UPDATE - Ok, I am a little clearer now how this can work. Participants would get sponsors (that's what the PDF form is for) who would support them $1 per drawing or with a flat donation. It's like an AIDS run pretty much, instead of miles we count drawings. X) Of course, if you don't get any sponsor, you can just decide to give your own donation. And last option if you're broke or if you don't want any good instant Karma, you can just come and draw away with everyone. No sweat.

December 05, 2005

Sketchbooks ready? This coming sunday it's time to take them out of those shoulder bags and put them to good use ... I will be in NewYork City and we decided to meet at 11:00 am at the Natural Museum of History. If you're in the area, spread the word and  come join us ! We'll be in the museum for a good part of the afternoon. Take care and have a great drawing marathon everybody !

November 08, 2005

Are you ready for some SketchCrawling this sunday? Be sure to come bythe forums and see where around the world people are meeting to sketch.For those of you in the San Francisco area we are going to Alcatraz, on the 11:45am ferry. We'll be meeting at 11:00 around the ferry tickets window. And be sure to buy your ticket online here.
I will also be posting photos live on my blog from my cellphone during the whole day. Enrico's blog.
Ok ... take care and have a great SketchCrawl 5 !

October 22, 2005

I have received new SketchCrawl shirts! As some of you know I was running out of sizes, but most of them are now available again and there's a brand new color! A burgundy shirt!! It's a really nice color, as always they're American Apparel shirts ... as comfy as they come (note- the sizes wear a little small). So we have now Blue Navy, Orange and Burgundy available. If you want one I accept paypal payments to my casarosa@gmail.com account. They are $18 within the US, $20 everywhere else and you'll get 5 SketchCrawl stickers with every order!
Cheers.




Sleeve detail

October 20, 2005

As you might have noticed the forums are back, we did loose a good month worth of posts and updates because of the hack unfortunately. I just recreated the topics and changes that were missing, please if you can repost your messages and calls for artists. It would really help. Hopefully we can get some momentum back in the preparation to the november 13th crawl.
If you registered as a member recently you will have to re-register ... you should have no problem using the same name you registered the first time.

Also talented writer/artist Danny Gregory has organized a SketchCrawl for this coming Sunday October 23rd, he's gonna meet artists in New York City but other cities are also joining in. You'll find more informations on his Blog, which also happens to be a great read.

October 17, 2005

So, as you probably noticed the forum got hacked. We're working on it ... I hope to have it back up asap ! I also hope that Instant Karma works the way it's supposed to with these hackers that have nothing better to do than disrupt people's work.

October 05, 2005

We have dates for the next 2 crawls!! We are gonna have back to back Sketchcrawls in November and December. Up for it ?

-Sunday November 13th! Join in from wherever you are in the 5th international drawing marathon. For those of you in the San Francisco area the plan is to hit Alcatraz and draw away! Can’t wait. We might also do some filming on that day, as plans for a mini documentary are taking form! Lot's of exciting stuff, more details to follow. And then …

-Sunday December 11th! I am gonna be in New York city for that week for the opening of the Pixar Moma exhibit so a NYcity SketchCrawl is a must! Our 6th World Wide SketchCrawl! Gonna be great to meet some of you NewYork crawlers ! Get your drawing gloves ready, gonna be nippy! Mark your calendars and start spreading the word! X) 

Oh and come by the forums and start putting the word out for artists in your area!

cheers !

Enrico

PS

I am making some more SC t-shirts as I am running out of sizes ...

PPS

We also have a flickr group now for photos and such ... join in if you get a chance!

http://www.flickr.com/groups/sketchcrawl/

September 14, 2005

They just got here today ! One thousand of them. They are really nice, StickerRobot did a great job diecut and all. They work nicely on a sketchbook’s cover. X) Let’s see … how to do this ? I am open to suggestions as to how (and wether) to sell these online. For now let’s do this: if you order either a Sketchcrawling book, a t-shirt (Mia (very few sizes left), sketchcrawl or haiku5-7-5 tees available), Fragments or Fragments Intermezzo book, you’ll get 5 free stickers (and more if you order multiple items). I am in the process of setting up a better page for all the items on sale. It’ll probably still be an informal “email me then paypal me” kind of a set up. It still seems to be best in dealing with shipping and availability. Oh by the way they are 3 by 4 inches in size.

