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oh i do like to be ...
watercolour, micron pen; spent the last afternoon of my trip clinging to the ocean, not wanting it to go away, the sunshine and palm trees and two shades of blue, and the miles of rich sand. Oh, and the large shiny silvery parking lots, i didn't draw them, for some reason... walked from ocean park/santa monica down as far as evnice beach, where i did start a drawing of the rollerblading dancers, and took photos of colourful locales to draw at a later date (ie, never). venice is wierd, wacky, full of tourists looking for cheap crappy trinkets that will sit around the hosue looking embarassed before being stuffed into a box forever or thrown away. And on that nore, cynical pete came back, and i left town and went back to davis. The next trip will be london, and then prague aussi. And there is one page left in the sketchbook, so a new one will begin.
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13.5.07 22:14 |
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back in burnt oak - how much for the bus?!?
A long-haul flight later, and I'm back again in the UK - for the third time since I left. I've not done much so far, except lay about in a dazed and confused mood (much like normal). I'll do some drawing, and get used again to this British keyboard... I went to Edgware, and wanted to get the bus to Mill hill. £2 to ride the bus!!! Two pounds!!!!! That's four dollars! Two quid!!! Bloody hell, I said, things have changed around here. It was explained to me how to buy and use an Oyster card (I never had one when I was living here - no need, mate, taking the bus every day) which makes things cheaper. The guy in Edgware station, nice fellow, told me it now costs £3 to go one stop on the tube from Edgware to Burnt Oak. One stop!!! Three quid!!! That's six bucks!!! You can't jump over the barriers like in the old days then, I asked. Ah, people still do, he said bleary-eyed, and he never said it, but I knew he was thinking, not like in the old days. Ah, back when I could clip 'em round the ear and we'd all laugh about it later on. Ah, it's all changing round here. On a completely different subject, I was in San Francisco airport, in the toilets (sorry, bathroom), there was a sign, I swaer to god, that said 'please conserve natural resources. Take only what you need.' And there's me thinking, well I only need to take a poo, is that alright? And on that taking-the-blog-down-a-notch-or-two note, I'll sign off, and go and draw some of this crazy suburb. |
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17.5.07 16:49 |
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and a flying v ukelele was present
I can't stand coming home from the pub and smelling of other people's smoke. That's one thing I don't miss about London. July the 1st can't come quickly enough, and it seems as though everyone's trying to pack in as many fags as possible before the deadline. Tonight was cool though, because I finally went to see mr solo play at the Enterprise (not the space-ship) in Chalk Farm. And despite the smoke it was a very very nice show. A flying V ukelele was present. The music and poetry support acts were great, especially the accordion-ing first act martin white, who joined in a special version of life on a crescent at the end. i've been doing lots of sketching - simon and i did on a small scale take part in sketchcrawl 14 yesterday, the results to be posted once scanned. Oh yes. It's cool being back. And today was very good. |
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21.5.07 00:56 |
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last page: ooh-ah in the garden
The long flight back from the UK arrived in San Francisco yesterday afternoon with us onboard, a lot of money and energy spent, back in the US and A. We forewent Prague, another time maybe, but I did a lot of sketchy sketching in and around old London, starting a new w.h. smith sketchbook and finally finishing the last one (which was begun in Burnt Oak on Boxing Day - it seemed fitting to end it there). The end of a sketchbook is always a personal occasion, and this time I borught no photos of my recent travels to show, just drawings, and people seemed to enjoy that a little bit more. Anyway that one above is of my mum's back garden, early on a Friday morning, as I got through the mountain of Pepsi Max and Turkey Rashers that had been calling out for me from across the sea. Me and simon did Sketchcrawl 14 together, going along the south bank and borough market, and I'll post the results on their site and here. I will show some of my other croquis londoniens in the next few days - as for now, jetlag, a very sore throat, and the impending back-to-work fun... |
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29.5.07 14:03 |
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at the blue posts
micron pen, watercolour; the first page of a new sketchbook, down in the heart of old soho, pete's soho, sat on the corner of broadwick and berwick (how american do i sound), just after buying new paints across the road, even got a few people ask me to send them a copy of the finished product, the blue posts, an old soho pub on a friday afternoon (may 18th 2007), so named after the sort of blue posts that marked the entrance to the old hunting ground that was soho before the buildings and shops and boozers and nightclubs; it's still a hunting ground, they say. I had almost forgotten what i loved about london; i remembered while i was painting this. |
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31.5.07 05:26 |
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