Moleskine Slideshow

Summer in November

Shapes and colors of La Jolla, ocean views, shoreline, fun, nice food. Watercolor on paper.



Burning hot sun cast shadows through a doorway. Summer in November in downtown Long Beach. Brush pen in moleskine pocketbook.

2009 Sketchbook

Some pages from a 4 x 6 Pro Art sketchbook begun December 2008 with my one inch ceramic Santa and his little house that he stays in during the off season. The paper isn't the best for watercolor and the Uniball pen does bleed through a bit, but the size and texture is comfortable to sketch while standing.

The lone pyramid is the in the opening of CSI Las Vegas.

The wall of cobras is from Luxor. The small ceramic fertility statue to the left.

My practice attempt to understand Fernand Leger's red cubist painting.

Villa Riviera

Long Beach's grand dame, Villa Riviera Hotel, built 1927 as coop apartments, on the corner of Ocean and Alamitos, faces downtown and acts as hostess to Shoreline Drive, access down to the marina and beach.

Sketched giant nasturciums that climbed my fence, then added the Villa a few days later, two skyscrapers.

Sketchcrawl at Shoreline Village

Sandy and I did a sketchcrawl this afternoon at Shoreline Village, Long Beach, a shopping restaurant area with marina, views of the Queen Mary and the new Pike Place built on the grave of the wild and wooly old Pike amusement park. The rickety rides, ferris wheel and tatoo parlors began to disappear in the early 1980's. The new Pike opened a few years ago.

The cold winds made people hurry by. Could only manage a bare outline of a woman and man. Looking north towards Ocean Blvd, the new Pike and parked sail boats.

Parker's Lighthouse served a yummy appetizer of fresh nachos and warm spinach dip and kept us filled to overflowing (I was overfilled) with coffee and iced tea while we sketched and chatted. Refreshing day. We sat in their front glassed in patio, taking shelter from the cold winds but with beautiful blue sunny skies. Steve, Sandy's husband, joined us after taking their two doggie children for a brisk walk along the oceanside.

View north towards tall buildings along Ocean Blvd, hiding the ocean views we used to have along the street.

This is Margaret, a well behaved dog who looks to be part Shih Tzu. Next time I'll have to sketch her sibling. A few sketches always makes me feel productive. Watercolor added on site. Uniball waterproof pen.

Art Miles

One of the canvases I prepared for Art Miles at the aquarium. I cut out fish shapes, taped them down, painted ocean swirls over them and the children painted them with lots of color and pattern. I had the sperm whale at the top doing a vaudeville routine, enters on the left, exits on the right at the same time. I look forward to seeing photos of the finished canvas.

My favorite place to view Long Beach is from the Queen Mary. It rained on and off this day so it was not the usual bright sunshine. The city skyline has changed into a metropolis with skyscraper hotels and condos eating up the ocean views we used to have along Ocean Blvd.

Downtown Vineyard

Miss the vineyards and lush hills in northern California, the way vines and orchards form quilt patterns on the hills. I appreciate the nearness of the beach and add brighter colors to the concrete landscape of downtown Long Beach.

Home Again

View into the bedroom, late afternoon breeze. Removed the door and two panels of obscure glass to open the space, let in more sun. Buddha, stage left, isn't really hanging out in the bedroom. Just imaginary.

moon city

Night fills the ocean of sky and the moon floats like a creature. Shadows and lights glamorize a regular city of concrete and windows making it easier to imagine another city.

Downtown Long Beach. Collage from magazine scraps.