face: 44

I am hoping to get going on this project of drawing faces again. This was a 2-hour sketch, and is from an old photo of Grace Slick.

Spenger’s sketch session

Spenger’s is the oldest restaurant in Berkeley according to the Berkeley book. From the Berkeley Library:

Begun as a tiny crab stand and bar by Johann Spenger in 1890, the establishment grew into one of the East Bay’s most popular eateries. At one time, Spenger’s operated its own fishing fleet and boasted that it served more meals than any other restaurant west of the Mississippi. Several generations of East Bay residents enjoyed family dinners in the restaurant’s maze of dark dining rooms.

My sketch group, SF Urban Sketchers, likes to go there occasionally for all the cool stuff to draw. Here’s one of my sketches, see the rest on our blog http://urbansketchers-bayarea.blogspot.com/

swordfish, marlin, tuna (I think)

January 30 — iPad sketch

I am trying out a <oh never!> stylus with a drawing program from AutoDesk for the iPad. It’s pretty cool, the software, except I can’t find an eyedropper tool so far, which would be oh-so-handy for picking up a previous color. It makes you try harder to match colors, of course, which is probably a good thing. Steve Jobs would have hated that I’m using a stylus, but it really helps because my finger gets tired!! Maybe after a while you get stronger (finger exercises – yeah!) but for now, this is great.

January 27

It is so interesting drawing my step-mother’s pots, they each have such a strong, individual character. This one was a "pinch pot", meaning she didn’t throw it on the wheel, but just coiled or mushed some clay together, and formed it into this shape. She often carved the clay after a day or so, when it had had enough time to harden enough to hold the shape of the carving, then she painted it. You couldn’t tell what color it would be after firing, most of the paints looked grey or pink while being applied.

January 25 ancient Chanel #5

My mother gave me this Chanel in about 1973 or 74. As you can see, I use it sparingly, but it is getting down to the bottom of the bottle. It’s still one of my favorites.  I recently went into a Macy’s, saw some for sale with a “tester” — it smells the same!

January 22, 23

More everyday objects…

January 16, 21

Hoover and Roosevelt

I grew up with these statues, which, for some reason, we always called Hoover and Roosevelt. They were carved by my uncle William, whom I never met as he went to war and didn’t return. These statues, 20″ to 27″ high, were carved from redwood burl from the Big Sur coast where they lived on 160 acres under/adjacent to what is now called Bixby Creek Bridge. They are quite dark now,  you used to be able to see the rich red burl grain. Maybe he intended them to be the two presidents, or maybe my mother or my brother and I just named them that.

January daily sketches

Well, not quite daily, but close. Filling it out with 6 more. I especially like the one from yesterday, of small ceramic pieces by Betty Wall . Her pots were so much like her, warm, sweet, a little bit “crookedy”.

2012 01 06w

2012 01 08w

2012 01 09w

2012 01 11w

2012 01 13w

2012 01 14w

Jan 05 2012

There are a few evenings when I have hours to spend on art, but this was not one of them — I had a glass of wine, and enjoyed doing this little watercolor sketch. I had a bunch of fun earlier designing book covers for some musicians I happen to know!