Also ... I am really liking Flickr, I joined a couple of weeks ago ... so I made a sketchcrawl group there ... I think it'll be nice and super easy to share photos (and even drawings) from sketchcrawl there ... please come by and if you are a flickr user join the group and start sharing !!!
here's the address:http://www.flickr.com/groups/sketchcrawl/
E

August 29, 2005

What a turn out! 60 people in San Francisco and a ton of other artists participating all over the globe. I think Dan and Joe would beproud of us. The SketchCrawl forums are starting to really fill up with posts from all over the world: England, France, Australia, the Nedtherlands, Singapore, Sweden, Japan .... and more to come. Be sure to come around and take a look at all the drawings ! Wonderful really ... heartfelt thanks and congratulations to all of you for joining in and and making WWSketchCrawl#4 so successful.

And here is my last drawing for the sketchcrawl blog ... this space is gonna feature different sketchcrawling artists' drawings from now on. For sketches, photos and news from yours truly check my new blog (and maybe subscribe to it too). X)
Cheers!

E

August 24, 2005

World Wide SketchCrawl #4 (this coming saturday) is going to be in memory of Dan Lee and Joe Ranft. We miss both these two amazing artists and friends dearly and we'll be drawing around the city remembering them.

We finally have the itinerary for those of you coming to the San Francisco Crawl.
We are meeting at 10:30 am at Dolores Park Cafe, Dolores and 18th.
We'll be around the mission for a few hours, we'll have lunch there and then head toward church and market where we can take the N-Juda to Cole Valley. From there we can wander around Cole Valley, the Haight and then end up into Golden Gate Park. Rest, draw people, chat and make our way to the Japanese Garden .., if there is time even that little lake above it with the chinese temples.
And we'll end at Canvas Gallery Cafe in the inner Sunset around 6pm, for the Sketchbook sharefest !
I look forward to it.

And if any of you are coming and would like to buy Dan's book "In your face" a collection of his cafe sketches, I can bring some for you (it's $10 each). Shoot me an email.
Here's the description and Amazon page for the book (it will be available there on August 29th)
oh and also email me if you want a sketchcrawl t-shirt, there's still some in most sizes. The t-shirts are $15

And lastly, phew, a lot to update you on this time, the SketchCrawl blog is changing its format: it won't be a personal blog anymore but more of a SC only blog. More importantly it will feature, if you are all willing, posts and drawings from SketchCrawling artist from all around the world. Pretty much the idea will be to take some of the drawings that have and will be posted in the Forums and showcase them here. Of course I will ask you for permission to post your sketches here. With time the format will hopefully evolve so perhaps even have actual essays from different guest artists, regarding their process, experiences and thoughts.

That's it ... let me know if you have any feedback and ideas.
Ok, let's do this!

Enrico

PS
I'm having made SketchCrawl stickers but unfortunately seems like they are not gonna be ready in time for this one. Doh! X(

And here's a map. forgive me, no time for a watercolor sketchMap this time, luckily Google Maps comes to aid. (they rock btw)

August 05, 2005

Little bit of a short notice but Ronnie just had a great idea ...

We are gonna make the next crawl on August 27th !
This SketchCrawl will be in memory of our good friend and coworker Dan Lee, that sadly passed away at the beginning of this year at the early age of 35. Dan was an amazingly talented artist here at Pixar and an avid sketcher himself, we miss him dearly and we want to go out on the town remembering him.

We picked this day as opposed to early in September, since Canvas Gallery Cafe (one of Dan's favorite sketching spots) here in San Francisco is hosting an artshow featuring Dan's sketches, the exhibition opens on Thursday August 25th. We will end the "crawl" at the Canvas cafe, to give everyone a chance to see his beautiful drawings.
thecanvasgallery.com

So that is the plan ... I welcome suggestions as to how to plan the rest of the day in the city.

For all of you around the world, please join us on this special drawing marathon from wherever you are.
Help us spread the word ... and as always use this thread to start organizing groups in your city, town or cave !!!
X)

E

PS
Been terrible with updates, my apologies. I was in Italy for some needed vacation ... but here's a sketch of the awesome Fiat cinquecento ... such an awesome design - that car.

