Crawling Intrepidly through the Village
“The test of an adventure is that when you’re in the middle of it, you say to yourself, ”Oh, now I’ve got myself into an awful mess; I wish I were sitting quietly at home.“ And the sign that something’s wrong with you is when you sit quietly at home wishing you were out having lots of adventure. ”
-- Thornton Wilder
A brave group of draw-ers, about fifteen strong, gathered this morning under the Washington Square Arch at 9 am and bravely battled the elements through the morning. We were men, women, and a pair of boys, keen eyed and layered in Polar Fleece and Peruvian caps. It was in the 40s and grey as we wrestled out first subject to the ground: the Arch itself. Next we saddled up, securing our rucksacks, drawing furniture and various implements, and made our way South Westward toward Minetta Lane, a dank and twisty labyrinth strewn with various species' feces.
Then, as ten o'clock came and went, we cried 'Westward Ho!' and paddled out into the broad waters of SIxth Avenue and the unsheltered expanse of Father X Plaza. After revitalizing ourselves with stout lashings of coffee from Bagels on the Square, we strained our eyes up towards the towering expanse of Our Lady of Pompeii, a Romanesque Catholic steeple on the corner of Bleecker Street. By
now speckles of rain appeared on our
outstretched sketchbooks and gusts of wind ruffled our wooly headgear as the elements conspired to beat us back as . We retreated East to MacDougal Street, and clawed our way into the welcoming warmth of Café Figaro, where we managed to occupy the entire front section, dubbing it forevermore “SketchCrawl Cove”. Over thimbles of Espresso and sundry fortifying grub, we joined together for the last sketches of the day and shared our prodigious output. Finally, we raised our cups high and vowed to meet once more before the first flakes of Winter fall, possibly in the snug halls of the American Museum of Natural History.
You shoulda been there, man.
“For an occurrence to become an adventure, it is necessary and sufficient for one to recount it.”
-- J.P. Sartre
A record of my exploration into all aspects of drawing, illustrated journaling, creativity, and the inspiring aspects of art. By the author of "Everyday Matters," "The Creative License", and "An Illustrated Life" and other books.
Comments
looks like all you had a grand time.
Posted by: Zoe | October 29, 2005 05:23 PM
Danny, I love it all, the recounting, the photos, the sketches. Thanks for giving those of us not in NYC a virtual sketch crawl!
Roz
Posted by: roz | October 29, 2005 06:36 PM
Great photos Danny, thanks for sharing. Looks like you all had a fine time.
Dede
Posted by: DW | October 29, 2005 06:58 PM
I had a really lovely time, despite the cold and the cringey photo. It was very nice to meet you, Danny! Can't wait for the next one.
Posted by: vera | October 29, 2005 07:01 PM
Oh it was GREAT! EXHILARATING! So glad I was able to go. It was a joy to be among you! Patty, I was very happy to meet you...Jack too.
Chrissy--I loved your skirt! Tell me who makes it and/or where you got it. You looked MAHVELOUS!
Posted by: Rita Cleary | October 29, 2005 07:39 PM
Looks like a great group with some talent! It's great to see the
different approaches and styles. Thanks for posting it.
Posted by: Frank B in CA | October 29, 2005 07:46 PM
I also had a great time! It was particularly great to set aside time to draw, and it's so interesting to see all of our different styles. I am looking forward to a December sketch crawl!
PS: I love the picture of our feet! Brilliant!
Posted by: JennySmith | October 29, 2005 08:29 PM
Had a blast! A great event and worth doing again. Looking forward to American Museum of Natural History.
Posted by: Marlon | October 29, 2005 09:01 PM
I'm going to quote Roz here:
"Thanks for giving those of us not in NYC a virtual sketch crawl!
Roz"
I have the same sentiment. I do not draw and have no pretensions of being an artist at all, except for taking photographs. But some of the styles I see here would look great in a journal or vacation scrapbook. Maybe I should try my hand at sketching. I feel insprired! Thanks.
Pat
Posted by: Pat | October 29, 2005 10:32 PM
Wow, that's incredible. Love the 7th pic especially. Good to see everyone loving the pure art of drawing.
Posted by: Lynn | October 29, 2005 11:23 PM
Danny,
Great effort and great post. I am really sorry that I was not able to get in and participate. It was great to be able to get a sense of the crawl through those great pixs!!
Posted by: EdelmaK | October 30, 2005 09:38 AM
Thanks for organizing this sketchcrawl, Danny! I had a great time and it was a pleasure to meet you.
Posted by: meredith | October 30, 2005 10:58 AM
yeah for sketchcrawl!!! it was great meeting, sitting, chatting, and of course sketching with all of you!!! looking forward to tacking the taxidermy!
rita - my skirt is from this brooklyn designer called "tolonen" who has a store (in brooklyn):
Layers
394 Atlantic Avenue
Brooklyn, NY
718-855-8780
open Wed-Sun:12-6
Posted by: crissy | October 30, 2005 01:20 PM
Looks like you had a wonderful day! I'm so glad you posted all those photos too...neat to see what everyone did.
Posted by: Joyce | October 30, 2005 02:54 PM
awesome !! Congrats to all of you ... great sketches, photos and recount of the day ...
Look forward do see some of you in person on december 11th !
X)
e
Posted by: enrico | October 30, 2005 11:27 PM
Oh, How I would have loved to have joined you on your CRAWL! The pictures look like everyone had a great time. Unfortunately, NYC from Central Illinois is a long way to drive for a day of drawing. It would be worth it, but not possible.
Thanks so much for sharing the pix.
Posted by: Cellofane | October 31, 2005 12:22 PM
This looks great - I am bummed I missed it due to the chmney cleaner - DOH!. but at least our house is warm again.
Nevertheless, I look forward to the next one and will make sure I don't make any other appointments.
Great sketches Danny!
Leeza
Posted by: Leeza | October 31, 2005 03:30 PM
I shoulda been there......it looked like you all had a great time!
Posted by: Lu | November 1, 2005 08:54 AM
Hi Danny -- Thanks for a great Saturday. The sketchcrawl energized me! Say hi to Patti and Jack. It was lovely seeing all of you and meeting some new folks too. Take care,
Julia
Posted by: julia | November 1, 2005 12:00 PM
Hey all,
Looks like the SketchCrawl was a big success, I'm disappointed I wasn't there but hopefully this will happen again at some point. Nice job on all your drawings, everything I saw looks great.
-Mac
Posted by: Mac | November 2, 2005 04:35 PM
Looks excellent! I have loved to join you but we were picking up our new puppy that day and... you know. Puppies are important. Next one?
Posted by: Lisa | November 6, 2005 07:17 PM