Washington, DC Food Trucks

Washington, DC isn't all about politics, politics, and...er...politics; it's also quite the food town as well. While some neighborhoods feature eateries of all sorts, others are somewhat devoid of plentiful lunchtime options. For the latter, the void has been filled with an eclectic selection of increasingly popular food trucks. Such is the case with the West End neighborhood, which features plenty of luxury hotels, high-end condo buildings, and non-profit headquarters, but not much when it comes to quick lunchtime spots, hence making West End a food truck destination. Here are two of them, which I sketched during lunchtime strolls:

Maine Avenue Fish Market

For the 41st World Wide Sketchcrawl, the D.C. group met at the Maine Avenue Fish Market. Between the buildings, the fish, the customers, and the boats, it made for a pretty good place to sketch, and not too crowded.

After lunch, we headed over towards the docks. The owners of this sailboat, the Chardonnay, stopped by to see what we were doing, and told us some stories about some of the places they'd been with the boat - and apologized for the mess on the deck (which I thought just made the scene more interesting).

H St Festival

Inspired by Joel's sketches from last year, I checked out this year's H Street Festival. Food, weird cars, rollergirls, art and lots of people.  Sadly I missed an opportunity to try a faux-cronut, but otherwise a lot of fun.

I'm starting to enjoy putting sketches together in strip form.  It's taking me a little longer to plan out, put together, and sketch, but I'm diggin' it.

U.S. Military Culinary Competition

The 10th Annual Military Culinary Competition was held this weekend on 8th Street SE, in front of the Marine Barracks. Teams of chefs from various branches of the armed forces, as well as a team from the White House Kitchen, competed to prepare a four-course meal from ingredients provided in a basket. The street was closed off to traffic for the Barracks Row Fall Festival, and the chefs worked in tents along the sidewalk, so I was able to get a pretty close view. Off to one side, a sculptor used a chain saw to carve an eagle out of a block of ice.

Small Press Expo

So Baltimore Comic-Con was fun, but the real action came a week later in DC (well, North Bethesda...) with the Small Press Expo. If you are into comics, or just art in general this was the place to find every indie or underground comic creator you wish you've heard of. This expo is one of my favorite times of the year- made apparent by how I spent way too much money on said art and comics. So as with Baltimore, I thought I would put together a page of SPX sketches in a way that seemed appropriate.

LOCK 6

LOCK 6. This lock is located at the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal (C & O Canal) near Georgetown in Washington DC. The canal is 184 miles long and it goes parallel to the Potomac from Cumberland MD to Washington D.C. This lock and the canal was used from 1831 until 1924 where many goods came in and out. The main principal cargo in the latter years was coal which it came from the Allegheny Mountains. This is a beautiful place very near to South west Washington DC area where engineering meets nature. This fantastic place is well used by the locals for physical activities like running, fishing, or kayaking. The 1st look at the lock give you the impression of ancient ruins that just were recently discovered. The height of the lock is about 12 to 15 feet. I was bless to have the opportunity to sketch inside the canal because the water level at this time of the year is very low. During rainy season I will not have the same opportunity. I strongly recommend people to visit this little known part of the U.S. Capital history. I spend the entire day at this park and it took me 3.5 hrs of sketching with breaks in between. I used black ink on white paper.

Baltimore Comic Con

I've been living in DC for some time now, but only in recent years have I started braving the Baltimore Comic Con.  Unlike a lot of pop culture conventions, Baltimore is straight up about Comic. Books. A lot of comic vendors, spandex, writers, artists & illustrators, spandex, kids, toy, t shirts, did I mention spandex? A whole lot of fun.  So I thought attempting a bunch of sketches on a single page might be appropriate considering the subject.

ATHENAEUM

The Athenaeum is a very old historic fine art gallery located in old town Alexandria, VA, U.S.A. couple blocks west from the waterfront and a block south from King Street. It's a beautiful building that follows the traditions of ancient Greek temples architecture. What I love about the place is the wonderful vegetation around the building as well the very pedestrian friendly streets around the area. It's a very busy gallery as well it's a place for parties or celebrations like weddings. I walk almost everyday in front of this "temple of fine art" and every time I go by I pause to see/enjoy the architecture plus the beautiful harmony with nature. It took me 3 days before or after going to work and I sketched for 1 hr per day for a total of 3 hrs. I used black ink on white paper.

The Urban Elements of Washington, DC

Washington, DC has big stately government buildings. We have imposing office buildings housing lawyers and lobbyists with international influence. There are grand marble statues and memorials. And in the middle of it all there's a big, gleaming white marble spire. Of course, Washington, DC is also a day-to-day functioning city, so we also have newspaper boxes, stop signs, fire hydrants, parking meters, and street lights. When I go out for my lunchtime strolls, I sometimes like to sketch them, and here are some (OK, not to exciting; your nation's capital may not look like ours, but I think our street lights, stop signs, and fire hydrants may actually look quite similar!)

50th Anniversary March on Washington DC

During Wednesday 08.28.2013 was the amazing celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the march on Washington DC by the Civil Rights Movement and Dr Martin Luther King Jr. It was a very rainy summer day here in the mall however it was full of positive energy and diversity. There were so many people from different places around the U.S.A. and the world that came together in order to celebrate this important event in human history. I began the sketch around 1pm and I finished by 3:30pm. It took me a long time because I had to run under the big umbrella of a Ice cream street vendor car in order to continue sketching when they rain started. The owner of the Ice Cream street vendor car was very generous and she let me sketch until I finished. It took me 2.5 hrs and I used black ink and white paper.

March on Washington 2013

This weekend marks the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech. Tens of thousands of people gathered on the National Mall near the Lincoln Memorial to commemorate the occasion, and to call for justice, as there is still more work to be done. Civil rights and labor groups from around the country marched along the original 1963 route to the Lincoln Memorial, and gathered to listen to speeches from civil rights leaders, including Martin Luther King III. There was also music and chanting in the streets. It was a powerful experience, and I'm glad I had the opportunity to march with them.

The Bikes of Washington, DC

Washington, DC has a very active - and at times - very strange cycling scene. Amongst one of the strangest sights you'll see is an interesting array of commuter bikes, which are found locked-up all over the sidewalks of the city. If you know your bikes, you'll see everything from standard-fare commuters to vintage race bikes such as Eddy Merckx, Bottechia, and even a rare Puch with Columbus SLX tubing. Indeed, the classic race bikes of the 80s don't die; they just get reincarnated as commuter bikes here in the nation's capital, and as a cycling aficionado/junkie, I like to sketch all sorts of these velo wonderments during my lunchtime strolls.

Here's a Raleigh Technium from the late-80s, featuring a bonded aluminum frame and first-generation Shimano 105 gruppo. It's in fairly good condition, though the standard platform pedals denote that this race bike rarely sees speed anymore.