May 23, 2005

The 3rd World Wide SketchCrawl this past saturday was a blast. We had the most astoundingly beautiful weather and a great turn out here in San Francisco ...
I think we had a litte more than 40 people walk around the city and sketch. What a great day, thank you so much to all of you who participated and made it so special ... it was really quite something. We hit all the places we planned to hit and even more, an unexpected highlight being an impromptu stop over at the San Francisco Art institute to admire the amazing campus and their awesome Diego Rivera fresco. (it made me want to go back to college).
You all did great sketches which were so much fun perusing through at the end of the day at the brewery ! My congratulations to you all ...
Be sure to take a look around the forums, as everyone has started posting the day's drawings from many different countries.
I am gonna have a photo report of the day soon ...
Here's one drawing from the day ... you can never go wrong drawing a vespa.
X)

E



May 17, 2005

Ok, the meeting point is set for this Saturday in San Francisco. Ronnie and I are gonna meet everyone at 10 am in the Embarcadero's Ferry Building at Peet's Coffee. I'll have t-shirts on hand, please shoot me an email with details regarding sizes and colors if you'd like one, that way I have an idea of how many to bring ...
Here's a map with the route, I'll print a few of these to hand out. We'll see if we can actually cover that much ground ... it's a hike.
Anyway ... as always spread the word and bring your friends ... look forward to see you there!
cheers.

May 14, 2005

World Wide SkethCrawl #3 is almost upon us, next saturday ! The forum is starting to look animated ... as of now we have Sketchcrawlers getting together in several cities in the US and then in Sweden, Germany, Egypt, France, UK and Japan ... Pretty exciting. We also have sketchcrawl t-shirts at the printers, they should be ready early this week. I'll be handing them out to the crawlers in San Francisco, but I'll be sure to set up some internet sales as well for those of you from not around here.
The meeting place in SF this time is at the Ferry Building at the Embarcadero, 10am. I'll have more details and a map of the route coming real soon.
Cheers.

E

April 27, 2005

You can now start reading the autobiographical 24 hours "ComicCrawl" experiment ... HERE.
cheers.

April 25, 2005

Saturday April 23 was official 24 hour comic day. A neat comic marathon idea started by Scott McCloud which shares similarities to SketchCrawl. The idea in short: without any preplanning, or prewriting draw a comic in one day. So ... I gave it a try! I figured I'd make a bit of a hybrid: a "ComicCrawl" day. I planned to go around the city all day and record the experience in comic format ... and so I did and it was a ton of fun ... I ended up with 25 pages of a silly biographical comic. Interestingly enough I found out only later that one of the main rules of the day was to make a 24 pages comic in 24 hours  ... quite strange to end up with 25 pages without knowing. Anyway, I am sure I broke more than a couple of rules ... especially since I ran over the 24 hours time limit and slept regular hours ... in fact I finished watercoloring the whole thing around 27 hours after I had started drawing it. The day went something like this: I started drawing just past noon on saturday. Finished drawing the 25th page around 8pm and started watercoloring. Around 1:30 am I was beat and went to sleep (half way through watercoloring the whole thing). In the morning I got back into it around 11pm and I finished a little before 3pm. So there you have it ... not quite a 24 hour comic perhaps ... but it was fun and I am eager to see what people might think of it ... it is quite silly. Anyway I am now in the process of scanning all these pages ... stay tuned !
here's a teaser image ... X)
ciao

April 15, 2005

Do you ever get one of those mornings where you're awake around 5:30am, looking outside the window from your bed, seeing light slowly appear, gradually painting the house in front at first of a nice pink and then of a painfully bright yellow/white? And you just can't sleep, you want to sleep. There's just another hour or two of rest and you sure need it, but no, your body and mind don't seem to get along on the subject ... you ponder for long minutes wheter to give in, get up, make some coffee and start the day. And just when you're about ready to do that, venture out of the cozy warmth of your comforter to face the day, right then you actually fall asleep. The problem is that by then it's often time to get up ... X(
On mornings like these I am late for work ... ah well ... it's good to be, sometime ... X)
Anyhow....
The AlternativePressExpo this past weekend was a lot of fun, without a doubt the most "artsy" convention on this coast. It was hard to leave the hall without purchasing some really interesting books. Books that resemble artifacts more than comics. I really love that. I also had a chance to hand out many postcards spreading the word for the upcoming sketchcrawl! If you want to do the same you can find the file I used here.
I have a feeling we're gonna have a big group crawling around SF.
later !

