There was some comfort in making art this past weekend, in being with our South Bay Sketchers/USk family including our friend Liz Steel, who was visiting from Australia.

We sketched at History San Jose, and after all the drawing and chatting there we gathered at the recreated O'Brien's Ice Cream Shop for treats.





I had family in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh; I remember thinking how lovely it was when I was there many years ago. The city was family, too, for many of us East Coast Indian Americans: we'd drive hours on the Pennsylvania Turnpike to visit the S.V. Temple in Penn Hills, to attend events. I'd like to go back some day and draw this lovely city, with its funicular and bridges and rivers (the Monongahela, the Allegheny, the Ohio).

If we stop making, if we stop creating, they will have won. #StrongerThanHate

It's only four hours away, so why did it take us so long to go back to the Sierra Nevadas and Lake Tahoe? The last time we were there was during our cross-country roadtrip, in 2015.

Better late than never, and October is the off season (after the summer crowd, before ski season). We stopped in Truckee, California, for lunch and then headed straight to Sand Harbor State Park across the border in Nevada, with its fabulous boulders and Caribbean-teal water.







My favorite spot, though, was Fallen Leaf Lake, southwest of the built-up resorts of South Lake Tahoe. It was like suddenly being transported to Alaska. It was pristine, and largely deserted, and beautiful.





I would love to know what these two men were doing with all this equipment (and one was in a wetsuit), but I just had to draw them.



What are your favorite places near Tahoe?

Well, not really trainspotting, but rather spotting things from a train. This is what I saw and sketched as I rode the train from San Jose to Oakland two weekends ago: mounds of salt. Where does all this salt go? Is it part of Cargill's salt works in the Bay Area? Possibly; I have no idea, but it was fun to get some more Inktober drawing in.



I colored the sketch with a waterbrush (yes, my favorite Pentel Aquash L) and one of those Daniel Smith watercolor dot cards I seem to accumulate from USK symposium goodie bags and sponsor giveaways. I think this was the Jane Blundell palette. The dot cards are a great way to test out new pigments and color combinations.

I'm so honored whenever people ask me to do a commissioned sketch or painting. I can only hope my interpretation of the subject comes remotely close to capturing what's in their head and heart. Here's one I did recently of Ocean Beach in San Francisco.



Lots of love from me to those who love this special place.

Sometimes life gets in the way of Inktober. I've still been drawing in the margins, but this month has been overfilled with Big Work Things. So I snatch minutes here and there.

Waiting for a Lyft car...



The view from Sierra Azul Open Space Preserve...



A stylized cactus...



A head, from TV...



A rooster, from a photo I took in Kauai...



Sometimes ambition is bigger than reality, but don't lose hope. The month isn't over yet!

Yep, the turning of the leaves means only one thing for us sketchers: Inktober time has arrived! Thirty-one days, 31 drawings. Post with the hashtag. Use the prompts provided by the website or do your own. Anything goes. This year, I may take a week and do a series of themed drawings. Or not. Will see where the muse tells me to go.



Today's effort was a hodgepodge of the stuff lying on my coffee table. Props if you can figure out what everything is.

Excited to share a recent commission: cover art I created for San Francisco singer-songwriter Laura Paragano's debut full-length album, "Strange Curses." Follow her on Spotify/pre-order on Amazon: It's out tomorrow, September 17!

Spent Labor Day weekend relaxing with family in Connecticut. It involved reading, wine tasting, wading in the ocean, going for a boat ride, listening to the Coast Guard Band, shopping, eating, napping and, of course, sketching. Perfection.

Misquamicut State Beach, just across the state line in Rhode Island:



Saltwater Farm Vineyard in Stonington:



View of the Thames River in New London, from Fort Trumbull:



Quick captures from the boat, in Mystic:

Last weekend, we roadtripped down to San Simeon to visit Hearst Castle, the Julia Morgan-designed residence of erstwhile publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst. It's a confection of a house, perched on a hill overlooking the California coast.

The buildings and grounds are a California State Park, with a choice of guided tours offered. We chose the Grand Rooms tour, which took us through the main building, Casa Grande. We were one of the first to see the newly repaired Neptune Pool refilled, as it had been drained in 2014 due to massive leaks.

After the tour, we had the run of the exterior, so I found a bit of shade and did a quick sketch of the main building.

Recently I had the pleasure of working on a commissioned gift - sketches of two houses that meant a great deal to the recipient. Something old, something new.



We may live in several places throughout our lives, and some are more special or memorable than others. Photographs are helpful memory aids, but I like to think that a sketch or a painting offers something intangible, something more than what the camera alone can capture.

Porto! Seems like just yesterday that we were in Chicago. The anticipation has been building for months.



Day 1: Wednesday

I flew in from London Gatwick, got to the Symposium hub at Alfandega do Porto and checked in, passing dozens of sketchers already capturing Porto on the way. I got my goodie bag and promptly went back to the hotel (InPatio Guest House - highly recommended!) to look through it. Sketchbooks, watercolors, pens, pencils, and more spilled out as usual thanks to the generous sponsors. I returned to the hub in time for the welcome reception, and then did my first sketches of the city on my way out.



Porto is cobblestones and steep hills, a lively riverfront and modern boutiques, azulejo-covered churches and narrow alleys, port wine houses and water taxis. In short, a sketcher's paradise.

Day 2: Thursday

My first workshop was with UK-based artist Lynda Gray. I loved her technique of delicate, layered washes on crisp lines. We drew three vignettes on hot press paper, letting the pale colors run and puddle over the drawings.



I took the afternoon off to explore the city a bit and go shopping. Of course I stopped at the art supply stores; I loved the facade of this one.



