Revenge of the Pencil

A Bad Day For Polar Exploration

2011-08-30T12:03:00.004-05:00

This is an ink drawing done from a photo in the New York Times of a ship running into a few problems as it navigates an ice field. I'll concede that the ship in my drawing appears to be making its way through either a body of water or a giant pile of lumpy mashed potatoes, but trust me, it's ice.

Figure Drawing at Gage Academy

2011-08-28T22:59:00.002-05:00

I recently took a weekend figure drawing workshop at the Gage Academy with Juliette Aristides. She subscribes to a very rigorous, classical approach in her workshops, which made for a really intense weekend and a kind of art instruction I'm not accustomed to (she was not afraid to stop me and say "no, you're doing it wrong.") Although we did one longer drawing over the course of the two days, I'm actually happiest with these two 20-minute value studies. I would highly recommend her courses for anyone who wants to really push themselves in their drawing.

My Triumphant Return

2011-08-07T13:28:00.003-05:00

After several months of inactivity - during which time I'm sure all my fans have been crying themselves to sleep every night - I have finally found time to resurrect this blog. All of us here at Revenge of the Pencil, Inc. apologize for the lengthy absence. I moved from New Orleans to Seattle in March and, while I have continued to draw, there have been numerous demands on my time (primarily the really excellent beer they serve here in the Pacific Northwest) that have kept me away from this blog.

And what better way to come back than with Vorosh the Hunter? This was drawn from a Magic Card on loan from my friend's 10 year old son, who pronounced this drawing "pretty good." Astute viewers will notice that I initially spelled Vorosh's name wrong and had to make a correction. It may be a bit unsightly, but what choice did I have? Vorosh the Hunter does not cotton to spelling errors.

Last One From New Orleans - The Pirate's Alley Cafe

2011-03-10T15:18:00.003-06:00

This will be my last post from New Orleans. Tomorrow afternoon I'll be moving to Seattle and leaving behind my home in the swamp. I've had some amazing times here and I hope I've managed to capture at least a little of the city's crumbling grandeur in my drawings. It will probably be a month or so until I can post again since I won't initially have access to a scanner in my new home, but I do plan to keep drawing and posting from Seattle.

This pencil sketch was done in the courtyard of the Pirate's Alley Cafe, one of my favorite bars in the French Quarter. I've stopped in there on Mardi Gras day a few times and it's always a great scene. This is one of the many places I'll miss when I leave town tomorrow.

Me Vs. Van Dyck, Round 2

2011-03-01T12:09:00.003-06:00

This is a charcoal pencil drawing based on a painting by Anthony van Dyck called "Study of a Man's Head." This is the second drawing I've done from a van Dyck piece - the other one is here - and I am forever amazed by the depth of his skill.

Elephants in Ink

2011-02-21T16:44:00.004-06:00

Here's another one drawn from a photo. I really liked the composition and the deep shadows in the original image and I wanted to see if I could capture that with a pen.

I also find myself wondering what exactly these two elephants are up to. I like to think the one on the right is saying something along the lines of "Hey, you've got something on your face. No, not there. A little to the right. No, wait, a little to the left. Oh, let me just get it for you." Either that or they're sending secret trunk signals that will precede their taking over as the dominant species on this planet and sending us all to work in their underground salt mines. I call the big shovel!

Back in the French Quarter

2010-11-28T09:07:00.003-06:00

I celebrated our return to New Orleans yesterday by taking the streetcar into the Quarter to do some sketching. This is the view of Jackson Square and Saint Louis Cathedral from Chartres street.

Belize

2010-11-27T09:38:00.006-06:00

My wife and I just got back from an amazing vacation in Belize. We stayed at the Blue Reef Resort, where we spent the better part of a week relaxing by the beach while being waited on hand and foot. I'd go back in a heartbeat.

Around the House

2010-10-30T16:23:00.000-05:00

We've decided to sell our house in New Orleans and move into a smaller, more manageable house in the same neighborhood. The best thing about this new place we'll be moving into? We're renting it. This means we will no longer have to deal with all the headaches that come with owning a charming old house that sits on a swamp and is subjected to punishing weather all year round while being attacked by insects the size of small dogs. Take that, American dream!

As we prepare to leave our humble abode, I've been running around trying to get in as many drawings as I can. I suspect the new owners might have mixed feelings about my spending the morning drawing the kitchen cabinets once we are no longer living here.

New Orleans: Leading the World in Scary Clown Masks

2010-10-17T15:35:00.000-05:00

I saw this carnival mask hanging on the wall in a cafe in the French Quarter. They had others that were even more disturbing, but I try to keep things family-friendly around here.

