Monthly Archives: August 2011

Squirrel!

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This drawing is about capturing an awkward moment more than anything. We all have them and for some reason, they are funny. One morning, I felt my eyebrow twitch and my nose itched at the exact same moment. I brought my hand up and slapped myself in the eye involuntarily. Laughter is an emotional response for a situation that we don’t initially have a response for (or at least that’s what I believe to be true). That’s why when we see someone trip, most of us chuckle. I think it’s God’s way of telling us it’s okay to laugh at ourselves – or at others.

I drew this man’s face three times before I decided on the closed-eyes look. Initially, the eyes were looking at the dog, which appeared to be more of an angry look and not really what I was going for. Then, I had him looking at the young woman, however the orientation of his head made it look awkward. Almost like she was sixteen inches tall and came from the runners nethers…ew. I kept the underside of the dog sketchy, trying to create the illusion of speed. I also added some flying debris. Overall, I am happy with it.

The Offensive

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Although, this is drawn as a cartoon, make no mistake about it. I have a strong respect for war and the devastation it causes. It should always be the last resort and, personally, I can’t think of many things that I would go on the offensive for, especially if it meant taking my brother’s life. Speaking for just myself and the observation of my kind  – my kind being male – we understand  the concept of respect more than love. Dying for the ones you love is unquestionably the most honorable way to go. So, naturally, we see this most awesome display of everything that’s good in men (respect, honor, brotherhood, sacrifice) during wartime. That is the appeal to those have never witnessed combat first hand. We also see the very worst in humanity. Some acts that make no sense on deepest levels.

Another pen drawing over pencil. I like the effect I get with the darker lines of the pen. It allows me to go darker with the pencil also. The soldiers to the right are left in pencil to give the atmospheric perspective I like. In this case, I even left out more detail to give the illusion of dust and smoke.

Metropolis

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I enjoy drawing buildings. There’s something about old architecture that’s extremely appealing to me. I think it’s familiar, therefore comfortable. I was born and raised near Binghamton, N.Y. and I can remember going downtown and looking at all the ornate facades. Just amazing. A really awesome friend of mine, Nicole Lucia Samara has a gallery that features some of the beauty.

I added some color to make it look a bit more antique. Another passion of mine. I love old paper, wood and leather. This drawing is just asking to be painted.

The Crossing

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Here is another installment of Senior~ Wenceslaus. This drawing started out as just a sketch of a bird and some dramatic clouds behind it. The swan is destined for a life on the pond, since he can’t see where he’s flying to. He went blind after trading a wish with the old wizard, shown here in the form of an eel. Wenceslaus is on a journey with his weasel guide….hold on while I do another bong hit……(kidding, Mom). Most of these types of drawings start off with a simple idea and grow from there. I let my imagination wander. I enjoy thinking up what’s next.

In any drawing, there are sweet spots and then there are some areas that look like they were drawn in the dark. I’m really happy with the clouds in this drawing. They’re sketchy, but at the same time, they have depth. I have been developing this look for a while and I’m satisfied with the outcome. I also like the swan’s head and neck. Truthfully, the blind part of the story came about after I decided not to draw the swan’s eye. I didn’t know what type of expression I wanted to give it, therefore he has none. I’m not so happy with the dorsal fin of the eel. Although the circles appear to be symmetrical, the spot where the fin comes out of the water is throwing the rings off a bit. Still works for me overall.

 

Insert cool Greek mythological name here

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This is another tribute to Michael Brown. This time it’s a play on his themes. I can see the allure. This is really fun. I like the idea that you can name it the first thing that comes to your mind and add a cool Greek or Roman name and it just friggin sings to you. For example “Othello’s Nut”. Yep, just made that up, right now. That is now the official name of this drawing. See how that works? I love it. Now, that’s how I do it, but I know Michael spends several hours in front of just one canvas and that doesn’t include the hours of drawing that precedes that. We are supposed to get together soon and draw. I will have to ask him how he names his paintings – really.

If you haven’t checked out his work, please do. It’s really good stuff.

Senior~ Wenceslaus and his dragon friend.

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When the boys were younger and if we traveled any significant distance (this is pre car-DVD players), I would make up stories. One of my characters was Senior Wenceslaus. I had heard this name on the radio and I liked it. As you can probably tell, he’s a little guy. He has to be, since he lives in the glove box. Anyway, you can probably make up your own story. I have another drawing I’m working on starring our friend here.

I left a little of the unfinished part of the dragon in the image. I wanted to talk a bit about the contrast in the two styles. If you recall, I talked about “sketchy” lines yesterday and how I developed the space lizard from them…well, you can see, there aren’t any sketchy lines to the right of the dragon. That’s because, I drew them last and knew exactly where they were going. Most of the sketching was done closer to the dragons head. I hope that makes sense. I very well could have done some crazy lines and ended up with wings, or a stack of stuffed animals, or…but, I wanted the focus to be between Senior and dragon.

Space Dinosaur Lizard Thing

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When I draw, I will sketch my initial idea out in very gestural lines and then step back and imagine the possibilities of what I’ve just put down on paper. The lines will intersect and overlap and begin to form a foot or a head of something in places that I wouldn’t normally put one. It’s really no different than when someone sees a face in a knot of wood or a rabbit in a cloud formation. That’s the case with this drawing. I was going to draw a city scene. Instead, I went up with it and created a creature of some sort. The obvious problem with this is drawing right up to the spine of my sketchbook – evident here. Still managed to keep it on one sheet of paper. Just so you know my thought process, if I were to continue drawing on this sketch, I would put some lizard things in the way background – in flight, of course and drew some bat wings on this guy. Instead. I’m on to the next one.

Daniel the Barista

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This is my friend and Barista, Daniel. He works at REV coffee house. I spend about 5 minutes there every morning. I like to fool myself into believing its my guilty pleasure, since I quit smoking and drinking. Gah. Still, three bucks for a cup of coffee? Really?

It IS damn good coffee.

Anyway, I wanted to be a bit looser with this drawing, so I started with sweeping sketchy lines. Eventually, it wasn’t turning out the way I wanted it to, so I decided to tighten them up a bit. By then, there were parts of the drawing that were in danger of being overworked, like around his eyes and hand. That gives this drawing a little darker look with less contrast and detail. I am still farting around with different styles just for the hell of it. I am working on another drawing based on the works of Michael Brown. I will post it early next week.

Distractions

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I am not a woman, so I will not even begin to understand the thrill women derive from driving and putting on make-up at the same time. You may call it multi-tasking (which I personally think is a myth), but I call it distracting. I added the cell phone for an added level of difficulty. I don’t recall ever seeing this exact scene in reality.

I probably drew this woman’s face 5 times. Each time, she looked sad or depressed. She looked like a man in one sketch, and a 13 year old boy in another. I finally arrived at this. Still a bit sleepy around the eyes, but fresh and alert just the same.

This is another self-portrait also. I think from now on, I will draw one each week. It’s a really good exercise. I drew a reflection of myself in the car door, so really this is a double self portrait.

BikerBot

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This piece is unfinished…maybe. If you look at the front tire, the spokes are missing. I like the effect it has currently of being chrome with a mirror finish. That requires drawing the reflection of the brakes in the chrome. I kinda wanna leave it for a while and decide later how/if I want to fill it in. I will probably leave it as is and move on. I love white paper and theres plenty of it – as well as ideas swimming in my head.