No Ban No Wall Rally, 02/04/2017

As usual, I have a ton of art stuff to catch up on posting here. Just for variety, I'll go backwards from the most recent batch. Here are some sketches from the recent "No Ban No Wall" rally in San Francisco's Civic Center plaza...

 Warming up with Laurie and friends before the rally. This is how us sketchers limber up!

Some scene-setting crowd shots. The giant lanterns are an installation by Hong Kong artist Freeman Lau for Chinese New Year.

Getting a bit more up close and personal as the rally winds up. I think these kinds of rallies aren't as lively as marches, because you're basically just standing around listening to people speechify, but it's always interesting to observe the mix of attendees and their homemade signs.

Hyde Street Pier 06/13/2015

This summer has been ghastly busy. It's been ages since I've had a chance to go sketching with my pals in the SF Sketchers meetup group, and ages more since I've had a chance to update this art blog! From happier times, here's a sketching trip to see the vintage ships at the Hyde Street Pier.

The entryway to the ferry ship Eureka serves as a nice "title page" for this roundup.

There's a menagerie of vintage cars aboard the Eureka, too. I ended up spending more time on these than on the actual boats, sigh.

A quick rendition of the grand Balclutha. Dig the three square-rigged masts!

Running late for the post-sketching meetup, I bashed out a hasty sketch of the tugboat Hercules.

And on the way home, I came across a Juneteenth festival in progress on Fillmore Street. Petting zoo ahoy!

SF History Expo 03/01/2015

A weekend expedition to the San Francisco History Expo, with Laurie Wigham and the SF Sketchers meetup group - plus a cast of dozens of costumed reenactors, wow!

The expo was held inside the historic Old Mint, giving us a rare chance to admire the gorgeous architecture.

The costumed reenactors took turns out front hawking the expo to passers-by, which made it hard for me to tear myself away and go inside. They were mainly from the wonderful local group Actions Past.

I was fascinated by the gold prospector's elaborate kit bag.

I spent a lot of time stalking Emperor Norton like a sketchbook-wielding paparazzo. You can book him for a city tour at Emperor Norton's Fantastic San Francisco Time Machine.

Levi Strauss presented a stress-test of his newfangled "blue jeans" in the courtyard. A constellation of historical luminaries lent their muscle to the demo.

An immense stamp mill in the basement of the Old Mint. A lot of the SF Sketchers artists gravitated to this impressive piece of hardware.

A few quick sketches of the Actions Past reenactors. They gave me some helpful historical hairstyling tips, too!

At the end of the day, the Actions Past crew gathered in the courtyard for a group shot, while I sketched away at top speed.

Panama-Pacific Expo Centennial 02/21/2015

Another outing with Laurie Wigham and the SF Sketchers meetup group. Today was the 100th anniversary of the legendary Panama-Pacific International Exposition at the Palace of Fine Arts!

I was waylaid en route to the opening ceremonies by this rather nicely framed view of the palace rotunda.

The Palace of Fine Arts now hosts an "Innovation Hangar" with all kinds of futuristic exhibits. For the opening, there were also retro displays like this beautiful Model T.

Also, lovingly restored fire engines! This one hails from the Lindsay Fire Museum.

And here's a rogue's gallery of fellow sketchers from our pre-event gathering. A nice mix of veterans and newcomers!

New Year Flower Fair 02/14/2015

恭喜發財, everybody! This past weekend, I joined Laurie Wigham and the SF Sketchers meetup group on an excursion to San Francisco's Chinatown for the opening festivities of the Year of the Ram.

I arrived too late for the opening mini-parade, but I got a good look at the awesome lion dancers.

The lion dancers did a bunch of acrobatic routines on the main stage as well. Apparently this is a traditional job for kung fu students.

More action on the main stage. One of the lion dancers climbed a pole and spewed lucky confetti to welcome the new year.

A panoramic view of the crowd in front of the stage, with an inset of the opera singers who were performing as I was finishing up the drawing.

Odds and ends from the start of the festival. I never really got a good look at the dragon, boo hoo.

San Francisco SPCA 01/25/2015

Some drawings from a great field trip with Laurie Wigham and the SF Sketchers meetup group! Our destination was the San Francisco SPCA Adoption Center, where we spent the morning drawing lovely (and adoptable) cats and dogs.

While we were gathering, I noted down some names and faces. Until I've captured you in my sketchbook, folks, you're just ghosts and shadows as far as my feeble brain is concerned!

Cal's play area is right by the SPCA's front door, so he's the first thing you see when you come in. I bet he'll have a home very soon.

The protective cone isn't a flattering look for anyone, but Sassy bears it with good grace.

Working at the SPCA seems like a terrible job. Imagine having to play with the cats and dogs all day long!

A lovely pose by Cherry. Sometimes the universe just wants you to stop and draw, doesn't it?

On to the dogs! I think we all fell in love with soulful Chance.

Shadow is pretty striking, with his elegant long legs.

Once again, this looks like a terrible job. The puppy tugging at the shreds of her gown reminds me of that classic Coppertone ad...