Apartments in Shanghai

2010-10-03T11:57:00.000-05:00

Has it really been three months since I've done anything with this blog? Yes, I suppose it has. I wish I could make solemn promises to post more regularly, but in truth I think it will always come in fits and starts. Let's call this a "start." Wait... it might be a "fit."

This is a pencil drawing of some very new and very old apartment buildings in Shanghai, drawn from a photo in the New York Times.

Back at the New Orleans Museum of Art

2010-07-04T13:31:00.001-05:00

Here's an ink drawing from a trip to the New Orleans Museum of Art. This is an extremely ornate helmet (circa 1890-1900, according to the wall text) on display in the Faberge room on the second floor. This strikes me as a fairly impractical design for a helmet that one might actually wear in battle, but it does make for a fun drawing exercise.

I've been spending a lot of time at NOMA lately. Heck, I even went so far as to buy a membership, which means I get to haggle over my member's discount when I'm in the gift shop buying books that are already on sale and breaking the little magnetized puzzle toys that they have on the counter for impulse buys. Well, OK, I didn't really haggle and the toy could be put back together after the very friendly woman behind the counter helped me find all the pieces, but I like to make my life sound more exciting than it really is. In the movie version, the nice woman in the artsy sweater will be played by a giant man plucked from the ranks of the Ultimate Fighting Championships and I'll have to challenge him to a knife fight in order to avoid being charged for the broken puzzle toy. Then I'll make some sort of witty, ironic quip as I step over his still-twitching corpse and make my way out of the blood-soaked museum gift shop. It's still a little rough around the edges, but any Hollywood producers who may be reading this should think "Night at the Museum" meets "Rambo" meets "Leprechaun in the Hood." The money will roll right in.

Sketching at the New Orleans Museum of Art

2010-06-19T16:34:00.000-05:00

I spent a good chunk of my morning sketching at the New Orleans Museum of Art. They have tons of good stuff to draw and it's an excellent option for an indoor drawing destination during the summer months in New Orleans. I actually started out drawing outdoors on the front steps, but it was clearly time to move inside when the sweat dripping from my face began to spoil my drawing. Was it really necessary for me to reveal that in a blog post? Probably not, but what is the internet good for if not over-sharing.

As for the drawings, the top one is a statue from Papa New Guinea and the one on the bottom is a 16th century credenza that is sitting in the Baroque painting room.

Ink Portraits

2010-06-19T16:28:00.000-05:00

In the immortal words of Nigel Tufnel: "There is none more black."

I've been doing a lot of portraits lately and I've been slowly gravitating away from pencil and towards ink. Ink tends to go faster and it's a lot less forgiving, but I think it helps do away with my tendency to get overly fussy with pencil. The one on top is another entry from the Flickr Portrait Party and the one on the bottom is a self portrait done with pen and ink wash. As a side note, I hope to someday do self portrait where the expression on my face doesn't make me look like I'm about to punch someone. I seem to have trouble drawing and smiling at the same time.

More Portait Party Entries

2010-06-04T17:47:00.001-05:00

I know, I'm going crazy for the portrait party. But who doesn't like a party? Well, I guess it depends on the party. If it was the kind of party where you were obligated to eat olives and artichokes with Dick Cheney while watching every episode of "Who's the Boss" back-to-back, then I'd probably rather stay home and draw.

Before You Accept a Quick Check

2010-05-31T09:50:00.000-05:00

Anyone who lives in New Orleans is likely to be familiar with Michael Hingle, a local attorney whose stern visage peers out from numerous billboards and urges his fellow citizens to call 1-800-USA-JURY "Before You Accept a Quick Check." He is usually tearing up a check (presumably one of the "quick" checks) to drive the point home.

I recently completed an oil painting course at Delgado taught by Walter Johnson, an enthusiastic and eccentric character who turned out to be a fantastic teacher. Our final project was to produce a cubist or surrealist painting of a subject of our choice. This painting gradually became a little less "cubist" over the course of its development, but I'm still pretty happy with how it came out. I wonder what Michael Hingle would think.

Portrait Party

2010-05-31T09:46:00.000-05:00

One of the coolest things I've found on flickr lately is the Portrait Party, a collaborative group where people post photos of themselves and invite others to draw and paint them. It's a pretty active group that has produced a lot of interesting work. This is my first contribution.

Sketching in City Park

2010-04-17T16:22:00.001-05:00

Today was a really gorgeous spring day in New Orleans, so I went to City Park with a friend and spent a few hours drawing and enjoying the perfect weather. The one on top is a charcoal drawing of a some moss-covered trees in the middle of a pond, the other is a pencil drawing of a piece from the sculpture garden by Michael Sandle called "The Drummer."