April 11, 2005

Mark your calendars Saturday May 21st it's World Wide SketchCrawl day, the third one to boot. As always, wherever you are, please spread the word as much as you can and let's make this the biggest crawl yet!
Ronnie and I already started spreading the word at APE this past weekend and it sure seemed to be the right kind of crowd for it. Like for the last Crawl we will be meeting artists in San Francisco and I am even planning to have t-shirts made by then ... more details to come!
cheers

April 07, 2005

Darn, work is busy ... not much time for posting and even less for getting ready for APE (the alternative Press Expo, this weekend in San Francisco). For those of you coming Ronnie and I will be at table 118. As far as Sketchcrawl goes, I really need one ! My inspiration/productivity levels are loooow ! Let's do one in early may ! I'll figure out a date asap ...
Anyway ... here's a sketch from a cafe right next to Pixar ... good eggs.
later.

March 28, 2005

A nice latte and a rainy sunday at Borders helped me to finally get to watercolor a few more of my drawings from the recent San Francisco Sketchcrawl. This was the first drawing of the day, at the muni stop on Cole and Carl. Very often the first attempts of the day are the ones I'm most happy with. Strange since it's usually the opposite for me with most drawing, some warm up often helps loosening up. Oh well. Wish I drew my drawing hand in there though ...

March 12, 2005

Ok, I caught the t-shirt bug again: I want to make sketchcrawl ones. Every revolution needs a t-shirt afterall ... X)
I have a cute logo for it ... here's the design I had in mind, let me know what you think!
And don't miss some photos from last sunday. Posted here.
cheers!

March 07, 2005

Wow, sunday was a wonderful day, great turn out (almost 30 artists) and amazing weather to boot here. Congratulations to all involved all around the world, thanks for joining in the Second World Wide SketchCrawl.
Here in San Francisco we started in Union Square at 10am, doodled around there for a couple of hours then went through Chinatown and onto NorthBeach. We then met in the afternoon at the coppola building for some much needed coffee break. After that we headed on a nice Cablecar ride toward Fillmore Street and Japantown , where we ended the day at Super7 around 6pm. I was dead tired by then but quite happy after a very full weekend!
Saw lot's of great sketches and people excited about trying this group sketching marathon ... in the ever wise words of Doctor Drew: "Good times".
X)
Check the forums for drawings from all around the world!

March 03, 2005

So it's time for some more crawling! This coming sunday March 5th: the 2nd World Wide SketchCrawl!
Many artists from all over the world have already pledged to join in the drawing marathon day! If you can, please help us spread the word!
Here in the bay area, Ronnie del Carmen and I are gonna meet some of you in San Francisco (check this thread for details on the meeting time and place). Join us if you can. It's gonna be a great time and also darn tiring, no doubt. X)
The previous night Ronnie and I even have a small gallery show "fragments" at the Super 7 Store in JapanTown, come say hi if you can! Two words, free food. X)

And here's a map, I finally watercolored, that gives you an idea of my trip to Japan last november.

February 26, 2005

Saturday morning ... well more like afternoon ... for some strange reason my body seems to crave a ton of sleep this week, I just slept around 10 hours and still had a hard time getting up. And it's been happening for the last few days. Weird. Today it would feel pretty good to oversleep if it wasn't that I have a ton of things to do this weekend: frame more artwork for the show at Super7, do my taxes X(, scan more watercolors from my Japan trip sketchbook, watercolor some more unfinished pages from my sketchbook, scout Union Square for a good cafe to meet at for the sketchcrawl next sunday and ... well you get the idea ... enough stuff to make my head spin and actually get none of it done! Well, I can only hope in the ever helpful power of the "to do list"! X)
Here's a drawing from a ramen shop in Shibuya.

February 21, 2005

WonderCon 2005, the comic book convention held this past weekend in San Francisco, came and went … it felt a little more packed than previous years, well maybe packed isn’t quite the word, but especially on Saturday it was quite crowded, a good sign.
Maybe ‘cause I was coming from a little sickness and going a good 30 miles per hour slower than anyone else around me but somehow this convention has made me ponder about a couple of things.

