I Think We're Ready if General Sherman Comes Back

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.