no less. Jana’s blog was influential in getting me started on this adventure in the first place, and I have since had the pleasure of sketching with her as well.

It’s been a crazy whirlwind of a year. When I started the blog I hoped that it would get me sketching more, and it certainly has done that. I had no idea though how much work it would be or how hectic it would sometimes make my life. But I also didn’t expect the community, encouragement, new directions and immense satisfaction it has brought to me.

The Crazy Life of the Sketchblogger (larger)

I would like to extend a heartfelt
    * T H A N K   Y O U *
to the sketchblog community: fellow bloggers who inspire me every day, the many wonderful people who leave encouraging comments and emails, and all the folks out there who come by for a visit now and then or read via the RSS feed or the EDM Superblog. It is the human connection of this experience that has been the best reward of all.

And now, I’m off to drink a glass of champagne 🙂

Posted in Food, Holidays, Still Life | Leave a Comment » | View 44 Comments »

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Lunch at MarketBar (larger)

Last Sunday was the 16th SketchCrawl event. My husband and I spent the day in San Francisco sketching and exploring at the Ferry Building. We had a great day!

Lamps at Market Bar (larger)

This historic building has been extensively restored and reopened in 2003 as a food-oriented marketplace. It bustles with energy and activity and the architecture and shops are quite striking. It’s a great place to sketch. There are also awesome Bay views and on Saturdays and Tuesdays, a Farmer’s Market.

We also enjoyed a wonderful lunch outside at MarketBar. The weather was just perfect: a gloriously crisp Fall day.

Frog Hollow Farm: Fruit Stand (larger)

Berkeley BART Station (larger)

Giant Pumpkin (larger)

Far West Fungi: Mushrooms Only (larger)

Related:

• More SketchCrawls

Posted in Food, Interiors, Landscapes, San Francisco, SketchCrawl, Still Life, Travel Sketching | Leave a Comment » | View 8 Comments »

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In Fonda Restaurant (larger)

I couldn’t resist this unusual perspective the other day in Fonda, a bar/restaurant in Berkeley. The interior is striking and the cozy chairs invite one to lie back and enjoy the view. I settled in and, sustained by tasty food and drink, got to work in my sketchbook.

Not only is the view atypical, but the lighting is as well, coming mostly from below. The drawing was a challenge and the painting was quite enjoyable. I really like their brightly colored armchairs and that ochre wall.

Posted in Berkeley, Food, Interiors | Leave a Comment » | View 3 Comments »

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