Sketchgrams

Introducing a new series of video 'sketchgrams' - films and drawings made around Los Angeles.


Drawing around Santa Monica & Culver City









Sketching around Venice Beach, California with animation artists Ian Abando, Adam Dix and Dirk Van Dulmen.

Melbourne

A wonderful town, I saw a lot of it but would love to return to draw more . . .

The Christians

In San Francisco while waiting on the cable car at Market & California I would kill time by sketching the locals. There would be police standing around directing traffic or a construction worker in an orange vest stopping pedestrians from getting crushed by the cable car. Amid the chaos, standing quietly and patiently were the Christian representatives with their leaflet stands and bibles. They would be there in all weather. The masses scampering to or from work never engaged with them. About the only souls to interact with them were aggressive drunks who would hurl abuse but the Christians would remain stoic or smile politely.

On the trail of Replicants . . .

I headed Downtown Los Angeles to hunt down locations used in Ridley Scott's 'Bladerunner'. I made a short film of the sketch I made of the iconic interior of the amazing Bradbury Building. It was used memorably in the film as the iconic building where toy-maker J. F. Sebastian lives.

On this trip we got access to the top floor where I sketched the iconic elevator that Darryl Hannah exits in 'Bladerunner'.

 Deckard's apartment in the film was the famous 'Ennis House' in Los Feliz designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.
 

Bay Area Sketchcrawl summer 2014

 The 'Russian Mansion' on Alamo Square.

 Haight and Masonic. The nudist strolled past and into my picture, his modesty preserved by a golden fig leaf! The freaks, hippies, beatniks and junkies still flourish in Haight Ashbury.

 A trip to Berkeley Marina. The pier above stretches 3000 ft into the Bay!

 Mojo Bicycle Cafe on Divisadero.

 A couple views from the top of Piedmont Cemetery with Downtown Oakland in the background and the Bay behind.

These old navy vets were in full uniform for a memorial service. They each carried a rifle and fired a salute for their departed brother.

Japantown

This house on 'Billionaire's Row' in Pacific Heights looks like a Greek temple.

Mansion over-looking the Bay on Lafayette Square. Apparently the largest private residence in San Francisco and owned by Danielle Steele.

Berlin-SFO-L.A.

I've travelled far and wide the past month. First stop was several days in Berlin for a speaking engagement at a 'Culture Meets Science' conference.  The brutal East German winter hadn't hit yet so it was still possible to sketch outside comfortably.

 The city has an eclectic mix of modern and classical architecture and threaded throughout is a network of blue and pink piping!

 On my last day I made a beeline for the Brandenburg Gate-I couldn't leave without seeing it first hand.

This last picture is more impressionistic-my memories of Berlin.

While in town I looked up Deutsch-uber-wunderkinder Jakob Shuh and Uwe Heidschötter-they showed me around Studio Soi and drew in my book-danke!

Back in SanFrancisco I showed new resident Mr Cruickshank around-we mingled with the un-dead at Dios de Los Muertos in the Mission and hit Ocean Beach to draw the (wrong) windmill.

 Seal rocks are impressive but not as impressive as the Farallons!  In the spirit of high seas adventure we took a day trip out to the islands where humpback whales spout & breach, rare birds nest and great white sharks bite the heads off elephant seals! Not much drawing that day . . .

 Then down to Los Angeles for CTN-X 2012. We stayed around Venice Beach, soaking up the culture and avoiding the nutters.

Highlight of the trip was catching the spectacular Stanley Kubrick exhibition at LACMA

Happy Thanksgiving!

NYC

I was in New York for a long weekend last week, both upstate for a wedding and the city afterwards. What a town-incredible energy.

Rush hour in NYC is crazier than London or Paris-and Grand Central seems to be the hub of the frenzy. I huddled in a corner off the sidewalk and tried to capture the melee but my sketch doesn't come close!  I was intrigued by the elevated overpass with the stream of yellow cabs feeding the commuter swarm.

Skyscrapers on 5th ave. the older one on the left looked like it had been sliced in half at some point with arches visible in the cross-section.

I couldn't not draw The Statue of Liberty! I thought I'd sketch a view rarely seen -her behind! (Plus it allowed me to skip the face and draw her faster).  Just as I was waiting for some interesting tourists to stray into view these monks showed up-they were thoroughly modern monks; posing for pictures on their smart-phones, smoking even-surely not Buddhists!

This poor soul was ranting in the middle of the sidewalk and plainly had a beef with someone but he was raging at nobody that I could see.  Earlier in the day I saw him amiably chatting to someone-don't piss off New Yorkers!

Here's an impression of Times Sq. with all the characters I encountered over the weekend.  Spot the pickle!

Summer sketchbook 2012

After completing the 30 day Sketchbook Challenge I slowed down a bit but keep the next book at hand  always.  Over the last month I've seen a bit of the United States, including Bodie and Columbus, Ohio and visited a couple of interesting museum shows.

The Jean-Paul Gaultier exhibition at the De Young was as exciting as everyone told me.  Thanks to my regular sketch buddy Jamie Baker we got in on the last day and I snuck a quick sketch in despite the museums' shitty 'no drawing' policy.

If we hit the De Young we usually squeeze in the Oceanic Art galleries and the Japanese Tea Garden next door also. . . 

See Jamie's sketches over on his blog here

On a quick stay in Columbus, Ohio I sketched the facade of the cavernous Book loft on 3rd St in German Village.

Airport drawings are usually so staid and boring I tried to have a bit of fun with them on this trip.

  Over Labor Day weekend we had a day in the sun at the SF Yacht Club (which is actually across the Bay at Tiburon)

Quick sketch of my neighbourhood on the way home from work

'Our Man in the Cabana' Jamie Baker at Trader Vic's Tiki Lounge, Emeryville Marina.

There's a self-portrait of the artist hidden in one of these pics- can you see me?