Monday, August 07, 2006

"The big cheese on the pond" - eating and sketching in San Clemente, California


On the pastel workshop weekend, we set off early and then ate breakfast both mornings at Tommy's Family Restaurant at 1409 S. El Camino Real, San Clemente CA 92672 (link to directions below - it's just off the exit from Interstate 5). Louise told me that they're known for their great breakfasts - and she wasn't wrong. Enormous also ought to be in that sentence somewhere! Service is also friendly, fast and efficient. The restaurant is decked out with movie star photos and posters from old films, and iconic images such as Betty Boop - who has a starring role in the centre of the above sketch. And that's a Blues Brother's hand stopping the traffic on the right!

On both mornings, I eat my breakfast and sketched in pen and ink in my large Moleskine sketchbook at the same time. The post at the top of the page is the better of the two sketches I did. Louise took photos of me sketching on Sunday - so this is me sketching! Louise is not one to let you linger over breakfast when there's a workshop to go to so this all had to be done pretty fast - and benefits from the 'try-out' sitting in a different place the previous day. Afterwards - and while the memory was still fresh - I added coloured pencil for the main colour areas. This is so I have something to use when the digi photos can be seen on screen - as the colours and values are usually distorted. I can now use both sources of info to develop this into a larger work if I want to - which I may well do!




The previous evening we arranged to meet up with Louise's and Rosa's husbands at the Gordon James Grill in San Clemente - and a lot of the other workshop participants came too. The surroundings were very pleasant, the menu offered a great choice and the meal was excellent. Prices are not cheap but are reasonable. I'd recommend it highly to anybody wanting to eat in the area.

I did a couple of sketches over dinner. One of Louise and her husband doing what all married couples do when out to eat with other people - talk to those other people. ;) Louise, Rosa and I talked art and the husbands talked Harleys! And a very quick 2-3 minute one of Dianna talking to one of the workshop participants further up the table.

And "the big cheese on the pond"? A memorable case of me mixing metaphors in conversation while sketching over breakfast at Tommy's on Saturday morning. We didn't do much better on Saturday evening when the restaurant we were supposed to be eating at - Gordon James Grill - was christened "Jack's place" by Louise - as we tried to describe its location to one of the husbands traveling to meet us! What can I say? Art is right brain and talking is left brain!

Note: click on an image to see a larger version

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2 comments:

  1. have been enjoying all your posts, love these sketches!

    ReplyDelete
  2. So much wonderful reading, Katherine. I thoroughly enjoy your blogs.

    ReplyDelete

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