I had to visit Livraria Lello, often held to be one of the most beautiful bookstores in the world (and reportedly a source of inspiration for J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series).





After I'd bought two(!) pairs of shoes and gotten myself a local cellphone SIM card, I stopped at the twin churches - Igreja do Carmo/Igreja dos Carmelitas -- for a quick sketch.



After dinner, I wandered down to the Praca da Ribeira, by the River Douro, which was the venue for the nightly "drink'n'draw." I sketched and chatted w/ other artists as the light slowly faded.



Day 3: Friday

This was a two-workshop day. In the morning, I had a pastel session with Daniel Green. He had stepped in to substitute for William Cordero, who wasn't feeling well. Daniel did a fantastic job leading us through the exercises. It was great fun to trot out my vintage pastel set and get my fingers dirty.







After lunch, I took a workshop with Fred Lynch. Fred challenged us to think like an illustrator, considering what we were communicating in our sketch and what we were focusing on. Truth be told, my energy was flagging by this point in the day even though we were sitting in the shade. I could barely get my fingers to draw.



Dinner that evening was at a restaurant on the river, Bacalhau. As we waited for our food, I took the opportunity to do a few more quick captures.




Day 4: Saturday

I was really looking forward to the morning workshop: Maru Godas' "Gouache Like a Child." I'd heard great things about it last year, and it did not disappoint. After some exercises on mixing our paint and getting the right consistency, we were encouraged to go big with a panoramic sketch of Gaia, across the river from the Alfandega. Using gouache with colored pencils was delightful! I'll definitely experiment with these media more in the future.



Had a lovely lunch with friends at a swank restaurant and somehow missed the final sketchwalk and photo (this is what happens when you wake up too late for the morning announcements). Since I'd walked up the hill to the Praca da Liberdade anyway, I decided to pause for a sketch.



Then it was time for one more brief drawing, of the Old Convent of Nossa Senhora da Serra do Pilar as seen from our riverside restaurant, before heading to the closing reception.



That's it from Porto; see you all next year in ... AMSTERDAM!!

Just got back from a weeklong jaunt in Europe. When I lived on the East Coast of the US, we'd go to Europe quite frequently, often multiple times a year. Now that we live in California, I feel compelled to maximize every trip there. So when we booked our travel for the 9th Urban Sketchers Symposium in Porto, it made sense to stop in the UK first, to see friends and visit places familiar and new.

We stayed with friends northwest of London the first night, and to warm up I sketched a few vignettes from the car as we were driving around the next day.



That night we were in for a treat. It's been a dream of mine to go to the BBC Proms, the legendary classical music concert series that takes place each summer in London. We were fortunate enough to have a friend apply for and snag tickets to Prom #3, featuring winners of the BBC Young Musician competition (including Sheku Kanneh-Mason, the cellist who played at Prince Harry & Meghan Markle's wedding!).

We made it to Royal Albert Hall just in time for the start of the concert. The venue was bathed in lights for dramatic effect. The space right in front of the stage was reserved for prommers, those who queue for hours to get inexpensive standing-room tickets.



I especially liked sketching the percussionists. They were intense!



The following day, I went museum hopping. First I stopped at the National Gallery to see the beautifully curated Monet & Architecture exhibition. It was amazing to see how Monet rendered the built environment in Antibes, Rouen, Venice, London, etc., with his trademark strokes of broken color. See information about the exhibit, and read Google Arts & Culture's interview with a curator.

I also went to the National Portrait Gallery next door, to see the BP Portrait Award 2018 show. Wow, wow, wow. I'd seen the winning painting previously in a magazine, but to see it and the other finalists up close was a revelation.

Of course, no trip to London would be complete without visits to art supply stores. I was able to hit three: Cass Art, at Charing Cross; the warehouse-like Atlantis Art Materials, which recently moved to London Fields; and Great Art in Shoreditch. Great Art was new to me, and I was impressed by the selection.



On Tuesday, we took the train south to Lewes, a Sussex market town that was our base for a hike along the coastal path. Its high street has a diverse selection of boutiques and retailers, including my new crush, Seasalt Cornwall.





In one of the charity shops along the road, I picked up a copy of Nubia: Sketches, Notes & Photographs by Margot Veillon, a reportage-like account of the author's experiences in a culture that was later displaced due to the building of the Aswan High Dam in Egypt.

Our base in this area was the lovely Blue Door Barns B&B, just outside of town.



As we waited for the taxi to take us to Seaford, I rapidly sketched the view from the patio.



We walked along the beach and the coastal path east from Seaford until the white chalk forms of the Seven Sisters came into view. I sat on the trail and sketched, dodging an incessant hail of chalk particles kicked up by the sea breeze.



While at the Seaford train station, we happened to catch the filming of the upcoming movie "Hope Gap," starring actor Bill Nighy. It was odd to see the guy from "Love Actually" standing not 10 feet away from me on the platform!

Our coastal sojourn was very relaxing, and it was my first time walking along a seafront while in the UK.

Next stop: Porto!

What a fantastic group we had for yesterday's workshop at ARCH Art & Drafting Supply in San Francisco!

We practiced techniques for using a minimal kit (sketchbook, fineliner, small watercolor set, and waterbrush, provided by ARCH) to make quick captures of the area around the shop.

Even though that area of Mission Bay is a bit industrial looking, there are still opportunities for interesting compositions.









The exercises were deliberately brief, to get people used to sketching rapidly and spontaneously. I was very impressed with how much everyone achieved given the constraints of time, place, and materials.



I hope it inspired some of the attendees to take up on-location sketching more regularly. Thanks to everyone for joining!