The truth is that cons often leave me with very mixed feelings. I think they almost always did, since we started selling our books at them. On the one hand I feel often a little bummed by the sometimes meager sales, exhausted by the noise and the crowd, turned off by the odd obnoxious customer and I could add a few more reasons … the point being that thoughts like: “Why the hell don’t I stay home and actually draw some comics?” start popping in my head.
But see than there’s the other side … the other side is seeing a 4 year old girl with her father. She’s cute as a button, shy, half scared half mesmerized by the crowd around her and she’s named Mia. I give her a book and sign it for her. I look at her happy, slightly lost but undoubtedly fascinated by the experience. I met two Mias this weekend and they were both under five and cute enough to warm an ogre’s heart. (I regret letting one of the two buy the book, girls named Mia should get a free book, always.) The other side is also seeing a fan approaching our table tentatively, circumnavigating for a little while, then finally finding the courage to speak and discovering she had to drive for long hours only to get to meet us. Pretty astounding and strangely humbling … The other side is also meeting a celebrated artist whose work I’ve admired for decades, talking to him for five minutes and giving him my books or having even another celebrated artist I’ve admired for ages come to our table and call me by name: “hey Enrico …”. That feels nice, yes.
And there’s more inbetween and it usually entail chatting with and meeting interesting nice people. Those are the sweet little moments … dispersed through marathons of weekends which are also unfortunately mostly about commerce …
So see ? Wouldn’t you have some mixed feelings? X)

February 19, 2005

Hope to see some of you who live here in the San Francisco area at the Super7 Store on March 5th, I will also have some of the original watercolors from my SketchCrawl trip to Japan on show... and the next day let's go draw around SF together!

If you are planning to participate to the Second World Wide SketchCrawl please post some information on how and where you're planning to do it, here in the forums.

February 03, 2005

I am going through the painful process of cutting the pages of my sketchbook, unfortunately to get quality scans of the pages there is just no other solution I can see. I am also still trying to finish many of the pages that I didn't watercolor yet ... it's been slower than I thought but plans for printing a "SketchCrawl Japan" book are starting to form ...
Forgive me for not updating for a while. The truth is simple I haven't been doing watercolors in the last month or two ... after Japan I guess I was a little out of gas and ended up just leaving the sketchbook in my bag most of the time. And as I say often taking it the stuff out and starting to draw is the hardest thing! I lost my momentum and here I am with weeks gone by without a new drawing ... well time to remedy that.
As you might have noticed in the forums I've just scheduled the second World Wide SketchCrawl day ! Sunday March 6th! Mark your calendars and please spread the word as much as you can. It's almost spring and it's time to get drawing again. X) Ronnie del Carmen and I plan to try and meet people here in San Francisco and go around town sketching away ... more details to follow on that.
Incidentally Ronnie and I will have a "Fragments" art show the day before SketchCrawl on March 5th at the cool Super7 Store in Japantown, the exhibit will also feature some of the pages of my Japan Sketchbook ... hope to see some of you there.
Cheers

E

December 24, 2004

December 14, 2004

Well, life goes on ... here in Cole Valley.
Jet lag doesn't seem to want to let go yet and I can't seem to get a decent night of sleep. I am sure once I'll get used to it I'll be on my plane to Italy. Oh well.
Trying to get ready for Natale (Christmas) in Genova buying gifts for the family and such. I look forward to taking my 8 years old nephew to see "Gli Incredibili". That should be fun. Oh and the foooood, oh man, of course the food. Can't wait for that. X)

One more drawing from the Architectural museum in Musashi Koganei. The details of my trip tend to fade fast so it's proving invaluable to have a sketchbook filled with drawings to reconnect to those places and memories. One more great reason to sketch away on your trips! Oh by the way Ronnie and I started making plans for a big SketchCrawl day in march, I'll keep you posted on that.

