Last week we attended a concert at the Hollywood Bowl. It is one of my favorite places in Los Angeles. Built in 1922 in a natural canyon near the Hollywood sign, the band shell was initially designed by Lloyd Wright, son of Frank Lloyd Wright to serve as a concert venue. It’s a wonderful place to bring a picnic dinner, people watch, enjoy music under the stars, and see the firework finale. We usually sit in the cheapest seats in the upper deck where the laws of the United States don’t apply. This time we paid a bit more and sat one section closer. The sketch below is of people waiting for the concert to start, which is what I was doing while sketching.

I spent the day in Downtown Los Angeles. My wife was on jury duty so I drove with her and worked on a writing project. In the morning I read and wrote at the plaza of the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. The structure was completed in 2002. The facade is the color of golden sandstone.

In the afternoon I worked at the plaza of the Colburn School of Music which is across the street from the Walt Disney Concert Hall. Designed by Frank Gehry and completed in 2003 it is a block away from the Cathedral. The structure is breathtaking. I loved the way the light reflecting of the surface of the building changed throughout the afternoon.

This was sketched from a photo that I took a few years back when we visited Paris. I was looking for the University of Paris, which is next door to this church. John Calvin and Ignatius of Loyola were both students at the university at the about the same time. I stumbled upon this beautiful building as I rounded the corner. There has been a chapel on this site since the 6th century. Parts of this building date back to 1328. Blaise Pascal is buried here. To learn more, visit this Wikipedia article. In this sketch I goofed on the perspective and put the eye level line in the wrong place. I will keep practicing.

For ten years I had an office two blocks from this set of shops. On my afternoon walks to the Post Office, this was a favorite route past these buildings. Located on the corner of Madison and Green streets in Pasadena, the avenue is shaded by old and large ficus trees. The buildings housed an art gallery, interior design studio, and landscape design studio.

Across the street from Vroman’s Book Store on Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena is a group of small shops in a building called Arcade Lane. The Spanish Mediterranean brick structure was built in 1927. It houses a couple of restaurants, beauty salon, book store, tea shop, antique shop, and gift shop.

I was captivated by the entrance. It hints at something inviting, interesting, from another time and place. The stone patio and tree shaded courtyard on the other side of this entrance offers a cool respite on hot summer days.

The bike rack near where I was sketching provided me a second focal point as I waited for my wife who was shopping in Vroman’s.

Sketching is fun. I have found a new inspirational website that I really like called Urban Sketchers. Each day people in cities around the world post sketches that they have made of their city. So I thought that I would give it a try. The Pasadena City Hall is located at 100 North Garfield Avenue. City Hall was designed by John Bakewell & Arthur Brown who were influenced by the early Renaissance style of 16th century Italian architect Andrea Palladio. Construction was completed on December 27, 1927.  The blue building in the foreground is All Saints Episcopal Church