Galapagos Tortoise, Tennessee Grass

2010-03-19T21:36:00.000-05:00

Here's another drawing inspired by an entry in the amazing Flickr set run by the herpetologist from the Tennessee Aquarium. This is a Galapagos tortoise chowing down on some grass, presumably Tennessee grass. I wonder if Tennessee grass tastes different from grass in other states. I'll bet it does. I mean, Elvis is buried there for crying out loud, surely that must do something to the flavor of the grass in the good old Volunteer State. Me, I wouldn't know. When I went to Tennessee I subsisted almost entirely on dry-rub barbecue, like all sensible people do when they're in Tennessee.

Not to Be Messed With

2010-03-06T12:02:00.001-06:00

Under most circumstances I prefer to draw from life rather than a photo, but in this case I think I'm happy to sit in the comfort of my living room with a magazine. This was drawn from an image in an old issue of National Geographic, the same issue from which I drew this frog. Thanks again to my stepmother for leaving it on our coffee table.

Darth Vader Attacks Whiteboard

2010-03-05T17:56:00.000-06:00

The three recent Star Wars movies were horrendous, but there will always be a place in my heart for the classics. I saw "Empire Strikes Back" seven times in the theater during its initial run.

Yeah, It's That Same Truck Lot Again

2010-03-04T17:52:00.000-06:00

Some of you may be thinking "Come on, you're not really going to do another drawing of that same truck lot, are you?" I'm afraid so. Trust me, this really is the most interesting thing to draw that I can get to easily on my lunch break. Harahan, Louisiana has plenty of strip malls and fried chicken restaurants, but they're a little short on architectural or natural beauty. This is one of the many reasons why I'm always happy to come back to New Orleans after a day at the office.

A Little Rice

2010-01-14T20:02:00.000-06:00

This watercolor painting of my rice cooker is dedicated to the good people at Beijing on Irving, one of my favorite Chinese restaurants in San Francisco. New Orleans is a city full of wonderful food but, at least in comparison to my former stomping grounds out west, we're kind of hurting when it comes to Chinese cuisine. This has led me to start cooking more at home, a culinary strategy that has pressed the rice cooker into frequent service. I've gotten pretty handy with a wok, but nothing from my own kitchen has ever come close to the Singapore noodles at Beijing on Irving. Don't feel too bad for me though - any time my longing for a plate of noodles threatens to send me into a state of total despair, I can walk up the street and drown my sorrows in a the immortal glory of the shrimp po' boy at Domilese's.

Portrait of the Artist With Portrait of Toilet

2009-12-22T07:14:00.001-06:00

Do blogs have birthdays? Sure, why not. Today marks the first anniversary of this blog. I've had a lot of fun with this over the past year and I really appreciate everyone who visits and leaves comments. Especially the comments. Those really make my day.

I've decided to mark the occasion by showing off a still-life I did of our toilet topped by a pair of my wife's shoes. She doesn't normally keep her shoes on top of the toilet, but there was some housecleaning going on and, amidst the chaos, the top of the toilet seemed as good a place as any.

Happy birthday, blog. Enjoy your cake and don't tell anyone what you wished for.

Dauphine Street, New Orleans

2009-12-20T15:32:00.001-06:00

I headed down to French Quarter on a chilly Sunday morning to do a little ink drawing. I did this one from across the street while lots of tourists in Middle Tennessee football gear walked by and tried to pretend they weren't watching me draw. I think I might have to make myself a T shirt that says "It's OK to talk to me, I am not a famous artists producing an immortal masterpiece. Also, I can hear you whispering to your friend while you watch me draw and it's actually making me more uncomfortable than if you just walked up and said hello." The T-shirt is still kind of a work in progress, as I may have a bit more text than I can fit in a legible font size.

Village Elders in Afghanistan

2009-12-18T17:53:00.000-06:00

These were drawn from a series of portraits of tribal elders from the area around Khan Neshin, Afghanistan that appeared in the New York Times "Week in Review" section a couple of weeks ago. These were all done in ink with a few splashes of color in watercolor pencil where it seemed to fit.

I've decided that an alternate title for this post is "People Who Really Do Not Care Who Tiger Woods Slept With." Actually, I'd like to add myself to that list, although I'm not sure that I'd have much else to talk about if I were stuck in an elevator with these guys.

Yeah, I'll Bet You Didn't Know What a Cuora Galbinifrons Was Either

2009-12-10T19:37:00.000-06:00

I will grudgingly admit that I'm not sure exactly what "Cuora galbinifrons" means, but I suspect it translates roughly into "turtle." I drew this from a photo in a wonderful set of images posted by a herpetologist from the Tennessee Aquarium, which is available here and is well worth a look.

