The Bar César tapas place has a new location on Piedmont Avenue in Oakland. I finally got over there to check it out: very nice! They’ve got a whole wall of goodies, including these paella pans of various sizes.
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New César on Piedmont February 26th, 2007
Restaurant Sketching June 15th, 2008
Sketching in restaurants can be a real challenge: people move around a lot, and food and dining companions expect some attention as well. I usually end up sketching quickly, and always add the watercolor later on.
Here are three sketches done recently in local restaurants. The first two are in the bars, César and T. Rex.
The last sketch is at Venezia, an Italian restaurant with a unique decor. The walls are painted to make the space look like an outdoor cafe in Venice, and terraces, pigeons (fake, not real!), a fountain and a real laundry line complete the look.
The laundry is changed regularly to match the season: Santa suits, bathing suits, long johns, for example, and even lingerie at Valentines Day. I always get a kick out of that.
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Berkeley Mini Crawl May 30th, 2008
In February Lisa and I did a mini-sketchcrawl around Berkeley and I never posted those sketches. Well, here they are!
The first sketch is the view across Shattuck Avenue here in North Berkeley from Bar Cesar where we had lunch. Although you wouldn’t know it, this is very close to the same view I sketched last month at twilight: same two trees there on the median strip.
After a quick North Berkeley tour we headed over to the UC Berkeley campus where we sketched the base of the Campanile Tower. I love the London Plane Trees on that plaza. They are wonderfully sculptural and go though dramatic changes throughout the year.
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Berkeley Cafe Sketching February 5th, 2008
At SketchCrawl #17 I met fellow sketchblogger Lee-Roy for the first time. He drove up from Los Angeles for the event and to spend a few days in the Bay Area. The day after the Crawl he came over to Berkeley to have a look. We met up in the North Berkeley neighborhood, aka Gourmet Ghetto, and took a little walking tour. It was cold though, and we’d already gotten frozen the day before, so we decided to seek refuge in Bar César. There we passed a lovely afternoon, talking and eating and drinking and sketching.
It was great fun to get to know another avid sketcher. Lee-Roy is quite talented indeed and did a wonderful sketch of the bar, right down to the many bottles and blue tiles. I love it!
And speaking of SketchCrawl, the date for SketchCrawl #18 has been announced: March 29, 2008!
See also: Other Sketches at César
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SketchCrawl 01: Berkeley January 21st, 2008
On Sunday November 21 2004 the first worldwide SketchCrawl event was held. The idea is that all over the world people go out and spend the day sketching, then share their results online. Although not everyone is together, the idea that others are pursuing the same activity is encouraging. It’s sort of like a Pub Crawl, but (not necessarily 🙂 ) without the beer.
UC Berkeley Champanile
We spent the day around our town, Berkeley, and had a blast. The day was clear and sunny, but unusually windy and cold. It is hard to draw with numb fingers and hair blowing across your face!
Our local North Berkeley neighborhood is known as the Gourmet Ghetto and is loaded with great restaurants and food stores. Berkeley is a “foodie” town, and this area is the center of the action.
Tapas at Bar César”
Yum! We had a wonderful lunch at Bar César. I realized after I finished this sketch that it is heavily influenced by the lively food sketches in the New Basics cookbook. Update: I made note cards for myself from this Cesar sketch, which have proved quite handy.
Peet’s Coffee & Tea
It was just too cold to sit outside in the wind, so we sought further refuge and more caffeinated fortification in Peet’s Coffee at Walnut & Vine. This is the original Peet’s location.
Arlington Fountain
I love this fountain and pass by it every day. It sits in the center of the Marin Ave. traffic circle and is a reproduction of the fountain that stood there from 1911 to the 1950’s. The critters are supposed to be baby grizzly bears (symbol of California and U.C. Berkeley, and a reference to nearby Grizzly Peak), but I think they look more like hyenas. Cute hyenas.
Post Office
French Hotel & Cafe
North Berkeley Shops
Bay View
From Left to Right, Back to Front: San Francisco, Golden Gate bridge, Marin County, Alcatraz Island, Angel Island, Berkeley Marina, Berkeley Flatlands, Berkeley Hills.
My Sketching Kit
I have been drawing lately with a Namiki Falcon fountain pen with a fine nib. The book is a pocket Moleskine, but I don’t like the paper it comes with so have rebound it with Fabriano Artistico Hot Press 90lb. My watercolor box is an old-style Winsor & Newton Bijou Box with tube paints squeezed in, and a Niji Waterbrush completes the kit.
Update: For information on my current sketch kit, see:
How I Sketch: Materials
Other Related Articles:
Other SketchCrawls
How I Sketch: Demo
Rebind a Moleskine Sketchbook
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Happy New Year! December 31st, 2007
And a happy one it is for me, as I have been honored with Katherine Tyrrell’s, “Travels with a Sketchbook Shield” award for 2007!
It is indeed an honor to be recognized by Katherine, and especially in the company of the other finalists, all of whom have been great inspirations to me:
Katherine’s award is extra meaningful to me because it was her "Blogging Art in 2006" posts, Part 1 and Part 2 which really inspired me to get serious about sketchblogging. Her blog is chock full of useful art information and links, her sketching and artwork is wonderful, and I have learned so much from her about blogging as well. She is a pro indeed!
Thank you Katherine for your very kind regard, and thank you to all the sketchbloggers out there who inspire me every day.
Happy New Year Everyone!
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One Hundred Bottles of Wine on the Wall February 8th, 2007
I always enjoy spending time in my favorite tapas bar, César, in the heart of Berkeley’s “Gourmet Ghetto”. It’s a foodies dream; the food is divine and the drinks superb.
It’s always packed in the evenings, but afternoons are calm and quiet. It’s also a fun place to sketch; this is the same restaurant where I did the tapas sketches that ended up on my note cards.
This sketch shows just one of the many wood lined pantries behind the bar. The sketch is done on half of a spread in my (reloaded) Pocket Moleskine, so it’s a small one. It still required a full glass to wine to complete, however!
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Sushi & Tapas Note Cards January 5th, 2007
After my recent success with holiday cards, I decided to order some smaller note cards from Shutterfly featuring food sketches I did recently in local Berkeley restaurants. The tapas sketch was made at Bar César, and the sushi at Miyuki. I am very pleased with the results!
These cards are smaller, 3.5 x 5.0 inches, and just big enough to send in the mail. The production on these is not as fancy as on their holiday cards, but they are quite nice none the less and these will be very useful.
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