2022
Kasper’s Hot Dogs Exterior Restoration Construction Documentation Drawings (2022) [10.2 mb]
2021
Big Temescal Map Drawing: Telegraph Avenue, 43rd – 47th Street (2021) [2.3 mb Link]
Jack In The Box Corner Construction Drawings (2021) [7 mb Link]
Pedestrian Plaza North Tip Brochure (2021) [6.4 mb Link]
Pedestrian Plaza South Tip Brochure (2021) [7mb Link]
Logos of Temescal (2021) [2.4 mb Link]
Telegraph Avenue Road Redesign Documentation Illustration (2021) DRAFT
Video Projects
Timelapse Video series capturing the artist in plein air drawing adventures around the neighborhood.
Middle Of The Road Drawings
Timelapse Videos of artist Brian Brooks in action capturing plein air drawings of traffic islands after the construction crew has gone home for the day. Part of the Telegraph Avenue Road Redesign. 6 minute long episodes.
Bus Stop Build-Out Construction Drawing
Timelapse Videos capturing the different steps in the construction of a bus stop build out. Series includes seven 1 minute length episodes.
Videos are hosted on my Vimeo page.
Other video series include: Hooper’s Loopers (2018-2022) which were filmed at Hooper’s Chocolates lot, and Shine Hunters (2019) which were filmed around the neighborhood and feature Brian and Emily in search for Shines.
Neighborhood as Studio
On this page let us take a look at a sampling of different projects and series I have been working on over the past several years.
Plein Air Painting, Business Logo Design & Mapping, Surveying, and Timelapse Video Projects.
Emily and I do not own a car, and rarely use one, other than the occasional ride to the airport. We have lived for over 20 years like this.
By not leaving the neighborhood, our fishbowl is relatively small, and with only so many things “to do” in the neighborhood, I find I have plenty of time to do some things I never thought I would do; like creating brochures that explain some of the things I never though I would do.
2016-2020
Plein Air Painting
I was introduced to plein air painting by Oakland born artist John Kilduff (Mr. Let’s Paint T.V.), after a performance at Smokey’s Tangle, the gallery and studio that Emily Wick and I ran from 2009-2018, on Telegraph Avenue at 47th Street.
The year was 2014, and since then I have been using my neighborhood, as “a studio”. The lighting is superb, and there is plenty of room and different backdrops. Since then I have pretty consistently kept outdoor projects going since then.
I began plein air painting the buildings around the neighborhood, they started out as simple portraits of buildings along Telegraph Avenue, and eventually became more ambitious.
Interactive map featuring several locations of the paintings I’ve completed.
You can view this map full size and zoom in to see a selection of my plein air paintings and a few drawings. The colored shapes on the map show the vantage point view from where I painted each painting.
It has been a goal of mine to paint and/or draw every building along Telegraph Avenue from 40th to 51st. I have made great progress in this assignment over the past few years.
I capture everything that is there, except I do not include people or cars, or bicycles.
I tend to bounce around following my current interest and balancing that out with which part of the neighborhood I want to spend my time in. I more often than not prioritize capturing the parts of the neighborhood that are changing or about to change – which as the businesses come and go, is a lot of places.
For the few years, I have been concentrating on the intersection of 45th and Telegraph Avenue, where a “pedestrian plaza” is being created in the middle of where Shattuck Avenue used to meet Telegraph Avenue.
I began creating zines and brochures of my neighborhood projects, as a way I could share with the with my neighbors and folks out on the street who often inquire as to what I am doing out on the street, night after night.
For these publications, I strive to make them as “universal” as possible, for all audiences in all languages. I do this through the use of black and white graphics and through the use of pictures over words.