A Visit to the City by the Bay...

Catching up on a very busy year so far!  A short trip to San Francisco in January brought me back to my beloved "City by the Bay"...I lived there years ago, in another era, when the tech boom was just getting underway.  Parts of the city have been transformed beyond all recognition, especially downtown south of Market, mind-bending for someone who lived there over 20 years ago!  I enjoyed seeing the beautiful new SFMOMA, and visiting the old...like the Sutro Baths at Lands End and that eternally glorious Golden Gate Bridge...

The trip began with a pre-dawn ride to LAX on a damp freeway, sketching with ink washes and a neon brush marker...

                                                        ...and every airport visit is an opportunity to sketch people waiting!

One of my favorite parts of San Francisco is Lands End...the beautiful shoreline at the mouth of the Golden Gate, and I went there first to do some sketching in ink with quick watercolor washes.  A view here overlooking the ruins of the Sutro Baths.  I had almost forgotten how green San Francisco can be...that true green that we seldom see in Los Angeles...

 It seemed to be date night on Wednesday at Fiorella, a great Clement Street neighborhood Italian restaurant...










I was very happy to meet San Francisco Urban Sketchers Laurie Wigham and Kathy McAuliffe (aka Gus McDuffie) who kindly took time off to meet me at the Ferry Building, to see the King Tide, expected to rise to street level that day!  Not only did we see the King Tide, I managed to drop my sketchbook in it, while sketching the spectacular view of the Bay Bridge!  I fished it out, and kept going...but if you see the ghost of "Rorschach" in the center, that's why...

Feeding giant-sized gulls at the Ferry Building...

A walk through the new (to me) SoMA district in sprinkling rain (San Francisco, of course!) to visit the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art--fantastic!  No sketching except with a pencil, I was told, so we went to the museum's lovely cafe for some sketching...several members of the cafe staff came to investigate, and made us feel very welcome.  A view to the courtyard here...

I was in San Francisco that week to help review Bay Area high school portfolios for the college where I teach, so not much more sketching...but I just couldn't leave without a morning visit to Golden Gate Bridge!  How do you sketch an icon, without getting a "postcard view"?  I played with some thumbnails...finding a color pencil that was just the right golden-red...

A last quick close-up view of the entrance to the Bridge on the San Francisco side, and those weather-toughened trees I love very much--they seem to have the character of Northern California that I really miss!

A Passion for Passenger Sketching...

About 10 years ago I started sketching on road trips, whenever I had the good fortune to be the passenger.  They started simple and small with just pen and ink...a way to see how much I could catch of the scene rolling by at 65 mph.  Now, depending on the length of the trip, I work with layers--throwing down the first impression sketch quickly, and then adding whatever seems to work in the moment.  Of course, terrain that doesn't change too quickly makes it easier!














When you're traveling a familiar road, the fun begins when you see how you can sketch it differently every time.  Of course, it really isn't the same road...the season, weather and time of day can radically alter what you see...

A weekly shopping trip--up the hill above Los Angeles, and then down again...an opportunity to play and experiment.  I like to keep it simple sometimes, and other times keep layering until I've gone just a little too far!

Passenger sketching in town usually means drawing the traffic...

The greatest passenger sketching is on a nice, long road trip.  I travel from Los Angeles to the Mojave Desert several times a year, and count myself very lucky that I get to be the passenger--sketching all the way!  Here I'm working with pencil, watercolor and gouache layered on tan paper...

 Once in awhile, a vertical format--why not!

Driving through Joshua Tree National Park...splashing down some ink washes...

 The desert in December...golds and earth colors, and purple sky...

And returning to the city...

Finishing out 2016 with no discernible theme...

But, these are sketches around town, and seem to usually include people...

Sketching in Pasadena's theater district during the annual ARTWalk...streets closed to traffic made a great sketching opportunity!

More people-sketching...at Gordon Biersch in Burbank before the lunch rush...







A guy I had to sketch just because he was there...I wanted to say, "hey, look out that window!"

The crowd at the Los Angeles County Museum waiting in line to see the wonderful Guillermo del Toro show...

Sketching at one of my favorite Los Angeles locations...in the Plaza at Olvera Street, with a view towards La Luz de Dia, where they make their own tortillas...

And inside La Luz de Dia over lunch...

Just a page of people...

 And sometimes I like to sketch something that just has the presence of a person...a gardener's little maintenance cart at Descanso Gardens...

A few more Friday Nights...

Free Friday Night at the Norton Simon Museum is a great monthly event, and a wonderful sketching opportunity!  I nearly always want to sketch in the gardens, even as the days became shorter--a pleasure to sketch in the changing light.  Here are a few...

Mostly it's dry media here, since the Norton Simon frowns on the wet stuff...so, mostly I sketched with ink, pencil and some water-soluble media (adding just a discreet touch of the water brush now and then).

Almost night here...


























The gardens are home to some wonderful sculpture...interesting to see how visitors interact with them.  At left, Henry Moore and Maillol's large-scale "Mountain".  Below, Henry Moore...

  

 A glimpse through the window from the garden at Maillol's Three Graces gracing the lobby...

Sketching the fading light with water-soluble Inktense pencils on a fall evening...

This one...well, it was an experiment!  Sketching mostly by feel with a soft pencil on tan paper, and some white gouache added for the very last light...

Finishing out 2016 and moving on!

To any of you who have so kindly checked in here from time to time, thank you!  And now, it's time for me to come back!  So, a few posts to finish out 2016 and move on...

I make an annual trip with students to the LA Zoo for some animal sketching.  I like to go in advance to get in some practice and map my route, so here's a batch from the last trip...

These trips start with what the Zoo calls "Elephant
Training"...essentially the grooming and feeding of
retired circus elephants, and an opportunity to get
close to these three beautiful Asian elephants--Tina, Jewel and Billy.  Controversy continues about whether or not the 6.56 acre habitat is adequate for all three.
















And a few meerkats...















Next, the orangutans in the Red Ape Rain Forest...

And gorillas, who have no interest in us whatsoever...

Chimpanzee families, monkeys, Francois Langurs, a macaw and a bit of the bird show...

And, I cannot visit the LA Zoo without drawing those most beautiful and elegant giraffes!

And finally, the lovely Nubian Ibex family...