I Think We're Ready if General Sherman Comes Back

2009-12-03T19:03:00.000-06:00

I was recently driving around Harahan, Louisiana - just minding my own business, thinking about dinosaurs and socialism and whether or not the new Mountain Goats album is better than the new Slayer album (the jury is still out) - and I came upon a giant cannon sitting on a concrete slab in front of the VFW hall. Of course I had to come back as soon as possible to try to capture this intimidating piece of military hardware collecting dust amidst the suburban sprawl. Drawn on my lunch break with a charcoal pencil.

My Neighbor's Truck

2009-11-29T11:38:00.000-06:00

This is my neighbor's truck parked across the street from my house. Drawn in charcoal pencil while looking out my living room window.

Sketch Crawl in City Park

2009-11-21T16:00:00.000-06:00

Today was the 25th Worldwide Sketch Crawl, put on by sketchcrawl.com. The original plan was to meet up with some other aspiring New Orleans artists at the New Orleans Museum of Art and spend the day running around City Park with our sketch books. Sadly, a storm rolled in and it was raining all day, which meant that I was the only one there to draw (although a very nice guy named Bill did come by to say hello and set up some other drawing sessions). Here's what I came up with:

This is a lamp post in front of the New Orleans Museum of Art.

This is not actually a real alligator - it's a sculpture by Elizabeth Shannon called "Camille II" that I drew looking out the window of the museum coffee shop.

This last one was done in about ten minutes during a break in the storm. I would have liked to have worked on it longer, but it started raining again and I had to run off. Note the trash bags lined up under the bridge and the hoses poking out of the water - I think they had it set up that way to prevent flooding if the storm that kept all the other sketch crawlers away turns out to be bigger than expected. Here's hoping we can get a few more people next time around.

CC's Coffee House, Jefferson Ave, New Orleans

2009-11-18T20:06:00.001-06:00

This is the CCs Coffee House at the corner of Jefferson and Magazine in uptown New Orleans. Those with a keen eye for detail and a knowledge of the coffee houses of New Orleans may have already guessed that this is the very place where I sat and drew this. Actually, now that I think about it, there's really no way anyone reading this could have made that connection unless I told them myself. So, if you did guess, you are probably either my wife or you are stalking me, in which case I'm either about to make popcorn and watch "Westworld" with you or I'm calling the cops. Anyway, it's a nice place to get coffee and a very cool old building.

Flickr-ing

2009-11-16T20:44:00.001-06:00

This post was spawned from an exercise that I've mostly been using for warming up or for when I feel like doing some drawing on my lunch break but don't feel like leaving the warm, fluorescent confines of my cubicle. I go to http://flickr.com/photos, click on the first image that comes up, and start drawing. The trick here is not to cheat - whatever comes up, just draw. What I have discovered is that 90% of the images on flickr are of people and, of those, the majority are either photos of children or photos taken at work/family gatherings. There also seems to be a strong correlation between whether or not a person is holding an alcoholic beverage and the likelihood that a person's image will end up on flickr. These odds increase if the person's facial expression suggests that they are about to yell "woo!". Anyway, here are a few of the results of my flickr perusal, most of which were done pretty quickly. This has turned out to be a really interesting and challenging exercise that has resulted in a lot of really terrible drawings (no, I won't post those) and has pushed me to look at subjects that I might have otherwise shied away from.

25th Worldwide Sketch Crawl - November 21st

2009-11-16T06:33:00.000-06:00

The 25th worldwide sketch crawl is coming up next weekend. What's a sketch crawl, you ask? It's a loosely organized event where artists, amateur artists, and anyone else who feels like picking up a pencil head out into their respective cities, draw what they see, and then post the results back to the forums at sketchcrawl.com. This is going on in cities all over the world and I'm hoping to get at least a few people from New Orleans to come out and represent our city.

The plan is to meet up at 10:30am next Saturday, November 21st, on the steps of the New Orleans Museum of Art and head out into City Park for a day of drawing (or an hour, or fifteen minutes - whatever you're up for). There's a thread on the sketchcrawl.com forums that has a bit more info (click here). Anyone reading this who will be in New Orleans on November 21st is heartily invited to join in.

And no, there are no pictures in this post. Sometimes life has its little disappointments.

Another Truck Out in the Weeds

2009-11-02T17:21:00.001-06:00

I guess "The trucks of Jefferson Parish" doesn't have quite the same ring as "The Bridges of Madison County." In fact, it probably holds about as much dewy-eyed romance as "The Used Tires of Alameda County" or "The Giant Pile of Dead Fish that Threatens to Destroy Milwaukee." Still, these slowly decaying vehicles are kind of interesting to look at as I drive around the suburban/industrial wastelands that lay outside New Orleans. Longtime fans of Revenge of the Pencil ("Pencilteers," for those in the know) may have already guessed that this truck was parked in the weeds along Elmwood Park Boulevard not far from where this was drawn.

