Big sisters know how to use a cellphone. 

At the zoo we saw this little girl grab up her mom's cell phone and give it a whirl while her sister looked on.

Pony Ride

The highlight for some kids at the county fair is the pony ride. The Merced County Fair in 2012 had a pony ride.  This little girl seemed pretty satisfied with her ride. 6-15-2012

Disney Bound

Last year we picked up our daughters at the BART terminal in Dublin to take them on a trip to Disneyland in Southern California. I took a photo of them. This is a drawing/painting of them as they excitedly met us.

This was my first drawing of the child stepping up to see the animals at the Chaffee zoo. I made it on Indian paper in a larger book. I think that it is better than the one done on the moleskine below. Lessons.. you don't always need the skin tone. You don't always need to drop in a recognizable context. The point of the sketch are the people not the zoo.

Step Up

 

At the Chaffee zoo in Fresno on May 29th,2012, I spotted this toddler getting some help from his mom to see what was in the zoo enclosure. The child was stepping up to lean on the barrier to see. Mom's assistant was supporting by pushing along the requisite stroller. 

Lights Out

On my walk the other day I watched as the City of Merced bucket man changed the street lights on the corner of Merced and G streets. It took a couple of false tries to get the angle right for the man in the bucket.

Bannana Baby

This baby was with his family at the Costco food court. While the family was eating hot dogs, this baby was headed for a fresh banana. His mother peeled down the top so that he could eat just a little of the fruit inside. His first attempt was to coat his face with it. His mom signed "more" to him before giving him this piece.

Pig Cap

This couple was eating at the Costco food court in March. It was cold outside so the girl was wearing a cap that had a stylish pig theme. March 13th was the date of the Iphone photo from which this sketch was made.

Hannah's Card

Hannah, Sean's sister, is having a big event in Vermont. She is a horse lover and owner. This sketch was made for her card. Her horse, Yuma is taking care of the weeds that grow around the rocks in the meadow. They had this photo up in their promotional materials for their bed and breakfast in Woodstock, Vermont. Its the historic Robinson Farmhouse.

Yosemite Ave Construction 2

Here are two more sketches of the Yosemite Ave Construction of two extra lanes and sidewalks. One provides a little more context, while the other provides a little more of the construction men and their truck.

Along my walk route there is a huge amount of construction going on Yosemite Blvd. This is a scene with a couple of construction people and the big Catholic Church behind. The stop lights break up all the orange and green going on in this drawing colored with the travel Koi kit. It looks like I need to keep working on reducing the amount of detail that needs to go into this kind of work.

Seriously the last Chron Reader

This older guy came in again. This time he was in a more baseball themed clothing design. It has gotten warmer in Merced. The news is still a bit hard to take as you notice he has a sort of snarl at it. I used the travel koi set to color this in. It is more delicate and the emphasis is more on the drawing, which could be reworked.  But seriously this will be the last one of him on this blog.

This one has a little more drawing in him. The Sunday San Francisco Chronicle is in is lap and he is ready for a sip. He has become a good subject for this study.

Sunday Chronicle Reader 3

The Sunday San Francisco Chronicle reader emerges from the behind his paper as he prepares to sip his hot beverage. This one relies less on the pen and more on the watercolor wash. Behind the curtain: Cobalt purple combined with yellow ocher is used to add shadow areas in the face. 

SF Chonicle Reader 2

Here is the second go at this subject and his Sunday paper at Starbucks. The changes include a little less emphasis on the green window, more emphasis on the folds of his hoodie. Changing it to blue allows for more noticeable variation in the folds

Sunday Chron Reader

This older man came into Starbucks this Sunday morning and proceeded to go through the sections. My mom is sure that someday this will not happen. People will get all their news from their smart phones. To her it is kind of a tragedy.

I enjoyed the fusion of some pretty geometric shapes in this sketch. Makes you want to see what he was reading too.  I was intrigued by his long fingers and with the multiple rings, including a diamond, on one of those fingers.

Reading The Patio

This girl was reading on the patio. I thought the white sunglasses had to be documented.

UCMerced Couple

A UC Merced couple hanging out at Starbucks. I was taken by the way she had wrapped her legs around each other while sitting on the arm of the chair. His focus is somewhere else.  This one was done without the sketch pens. the one below is done primarily with the sketch pens and color was added later.

quinceanera tea garden

The day before Easter we met with the daughters and son in-law at San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. I took a photo of this scene in front of the Japanese Tea Garden. Three girls in their finest quinceanera gowns were posing for a digital photo amid the crowd. Today it became a moleskine watercolor.

The boat with a Flat Tire

It was the beginning of Easter Break in the schools. This man was headed out to enjoy his ski boat. He ended up with a flat tire on his boat trailer right in front of the promenade Starbucks. I did two drawings of this scene. One is more of a drawing and the other is more of a watercolor painting with the drawing secondary.  I am not sure which I like the best.. so both get published.

Asian Student With Pink Apple

Last week I saw this Asian female student taking a break from her studies by looking out the window at Starbucks. She had an Apple laptop that was fitted entirely with the pink hello kitty motif, right down to the mouse.

Orphan fund raiser at the ninety nine cent store

Dressed in his "official" white uniform with red stripes on his sleeve and and running down his pants, the orphan asks for money for the Mexican orphanages at the entrance of the 99 cent store. The big sale is on for Easter treasures.

Mother and Daughter at Dr Office

This mother and daughter were waiting their turn at the Dr. office in Modesto. The daughter has the clip board that contains the vital information.

Girl in knit cap

This little girl came into Starbucks with her daddy. She insisted on sitting on one of the big stools in the middle of the store. Here dad sat across from her with a tee shirt that had a faded American Flag on it.

Welcome!

My sister asked the question... what is in your moleskine. A moleskine is a journal that come creative people carry around to take notes of sketches of the places that they are visiting. They range in size from 2 inches by 4 inches to 7X9 books. Whats common is that they are bound books/journals with paper in them. They are held shut by an elastic cord that wraps around one end. The other end is bound with two hard covers. They have been around and made by a french company since before the turn of the 20th century.
Kelly makes some pretty cool landscapes in hers and publishes them in her blog when she is on the road.
I though that it might be interesting to do a blog on sketches of people that I come across in their environment. Some of them may be mostly about the people, some of the entries may also be about the places and buildings that these people live.

For those technical.. the entries here are made on a 5x9 watercolor moleskine. I use a .05 pigment pen similar to a black micron pen for the lines. Some sketches are done plein air so to speak while others are made form Iphone reference photos.
 :) Pat