Patrick Block, long-time Disney comics artist, draws the famous face of Donald Duck. A beloved character comes to life during the Creating a Comics Story event at the future home of the Comic-Con Museum.
This afternoon I attended one of the coolest events EVER!
I and other spellbound people sat in the auditorium of the future Comic-Con Museum, watching as veteran Disney comics artists Patrick and Shelley Block brought Donald Duck to life! With the help of the audience, right before our eyes, they created an absolutely original, hilarious and brilliant comic book story! The penciled five page story was about Donald Duck working as janitor at a comic book convention, and much of the story’s essential plot came spontaneously from the audience!
It was pure magic. Patrick sketched with practiced ease while sharing his thought process, and Shelley Block contributed humorous banter and brilliant inspiration. From the tip of a number 7 mechanical pencil, Donald Duck emerged into our world–reminding readers that much in life is inherently funny, and that a cartoon about a zany “everyperson” duck can reinforce a sense of our own humanity.
During the event all sorts of questions were asked by the smart audience, and I wish I had taken notes. But the entire experience was simply too mesmerizing.
If this is a preview of coming events at the Comic-Con Museum, which we learned is slated to open in May of 2021, it’s going to be one of the most amazing museums in the world. That’s no exaggeration.
I can’t wait!
Art and writing team Patrick and Shelly Block, Disney comics creators for 26 years, talk about the creative process.Three pages of the five page Donald Duck comic are nearly done. Through an odd series of funny events, Donald has become janitor at a comic book convention!Donald Duck wants to see the masquerade ball, and after many gags and catastrophes ends up winning it!Original Donald Duck artwork created by Patrick and Shelly Block for the Comic-Con Museum. Don’t forget us funny animal comics!
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
During my walk around downtown yesterday morning, I wandered past The New Children’s Museum. My camera immediately took aim at the 1950s Dodge pickup Flower Truck out on the Paint Patio. Kids have applied so many coats of paint to the museum’s current Painted Object that the vintage truck appears to be covered with dripped candle wax!
I also enjoyed looking at the long, rainbow-like SMILE mural on the museum’s entrance bridge, painted by street artist Paola Villaseñor, who signs her work PANCA. Her urban artwork, which is usually more “adult” and grotesque, can be found in both Tijuana and San Diego.
Those words on a low wall bordering the museum’s playground and The Garden Project are part of FOLLOWING THE WORDS, poetry by Quincy Troupe, professor emeritus at the University of California, San Diego.
In late 2014 I posted photos of the small garden and other lines of the linguistically lip-lively poem here.
Perhaps one day I’ll photograph the entire long poem!
Section of SMILE, by artist PANCA. The fun 48-foot-long mural decorates the bridge leading to the entrance of The New Children’s Museum.YOU ARE YOUR OWN SONGHIP AS FLIP-FLOPS KIDS HAVE ON
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!
This morning I was walking down First Avenue, a couple blocks north of the San Diego Convention Center, when I made a cool discovery! Glancing through a window of Simon’s Cafe, I spied some new Comic-Con related artwork by local artist Suzka!
Back in 2017 I posted some of her fun Comic-Con themed paintings here!
I didn’t order anything at Simon’s Cafe this morning, having already eaten breakfast, but the friendly lady at the counter said I could take these photos.
If you want to learn more about Suzka, visit her website here!
Able To Leap… by artist Suzka.Miz Apple by artist Suzka.Birdic-Con by artist Suzka.Gaslamp-Kitty by artist Suzka.
UPDATE!
In late May I enjoyed a yummy breakfast plate at Simon’s Cafe. I noticed some new artwork on the walls…
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!
As I waited for a trolley at America Plaza early this afternoon, I thought I’d peer into a window of the Museum of Contemporary Arts San Diego. A gentleman inside saw and motioned for me to come on in!
I was welcomed by Max, a super nice Gallery Educator, who was applying ink to a silk screen. He was using screen printing to create bold messages in the Sanctuary Print Shop!
The project titled Sanctuary Print Shop is the brainchild of artists Sergio De La Torre and Chris Treggiari. The idea of this exhibition is to start conversations concerning the very topical and divisive issue of immigration. People are encouraged to write their thoughts about immigration, and messages are created to paper one wall.
