Return of the coffee sketches

Coffee sketching is practically therapeutic for me. There is a calming pattern of sighting a compositon out of basic forms at breakfast that begins a day with fresh eyes to design and appreciate the greater, broader and conversly more subtle compositions of the everyday.

As I discuss with my students, drawing is as much about recording as it is about editing. This series here, from over the last month or so is a typical gathering, documenting and editing of these caffeine vesels, their friends and morning habitat. Enjoy!

Surreal trip to NYC-Oct 4 2011

Amy and I  had, what could best be described as, a surreal experience when we were flown down to NYC as guests of Glenn Beck.(See the post below of July 5th showing one of the two sketches given to Beck). With his new set constructed, we were invited down to document the set of his new network on GBTV http://web.gbtv.com/schedule/index.jsp

We had an amazing tour of his office and the studio. During which we had the pleasure of meeting him and thanking him for the opportunity to come down. Here are a few skectches during our visit.

The set panoramic

The crew

Artifacts from his office.

601 Tully Sketch

A quick visit to 601 Tully in Syarcause, NY provided the opportunity to do a coffee sketch...something that was long over-due. This fact is somewhat obvious in the limited clarity of the over all composition. Usually these drawings compose themselves by rules of proportion and geometry based on the cup, but in this case the geometry of the cup competes with the perspective/elevation of the front counter (where you can see Matt the purveyor of Cafe Kubal, exploring his iphone).

Somewhat more frantic then other coffee sketches, the complexity is somewhatintriguing, the tone of the coffee is nice and there are some relatively strong aspects, but overall it reveals how without the daily exercise of drawing, how quickly we can loose our discipline.

Going bananas

So this is inspired by my students. In a recent assignment they had to draw an apple being eaten. I had happened to draw a banana during the same time they were completing their work. What I realized is about a year ago I had done another banana and from 13 years ago I had done another Banana. So here they are collected as a Banana series.

They are presented here from the oldest to the most recent. Note: On the last one, the yellow was put down first as a figure ground exercise and then the lines were applied.

James and State + Coffee and Fair

At the intersection of James St. and State St. in Syracuse, just past 81 overhead is a small lot with a building about 3 feet from the edge of the the raised highway, in the background is the tower of a local closed church (turned Stained glass studio). This sketch is awaiting a watercolour (I will post it when complete) The square is clearly seen in the background and a few sketches are awaiting the church from different vantage points.

For fun I thought it would be neat to do a whole series of the state fair. So my goal was to do at least one sketch per visit. We went six times. This is the only sketch I completed. go figure.

The other sketch is a compound drawing of a coffee cup. On the left the perspective can be seen, on the bottom right is the elevation with a small hint of a section of the saucer. On the top right is the plan of the cup which then extends into the other views, unifying the composition as a whole.

Two cups and Lecture Notes

School Started last week and with it comes a series of meetings and lectures. Talking to Daniel Lim in Singapore, he shared on his site sketches of his meetings. This one is for him. The subject is obvious. What is not so obvious is the "signature stance" that many people take. Consider watching people around you and see that the way they stand is a part of their persona/identity. Here are four people in the upper admin of Syracuse University...despite their names being present...can you recognize them by the positioning of their feet?

The Next two postcards return to my joy of Coffee sketching. The first one is a recent sketch from a local cafe: "Stronghearts Cafe" on E. Genessee St. Very college culture interior, all vegan...which adds to the "complexity" of the cappucino illustrated. The second sketch is for Kiersten at Cafe Kubal on James st. I have owed her one for some time now. Neither really show a strong experimentation with composition...nor development in illustration...but they serve more of keeping in practice of reading lines, form and light on surfaces. There is even a small sketch on the kiersten's card that just focuses on the negative space of the containers. It's the in between that can often go unrecognized.

Stronghearts

Kiersten's Sketch

Border Crossing

My wife and i went up to Toronto, Ontario last weekend to celebrate our 5th anniversary. We stayed with my Uncle and his wife and had a great time. While on the move, we didn't get much down time to sketch, but I was able to get the following views out:

La Societe Bistro
There is a new restaurant on Bloor street where my uncle and I collaborated on the 20'x30' glass ceiling. It opened in April 2011 to much acclaim and I thought it would be a perfect place to celebrate our anniversary. This is the sketch from dessert and an image of the ceiling.

And if you are interested in seeing the scope of my uncle's work here is his site: http://www.solariumglassdomes.com/

The next morning we woke to a wonderful breakfast with fruit in a glass container and a bowl-o-latte

after running about town we finally left for home. What a dream! the QEW was accident and backup free. We zoomed all the way into Lewistown to cross back over the border when...all came to a halt. For 2.5 hours we sat at the border crawling the final 1/4 mile to the States. This sketch (done in our final minutes in que) was executed more out of frustration then inspiration...and when I was finally getting into it...of course we get up to the border gate. ugh. Has anyone experienced this?



Albany, NY Sketching

I attended a conference in Albany, NY this week. The city is amazing. The collection of architecture in downtown is a living museum of styles and scales: from monumental government buildings to pedestrian brownstones and storefronts - all within comfortable walking distance. Taking little excursions between conference talks, I explored bits of the city.

The first one documents the collage of signage projecting, clinging and hanging outside of Lodge's, Albany's oldest store. The seam of the book plays as corner/edge to the building.

The second sketch is the view from my hotel room window. In the foreground is the (relatively) recently renovated St. Peter's Church. Directly behind it is the NY state Capitol building undergoing a facade restoration. To the right of the crane is H.H. Richardson's City hall. To the left the tall linear tower is Corning tower. At it's base in the distance is the Cathedral.

The final pages of this little sojourn is an analysis of the "Million Dollar Stair" in the state capitol Building. Designed by H.H. Richardson, this stair connects four floors with 139 steps through some of the most Piranessian style arches and columns. The scale is monumental in size, but personal in detail. AmAzing!

The sketch on the left is a partial section attempting to figure out the spatial interchanges between the levels. Partial plans parrallel the section on the right of the page (and the steps are counted in between)

The sketch on the right attempts to be an experiential perspective through the diagonal of the space...but seriously, nothing can capture that experience! Worth a visit and climb if ever in Albany! Cheers!

NYC post #3 06-29-2011 : subway back to Times Square

To end the day, we hopped on the Q line express back to Times square to pick up the car. We started from Syracuse at 10:30 am and were about to face a 6 hour drive back (unknowingly due to one missed off ramp). To end the sketching of the day...a quick sketch to capture the view of the transit car...not the strongest result...Its flattness and obvious struggle with line selection...shows how out of practice I am with the immediate sketch...but what a day, and what a time...captured here...captured in Line.

NYC post #2 06-29-2011 : MESA Grill for Dinner

After the show we took the subway down to Union Square to take in Mesa Grill (the famous restaraunt by that well know Iron Chef Bobby Flay) It was AMAZING!!! These are a little rough again...because the colors and obviously, the tastes, could not be reproduced. But for kicks its fun to attemt it!

Here is the Dinner card:

Have you ever had fried Zuchinni Blossoms? unbelievable (bottom left hand corner), spinach, Tuna, Pork loins, jalapeno bread, and a tamale. Phenomenal!

For Dessert: Cappucino and a blueberry/key lime tart.