February has come and gone, and I managed to get the sketch pad out everyday. I have to say I really enjoy traveling around the city, checking out new things, and taking a moment to do a sketch. So I figured what the hell, why not shoot for an entire year. So I have decided to take up the challenge of a Sketch A Day, for the entire year. I am not going to just limit it to life sketches, though I plan on mixing them in also. In a few months I plan on adding themes, like cartoon characters, or comic pages, or maybe even super hero. We will see. For now, its a drawing a day which I will post quarterly here, and when I figure Instagram out, on there also. I would love for anyone to join me on this artistic adventure.
Now back to Philly, for some really fun and exciting moments in the past month. From the Ice House to China Town, New York to the Philadelphia Art Museum, lets explore the world through our pens and pencils together.
Let’s Draw!
February 16, 2015
Winter in Philadelphia has been bitterly cold, in fact, the coldest in recorded history. Fires are the worst, for the fireman fighting them, and the people who lose their homes. This series of buildings around the corner from my house caught fire in the middle of the night. The fireman poured so much water on the building for over 12 hours, creating an amazing ice sculpture. This made national news and brought a lot of tourist with cameras. Who could blame them, it looked like a scene from Frozen. I drove past the barrier, parked my car, and sketched the fireman working from the inside of my car. I am including the pictures and some video that I took that day.
February 17, 2015
When things get this cold, stuff is going to go wrong. Like pipes freezing, gas lines going, and electric going out. A power surge blew out 26 houses electricity, and destroyed numerous things in my house, including the electric board on the heater, fridge, and stove. Here the repair man is replacing the board.
February 18, 2015
The Philadelphia Art Museum is the most gorgeous building in Philadelphia as well as a world class collection of art. There was a special exhibit of Japanese art called Kano. These are painting on scroll, using gold foil. Thus far this is my favorite of special exhibitions, filled with dragons, rural landscapes, and demons. I sat down and drew this one, whose detail was amazing. On Wednesday nights its pay what you can, so stop on by.
February 19, 2015
Relaxing on the chair.
February 20, 2015
Even though Chinese New Year started on February 19, the Year of the Goat really began at the International House on Friday night when Philadelphia’s Asian community celebrated the event with dance performances from all over China, food, and wine. This was an awesome event which for the $12 dollar price tag cannot be beat. All the performances were 4 to 5 minutes long; from song, dance, and instrumental music. The MC for the night was a young guy bouncing between Mandarin and English, playing shu pal, and hamming it up with the audience. He did a great job.
February 21, 2015
An afternoon movie led us to this wonderful bar, Sassafras, to hide away from the snowstorm. Located in Old City on 2nd Street, you walk in and you feel like you are transported to Victorian times in Philly, with its ornate woodwork, tiled walls, and tin ceiling. Jazz music pours out of the speakers, and this guy dressed in his best is there to meet you. Never has a deer looked more dignified.
February 22, 2015
Who could resist going to China Town for the Chinese New Year Parade. Its pure madness, but so much fun. With the dragon dances, loud drums, and tons of fireworks blasting off. The smart people were wearing ear plugs, sadly I did not. But I followed along as the dragons blessed one establishment to another. Catching Philly’s famous entrance in the back ground. Below are some photos and videos of the festival.
February 23, 2015
A girl playing with beads. No idea why, but she sat still long enough for me to capture this.
February 24, 2015
At the waiting room at the doctors office. This woman was giving me stink eye the entire time. She probably did not realize I was drawing her, but she did not like me looking at all.
February 25, 2015
Booboo laying around.
February 26, 2015
Shaka Zulu lazing around as always.
February 27, 2015
Bundled up from the cold.
February 28, 2015
A really quick sketch of Samson.
March 1, 2015
Ice flows on Hudson River, Haverstraw, NY. The bird flying is a bald eagle. The extreme cold temperatures and completely frozen Hudson up North have all the eagles hanging out near Palisades State Park. The ice is broken up here because Ice Breakers go up and down the river keeping it open. I saw about 5 different eagles this day. Crazy, never have I seen so many.
March 2, 2015
Hanging out at the Gold Standard Cafe for an Pheralyn Dove’s art opening. The walls were overflowing with gorgeous photos of flowers and landscapes. It was a burst of Spring in a Winter that refuses to give up, and we loved it. Some of the close up of irises and lilies are so vibrant that you can smell the flowers. These two gentleman were enjoying the show and catching up. Stop by in March if you get a chance.
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This was a really great set of sketches! I’d really love to see your year of sketches so keep going. I started mine at the beginning of the year and am still enjoying it a lot. Maybe predictably my favourite is the frozen building, strangely beautiful!
That was just such a unique thing, and for it to happen so close to me was really crazy, but fun. The firemen looked at me like I was crazy. The sketches I take a lot if time on usually turn out to be my favorites. I think of the last thirty the drawing I did of my eighty year old boiler is still my favorite.
I actually just got a gallery show for November showcasing sketches and art that I did from the road. So I will be working on finishing some of the mire unique ones. I am really excited about that. It will give me a chance to showcase all the different cultures that we came across.
A good friend of mine started in October, and I thought he was crazy for doing 365 days, but he is still at it. So after I did thirty I figured I would go for it.
Thanks for checking out my blog and following.
Doing the gallery show will be amazing, I hope you’ll share the work you’ll be entering in that. I find that the more you get into this challenge the easier it gets. By now (day 70) the hardest part seems to be remember which day number it is, not the work itself! Thanks for the follow.
I’m glad to hear that you’ve decided to stick it out for the rest of the year.
These are really nice sketches. The frozen building is definitely quite extraordinary and I love the Hudson River one too. I look forward to seeing more sketches from you in the months to come.
Yeah, all the bloggers like you inspired me to continue on the path for the rest of the year. Plus its pretty exciting to see all the variety that happens over a year.
awesome work! Love the booboo sketch…
Thanks Buddy! She’s pretty easy to get considering how lazy she is. Unless, as you know, there is another dog around, then she is a nightmare. Slowly getting better though.
You’ve got a show! That’s great, congratulations! My fave is the boiler too, but I really really love the ice house. That is wonderful. The photos help me envision what it looked like to be there, but your sketch is more appealing to me. In the Feb 23 sketch, was the girl with prayer beads? The way you have drawn them across her hands makes me think of that.
Thanks. I don’t think they were prayer beads, seemed more like mardi gras beads. She was just toying with them as she chatted up her friends. Ice house was defiantly one of the more unique things I have seen in my life.