December 11, 2004

Well ... the reentry, like in a space mission, is never the easiest ... jet-lagged and melancholic I am back in Cole Valley with some serious post vacation blues. I have to look at some of the photos and my sketchbook filled with drawings to reassure myself I actually did take a trip for the last 3 weeks. This morning I woke up really early, still dark outside, having no idea where the hell I was, completely disoriented. What apartment is this ? What city? I think I fell asleep again before figuring it out ...
Well nevertheless the trip was great ... the wonderful friends, new and old, there in Tokyo are what made it so special. I will miss them dearly.
So back here, I am now trying to watercolor some of the drawings I didn't finish there and hopefully I will soon be able to show them all to you. One week here in San Francisco and then I am off again, this time to Italy. Crazy couple of months.
Oh and don't miss Ronnie's blog for his amusing retelling of our week in Tokyo ... X).

Here's a drawing of a cool cafe in Mitaka: Ritmo Sereno (serene rithm) half vintage bike's repair shop, half cafe. "Get your 1965 bmw fixed and hey while you're waiting, have a nice cappuccino ! X) Japan is filled with this kind of strange, little businesses, that have both a good idea and a keen sense of style behind them. I love that.

December 08, 2004

Ronnie and I had a wonderful time last night at Tadahiro Uesugi's house. We had an utterly delicious meal, drank and chatted for a good 5 hours ! Amazing, Tadahiro showed us a ton of great books and a lot of his newest and older work. So inspiring ! A couple of MangaKa friends of his were there too, very talented artists, currently Jiro Taniguchi's assistants. There is nothing like good sake, great food and being with new friends with the love of drawing, illustration and comics in common. This was really the cherry on top of the cake of this amazing vacation.
Now though ... I am all packed and ready for the flight back to San Francisco tomorrow ... and mighty sad. Samishi, last night in Tokyo. I am not looking forward to being back in SF right now ... for a few good reasons.
Oh well ...


A drawing from last week.

December 05, 2004

Today it was Ghibli day, again ... X)
It was great fun to go to "JIBURI" Museum and the Studio with Ronnie this time. We really got a kick out of seeing the Pixar exhibit at the museum. Pinned up on the walls there are more than a couple of drawings from Ronnie himself and many from friends and colleagues ... great to see. The exhibit is amazing, they presented Pixar's work in such a classy and beautiful way. Our hosts Chihiro San and Rieko San were the nicest guides and translators, many thanks to them. We got to see the Totoro short again: Mei and koneko basu. And I have to stress once again how amazing that short is, I've seen it 3 times now and it never tires. It has kids totally engaged and loving it from beginning to end. It's really amazing how Miyazaki can channel a totally childlike sense of wonder. I wish some of the directors in the US could make more movies like these: for kids and for the kids in us adults. And perhaps we could do with a few less movies with "contemporary satire" and layered humor that entertains parents while flying over kids' heads.
Hoy, I think I got carried away in a rant ... oh well... you know what I am talking about ...
Anyway ... at the studio we looked over animator's shoulders busy at work on 4 different new shorts for the museum and only for the museum. Darn, they really are gonna keep us dying to get in there aren't they ?

Anyway, some highlights of the day... met Goro Miyazaki, director of the museum and the talented son of Hayao ... scarfed down delicious Strawberry cake at the Museum cafe ... took a lot of photos through out the museum, thanks to our special guest" arm bands ... saw the happiest Ronnie del Carmen shop away at the "mamma aiuto" store ... didn't meet MiyazakiSan as he was taking a nap ...
well ... some well deserved rest. X)
well ... it's past 2 here ... need some rest too .... tomorrow Tadahiro San !
later everyone !

One more drawing from the Edo Tokyo architecture museum.

December 03, 2004

Wow, the last week here in Japan is turning out to be a busy one. Ronnie and I are having a great time and our schedule is quite packed ahead of us till the last day of our stay.
Yesterday we had an enjoyable dinner with friends in a delicious and quaint little restaurant here in Mitaka. Tonight we headed to Roppongi Hills to see the Incredibles with an even larger group of friends. The theater and sorroundings of Roppongi Hills are really impressive in design and size. While for novelty I had hoped to see the movie dubbed we ended up getting tickets for the subtitled version but it was still fun to see it this time with the reaction of a japanese audience.
All our friends were stoked after it, they loved the movie of course.
The rest of the week promises to be memorable. Ok, ready to feel a bit jealous? Sorry ... but here goes: we are heading to Studio Ghibli and Ghibli Museum on monday, Production IG on tuesday and to top it off we are meeting Tadahiro Uesugi at his house on tuesday night. I mean it'd be hard to ask for more ... X)

There's one thing I couldn't help but notice especially after the nice social evening and it's how fun and easy it is for everyone to have a good time and mix in with newly met people, not sure why... but it sure is great.I've met so many great people here and they've quickly and effortly become good friends.

