Sketching San Francisco’s Sentinel

By Pete Scully in San Francisco, California

At the end of November, I took the train from Davis down to San Francisco, just to sketch. It had become really cold in Davis, whereas San Francisco was about the same temperature, and therefore really warm. I understand that logic. I went back to North Beach, and one of the buildings I sketched was the dramatic Sentinel Building, from a vantage point up the steep slope of Kearny Street. The Sentinel Building (more properly known as Columbus Tower) is an early twentieth century flatiron-style building on the corner of Kearny and Columbus, and is probably most famous for its association with Godfather director Francis Ford Coppola, whose company American Zoetrope is based here. This building has a special place in my personal sketching history. I remember coming here in late 2006 and sketching this on a postcard sized piece of watercolour paper, using just light pencil and watercolour paint. I remember a man asking if he could watch, and in those days I was so shy about my sketching I said no, and turned instantly invisible. I was however really pleased with the outcome, and figured that all of my sketches would be like that (when I discovered things called ‘pens’ I went in a completely different direction). Here is that sketch, from nine years earlier:

It’s still one of my favourites, and brings back warm memories for me. California was still so new, so much to discover. For example, I later discovered I got the name of the street wrong. I do wonder sometimes why I am drawn back to the same old spots, but urban sketching is about having a conversation with your surroundings (even if too shy to have a conversation with the actual people). Anyway, after less than a year of going out and about with new pens and new sketchbooks, I took my first of many Watercolour Moleskines back down to North Beach in the summertime, and sketched the Sentinel Building once more. I remember that I used a Copic 0.1 multiliner, and a grey version of the same pen for the buildings in the background.