Even though there’s a certain political bias to the exhibition, Max did agree that it’s a complex human issue. There are many different thoughts concerning it. And it’s an issue with many personal connections.
Human creativity and the written word fascinate me, so I enjoyed meeting Max, watching him at work, and reading what others have said!
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!
The very cool “San Diego” mural at 20th Street and Imperial Avenue painted by Dyse One.
Check out this cool mural painted on the south side of the Universal Radiator building at 20th Street and Imperial Avenue. Local artist and clothing designer Dyse One spray painted an immense “San Diego” in an elegant graffiti style!
The west side of the same building was painted by Dyse One and Haslr, and contains elements that represent America’s Finest City. I see images of the Coronado Bridge, a trolley, and the Padres’ mascot, the Swinging Friar!
Very cool!
A cool mural on the west side of the same building pays tribute to America’s Finest City. By street artists Dyse One and Haslr.
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!
All sorts of public art can be enjoyed at trolley stations around San Diego. In my opinion, the most wonderful example is found at the 62nd Street/Encanto station.
Those who take the Orange Line trolley ride pass by a wildly imaginative, dreamlike vision. A 400 foot mural on the long wall of the south platform takes its inspiration from nearby Chollas Creak. The mural is titled Liquid Harmony.
In 2010 local artists Maxx Moses, Miguel Godoy and Todd Stands were commissioned by the Southeastern Economic Development Corporation to paint the mural. What resulted was completely amazing!
Last weekend I walked along the south platform of the 62nd Street/Encanto trolley station and took photos of the mural. Amid swirls of color I found many birds, insects and plants, and the flowing, ever-present, life-giving water.
I also saw the hands and heart of those who make this neighborhood in San Diego their home.
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!
A mural painted in San Diego by I AM EELCO for the 2016 PangeaSeed Sea Walls: Murals for Oceans project.
In 2016 a variety of murals were painted around San Diego for the PangeaSeed Sea Walls: Murals for Oceans project. They all concern protecting marine wildlife and caring for the ocean environment. I’ve photographed quite a few of these impressive murals during my walks about town.
Check out this very cool one that was painted by Netherlands artist Eelco van den Berg, who signs his work I AM EELCO. His playful, abstract mural, which depicts people interacting with colorful sea life, can be found on a parking lot wall directly west of Wal-Mart, near 21st and Commercial Street.
It’s on the opposite side of the same building that is painted with another large Sea Walls mural. You can see that one by clicking here!
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!
Cool mechanical shark on parking lot wall behind Undisputed Fitness Center in East Village.
It’s going to be a rainy day in San Diego . . . with even more heavy rain coming later in the week.
Instead of walking about in the cold, I plan to stay warm and dry under a roof!
Meanwhile, for your viewing pleasure, I’ve assembled the following links. They will take you to photos of awesome street art that I’ve spotted over the years! Unfortunately, some of these works, including truly amazing murals, have been damaged, defaced or no longer exist. Time marches on…
Cool San Diego Sights is now over five years old, so these links represent just a fraction of all the street art I’ve photographed. But I think you might like these!
This blog now features tens of thousands of photos around San Diego! Are you curious? There’s lots of cool stuff to check out!
Here’s the Cool San Diego Sights main page, where you can read the most current blog posts. If you’re using a phone or small mobile device, click those three parallel lines up at the top–that opens up my website’s sidebar, where you’ll see the most popular posts, a search box, and more!
To enjoy future posts, you can also “like” Cool San Diego Sights on Facebook or follow me on Twitter.
Two bas-relief sand sculpture panels by renowned artist Charles R. Faust in the lobby of 2550 Fifth Avenue in San Diego.
Two amazing works of art can be viewed inside an office building in Bankers Hill. The small murals–sculptures made of sand that appear as bas-relief panels–decorate a wall in the lobby of 5th & Laurel, the building best known as the home of Mister A’s restaurant.
Commissioned by the now defunct Great American First Savings Bank to celebrate their Centennial in 1985, the two panels depict important San Diego landmarks and aspects of local history.
The two sand cast panels were created by Charles R. Faust (1922 – 2000), a prolific artist who for many years worked as the director of architectural design at the San Diego Zoo. His invention of moated animal enclosures in the mid-1950’s revolutionized how the world famous zoo and their Wild Animal Park near Escondido exhibited animals. He also designed the San Diego Zoo’s huge walk-in aviary–the first of its kind in the world.