Here's some more drawings from the Edo Tokyo architectural museum.

December 01, 2004

I spent a sketchcrawl day back to the architecture open air museum. It was fun, though I got there a tad late after 12, so I really ended up only having 4 hours to draw and ended up sketching half of the stuff I wanted to. It was rather chilly too, made me wish I brought my gloves ... but anyway, here's a couple of drawings from the day, more to come. Sorry about the bad photos, it's the best I can do for now.

November 29, 2004

I had a another nice day with a friend taking me around the city. People are so welcoming here, they always like to show you a cool place or restaurant they know of. So I ended up all around the city starting with Shinjuku for some shopping, Tsukiji fish market for a Sushi snack, then Odaeba in Tokyo bay and finally in Sangenjaya for some delicious Okomiyaki. It was interesting to see the city from a car, since we drove around in my friend's car as opposed to the usual subway riding.
Not much time for drawing as you can imagine, but today I have something else to show you anyway: some drawings of KaitenZushi restaurants I've made during the trip.
Kaiten is "conveyor belt" sushi and you might have tried it in the US in the "boats on water" version. Kaiten places are all over the city, the sushi is not the highest grade ever, but it's still pretty darn good and it makes for the perfect fast and cheap lunch. One of the places I tried in Shibuya was so packed I had to wait, they have a minimum 7 dishes order but every dish, with 2 pieces of sushi, is a measly 100 yen (roughly a dollar)! Kaiten is also worth trying just for the experience as the atmosphere is unique and noisy: the sushi chefs yell orders outloud.
Now, for a nice Sushi dinner I'd certainly pass on the Kaiten and head over to the Tsukiji area, not far from Ginza, where you can have absolutely delicious sushi and still not run a steep bill. My favorite is SushiZanMai, which has at least 3 of 4 locations in Tsukiji, hard to miss it. Uhm, now I am hungry ... X)
mata sugu.

November 28, 2004

Yesterday I went with a friend of mine to a fantastic museum in Musashi Koganei. The "Edo Tokyo Tatemono En" which translates to Edo Tokyo open air Architectural Museum. They have many different houses and buildings with styles ranging from the 1700s to 1950s, from the rural farmhouse to the 1920s artdeco mansion. It's really quite an awesome place, it will transport you back to different kinds of Japanese life. In several of these houses and shops you're going to feel like you're in a Studio Ghibli movie ... and that is no coincidence as I think this is MiyazakiSan's favorite museum, he even designed the little caterpillar mascot "Edomaru" for it. The museum is also really close to Studio Ghibli which is in the close by Higashi Koganei town.
Anyway, the only unfortunate thing is that being there with my friend I couldn't draw much at all, so I am planning to go back this week and spend a day drawing, there's just so many great things to sketch there.
Here's a link to the nice website of the museum.

And, a couple of more subway sketches today.
later!

November 26, 2004

Back in Tokyo after a whirlwind of a week. I saw so much, I drew quite a bit. After Matsuyama in Shikoku I headed back north and ended up in Hida prefecture's Takayama. A lovely small town in the Japanese Alps.
Feels kind of weird now not having to run for a train or a boat or something, it's almost a bit too quiet around here in this apartment. I am renting a place for the next 2 weeks, it's a one bedroom 5 minutes walk from Mitaka station, which is 20 minutes from Shinjuku on the Chuo Line. Pretty nice and cheaper than an hotel, plus I can do my laundry and even cook ... though I doubt I will, too much good food out there.
So ... seems like "Howls moving castle" was a big hit at the Japanese box office! Excellent. I saw it on the opening day last saturday, it was also my birthday. (Still have to thank MiyaSan for the present ... X)). The movie was great but certainly hard to understand without subtitles, so I am gonna hold off on a review until I get a chance to see it subtitled. Well, time to hit the bed for me ... and to wake up for you.
Here's some more Tokyo drawings.