Frankenstein Attacks Whiteboard

2009-10-30T17:39:00.000-05:00

With Halloween fast approaching, I decided it was time to take a few minutes out of my workday and dive into another session of whiteboard art. A surprising number of my co-workers were unable to identify this as Frankenstein, which may say as much about my co-workers as it does about my drawing.

Ink in the Back Yard

2009-10-28T18:46:00.000-05:00

This is, more or less, what my back yard looks like. I think the ink wash on this one may have gotten away from me a little bit. Sometimes ink has a mind of its own and it becomes one of those things, like national health care, that you just have to accept will be inherently imperfect but will be a hell of a lot better than letting millions of people die of preventable diseases no matter how many times Sarah Palin opens her fool mouth and starts spouting off about death panels. So, yeah, this is a pen/ink wash drawing of my back yard.

Me vs. Van Dyck

2009-09-18T06:42:00.000-05:00

Copying an old master drawing is always a humbling experience. Every time I've tried it I have come away with a much greater appreciation of how the "master" in question has earned his title. This is my attempt at Anthony Van Dyck's creatively entitled "Seated Man, Leaning Backwards."

Kitchen Still Life

2009-09-06T14:47:00.000-05:00

For no good reason at all, I've gone a few weeks without posting. Apologies to my legions of loyal fans. This first one back is a sketch of my kitchen counter, complete with coffee maker, tea kettle, coffee grinder, and vitamins. This is about as tidy as it ever gets.

Yeah, It's Another Dinosaur

2009-08-06T17:57:00.000-05:00

As anyone who has ever been to New Orleans in August will attest, it is currently far too hot for me to run around the city drawing buildings and parks and whatnot. If I'm going to draw from a photograph, I can think of no finer subject than a triceratops.

Dinosaur Attacks Whiteboard

2009-07-15T17:20:00.000-05:00

My new cubicle came with a whiteboard and some dry-erase markers. I managed to hold out for about a week before I started using it for extracurricular drawing.

Spider sculpture in City Park

2009-07-12T11:52:00.001-05:00

I can't believe I've lived in New Orleans for this long without ever having been to the sculpture garden in City Park. I spent a couple of hours wandering around there this morning and would have done a bit more drawing had I not been driven out by the punishing heat. I'll be back for sure.

Sally Timms

2009-07-10T18:35:00.000-05:00

Here's another in my ongoing series entitled "Portraits of Middle Aged Musicians With Cult Followings Who Would Be More Famous Than U2 If There Was Any Justice In This World" (see also, Howe Gelb). This is Sally Timms from the Mekons, one of my favorite bands ever. Anyone who likes rock music, has a pair of functioning ears, and has never heard Fear and Whiskey or Honky Tonkin' should do themselves a favor and purchase both of these albums as soon as possible.

Making Pickles

2009-07-08T20:49:00.000-05:00

Yet another drawing from a photo in the New York Times. This is Chef Josh Eden from Shorty's 32 making pickles.

Sunday Morning in Audubon Park

2009-06-28T14:04:00.000-05:00

My wife and I spent a good part of our morning sitting in Audubon Park drawing the trees. I think we both might have wanted to work on our drawings a bit longer, but by 11:00 the heat was so intense that we were more than ready to head over to Cafe Luna for some cold drinks. Even with the heat, it was still a very nice way to spend a Sunday morning. I came away with this drawing of one of the magnificent live oaks in red conte.

A Big Man With a Big Grin

2009-06-24T07:23:00.000-05:00

This was drawn from a photo in the New York Times. Apparently this guy is a manager at a company called AMB, which does some sort of complicated real estate thing that I don't understand but which is probably destroying our economy in some way or another. I don't think I actually captured much of a likeness, as the finished drawing looks to me like a cross between Lyndon Johnson and the Penguin from Batman. Even so, it was a lot of fun to work on and I think it's a good learning experience to draw portraits of people who have unusual sorts of features and facial structure, as this guy most certainly does.

House on Jefferson Avenue, New Orleans

2009-06-14T10:46:00.000-05:00

This is a house on Jefferson ave in New Orleans, just across the street from the CCs coffee shop at the corner of Jefferson and Magazine. I drew this in a few sittings, starting out from a table in front of the coffee shop and then finishing off a few of the details from a photograph at home.