After retiring from that job, Charles opened Faust Sand Casting in Ocean Beach with his son. Over his creative lifetime the art of Charles Faust would also include fine drawings, watercolors and oil paintings, many of which depicted life in the Old West, a theme he loved.
His sand sculpture murals have added beauty to many locations around San Diego. I photographed a couple of these murals in the past for Cool San Diego Sights, without realizing at the time they were created by Charles Faust. You can spot them here and here!
Yesterday morning I spoke to a security guard in the lobby of 5th & Laurel, and he said these two “sand art” panels were moved from a suite in the building where there used to be a bank. I believe they were in Suite 120, once the home of Pacific Premier Bank, and the future home of an upscale Italian restaurant. But I’m not sure about the exact history of these particular panels. If you know anything more about them, please leave a comment!
(Please note these photographs make the panels seem more yellowish than they are in reality, due to the indoor lighting and my modest camera.)
The panel on the left. It depicts early San Diego history, including Mission San Diego de Alcalá and the ranchos.A friar outside the Spanish mission. The man on horseback might be a soldier from the old presidio.The bells of Mission San Diego de Alcalá, first Spanish mission in Alta California.Scenes from the Old West in San Diego, including an old wagon and a ride on a bucking horse.A rancher or vaquero, and a herd of cattle.The panel on the right. It depicts many later San Diego landmarks. Images include Balboa Park, a streetcar, Coronado ferry, naval ship, farm and Victorian houses.GREAT AMERICAN CENTENNIAL – 100 YEARS – 1885-1985A sailboat and birds share San Diego Bay with a pre-bridge Coronado ferry and an early 20th century Navy warship. In the upper right corner I spy a tiny Old Point Loma Lighthouse!I recognize the Cabrillo Bridge and the California Building and Tower of Balboa Park.I think I recognize the historic Long-Waterman House of Bankers Hill. The house to the right of it might be a south view of the Britt-Scripps House, but it appears a bit different.
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This blog now features thousands of photos around San Diego! Are you curious? There’s lots of cool stuff to check out!
Here’s the Cool San Diego Sights main page, where you can read the most current blog posts. If you’re using a phone or small mobile device, click those three parallel lines up at the top–that opens up my website’s sidebar, where you’ll see the most popular posts, a search box, and more!
To enjoy future posts, you can also “like” Cool San Diego Sights on Facebook or follow me on Twitter.
The right half of one wall at University Avenue and Laverne Place has been painted by artist Matthew Perdoni.
On Sunday I enjoyed another walk through San Diego’s expanding “drive-through” art gallery in City Heights. And I spotted more murals!
The first time I checked out the murals of #theavenuemuralproject was four months ago. I was given a tour by members of Love City Heights, and learned about their ambitious plan to create an outdoor, drive-through art gallery along University Avenue from I-805 to I-15. To see those first murals and learn much more, you can read my original blog post here.
These murals provide proof that good people can make a huge positive difference in their community. Many wonderful artists, students and neighbors are coming together to make this amazing vision a reality!
The left half of the wall was painted by San Diego muralist Gloria Muriel.Students from an Experimental Processes in Art class at SDSU painted a mural on the wall of 7-Eleven. The design was inspired by the nonprofit United Women of East Africa Support Team.Left half of the colorful mural. which depicts female members of the East African community in San Diego.The right half of the mural. Joyful art created by students at San Diego State University adds life to City Heights.Fun artwork on the wall of Fruteria Disfrutalas at University Avenue and Cherokee Street.More fun artwork on another side of Fruteria Disfrutalas.All these happy images were created by Isaias Crow and his 14 year old apprentice Andrew Greyeyes, who designed the fun artwork.UPDATE! Here’s Andrew, the mural’s designer! (I met him and took this photo during a Love City Heights event almost a year later.)Silly, creative public art produces smiles in City Heights!A beautiful graphic on the wall of Sunset Kava in City Heights, by artist Zuzana Vass.On the same Sunset Kava wall a very cool abstract design was recently painted by artist Mary Jhun.
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!
Cool San Diego Sights! 