The 2 drawings to the left were done at The Press Club wine bars in SF.
James and Tilly Rex were 2 performer/juggleros/acrobatiste/clowns at the trade show in Berkeley who graciously agreed to pose for me. Tilly’s giggling made it difficult for her to keep poking her tongue at me. The small landscape was done at the conclusion of a walk around the perimeter of the Cesar Chavez Park, a nature preserve built on landfill that sits next to the Berkeley Marina. From top of the park’s hill you can see Alameda, the Bay Bridge, San Francisco, the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, the southern tip of Marin County, Tiburon, Port Richmond, Albany, the UC Berkeley Tower and the hills beyond. Being a lazy landscapist, I picked a simple view of the north wing of the Hotel, a wall of trees, and a grassy slope. It does serve a purpose as the ariel view from Google earth makes it look flat and relatively uninteresting. I think it’s a nifty little spot from which you get a lung filling sense of the bay.
Weather in San Francisco was spectacular. Dolores Park was teeming with folks. Intended on drawing the gleaming dome of the church but time and people watching robbed me of the opportunity to do a color study of it.
Strange stuff, this blue ledger paper. I’ll have to use acrylic ink/paint because white grease pencils don’t seem to have much presence on it.
Drawings from the beginning of June.
The page to the left is from an art materials trade show in Berkeley, California, from which I just returned.
Monday, May 30th, I got up at 5:30 AM so that I could be downtown at the Palette & Chisel by 7 AM to partake in the Annual 12 hour life drawing marathon. The P & C holds 3 such events a year, Labor Day, New Year’s Day, and Memorial Day. I made it wire to wire and turned out 24 pages. Except for the far right drawing at the top, most of the drawings were done in 15-25 minutes. I’ll spare you most of the quick warm-ups.
The last drawing is a relaxed portrait of the events’ organizer and longtime member of the P&C, Historian, Musicologist, Bloggerista, itinerant social commentator, keeper of the feral mane upon his head, and bon vivant…..Chris Miller. You can read transcription of his spontaneous ululations and bons mots on his blog, This Old Palette. A link to which is provided on my landing page.
The drawings were executed in a Utrecht toned sketchbook and a Veterinarian’s Ledger from 1959 with the same line up of tools that I’ve been hauling around with me for a spell. Pitt Artist Brush Pens, various fountain pens, and the ink for those pens, Platinum Carbon, and Iroshizuku.
The day yielded mixed results. I started off promising, foundered a bit and concluded with a few drawings I liked. I sure lost focus there on a number of poses. For certain, it wasn’t my day for likenesses. And true to form I went AWOL on the legs. I was trying to pay more attention to boxing the pelvic area and had a great view of the reclining pose, middle column fourth row down, but went ham handed and lost the grace and supple power of the model.