Akihabara is also known as Electric Town ... or "Heaven on earth for gizmo geeks".
These capsules stations things are rows of "Egg dispensers" with little toys in it.
100 yen will get you a "Incredibles" little figurine or about any
other character in Anime or video games you can think of. The small sculptures quality never
fails to amaze me.
And here's some subway sketching.

November 23, 2004

November 22, 2004

November 21, 2004

8:22pm SketchCrawl Kyoto is just now done ... it was a blast. We just had a nice  party at a Falafel place to close the nice day. We looked at drawings, chatted and drank beer. It was a ton of fun. You guys must all be about to start or in the middle of yout crawls, have fun !! Many thanks to John Grillo who`s been organizing the day, complete with custom made maps with meeting points and all ....
Will post more drawings as soon as possible!

November 19, 2004

November 17, 2004

Well I am ready ... I think. Just a little packing left to do tonight. Tomorrow morning I have the flight to Narita. I am a little apprehensive but mostly exicited about this trip. It's the first time I take a "drawing trip". I hope to keep my drive going! I've been to Japan before but this time I have a feeling will be different. It'll be like seeing some of it for the first time, drawing has that kind of power. It really makes you slow down and look and really observe the details of things around you. I thought about all this when this morning, walking in my neighborhood, I saw an electrical pole I had drawn a couple of weeks ago. I almost felt like saying:"Hey, I know you! How's it going? Still have all those interesting stickers all over you? Wife and kids all good ?" Well, now you'll think I am nuts, but do you see what I am getting at? Taking 20 minutes to draw something ... will make you look at it, observe it, capture it ... whatever it is you're drawing, you'll get to know it. Never drawn before? Try it ... take your time ... it feels good, in a "stop and smell the flowers" kind of way. Don't get too bogged down in the results ... think about the experience of observing and seeing ... isn't that worth it already?
Well ... ok, I'll get off the soapbox now ... got carried a way a bit.
Anyway, have a great time on your november 21st SketchCrawl !
I will update from Japan as much as I can ...
as they say over there: "Ittekimasu !"
E




This is not japan yet, but a detail from an excellent hole in the wall Japanese
restaurant in Cole valley: Hamako. Look it up ... it's not easy to
find, but it's worth the search!

And below another drawing from a Cole Valley restaurant. Zazie.

November 15, 2004

Running left and right today ... errands before the trip. I leave wednesday.
I am the worse person when it comes to organization. Usually I start running around in circles trying to do everything at once and all the meanwhile I have the nagging feel that I am forgetting something ... and invariabily something I do forget.
The only way I try and keep waging this war on chaos is with the simple order-making weapon of "to do lists"! Though ... ahem ... what do you do when you loose your todo list?
X)

November 13, 2004

Uhm, woke up late today ... gonna go and run at Ocean Beach to shake the grogginess. It's beautiful out there and I can always look forward to a nice latte at the end of my run. I am the kind of guy that needs that carrot dangling not far from my nose I guess ... X)
Let me tell you a little more about Maki: this small restaurant is in the JapanTown mall, second floor right by Kinokuniya bookstores. They make delicious "Wappa Meshi": steamed delicacies over rice that vary from mountain vegetables to Salmon with Roe. That's what I usually have in fact. And here's a drawing of it, plus a nice Noh Theater mask hanging from the wall. If you're in the area don't miss it.

November 11, 2004

The Forum is up and running ! Please check it out and let me know what you think. Suggestions are very much appreciated.
Hopefully that is where we can all share eachother's drawings and tales for the November 21st SketchCrawl and hopefully even more after that ...
Today a drawing from a small JapanTown restaurant: Maki.

November 10, 2004

I live in Cole Valley in San Francisco, I love it around here. Everything is close: Golden Gate Park, Ocean Beach, the Haight and a handful of good restaurants right on Cole street. It's a nice quiet community and it doesn't even feel like the city. I must admit though I wish SF restaurants stayed open later, coming from New York especially it was hard to adjust. It's pretty rough around here if you're in search of a late meal.
Anyway, I drew these couple of drawings from Crepes on Cole, which luckily is actually open pretty late ... X).

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