I need one of these! I do love the shape of these glasses, too.
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All Posts On: Food
Salvation in a Glass May 17th, 2007
Seattle Produce Market April 2nd, 2007
On my recent Seattle trip I spent an afternoon sketching but didn’t have time to draw at the Public Market. I did take a few quick photos though.
I often take pictures with the intention of later sketching, but rarely get around to actually doing it! This time though I didn’t want to miss a chance to draw one of the luscious produce displays.
The Public Market is filled with amazing produce, flower, and fish displays; huge piles of healthy and colorful goods, artfully arranged. I am sure I could spend a full day happily sketching there.
I drew this sketch from the photo, directly in ink. The sketch is small, as are all my sketches: 5.5 x 3 inches. You can see that it isn’t exactly like the picture but all the main components are there. The best part was adding the watercolor; so many colors!
I wasn’t sure if I should paint in the signs (see below) but went ahead anyway. I am not sure which version I like better; what do you think?
Before Signs Painted
Related Post: Sketching in Seattle
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New César on Piedmont February 26th, 2007
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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USS Vodka February 15th, 2007
We recently spent an interesting day in Alameda, California with friends. Alameda, an island in the San Francisco Bay, was dominated by the Alameda Naval Air Station until 1997. It is now becoming a zone for light industry, but it still looks quite “base-y”. We started our day by touring the WWII aircraft carrier USS Hornet. I’m not a big fan of creations built for warfare, but what was achieved using only slide rules is indeed impressive.
We then went to the Hangar One vodka distillery, housed in an old aircraft hangar on the base. They “hand craft” vodka in large copper pots and have a tasting room with an incredible view out over the old runways (now closed as a wildlife refuge) to the bay and San Francisco beyond. We arrived just in time to taste the spirits and watch a hazy sunset.
Hangar One makes fruit flavored vodkas by infusing them with actual fruit (as opposed to flavorings, natural or otherwise).
My favorite is Buddha’s Hand; a lemony vodka with complex, delightful flavors in each sip. It’s made with a rather bizarre looking citrus fruit called “Buddha’s Hand”, which looks sort of like a bunch of carrots with lemon skin on them.
We finished our day with sushi then hot fudge sundaes: perfect!
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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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In the Kitchen January 24th, 2007
As I drew this, my husband and friends were cooking dinner and I was sitting on the carpet in their living room watching the kitchen. Although the sketch makes the room look empty, it was actually packed with cooks and movement. And, we had a scrumptious meal!
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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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Paris Sketchbook December 31st, 2006
Coffee and the View at the Café de Flore
In June of this year I found myself in Paris, France on business and was able to stay an extra five glorious days for exploration and discovery. Here are a few pages from my sketchbook of that trip.
The Stravinsky Fountain at the Centre Pompidou, and the coffee I had while making the sketch
 Rue Saint-Honoré @ Place A. Malraux |
I was by myself which I didn’t mind a bit, and decided to wander each day with no particular plan or agenda. I just followed my nose as they say, and soaked it all in. I ended up not visiting a single site that required a ticket or a wait in line. I didn’t even go into any art museums (except for gift shops, of course!). I did a ton of walking, people watching, a bit of shopping and some fun sketching. Most of my sketching was done from sidewalk cafes with a café au lait or glass of French champagne for moral support. Very refined! |
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| Notre Dame Cathédrale, and the sketch right before rain forced me under a tree to add the watercolor. | |
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| The Sennelier shop on Qaui Voltaire | Across the Siene to the Louve |
Paris is a visual feast and yes, beautiful. It’s a great place for just looking, a favorite pastime of mine. I got some great ideas from Eric Maisel’s A Writers Paris book which I highly recommend. It is not so much about writing as about setting time aside to pursue creative exploration and how a focused trip can facilitate that process. His ideas aligned very will with my intention for the trip so finding that book was a real bonus.
I Ate Well!
Earlier in my life the idea of being somewhere significant by myself (let alone Paris!) would have been horrifying. But now it was just what I needed and I had a wonderful time. I do promise to take my husband along next time though!
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Champagne Brunch December 18th, 2006
We were at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco over the weekend and had Champagne Brunch in the beautiful Garden Court. What an amazing room; I could have sketched there for days.
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A Beginning November 9th, 2006
Welcome to my sketchblog! I’ve been trying to sketch more regularly and hope this will be a good motivator to keep me going.
A few years ago I published two issues of Trumpetvine Travels, a zine focused on sketching. It was a wonderful experience: I loved planning and creating the issues and I met many wonderful people as a result. However, the tasks of printing, binding, tracking, and shipping proved to be too much and I could not continue.
I do miss it though and hope to regain some of that magic on a smaller scale here, sharing sketches and some new articles as well.
And so, here we go, off on a new Trumpetvine adventure…
-martha
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