Sketching at Saul's Deli by Jana

Saul's Deli & their famous pickles

We always enjoy a visit to Saul's Deli in Berkeley for sketching and dinner. One of the owners of Sauls, Karen Adelman does the wonderful quirky drawings on their menus and website and makes us feel very welcome to come and sketch there.

Click their names to see Micaela, Sonia and Cathy's sketches from the same evening already posted here or visit my blog here for more.

New Orleans Brass Band Parade in Berkeley

Sketching the Treme Brass Band parade in Berkeley

To celebrate their 50th anniversary, Arhoolie Records held a "second line parade" led by the New Orleans-based Tremè Brass Band. The parade started with a concert at Berkeley's Civic Center Park. You can see and hear the band (and me trying to sketch them, looking like a bobble-head doll as I look up at the band and down at my sketchbook. I'm at top right of the screen, starting around 30 seconds in, wearing bright green.)


Then we danced (and sketched) along behind the band to the Berkeley BART station, with many people twirling handkerchiefs or parasols in the air as is the tradition in second line parades.

Treme playing by the BART station

From there we marched and danced along...

Until the parade ended at Freight & Salvage on Addison Street with another brief concert.

Sketching at Target

Target, Ladies Shoe Department, by Jana Bouc

Our Tuesday night sketch group met at Target to sketch on a rainy night. I had fun sketching the silly high heels and flip-flops on the wall behind them. Nobody seemed to notice or question why I was painting in the shoe department.

Leftover Valentines Flowers Half Off

It was the night after Valentine's day and there was the display of sad, wilting Valentines roses, on clearance, half off.

Remote controlled Baby Swing

Whatever happened to sitting in a rocking chair holding the baby in your arms? This contraption had a touch pad remote control with 6 speeds and more. Someone told me he bought one of these only to discover it came in a million parts that was a nightmare to assemble.

Feb. 2011 - Park in Mountain View

Feb. 2011 - Park
Originally uploaded by apple-pine

Before cold and rainy weather comes back I'd like to share a quick drawing done in Mountain View on a nice warm day :)

Candy Store

My favorite old fashioned candy store: Powells, in Los Gatos. Even the adults seem to love it here. I love painting the bright colors, the stripes, the swirls, the spots...

iPad sketching

Since mousing is a full-time reality for me, occasionally my hands hurt and it makes it difficult to draw. I thought I would try sketching with my iPad for a lighter impact. This basically feels like finger-painting, except it's not messy!

I find it awfully easy to get bogged down in unnecessary details, no matter what media I'm using. In many ways, I like the first iPad drawing I did, it's simple, direct, colorful (even though it's a bit "squashed"). See it here.

The app I'm using is called ArtStudio, it got 4-1/2 mice in 257 reviews, and cost under $10!

Brennan's Pub Sketches

Brennan's Validates, by Jana Bouc

 Brennan's in Berkeley is always a great place to sketch in the evening, with interesting architecture and plenty of innocent victims to draw.

Muffin-topped guys at the bar

If you're unfamiliar with the term "muffin-top," it's the bulge protruding above the belt from wearing too-tight jeans, especially widespread [pun intended] a few years ago when fashion dictated ever lower waistlines on pants with shorter tops).

Just a quick warm up sketch

honda of el cerrito

Target Toy Dept

Warming Up and Slowing Down and Peet's Coffee

Peet's Coffee and Petite Scone by Jana Bouc

A nice way to start off a vacation/workshop weekend! After a long walk to do errands I paused at Peet's for some coffee, sketching and a petite lemon scone instead of rushing home to pack for the workshop out of town. If only I could make every day feel worth savoring!

North Beach Pizza

by Sonia Tamez

Last Week at El Cerrito Honda

Zoooom

by Sonia Tamez

Last Tuesday Night at Saul's

by Sonia Tamez

At the Airport in San Francisco

Waiting to pick my Brother up. He was flying in from France where he lives. These people had an awful lot of luggage!!!

Some of these are huge!!!

Sketching at Saul's in Berkeley

Our sketch group loves to sketch at Saul's. Good food, lots to draw and a very welcoming staff.

Saul's

Saul's is a popular, dependably yummy restaurant in our own, original, gourmet ghetto of Berkeley. It's very graphic, with black & white checkered floors, pale greyish-avocado walls, and tiny little cone-shaped lights dangling on long cables from the ceiling. One of our sketchers at work!

Honda of El Cerrito: Sketching Cars

Honda of El Cerrito Showroom with Balloons

The El Cerrito Honda dealership was kind enough to allow our Tuesday night urban sketchers group to come and sketch in their showroom. I remember boys drawing cars all the time but never thought that someday I'd go out of my way to draw cars too.

Shark Car?

I drew this car at the end of the evening and it was so close to me that it got way out of proportion and then started looking like a shark with whatever that thingee was on top.

The longer version of this post is on my blog JanasJournal.com.

Honda Of El Cerrito

Our sketch group met at the Honda dealer last week. We had plenty of opportunity to work on our car drawings.

North Beach Pizza, Berkeley

North Beach Pizza interior by Jana Bouc

North Beach Pizza in Berkeley is housed in a former International House of Pancakes. Pizza is a sort of large pancake, I suppose, but I wouldn't want it served with maple syrup.

Pizza!

I drew the pizza before sharing it with Cathy and Micaela (see Micaela's sketch here.)

Feb. 04, 2011

Feb. 04, 2011
Originally uploaded by apple-pine

Right side of this page - evening in the Sylvan Park, Mountain View. We are getting more light in the evening - and wonderful clouds these days :)

Mohawk and Other Subway Sketches

Mohawk on the Subway, by Jana Bouc

You can imagine my glee when this gentleman in full Mohawk sat down across from me on BART. Entranced by his cell phone, he never noticed me sketching. And more subway sketches below.

Reading on the Subway (BART)

Some feet on BART

Civil War Reenactors

The National Civil War Association was at St. Mary's College in Moraga. Units and groups from their organization had displays.

January 2011: Waiting in Line

January 2011: Waiting in Line
Originally uploaded by apple-pine

Waiting in line to submit paperwork to a school district. New world :)