During my long walk through Hillcrest today I spotted three cool murals by prolific local street artist Fizix!
The first mural is on the parking lot wall of Hillcrest Athletic Club and depicts various colorful, very fit people!
The second mural is on the west entrance of Cigar Cave. The black and white image has a noir feel to it, as if the pictured setting is a seedy bar in the 20s or 30s.
The third mural is in the narrow alley next to East Coast Pizza. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and their diabolical enemies all seem to have one thing in common: a love for pizza!
Fizix is actually Alex Julian, a San Diego artist whose murals can be seen all over the city. Many of his spray painted images have a sort of bold comic book style. You might remember his huge mural in Logan Heights that depicts lots of superheroes and other comic book characters.
You can see that awesome superhero mural and learn a bit more about Alex Julian here!
BE FEARLESS IN PURSUIT OF WHAT SETS YOUR SOUL ON FIRE
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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 walked beside poetry. I followed a bright stream of playful words that were written in 2008 by Quincy Troupe.
FOLLOWING THE WORDS is poetry inscribed along the top of a low concrete wall. The wall stretches between The New Children’s Museum and their garden and playground.
To learn a little more about Quincy Troupe, and to see more photos of this small, joyful refuge in downtown San Diego, click here.
WORDS WALK A PATHWAYINTO OUR MINDS, THEY JUMP QUICKBEHIND A HOPPINGFROG, GUIDING US LIKE A SCOUTINTO THE LANGUAGE WE BOP,WORDS POP BIG AS EYESOF FROGS, WHO HOP AND PLOP, BOPTHROUGH WORDS ZIG-ZAGGINGTHROUGH SENTENCES, HOT AND COOLAS FLIP-FLOPS KIDS ARE WEARING,THEY ARE COLORFUL,THESE WORDS THAT BLIP, BLOP AND PLOP,UP AND DOWN THEY GO,LIKE OUR SCOUT, THE HOPPING TOAD,THERE HE GOES, JUMPING LIKE WORDS,SOME HE TOTES INSIDEA SACK ON HIS BACK, BOUNCING,BROWN-GREEN AS HIS SKIN,THESE WORDS ARE HEAVYLOADS FOR TOADS SAME THING AS FROGSTO CARRY, THESE KNOTS, ZIG-ZAGGING, COOL, WORDS, BOPPING,SKIPPING ALONG, SKEEDADLINGALONG THIS PATHWAY,WE FOLLOW WORDS AS THEY HOPBEHIND OUR SCOUT-TOADOR FROG, IF YOU LIKE THAT WORD,FOLLOW THEM TO WHERE THEY ENDINSIDE THE MUSEUM,WHERE WORDS BECOME FREEDOM, ART,MUSIC AND KNOWLEDGE,POETRY, DANCING, BIG FUN,HIP AS FLIP-FLOPS KIDS HAVE ON
COOL RAP, FLIP-FLOPPING,WORDS THAT RATTAMATAT, JAZZZIG-ZAG THROUGH VOICES,CARRY CHOICES THROUGH TALKING,SENTENCES SKEEDADLING, WORDS,BRIGHT INSIDE KID’S MINDS,MADE NEWS, ABOVE THEIR FUTURE,A NEW SUN RISINGEACH MORNING NEW, AND WE CANTOUCH IT WHEN WE SPREAD OUR WINGSAND FLY LIKE A BIRDTHROUGH OUR OWN MINDS, THROUGH OUR OWNSKIES, INSIDE OUR MINDS,WE CAN TOUCH MAGIC INSIDEOUR OWN IMAGINATIONS,TOUCH IT, THE MAGIC,WATCH YOUR MIND GO FLYINGLIKE A BIRD, NOW, HIGHUP IN THE BLUE, WATCH YOURSELF,YOUR MIND SOAR, SKEEDADLING, NOW
SKEEDADLING VOICESSHIMMY SHIMMY SHANGLE, BOP,SASHAY, SKEEZOOZOOTHROUGH, HIP WORDS THEY HOP, POP,AS RAINBOW CHILDREN PLOP, SHINEIT’S PLAYTIME, SPARKLINGWITH LAUGHTER, SKEEDADLING LIKEOCEAN WAVES DRUMMING,A CHOIR OF BIRDS, SHOWERINGRAIN, SOFT AS CHILDREN’S FOOTSTEPSCHILDREN’S FACES BLOOMLIKE FLOWERS IN JUNE, DAZZLING,SPARKLE LIKE TINKLINGWATERFALLS, RINSING, PURE SOUNDS,BRIGHT ROSE PETALS ON THE GROUND,YOU ARE YOUR OWN SONGSINGING SWEET MUSIC, COLORS,NOTES INSIDE LAUGHTER,FREEDOM IS TIME, NOW,YOU ARE LIVING IN YOURSELFWHEN YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE,THEIR FACES AGAINSTWHITE WALLS, ARE FLOWER PETALSPOPPING INTO ROOMSOUT IN GREEN BUSHESFROGS SERENADE THE MOON, SKYAS CATS CHASE SHADOWSYOU CAN TOUCH IT, TOUCHIT, NOW, THROUGH YOUR POET’S PEN,YOUR PAINTER’S BRUSHSTROKE,THE SUN INSIDE YOUR MIND, TOO,REACH IN, TOUCH IT, TOUCH IT NOW
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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!
