Chinatown, San Francisco on a Spring Afternoon

3 “lucky cats” and bamboo, at the dim sum restaurant. A good start to an afternoon of sketching in Chinatown.

Waverly Place. Yes, it’s utterly touristy. And great fun to sketch. The sun was blinding in the afternoon, and everything around me looked like it was dotted in shimmery yellow, red and emerald green.

Grant Avenue, complete with strings of lanterns, flags, and even a dimsum restaurant called “Four Seas”. Who said “less is more”? In this sketch I particularly enjoyed drawing layer upon layer of stuff, all disappearing into the distance: lanterns, cars, flags, lampposts and pagoda-like buildings.

Closeup of one of the lampposts with ornate dragons on it.