It was a very last-minute wake-up-at-7:15-and-rush-to-the-station decision to go to the sketchcrawl in Berkeley but I'm really glad I did. I haven't done a sketchcrawl at UC Berkeley since March 2007 which is rather a long time. I enjoyed meeting other sketchers and it was particularly nice to see Jana Bouc and Gary Amaro again (great sketches above by the way Gary!) and I remembered how much I really like Berkeley. Anyway here are my sketches:
california theater berkeley by
petescully, on Flickr
This is the California movie theater in downtown Berkeley, sketched before the 'crawl.
south hall uc berkeley by
petescully, on Flickr
This is South Hall, UC Berkeley, near Sather Tower. It took me an hour and a half. It's a big building. I might add some colour later.
bowles hall uc berkeley by
petescully, on Flickr
This is Bowles Hall, at the top of the hill, or near it. There was construction going on in the foreground. I love sketching construction work. Next time I am back, this view will have changed. I last sketched it in 2007 so I calculate that it will be in 2021 at this rate.
bancroft and college, berkeley by
petescully, on Flickr
This is the corner of College and Bancroft, on the edge of campus. I sat next to a coffee shop and sketched this building which I think is called the Free House. Well it may be free but you can't take it away with you, it's cemented to the ground. I was drawn to all the colourful newspaper boxes, but I had to add the colour in afterwards because the end of the sketchcrawl was nigh.
berkeley sketchcrawl by
petescully, on Flickr
You can see that uncoloured version in this photo. Here I am with Flory, Gary and Jana. We then had a nice Chicken biryani at a local Indian eatery, and it was tasty. Great spending time with other sketchers, sharing tips, learning from each other. Even though I do most of my sketching alone, it is great to connect. Other sketchers "get it", this whole need to draw stuff, you know? So it was a great day that made me very happy.