Meet the Sketchers: Gary Amaro

A4 D Skyhawk, flight deck of the USS Hornet, Alameda

Seems I've been slacking on the home front. I'm Urban Sketchers' Berkeley correspondent yet somehow I end up sketching and posting from SF and the outlying areas a lot more often than I do from the East Bay. And then this group turns up here in pretty much own my back yard. I'm glad to see it! This blog and this community are great inspiration to spend a little more time documenting the local terra, storied and picturesque as it is. And considering my company here - these watercolorists - I should hope it inspires me to break out the color a little more often too.

through a shop window, Chinatown, SF

Handcar Regatta, Santa Rosa

Some of you may know me from my posts on the main USK site. I also make storyboards, illustrations, concept art, and comics, and I teach visual storytelling at Academy of Art University, SF. I keep a sketchbook handy at all times, and draw in it whenever I get the chance. I love a sense of history and a sense of place.

The Bay Area is rich in history and has a great tradition of landscape painting and location drawing. Things to look for and reckon with in drawing up my own compositions. Welcome everyone; glad to be here. I'm looking forward to drawing with you all. Let's go find some hidden corners!

Ferry Building, SF

• Gary's sketchblog
• Gary on Urban Sketchers