Driving into Escondido on West Grand Avenue, it’s possible you glimpsed this mural on the side of Hawthorne Country Store.
The last time I enjoyed a long walk in Escondido, I made it a point to have a look at the mural and take several photographs.
The colorful artwork seems a bit faded, so I increased the contrast for my first and third photos. The artist is Tristan Pittard (@taggtristan). I see he has worked with Esco Alley Art.
Five words in the mural form the trunk of a tree: History, Diversity, Identity, Pride, Community. From the upper left corner of the mural sunshine beams down. Written inside the bright sun is the phrase: Community creates the future.
I love the fun image of a child and happy dog!
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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
San Diego Comic-Con in 2025 is just as fun and amazing as ever. Everywhere you go, unbounded creativity. That’s probably what I love most about it.
Human creativity absolutely blooms at Comic-Con. Cosplayers imagine what they can be and become it. Actors play roles that can be utterly crazy. Visitors easily step into fantastic, imaginary worlds. Artists imagine what might be and make it real, right before our eyes.
Walk around downtown San Diego during Comic-Con and expect the unexpected!
I really get excited when I encounter artists who are striving to make their mark in the world. They put their art out there fearlessly. And the cool thing is, everyone loves it.
Local San Diego anime and digital artist Phil produces Umbridled Ambition!
Check out his cool comic by clicking here! Check out his Instagram here!
Manga and anime artist Thomas Fates is a Sketchin Hero! His goal is to have a career as an artist, to create and tell stories full time to give people something to look forward to!
My artist friend Shirish Villaseñor (@shirishtheartist) and her partner Richie were painting the windows of Sweet Things Frozen Yogurt for Comic-Con 2025 today. They were putting the finishing touches on some super fun Pokémon artwork!
How many of the Pokémon characters do you recognize? I easily got Pikachu, but Squirtle’s cool sunglasses almost fooled me!
For many years now, Shirish has embellished the yogurt shop’s window with kid-friendly pop culture imagery. If you go to Comic-Con and walk past the Hilton San Diego Bayfront, you’ve no doubt seen her art!
This afternoon, Shirish and Richie will begin decorating the windows of nearby Starbucks. The subject? Scooby-Doo!
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If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
Walking around downtown San Diego, I’ve noticed more and more signs that Comic-Con 2025 is fast approaching. Less than two weeks to go!
First, a bunch of banners promoting shows on STARZ have been hung at the Gaslamp Quarter trolley station and along Martin Luther King Jr. Promenade. Shows include Spartacus and Outlander: Blood of My Blood.
On July 18, the week before Comic-Con, they will be offering over 70 original and rare animation cels for purchase! Art includes that of Disney, Hanna-Barbera, Warner Bros. and Chuck Jones.
The Chuck Jones Gallery in Seaport Village will present The Art Side of Comic-Con 2025. Appearing artists include Fabio Napoleoni and Ben Olson.
American Comedy Co. San Diego will present Comic-Con related shows, including Natasha Leggero w/Moshe Kasher & Dana Gould, and Doctor Z & Friends.
The Music Box will host some Comic-Con related parties, including Mosh Eisley (The Best Party in the Galaxy), and One More Time (A Tribute To Daft Punk) the Comic Tron Comic Con After Party.
The recently installed electronic kiosks around downtown San Diego list Comic-Con as an upcoming event, but sadly provide very little elaboration.
The Pac-Man Cafe Pop-Up appears at 323 Seventh Avenue during Comic-Con! Free arcade games and merch giveaway included!
Excited yet?
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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
During my last couple walks in National City, I noticed many electrical boxes have been beautifully painted with native flora and fauna. It’s almost as if wildlife has joined me on the sidewalk!
These photos were taken on National City Boulevard, a little south of 8th Street. I’ve observed boxes like these elsewhere in National City.
It appears many of these electrical boxes were painted last year by artist Laura Green (@lauragreenstudio). It’s part of the National City Utility Box Project.
Some of the boxes also specify the names or species of the painted subject.
What a great way to beautify an urban environment! One can learn to recognize our wild neighbors, too!
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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
This is super cool, and just in time for San Diego Comic-Con which comes later this month. It’s a genuine comic book rack filled with Comic Bricks!
Matt Armstrong (aka monsterbrick) was exhibiting his LEGO brick creations in Balboa Park today, at the House of Denmark’s cultural lawn program. He had his stuff displayed on a huge table shared by other members of the San Diego LEGO Users Group (SANDLUG).
And look what he has assembled! In addition to superhero and other pop culture creations, he has recreated comic books and ordinary books and placed them in an old comic book rack that he salvaged and repurposed!