Asian Art Room at the New Orleans Museum of Art

2009-06-07T18:17:00.000-05:00

I've spent a lot of time over the past couple of weeks wandering around the New Orleans Museum of Art. The Asian art room is especially cool. I drew this suit of Japanese armor in several sittings over the past three weeks:

I went a little quicker on this Chinese statue. They have two of these in a case side-by-side and I think I may go back and do a more detailed study.

More Figure Drawing at Fair Grinds Cafe

2009-06-05T06:32:00.000-05:00

I've been going to the figure drawing sessions at Fair Grinds Cafe almost every week for a while now and I've really been enjoying it. My first few drawings last night felt a little flat, so I started switching back and forth between ink and pencil in an effort to force myself to take a different approach. I'm pretty happy with how these came out and I'll probably start doing more of these in ink when I go back next week.

City Park, New Orleans

2009-05-26T18:55:00.001-05:00

I went out to City Park a couple of times this weekend and found myself wondering why I don't go there more often. This is one of the many gorgeous oak trees, drawn on newsprint with charcoal pencil.

Calhoun Street, New Orleans

2009-05-02T11:45:00.000-05:00

I spent a good chunk of last Saturday morning wandering around uptown looking for something interesting to draw. I really liked the way these trees on Calhoun street formed a sort of arch in front of the houses. This is one of those drawings where I'm really not sure if it's finished or not. I ran out of time while I was working on the cars and thought I might put in more detail on them when I got home, but looking at it now I think they might be better if I just leave them the way they are.

Soup's On

2009-04-19T13:18:00.001-05:00

My wife made soup last night and, while I wasn't much help in the preparation, I did my best to capture her delicious efforts in my sketchbook.

Figure Drawing at Fair Grinds Cafe

2009-04-18T16:10:00.000-05:00

Fair Grinds in mid-city has a figure drawing session on Thursday nights. I went down last week and had a great time drawing from a model for the first time in many moons, although I had to leave before the long pose. Still, I think I got a few good ones in from the 5-10 minutes poses. Note for anyone who might be viewing this page at work: these are drawings of a model posing without the burden of clothing.

Sketching in the French Quarter

2009-04-11T14:59:00.000-05:00

Steeple of Saint Louis Cathedral.

A doorway in the courtyard at the Royal Grounds Cafe, which is by far my favorite place to get coffee in the Quarter.

This stern looking gentleman of the law was not actually present today, at least not in the flesh. This is the statue of Justice Edward Douglas White on the steps of the courthouse on Royal Street.

Watercolor still life

2009-04-09T17:31:00.000-05:00

Here are a couple of attempts at a watercolor still life with some apples and my wife's extremely stylish green dress. On the second attempt I decided to try to work in a little ink to draw out some of the lines. I should note that I did this in a couple of sittings and that I had to do the last few shadows from memory after the apples started to smell a little funny and I was forced to throw them away in the interest of olfactory happiness throughout my household.

Watercolor

2009-04-08T19:59:00.001-05:00

I've been taking a watercolor workshop over the past few weeks with Joan DaGradi (see her blog), a wonderful local painter who has also turned out to be a really excellent teacher. I'm still getting a handle on the materials and trying to find ways to keep my paintings from degenerating into untamed maelstroms of dripping chaos, but I've really been enjoying it. Included below are a couple of my early efforts. The self portrait was done in front of the mirror while the hippo, sadly, was not drawn from life. Someday I will head down to the zoo and try that for real.

Another Mardi Gras Photo

2009-03-14T10:16:00.000-05:00

I drew this from a photo I took during the Thoth parade on Saint Charles ave. Being a New Orleans police officer during Mardi Gras seems like it could be really aggravating and stressful, but this guy had a giant smile on his face the whole time he was out there.

I worked on this over a couple of sittings with a charcoal pencil and, while I am mostly happy with it, I think I kind of blew it on the left arm and a couple of proportion issues throughout the figure. There was a good stretch when I was living in San Francisco when my wife and I got pretty into figure drawing through some sessions with City College, but I haven't been able to find anything comparable in New Orleans. Working on this drawing has left me with an itch to get back into it, so hopefully I can find a place to draw from a model. I'd appreciate any suggestions if someone reading this knows of a place around town that isn't too expensive.

Z'otz Cafe Window

2009-03-07T12:17:00.000-06:00

Z'otz cafe on Oak street is quickly becoming one of my favorite spots in New Orleans. My wife and I spent a good chunk of our morning sitting in their courtyard, enjoying some coffee and some amazing weather. I also took the opportunity to sketch their window and a few of their many plants.

Mardi Gras

2009-02-28T13:44:00.000-06:00

I really wanted to get out and do some sketching during Mardi Gras, but I'm afraid I ended up getting a little distracted by the parades and the parties and I never got around to it. I did take a lot of pictures though, and this ink drawing is from one that I took during Thoth last Saturday.

