Mardi Gras

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

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

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

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.