This weekend, 1st Annual West Coast Urban Sketchers’ Sketchcrawl – Bay Area, was held in San Francisco (on Saturday) and Oakland (on Sunday). It was a huge success with upwards of 75 people participating in the event. After a 10am meet-up in front of the Ferry Building, we dispersed to sketch the beautiful city. Most people were Bay Area reidents but some traveled from as far as LA and Seattle to participate. Newbies and seasoned sketchers alike captured the City by the Bay in their sketchbooks.

At noon-thirty, we rendezvoused at a fountain across the street from the ferry building to share our morning sketches.

My first sketch of the building was not as successful as I would have liked. In an effort to avoid direct sun, I chose a shady spot under a row of palm trees, but the view proved to be without dimension and vegetation.

My second sketch was more successful since I chose a more dimensional view of the ferry building and included trees and other greenery that added life to the architecture. Over all, the finished composition is more dynamic and colorful. At 4pm we met behind the ferry building for a second sketch-share that closed out the day.