Matt Armstrong is a steampunk fan, and many of his LEGO brick creations reflect a fascination with older technology, like antique cameras and old manual typewriters. But in my opinion his brick comic books beat all for sheer coolness!
If you want to see painted masterpieces in San Diego, step into the free Timken Museum of Art in Balboa Park. If you want to see a chalk art masterpiece, take a look at the ground as you approach the museum!
This chalk art masterpiece was completed today by @sidewalk_chalk_dad. It was inspired by the John Singleton Copley painting titled Mrs. Thomas Gage, dated 1771.
To view an image of the original masterpiece, which hangs inside the Timken Museum of Art, one of the finest small museums in the world, click here.
Then check out this elegant chalk art. Make a comparison!
I had trouble photographing the chalk art straight on because I cast a long shadow across it. So I approached the shot from different angles…
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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
A group of cool creators, including some of San Diego’s top street artists and muralists, came together today in Balboa Park. They displayed and sold their work at The Overthinkers Art Society Pop-up Group Exhibition!
As you might imagine, the event was chill and awesome!
Room 101 in the Casa del Prado was filled with creativity and color, and visitors could meet artists whose work they’ve no doubt seen around the city.
I followed signs to the exhibition and, surprised, wandered among the artists’ tables. I met a few artists whose names I recognized from photographing street art around San Diego. All were super friendly.
How cool is this?
The first table I came to contained the art of Franky Agostino (@3ojos1). It was a preview of the awesomeness to come…
At the next table I met prolific San Diego artist and muralist Maxx Moses!
If you’ve taken the trolley’s Orange Line east of downtown San Diego, you’ve likely seen his incredible work. In fact, his art is all over the place, from Hillcrest to Chula Vista to Encanto to La Mesa and beyond.
If you’d like to see photos of Maxx Moses artwork I’ve taken over the years, click here!
Here’s a bit of his art at today’s pop-up exhibition…
Next up, I met Dave Persue! No doubt you recognize his popular, instantly recognizable creation Bunny Kitty. He smiled for a photo, then took to the stage with his electric guitar.
He’s had murals all around town, too. See some of them by clicking here!
Then I came to the work of another great San Diego muralist: Sharky!
There’s a special little parking nook in Normal Heights where I’ve seen his recurring work, teamed with artist Hasler. Check out a few of those murals here and here and here.
The next photo shows artist Mathew Curran (@mathewcurran) by graffiti art he created in Spain…
I’ve seen the next artist’s street art on electrical boxes around San Diego. Such as here! His super unique work is unmistakable.
His name is Jorge Gutierrez Garcia (@jggart226).
He often paints figures like the ones in the next photo. His work appears to be full of symbolism. He said some people think the figures are aliens, other people see mythological characters.
People are encouraged to use their imagination!
As I walked around, I discovered a big roomful of even more cool art. I’m so glad I stumbled upon this great event!
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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
Inspiration has been painted on a fence near a bus stop in San Diego’s southern West Otay Mesa neighborhood.
A beautiful mural containing a butterfly, flowers and words of wisdom can be found above the bus bench on Del Sol Boulevard directly across from the Del Sol Market. It was painted by @msrosi619.
You can’t change your situation, the only thing you can change is how you choose to Deal with it!!!
Stand together and love one another.
Spread your wings and dare to fly!!!
Just in case you have forgotten today– You matter, You are loved, You are worthy, You are magical.
Be the change you want to to see in the world. Smile always. Love, MS. ROSI
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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
Gallery 21 in Balboa Park’s Spanish Village is now full of art created by young people from National City!
Youth, ages 5 to 18, are exhibiting works they created during the last season of A Reason to Survive (ARTS) programming. The exhibition is titled Echoes of Blooming, and it opened yesterday.
Blooming is the perfect word, because bursts of creativity and personal expression have blossomed on the walls and in the spaces of the gallery.
I visited Gallery 21 today and found pieces that explore themes of transformation, inner strength, and the courage to challenge harmful cycles.
Many of the young artists live in neighborhoods where hope might be difficult to find. But hope can be achieved through artistic self-expression, especially when one’s personal efforts are celebrated in a gallery exhibition!
Congrats to every one of the artists! May you all go on to achieve bigger and bigger successes!
The public is invited to the exhibition’s Opening Reception, which will take place on July 5, from 5 – 7 pm, in Gallery 21 at the Spanish Village Art Center in Balboa Park.
Just a few works of art you’ll enjoy seeing…
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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
Cool San Diego Sights! 