Though we all had heavy hearts following the death of our friend and sketch-Sister Ceiny Carney two days earlier several members of the SF Bay Area Urban Sketchers gathered August 10 at Oakland's Children's Fairyland to sketch. While we deeply miss Ceiny, her spirit and smile and creative spark will be with us always.

After our obligatory photo op with Lucky the Dragon we split off to do our sketches. I walked around  and ran into Little Miss Muffet and her eight-legged companion.  This is my take on the Muffet-Spider meeting. Off to the side of my drawing I wrote: "Spidey will get whacked if he comes near my grub."

I brought my iPad Pro 97 and decided to sketch the bunny from the Alice in Wonderland. I just started doing iPad art a couple of months ago and I still have a lot to learn but I'm pleased this actually came out looking OK. 

Fieldwork Brewing sketch

To start off 2017 on a good note I joined the urban sketchers Jan. 5 at Fieldwork Brewing in Berkeley and instead of tasting any of the wonderful sounding selections on the menu I got to try a rainbow pen that Cathy, another sketcher, gave me for Christmas. So I drew a sketch of Ken, hubby of Sonia and who is another sketcher.

Sketches from the Women's March

I joined Sonia Tamez, of the SF Urban Sketchers, and her husband, Ken, on the streets of Oakland Jan. 21 to document the historic march that brought together an estimated 80,000 to 100,000 women and men of all ages, ethnicities and religious backgrounds in a call for a variety of social justice issues.

My urban sketcher group, forced indoors by the weather, meet recently at Goorin Bros. hat shop in Berkeley to sketch. After a few practice sketches of myself trying on a couple of hats -- which I decline to add to my blog -- I decide to share this sketch of a few hots on display in the store window. 

What I saw in the cafe

My sketch group met yesterday afternoon to sketch. The cafe/bar is called Small Wonder and it's just down the street from my office.

It's a tree

I joined Nature Journal meetup group at Lake Merritt in 1.31.2016.

Pope Francis

Pope Francis has been visiting the US most of this week and I have been following on TV and on websites. Art teachers always tell their students to draw what's in front of you. Done.

Sketching the pope

I have been watching Pope Francis since he arrived in Washington earlier this week. Sketching followed.

Sketches @ Jack London Square

Spent a glorious couple of hours at Oakland's Jack London Square near the waterfront. It  was sunny and very warm and people were strolling back and forth at the Sunday Farmers Market. Finding shade was my most important thing I needed to do, that and a place to sit and sketch-the ground gets hard fast, though. I needed my portable chair. I didn't bring it because I like to travel light on my sketching excursions.

Preservation Park

Saturday, August 22: I hooked up with the East Bay Sketchers at Preservation Park in downtown Oakland. Sixteen beautiful old Victorian houses - saved from demolition - inhabit this park. The site includes lush gardens, period park benches and more. Not only does it enable visitors to step back in time, back to the humble beginnings of Oakland, it serves as a venue for meetings and events like weddings. It's also a great place to sketch.

Fairyland revisited!

My urban sketching crew totally enjoyed our visit to Fairyland - after closing time. Here we are with smiles on our shiny faces.

An evening at Fairyland!

Thanks to local Urban Sketcher Sonia our sketchers visited Fairyland yesterday evening (August 20). No children were needed! But the little child within all of us were raring to go. Fairyland is - for the uninitiated -  theme park in the middle of Oakland. When it was created in 1948 Disneyland didn't exist, nor cell phones, video games or Nickelodeon or other means of entertainment enjoyed by kids today. According to Fairyland web site - Fairyland.org -Walt Disney himself came to check out  little world himself and "incorporated" ideas came for his "magic kingdom." I came upon this whimsical castle and just had to sketch it.

Sketch of Lincoln's head on Oakland monument

This is an attempt to draw statutes. I gave Abe Lincoln center stage at the Champions of Humanity monument in downtown Oakland. My Abe looks kinda spooky and it in no way resembles what I saw but I had fun trying to make this look like Abe.

Champions for Humanity

Yesterday evening (August 6) I joined the SF urban sketch group's public night. We met at what some have called Oakland's version of Mt. Rushmore. The faces on this monument include Maya Angelou, Helen Keller, Harvey Milk and other persons who  made a difference to the world during their lives. I was so caught up looking at this grand structures I almost forgot to draw and so I was in a hurry to put something in my sketchbook.

Strange plant

There are several plants outside the right side house of the house that look like this. I recall seeing other plants that looked similar as I was growing up. I don't know what they are called.

Rolling, rolling, rolling on the Napa River!

I took a day off May 27 and got into a boat with mostly artists as it made its way along to the Napa River. It was awesome - I traveled to a part of the Bay Area I hadn't been to before and I could paint or draw whatever I liked. I drew inside the boat and outside up on the deck in this beautiful place not too far from from home.  Yay, I didn't have to drive - four members of my USk sketch group carpooled!!!! The whole day was a blast. And it was a nice break from writing. I love writing, don't get me wrong, but I also love  sketching and I get the chance to enter a wonderfully peace place or zone and sketch and have no deadlines to make.

Classic car

Last Thursday (April 23) my sketch group went to Lux Appraisers and Estate Services in Emeryville. Old furniture, lamps were among the many things in this warehouse. I found this old classic car in a corner and I obviously had to sketch it because it's red! I was close to stopping while sketching because I didn't like where this was going but I stuck with it. I'm learning how to appreciate the process of sketching even when the outcome isn't what I envisioned.

I like hat

But I didn't buy one...yet. Goorin hat shop is on Claremont Avenue in Oakland. It's a cool places to sketch, too.

Hats, hats, hats!!!

What a great place to sketch!!! Thursday night we visited this quaint hat store on Claremont Avenue in Oakland.

Sketch night at Cathedral

The sketchers came to sketch the Cathedral a second. However, turnout was low. Folks had other commitments.