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!
Right half of MMCXVIII/MDCCC, 2018, Emma Laraby. Digital painting.
A fascinating exhibition opened yesterday at the SDSU Downtown Gallery. It’s titled Futures Past and Present.
San Diego State University students and faculty from the School of Art + Design have creatively addressed human society and the passage of time. Unique works of art reflect how the future has been forecast in the past, and how our present informs what is yet to come.
Visions that are presented range from the utopian to the dystopian, and many aspects of human experience and its possibilities are mixed into the artwork. Technology, the environment, urban growth, cultural transformation, and philosophical points of view are some of the themes contained in four sections: Alternate Realities, Building the Future, Inventing the Future, and Personal Prophecies.
Curious minds will enjoy this exhibition. Those who love science fiction, art or futurism should definitely head downtown to check it out!
Futures Past and Present is a very cool exhibition now showing at the SDSU Downtown Gallery in San Diego.Pulp magazines in a display case recall early visions from science fiction. As human life and technology evolve, the genre also evolves.CareLink: transmitting internal data, 2017, Kelly Temple. Archival digital print and other materials.K-bots (10 robots), 2019, Andrew Blackwell. Beech, brass, plastic.BLDNG #6 two views 2008 (In and Out), 2018, David Fobes. Archival inkjet print.Time Capsules Project. SDSU art students created small time capsules and messages that speak to the future.Occupying one corner of the gallery are tools of the past and present. HARD_COPY – Unforgetting Futures Past – a temporary reading room and bindery.Bubble, 2018, Brandie Maddalena. Copper, felt, paracord, steel, human interaction.Washington Marbles, 2018, Tyler Young. Oil paint, acrylic paint, cardboard, dirt and plaster on canvas.The Same, 2018, Tamayo Muto. Archival digital print.The Drain, 2016, Vincent Cordelle. Cast bronze, steel, insulated pipe.Untitled (Potential 40 Units), 2018, Eleanor Greer. Oil and charcoal on canvas.Extravehicular Activity Kit #5, 2018, Zac Keane. Birch ply, hickory, steel, duct tape, nylon.Little Miss Sunshine, 2018, Melissa Salgado. Acrylic and oil on canvas.
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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!
I was startled this morning during my walk through the Gaslamp Quarter.
Something peculiar was moving directly toward me along the sidewalk. For a split second I thought it was a person.
Then I did a double take.
A bundle of heart-shaped balloons was heading my way!
The cluster of balloons moved slowly down the sidewalk, propelled by a gentle breeze. Occasionally they’d float upward a foot or two, then quietly float back to Earth.
The travelling hearts came to a street corner. They seemed to hesitate. They turned decisively and began steadily down another sidewalk!
After venturing into a patio space in front of one building, they lifted with apparent delight and settled down. They leaned against the rail.
Perhaps they wanted to watch people–other travelling hearts–go by.
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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!
To read a few honest-to-goodness short stories that I’ve written, click Short Stories by Richard.
A couple of heads are missing! I’ve discovered two strange, disembodied heads sitting on the ground by the sidewalk!
I observed that first rather fierce-looking head early this afternoon as I rode on a bus down Pacific Highway, just north of the Old Town Transit Center. (Why was I on the bus? I had several adventures this morning in North County! Stay tuned for more cool blog posts!)
The second head, which looks kind of like a painted Dia de los Muertos skull, was discovered beside a sidewalk about a week ago as I walked through Mission Valley on my way to work!
Has anyone out there lost their head? Or heads?
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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 (and have more fun) via Facebook or Twitter!
During my Sunday walk along Broadway toward Golden Hill, I passed the new Broadstone Makers Quarter apartments.
I noticed some artwork on display in a few of the leasing office windows, so I took photos. I don’t know the artists, but I thought their creations were definitely cool!
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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!
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.
Cool San Diego Sights! 