You'd look sad too if you had to defend George Bush's economic policies

2009-02-26T20:05:00.001-06:00

I've been doing a lot of portraits lately and I've found the New York Times to be a great source of material. There's been an especially rich crop of grim-looking business and government leaders in recent months, none more grim than Henry Paulson, our former treasury secretary. Here he is on newsprint (cheap paper for tough times) in compressed charcoal.

Last one out shut off the lights

2009-02-13T17:54:00.000-06:00

Another from the ongoing series entitled "drawn on my lunch break" (which seems better than "trying not to smear my peanut butter sandwich on my sketchbook"). This is the Linens 'N Things store across the street from my office that closed down after Christmas. I can't say I'm all that sorry to see the end of another big chain store in another faceless strip mall, but I do feel bad for all the people who lost their jobs.

Hands

2009-02-12T18:10:00.000-06:00

I've drawn a lot of hands over the years, mainly because they provide endless varieties of interesting shapes and because I always have one around. Here are a couple of recent pencil sketches of my left hand.

In the Back Yard

2009-01-31T15:13:00.000-06:00

This is a flower growing on a bush in our back yard, although what kind of flower it is I have no idea. The red kind. I drew this in charcoal pencil while sitting on the ground and listening to Robyn Hitchcock.

This Machine Kills Eggs

2009-01-28T20:15:00.000-06:00

Every time I work on a drawing of an inanimate object, I am struck by how much I have left to learn about perspective. In an effort to come up with something a little more dramatic while also forcing myself to actually look at the shapes rather than just drawing my own mental image of what the thing looks like, I laid the mixer down on a chair in front of me at an odd angle so I could draw it "upside down."

Waveland, Mississippi

2009-01-21T19:31:00.000-06:00

I've spent the past couple of days in Waveland, MS for work. Those who have never been there may be surprised to learn that it is not a place known for its architectural splendor or natural beauty. They do have a couple of cement factories though, so I headed out on my lunch break to do some drawing in pen and ink.

Adventures in Self-Portraiture

2009-01-18T09:00:00.000-06:00

Saturday morning I decided to take a shot at a self portrait. I've actually done a fair number of these over the years, mainly because I like drawing portraits and, while there's rarely a model around, there is usually a mirror. This is also why my sketch books tend to be full of drawings of my hand.

Here's my first attempt:

This was kind of an experiment with an ink wash that I don't think was totally successful but which was a lot of fun. I think this does actually look like me despite the fact that the eyes are totally misplaced. This is kind of a pathology of mine - an alarming number of my portraits tend to have the eyes just a bit too high. I like to think that this is something I can eventually learn to correct for, but it reared its ugly head again here.

On to the next one:

The more detail-oriented among you will notice that this is not a self-portrait. I did actually draw one in pencil that I worked on long and hard. I'm not sure how long - long enough to listen to a good chunk of Bob Dylan's "Live 1966" and the entirety of the new TV On The Radio album (which everyone should run out and buy right this instant), so probably just under two hours. It was one of those drawings that started out pretty well but had some inaccuracies in it that I didn't really notice. Then I started to develop it some more and these inaccuracies became glaring problems. So I tried to fix them or work around them, but then other things went wrong. Soon the drawing was getting really over-worked and didn't much resemble any human face, let alone my own. Anyone who wants to actually see the fruits of these labors is welcome to come over and dig through my trash.

At that point I was feeling a little frustrated, so I started doodling the toy bull that we keep in our bathroom (every bathroom should have a toy bull). I knocked this out in about 10 minutes and, looking back at it, I think it's a much better drawing than the portrait I labored over for two hours. Sometimes the quick ones end up being the best, although I do wish I had set up the composition so there was room for the hooves.

Finally, I decided to try one more self portrait, this time in pencil:

I'm pretty happy with how this one came out although, for reasons I can't quite put my finger on, it doesn't really look like me. Maybe something with the chin? Maybe the nose is too long? At least there aren't any elements that are so freakishly misplaced that it couldn't possibly be the face of a living human being.

So, to sum up, my efforts to draw a self portrait resulted in one ink drawing that has lots of mistakes but was still fun to work on, one failure that had to be thrown away, one pencil drawing that I'm happy with even if it doesn't really look like me, and one bull. If I had to translate these results into a batting average I think I'd be hitting about .225 and worrying about being sent down to the minors, which may be why I always preferred drawing to baseball.

