Tag Archives: hillcrest

San Diego Urban Sketchers Pencil Drawing Hillcrest

Hillcrest San Diego Pencil Drawing- of the Pinkberry

San Diego Urban Sketchers Pencil Drawing Hillcrest

Pencil drawing of Hillcrest- buy now

I drew this over breakfast this AM on the patio tables at Einstein’s Bagels in Hillcrest. This is the Pinkberry. Halfway through the drawing someone came and parked a gigantic pickup truck right in front of me. I had to keep standing up and peering over its enormity to finish the drawing.

I’d intended to do a watercolor painting this morning, but the cap had come off my pen inside my bag and it dried out. And though the art store is just across the street, it stubbornly did not open in time to buy a new pen. So I worked in graphite.

Mission Hills Painting San Diego Watercolor

Mission Hills Watercolor, San Diego

Mission Hills Painting San Diego Watercolor

Liquor store on the corner- buy now

Just painted this one at breakfast. One slight snafu when a very pregnant woman illegally parked in the red zone, blocking my view with her Prius. But she got her coffee and left quickly!

Church on Normal Street, Hillcrest

Hillcrest San Diego Painting

Church on Normal Street

This piece almost went into my show at the Lyceum Gallery… opening tonight!

It’s a painting started “en plein air” (painted outside on location) on Normal Street in Hillcrest. This is the spot at one end of the Hillcrest Farmer’s Market.

Early morning, before the traffic gets heavy with people going to work, is a nice, peaceful time to paint. I didn’t manage to finish this one before things started getting hectic, with people waiting outside the DMV and streaming by in their cars, ready to hit the highway on their way to their jobs. So I finished it later in the studio; I often work this way.

“Places Here” – Art Reception: 6-8 PM.

Please join us at the Lyceum Gallery in downtown San Diego for the opening of my show, “Places Here.” It’s an exploration of San Diego’s urban neighborhoods, old houses, and hidden alleyways. (Please click here for more info.)

Places Here flyer

Hillcrest Watercolor Painting

Hillcrest Cityscape Watercolor

Hillcrest Watercolor Painting

Hillcrest Watercolor: For Sale.

I love this mid century building. I’d guess it’s from the late 1950s, but it could be the 60s. It used to be a Chicken and Waffles restaurant, which was a lot of fun. Painted from across the street at breakfast.

It’s been a while since I’ve worked in pen and ink, highlighted with watercolor, and getting back into this medium feels wonderful and free.

Hillcrest Watercolor Painting

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Art Reception: Friday January 18 from 6-8 PM
We’d love to see you at the opening reception for my show, “Places Here,” at the Lyceum Gallery in downtown San Diego. Please join us for wine, refreshments, and 28 urban landscape paintings of San Diego. (More info and directions)

Night Fog in Hillcrest, San Diego Art

Night Fog on New Year’s Eve

Night Fog in Hillcrest, San Diego Art

Night Fog in Hillcrest – Buy Now

This painting is from last New Year’s Eve. It was bitterly cold, for San Diego, which means it was in the upper 30s.

That night, dense fog rolled over the city and as we walked home through Hillcrest, the fog was so thick we could see only vague outlines of the buildings across Park Blvd.

This painting was my attempt to recreate the mood of that night.

Hillcrest Panorama Painting San Diego

Hillcrest Panorama, San Diego Painting

Hillcrest Panorama Painting San Diego

Hillcrest plein air- for sale

I love urban views. Here we are looking to the west over Hillcrest, towards Mission Hills.

Painting in Hillcrest

This being San Diego in December, I did get chilly painting this in my shorts and running shoes, while listening to Christmas carols floating up from the plaza below.

San Diego Sunset

Sunset in San Diego

San Diego Sunset

Sunset in Hillcrest – For Sale

The coastal clouds rolled in at nightfall and turned pink with the city lights. This is from a series of plein air night paintings I did last year. Despite the winter chill (low 60s, brr!), it’s easy to get into night paintings this time of year, when it’s just about fully dark around 5.

Pink House and Palm Trees- San Diego Painting

Pink House and Palm Trees- San Diego Painting

A pink house in Hillcrest, seen from the alley behind, on a bright, sunny San Diego morning.

I like out- of- the- way places like this quiet alley, with a low jumble of rooftops and back yards… I like to paint places that look like they aren’t trying too hard to impress.

For sale

More of my paintings of San Diego, California at my Etsy shop.