Gil Abides!

Buffalo Gil presides over the bar at Club Mallard, an Albany institution which has been serving customers since 1945!
Carrie McClish’s sketch (above) captured the place and Justin so well.  I focused on Gil being sketched by Carrie and Micaela (below). Thanks for the hospitality Justin!

Chilly Night, Chill Place

Our July public sketching night was held at the hospitable Ocean View Brew Works, on San Pablo Ave., Albany. We had such a good time, sketching, sipping, and meeting new sketchers.  I need to come back to learn more about the brewing process (to sketch the equipment better). Thank you Veronica and Melina for welcoming us! 

Cold Brew

We went pre-holiday sketching July 3rd at Ocean View Brew Works in Albany. What a great place run by charming and very friendly people. (See Vivian's post below about the bartender sharing her sketchbook with us). As it was a typical July evening in our part of the bay area it was quite chilly but the staff set up a heater so we could stay sketching in the patio. Tracy who joined us to sketch pointed out her house and yard in one of my sketches. — Cathy McAuliffe

Michelangelo works at Ocean View Brew Works

Thursday night we went to a tiny brewery in Albany. Such nice people there! Turned out the bartender was a bit of a female Michelangelo. She showed us her sketches of how the equipment goes together, and also had notes about what flavors to mix up. Now I wish I had added her to my sketch! -- Vivian Aldridge

Urban Sketching at an Urban Farm

At the corner of two very busy streets in Albany California is the UC Gill Tract Community Farm. We sketched at the farm last week. It is the end of the season for many of the crops but there was still alot to draw. The land has been used for agricultural research by UC Berkeley since the 1930s. Today volunteers are striving to establish a community-managed food system centered around local, organic, agro-ecological farming practices. – Cathy McAuliffe

Flowerland Nursery

Another beautiful afternoon sketching at Flowerland in Albany. Everywhere you look there are beautiful things to sketch. And the staff is very welcoming to our sketch group1 Perfect. — Cathy McAuliffe

Flowerland for The Holidays

Besides being a great nursery, Flowerland on Solano Avenue in Albany is a wonderful store. It was filled with holiday items again this year. — Cathy McAuliffe

Celebrating Lincoln's Birthday at the Laundromat

Actually it was a coincidence that his birthday fell on the same day as our sketch outing but I kind of like the sound of it. We met at the Albany Cleaning Center on Solano Avenue. Lots of opportunity to practice drawing ovals! See Ceiny's sketch of the evening below. She took advantage of the location and dried a load of laundry while she sketched.

Tree Time

A truck full of Christmas trees being unloaded at the neighborhood tree lot.

ALbany Community Garden

We sketched at the community garden where one of our members has a plot. Lots of different vegetables and flowers growing. Good to draw and looked like they will be good to eat, too.

16 Trees

At last month's meeting of John Muir Laws workshop we were challenged to draw 16 trees before the next meeting. It was a great way to really see the trees in the neighborhood. Here are a few of my 16.

Pedro's Westbrae Biergarten

The Brazilian biergarten on Gilman Street across from Toot's Sweets and Boogie Woogie Bagels seems to be satisfying a very pent-up demand for such things in the area - it was jammed with happy people on this sunny late Wednesday afternoon. They have some good brews, some yummy smelling food from the Brazilian cafe truck, world cup, dogs, kids, plants...what more could you ask for?

the Westbrae Biergarten

I drew this in pen on 4 sheets of my notebook, and colored at home in photoshop.

Flowerland in Albany

A fixture on Solano Avenue since the 1940s, Flowerland Nursery continues to provide the neighborhood with the basics one would expect, but these days the offerings have a decidedly updated twist. 
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Securing its reputation as a destination, Flowerland boasts the only satellite location of Local 123 coffee shop, housed in a refurbished 1969 Streamline Princess trailer. In the evening, strings of glowing lights add to the festive atmosphere. Be sure to say hello to the resident dog, Tommy, or Phoebe the cat when you visit.

Flowerland, a great place to shop and a great place to sketch.

Urban Avians: Birds by the Freeway

A Family of Pigeons Living on the Freeway Wall

Snowy Egret at the marsh beside the freeway by Albany Bulb

While I was having my car’s oil changed at Toyota Albany I took a hike down to the SF Bay Trail to sketch. I followed a confusing bike and walking path that goes under the freeway and leads to the marsh on the way out to Albany Bulb, a spit of land homesteaded by the homeless that the city is constantly trying to reclaim. 

There were birds everywhere, including the beautiful, delicate white Snowy Egrets that always delight me and the pigeons happily (?) living beside the roar of traffic.

Trying to understand the basic shape and differences between the shorebirds

Happy Halloween

We met at Halloween City in Albany, a cavernous store filled with costumes, seasonal decor and a scary music soundtrack.

Pyramid o' plastic skulls display

Ghouls at the checkout counter

Three piece devil costumes for sale

City of Albany Veterans' Building

We sketched at Memorial Park in Albany on this foggy night--in front of and inside of the Spanish style Veterans' Building, cornerstone laid in 1932.

Sketching at The Pub

The Pub, ink & watercolor, 5x8"

The Pub on Solano in Albany is a funky, hidden-away, cozy place to sketch, play chess or cards, and chat with friends or friendly strangers while sipping espresso, beer or wine.

The Pub's clientele tend to be colorful people who are interesting to eavesdrop on while sketching. The old guys I sketched above weren't exactly firecrackers but the 40-something, rough-hewn guy in rainbow tie-dye and long blond hair sitting behind me entertained with daring travel adventure stories of remote and distant lands.

Cold Night, Warm Fire

We sketched at The Pub on Solano Avenue in Albany, a combination neighborhood bar and tobacco shop.  They pride themselves on not having a website--and on encouraging patrons to talk with one another around the fireplace over beer or coffee or wine.  

They've been there since 1983, and I've passed by countless times, noticing customers sitting outside on the elevated deck under umbrellas, but I'd never been inside.  Another benefit of being part of this sketching group!  

Sketchcrawl38 and Urban Sketchers Show

It was a great day to get out to draw on the corner of Solano and Masonic and meet fellow sketchers. I loved to see all their sketches at the reception hosted by the Albany Library at the end of our 'crawl. See Jana's post for more details.  

Airstream Coffee Kiosk at Flowerland Nursery

Flowerland Cafe, ink & watercolor, 6×8

This is the first vintage Airstream trailer food truck I’ve seen and it doesn’t travel. It’s set up on blocks inside Flowerland Nursery on Solano Avenue in Albany (California–next door to Berkeley).

I can’t think of a better place to enjoy a good cup of coffee than in a lovely garden. The lovely folks at Flowerland put interesting chairs and tables throughout the nursery, turning the whole place into a sort of garden café. You can get your coffee and then sit among the palms, the native plants, fruit trees or climbing vines to enjoy it.

And when you finish your coffee, you can take home the chair you sat on or the plant you sat beside (for a price of course).