Canal Street, New Orleans

2009-01-15T20:57:00.001-06:00

Another adventure in pen and ink with an ink wash. I'm still getting a handle on the materials, but I think I'm starting to feel more comfortable. While I would like to tighten up my ink drawings a bit, I'm slowly getting used to the idea that I can sketch with ink in much the same way I can with a pencil, that re-statements and wandering lines are not such a bad thing. I've been especially inspired lately by the wonderful drawings that Marc Taro Holmes and Stephen Gardner have posted on their blogs.

Me vs. Caravaggio, Round 1

2009-01-11T10:24:00.000-06:00

I've been sick for a few days so, not being able to get out and about, I decided to set up the easel in our living room and try my hand at Caravaggio's "Saint Jerome Writing" in brown conte. Astute theologians and art historians will notice that I left out the skull because... well, no good reason, it just didn't seem to fit in my drawing. It was fun to sit down and actually spend a few hours on a drawing in a way that I really haven't been able to on some of the things I've drawn from life recently. I think I also developed a new appreciation for what a monumentally bad-ass painter Caravaggio really was.

Howe Gelb

2009-01-07T17:38:00.000-06:00

I've been listening to the band Giant Sand a lot lately, especially while I draw, so I felt inclined to do a portrait of their singer/songwriter/mastermind/mad genius Howe Gelb. It seems worth noting that I was listening to "Slush" - the wonderful album that he recorded with Lisa Germano under the name OP8 - while I was working on this. I've also found the Giant Sand albums Chore of Enchantment" and "Provisions" to be an excellent soundtrack to life in New Orleans.

Aftermath of a rainy night

2009-01-04T13:46:00.000-06:00

My wife and I went out last night and got caught in a huge rain storm. The storm was no fun, but at least we got to savor the feeling of coming home, peeling off our wet clothes, and getting warm and dry. Here, in ink/ink wash, is the remains of our soaked clothing drying off on the rack in our bathroom.

It's a heron. No, wait... an egret? Well, it's a bird anyway.

2009-01-03T10:12:00.000-06:00

Pencil drawing from a photo that I took in Audubon park a couple of months ago. These birds are all over in Louisiana, but I can't remember if they're egrets or herons. Or cranes? Whatever they are, they're fun to watch and even more fun to draw.

An interesting (or interesting to me, anyway) side note here - I had a hell of a time making a digital image of this. I started out with the scanner, but the light from the scanner reflected off the pencil in a really weird way and totally destroyed any subtle effect I managed to pull off. Then I got out the digital camera and tried it a million different ways with different lights, angles, and camera settings. In the end I think this photo came out OK, but it still seems a little dark. Maybe I should just stick to ink and charcoal drawings since they are easier to run through the scanner.

Holiday Cheer

2008-12-30T18:31:00.001-06:00

Drawn from the terminal while we waited for our flight to New York on Christmas eve. This was cut a little short when the plane took off.

Here's another one I did really quickly. This is our Christmas tree in pen and ink. In real life it's topped with a novelty hat that says "World's Best Santa," but somehow I just wasn't able to work that in.

Ink-Stained Hands

2008-12-30T18:15:00.000-06:00

I've been playing around with ink drawing and ink washes lately. It's a chaotic and difficult medium that I'm a long way from mastering, but it's also lots of fun.

From a photo in the New York Times. Pen and ink with ink wash and highlights in white charcoal pencil

Brennan's restaurant in the French Quarter, drawn from the steps across the street. Pen and ink.

Truck for Sale

2008-12-23T06:56:00.000-06:00

I drew this on my lunch break a couple of weeks ago. New Orleans is one of the most beautiful cities in the world but, unfortunately, I work out in the 'burbs in a sea of strip malls and warehouses where there aren't many interesting things to draw. I did think this truck was kind of appealing though; it seemed a little sad parked out among the weeds with its hood cracked open. If anyone is interested in giving it a good home, I believe it is still sitting out on Elmwood Park Boulevard.

This Frog is Giving 110%

2008-12-22T18:47:00.000-06:00

From a photo in National Geographic that my stepmother kindly left at my house. I should also note that I had this classic film in mind while I was working on this drawing.

Starting with a Few From the Vaults

2008-12-22T10:11:00.000-06:00

What the world needs now is another blog. The internet is dangerously low on cranks and amateurs spewing forth all of their poorly formed ideas, crackpot theories, lousy music, and art that is barely fit to hang in the lobby of a Holiday Inn. I’ve decided to address this terrible derth by throwing my hat in the ring, along with my pencil, pen, and charcoal. Here are a couple of older selections from my sketchbook to get things started. I like to think that I'll be able to keep this updated on a semi-regular basis, but I make no promises.

Copy of a Richard Diebenkorn painting

Self Portrait in vine charcoal

An attempt to get back in touch with my inner 8 year old.