Los Angeles Sketch Crawl: Echo Park

I was with about a dozen people for 23rd edition of World Wide Sketch Crawl, and enjoyed meeting fellow artists, both familiar and new. We chose to sketch at Echo Park in Los Angeles. There happened to be a festival and the weather was perfect, so that made for a pleasant time.

Angelus Temple:




Echo Park has a very large lake in the middle:




My usual roundup of people sketches:




It was a great day to spend outdoors!

Taco Truck Part 2: Border Grill

I'm wondering: should I start a series of taco truck/food truck sketches? I started sketching them with Kogi BBQ taco truck, and now the mobile eatery that serves affordable, unique food is getting popular here in Los Angeles.

A locally well-known restaurant, Border Grill, now has a food truck. I happened to be there with other curious shoppers on its first day at the Santa Monica farmer's market. The tacos had fresh ingredients with homemade corn tortillas - yummy!

[Photo courtesy of Corey Takahashi]

[Also posted at Urban Sketchers]

Illustration Friday: Worn

This is one of my lunchtime sketches, and thought it was appropriate for this week's Illustration Friday theme, "Worn". I like the look of this tree trunk, worn away by the elements. A worn surfboard is resting behind it, with a lizard idly getting sun.

IF: Drifting

Here's a sketch I did this week, and thought it fits the Illustration Friday theme, "Drifting". Reading makes my mind drift to another world, like a floating boat, ready to set sail toward new experience.

Below is another page from my sketchbook that I've been using to sketch by the beach. Happy Summer Solstice, everyone!

Illustration Friday: Unfold

The graduation season is here, when former students enter the world beyond school. Stories yet untold will unfold....
(This is an old illustration I did when I was a new graduate myself. I'm thinking of using this concept and reworking it into a new illustration for greeting cards - let me know what you think!)

New York City Sketches

Here is a slideshow of some of the sketches I've done in New York City recently. I was pleasantly surprised by the mild weather and I'm glad to discover some waterfront views that I've never seen before on this trip. As always, NYC is full of endless things to draw!

Illustration Friday: Contagious

For this week's Illustration Friday topic, "Contagious", I thought of something positive that can pass on from person to person besides the scary Swine Flu that is sweeping the headlines at the moment. This is based on a sketch I did of a Brazilian ensemble; listening to them made me happy, and other people in the audience also had smiles on their faces. Good feelings that come from infectious beats are indeed contagious!