Saturday, October 17, 2009

Sunset Place


This is a sketch of Sunset Place in South Miami, drawn and painted in my Moleskine. I painted from across the street as I ate my lunch, on various days when the light was right. We Miamians like to think that the scene looks like Europe with palm trees.

Sunset Place is nice, with shops, a bookstore, and a movie theatre. The high school and even middle school kids love to wander around Sunset Place after nightfall on weekend nights. For them it's the place to be.

I remember following my son at a respectful distance all around Sunset Place on the earliest of his middle school-age excursions. He was there on his first "date" with two other young "couples". At some point in the evening the three girls wandered into Claires, a shop that sells accessories for young teen girls. The boys followed them in but quickly left and stood just outside the store, at a loss as to what to do.

I love the bookstore and have been to the movie theatre many times, but that memory of Sunset Place will always be my favorite.

17 comments:

  1. This DOES look very European! Your sketch includes just the right amount of wonderful detail!!!

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  2. Love the sketch...it makes me want to be there! You followed your children around, too, huh? I'm glad we're pass the middle-school age with my girls...that was a tough age, for them and me! Mostly me.

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  3. Great memory and a great drawing! Interesting post - I'd love the bookstore!

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  4. Lovely sketch Dan, and it really does look european in some way. I really like the soft colors and how everything is sufficiently outlined.

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  5. Nice to learn that you did this thoughtful sketch over several visits. I imagine so many artists whipping these out in one setting.

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  6. There is a shopping area in Rome I know of that was once a station that is reminiscent, and these street lamps resemble those along our coast, and we have enormous lovely palms here in Southern Italy, so yes... as for your son and his friends, they just got a taste of why there are chairs in and around women's stores :)

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  7. I love it! Do you have the watercolor moleskin or is this the regular sketch book? I just bought myself a moleskin but not the the watercolor kind. I would really like to dabble in color at some point and make beautiful drawings like this. Thank you also for your nice comment on my blog and your welcoming me to EDM! Looking forward to seeing more of your art!

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  8. Very charming! It does have a European feel. I like the shadows on the awnings and windows. Excellent job, Dan.
    Good thing it doesn't have the hoards of traffic that so many cities in Europe have. And the motorbikes on the sidewalks!

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  9. Love the picture. Must be nice to be able to travel to Europe every day.

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  10. Oh Dan, this is wonderful! I really like the colors on this and it does have the European look!

    Sorry I haven't been around lately, we've had company. A whole lot of company. Fifteen people spent the weekend at our house! We have another group coming around next weekend; this time only ten or so. But, it has certainly kept me busy cooking and cleaning!

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  11. Great post Dan - love the story too. We've been away too. Good to see you producing as usual.

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  12. Thanks again for all of your great comments - you keep me going - truly. :)

    Trish: This is in my watercolor Moleskine. I have a sketching Moleskine but watercolors don't really work there (although Raena has said that she was told if you add soap it helps, yes really.)

    Phyllis: I never think of palms in Europe. It's what happens, I think, when all I can rely upon is my imagination and longing.

    Raena: I definitely felt your absence and wondered a bit given how productive you were last month, but alas sometimes we must leave our constructed virtual world for the real one. You must be some cook!

    Gary: Welcome back! You've been making some fine art, I see!

    And finally Ramona: Yes, generally my brain travels continents (and sometimes worlds) away even while I remain in Miami.

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  13. Nice story to go with a great sketch! Oh, the memories...

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  14. I long for the day when I can draw something this complicated.

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