another yerba buena sketch

This is a more broad view of the Yerba Buena Gardens. Many of the folks who came to the gardens seemed to be there for the sun, or to read, make-out or sleep. A good number probably came for the free music program. Oddly enough I drew almost everything except the musical entertainment. I'd like to think that it was the hot sun that prevented me from walking close to the stage to draw the singers and musicians. But I think it was because the focus of the program was on opera that I didn't go in for the close-up. (For that matter I wouldn't go up there to see that Beiber/Bierber? dude perform either.)

yerba buena gardens

I joined another sketch group called the SF Sketchers on July 7 at San Francisco's Yerba Buena Gardens. I am seated under a tree and sketching people who are sitting on or have sprawled out on the grass as a music program goes on in the background. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

historic building in Berkeley

I had passed this building for decades and never knew what it was until my Tuesday evening sketching group decided to draw it a few weeks ago. Since 1976 the building belong to the Marmot store which sold some specialized items for the outdoors-person. However, the store closed recently and is it in kind of a sorry state. When it was built in 1923 the building on Adeline Street - next to the 5th String store -  had been the site of the Hull and Durgin funeral home. But more than that it is an example of storybook-style architecture, a reflection of old European design right smacked dabbed in a business district many decades younger. I did a real close-up sketch of one of the building bulbous towers. From a distance it is a striking structure.

at Oakland's Lake Merritt

Earlier this month I joined my Tuesday evening sketching group at Lake Merritt. We were actually sketching at the beautiful restaurant, the Lake Chalet Seafood Bar and Grill on the Lakeside Drive side. Talk about a picturesque setting!!! There were so many interesting subjects to sketch I didn't know where to start! The restaurant hovering gently over the lake, diners sitting at tables on the deck surrounded by water, people walking on the nearby trial.  But what caught my eye was a gondola gliding on the lake. So I followed it, somehow managing to put some images in my sketchbook. And of course I couldn't resist sketching the geese near the shore. (And yes the water appeared more green than blue to me.)

Oakland Municipal Rose Garden

I joined another group of sketchers on June 2 whom I found on meetup.com. I had never been to the Oakland Municipal Garden - and I am a longtime Oaktown resident! It took me about an hour just to find it and another hour to find a parking place. Unfortunately I only met one other sketcher from the group. Tired of walking and looking I found a bench in the shade and sketched this little scene. That's probably more than you needed to know...right?

On Saturday, April 24, I attended the 35th Sketchcrawl in San Francisco. Sketchcrawls are drawing marathons in which participants basically spend the day sketching in differerent locations. I had planned to sketch with my Tuesday Evening Sketch Buddies BUT... due to circumstances beyond my control I didn't meet with them. So I went on my own, starting at the MacArthur BART station. I walked down the Embaradero to the North Beach area and then eventually to Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39. Then I walked back to the BART station. It was great exercise -- goodness knows I need it. But I didn't need it all at once...I could barely move my legs the next day. LOL