National Sculpture Garden (larger)

I started a day of sketching in Washington D.C. recently in the National Sculpture Garden, a relaxing place with fountains and plenty of shade trees. Perhaps an odd choice for the US National Sculpture Garden, one of the works is an original Paris Metro gate. There is even an entire café building designed to match! I love the organic, otherworldly lines of these gates, and was happily surprised to find it here. [cont. below]

Thinker on a Rock, Barry Flanagan, 1997 (larger)

Paris Metro Gate, Hector Guimard, 1913 (larger)

Untitled, Alexander Calder, 1976 (larger)

Capricorn, Max Ernst, 1964 (larger)

I then moved on to the National Gallery of Art. Sketching is allowed in pencil only so I added the ink and color to these drawings later on. The Calder Mobile is huge, hangs in a large light filled space, and moves ever so slowly. Fantastic.

The Ernst sculpture sits in the same atrium. Although I liked it immediately, through the process of drawing it I really “got it” so much more. They say that drawing in a museum can greatly facilitate observation and now I understand why. The little details and manner in which this piece is so completely stylized are wonderful. And witty: I was laughing out loud as I drew it. One group came by and pronounced: “it is ugly, we can’t believe that is art, we wouldn’t take it if they paid us”. How original. I however, would love to have it in my front yard and it would look great there too (hint, hint, National Gallery 🙂 ).

All posts from this Trip:
     Planes and Trains
     Washington DC Sketchbook, Part One
     Washington DC Sketchbook, Part Two
     New York Sketchbook, Part One
     New York Sketchbook, Part Two

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A Line Style Experiment (larger)

I have been thinking a lot about line style recently. I can never predict how a sketch will turn out; some drawings are stiff and labored while others are loose and lively. On any particular day I can tell what my drawing style will be from the first line I put down, but seem to have little control over it.

I thought I would draw a single subject in multiple styles, to confirm for myself which I prefer and perhaps learn to better control my line quality. However, this experiment did not turn out as expected!

The expected best and worst are flipped!

Now I am more perplexed than ever. These sketches are not as varied as I had hoped, and the results are basically backwards from what I expected. The order I drew them may be a factor: I lose focus as I get tired and seem to like the earlier drawings better.

I did these from my parked car. I think I will try this experiment again in a more relaxed setting, and take my time with each sketch.

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“Lemon Martini” (larger)

I need one of these! I do love the shape of these glasses, too.

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Mini Cooper Dashboard (larger)

I’ve never been a car person, but I love my little Mini Cooper S. I’ve had it for three years now and the initial glow has not left our relationship. It is cute, well appointed (as they say), and a hell of a lot of fun to drive. 🙂 If only it was a hybrid, it would be perfect.

This is a different sketching technique for me (pen without watercolor). I have been admiring Tommy Kane’s amazing drawings lately and they’ve got me thinking about hatching. He is a master hatcher!

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Public Market Produce (larger)

On my recent Seattle trip I spent an afternoon sketching but didn’t have time to draw at the Public Market. I did take a few quick photos though.

Public Market Produce (larger)
More Market Photos

I often take pictures with the intention of later sketching, but rarely get around to actually doing it! This time though I didn’t want to miss a chance to draw one of the luscious produce displays.

The Public Market is filled with amazing produce, flower, and fish displays; huge piles of healthy and colorful goods, artfully arranged. I am sure I could spend a full day happily sketching there.

I drew this sketch from the photo, directly in ink. The sketch is small, as are all my sketches: 5.5 x 3 inches. You can see that it isn’t exactly like the picture but all the main components are there. The best part was adding the watercolor; so many colors!

I wasn’t sure if I should paint in the signs (see below) but went ahead anyway. I am not sure which version I like better; what do you think?

Before Signs Painted

Related Post: Sketching in Seattle

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Campanile Tower (larger)

Saturday was the 13th SketchCrawl, and we had our first official East Bay Crawl. About 30 people showed up to sketch in and around the U.C. Berkeley campus.

The weather was outstanding, and there were lots of great subjects to draw. We met at 11:00am at the West end of campus near BART, and worked our way around and through various buildings. We had a brief meeting at 2:00, and then about 15 of us met up at the Cafe Strada at 5:00 pm to share coffee, sketches and tips. It was a great group of friendly sketchers. […more below]

Life Sciences Building (larger)

Pterodactyl in LSB (larger)

The Life Sciences Building has T. Rex and Pterodactyl skeletons, as well as other interesting bones to draw. The Anthropology Museum was also open and provided sketching material, but I wanted to stay outdoors in the beautiful weather. I had forgotten how beautiful the campus can be, and I went to school there and live only 1/2 mile away! I will definitely be back there for more sketching soon.

Sather Gate (larger)

Pelikan Building (larger)

Related:

• More SketchCrawls

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I always enjoy spending time in my favorite tapas bar, César, in the heart of Berkeley’s “Gourmet Ghetto”. It’s a foodies dream; the food is divine and the drinks superb.

It’s always packed in the evenings, but afternoons are calm and quiet. It’s also a fun place to sketch; this is the same restaurant where I did the tapas sketches that ended up on my note cards.

This sketch shows just one of the many wood lined pantries behind the bar. The sketch is done on half of a spread in my (reloaded) Pocket Moleskine, so it’s a small one. It still required a full glass to wine to complete, however!

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The Fireplace Mantle
Today was SketchCrawl 12.5. SketchCrawl is series of drawing events conceived by Enrico Casarosa. Usually a date is named and groups get together all over the world in different cities to spend the whole day sketching together, then everyone shares their sketches online. A SketchCrawl is like a pub crawl, except with sketching instead of (or in addition to!) drinking.
	Today’s crawl was a little different though. The idea was to have a mini SketchCrawl (and thus the in between numbering) where everyone stays at home to draw. I couldn’t spend the whole day drawing this time, but did manage three sketches.
In the Living Room
In the Bathroom

People will be posting their SketchCrawl 12.5 work in the SketchCrawl Forums. There is also a SketchCrawl Flickr Group where you can find sketches from some crawl events.

Drawing for a full day is an intense experience. Doing so even when you don’t feel like it can yield some interesting, even positive, results. I am always completely wiped out at the end of such a day and others report the same. Such an immersion can really shake loose your drawing brain though and I highly recommend it.

Related:

• More SketchCrawls

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Custom Cards (larger)

After my recent success with holiday cards, I decided to order some smaller note cards from Shutterfly featuring food sketches I did recently in local Berkeley restaurants. The tapas sketch was made at Bar César, and the sushi at Miyuki. I am very pleased with the results!

These cards are smaller, 3.5 x 5.0 inches, and just big enough to send in the mail. The production on these is not as fancy as on their holiday cards, but they are quite nice none the less and these will be very useful.

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I love tulips, and couldn’t pass these up in the grocery today. Merry Christmas, everyone! Or, Merry Whatever-You-Are-Celebrating, as the case may be. I hope you are all enjoying a peaceful and joyous holiday season.

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I recently set up a small space dedicated to art by blocking off a section of our dining room with screens. My space is 4 X 12 feet, has a bay window with a beautiful green view, and is outfitted to my needs. I have a (very small) desk to work at, some storage for supplies and a big red armchair.

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Lately I’ve been thinking in threes. I’ve got triptychs on the brain. I decorated our sideboard for the holiday with three vignettes, and sketched them in little panels.

I’d like to put three large vertical images above the living room couch too, but haven’t figured out exactly what yet. Something big and bold and bright, for sure.

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