At the North Pole

Ink and watercolor in large moleskine

I am standing at the North Pole of art-making, and my compass is spinning out of control in each and every direction.

But, just as they say each December, it is magical here.

Which way to turn?  I have been exploring traditional watercolors because I want to understand the medium and hone my skills, and that is good.

I have also drilled a hole into the ice, and placed one big toe into the world of acrylics.  And I like it, although my toe is blue.

Then there is the world of ink and watercolors.  I sketch almost everywhere I go (though not each time) and my obsession, as always, is people.  The above sketch was made on a glorious day at the opening ceremonies of my nephew's little league.  I had the luxury of time to sit and sketch - a wonderful stretch of time.

Then there is my small moleskine filled from cover to cover with many more modest sketches.

I lost interest in coloring my ink drawings with watercolor.  Competely and utterly.  My compass had turned the other way.  So all of it has been left uncolored.

dip pen and brush with ink

Until now.  The needle has turned.  So I finished coloring the above drawing last week and more will come.

I also have the idea for a series of ink and watercolor figures.  The first is done, and you will see it soon.

And my exploration of both watercolor and acrylic is continuing.

The needle points other ways too.  I did this drawing of a girl from a photograph as a kind of experiment, using a pen dipped in a bottle of ink, and, for the hair, brush and ink.  I love the line I get from the dip pen - and brush and ink is a wonderful.  The possibilities are endless, I think.

Now, pardon me, my helpers have arrived - all of the muses that help me make my toys, these pictures, are leading me away with their little hands...

A Fish Story, Really

7" x 3-1/2" on Fabriano Artistico hot press

Now here's something different! Once upon a time, I did a very quick sketch in my sketchbook that came directly from my subconscious I think.  I thought it would make an interesting painting. You may remember that I posted the sketch here.

So I finally drew and painted this face based upon that sketch. It actually came out much as I'd envisioned it. Then I wondered what, if anything, I should do next.  What color should be used in the background?

I let the picture rest, and mulled it over. I toyed with making a softly colored background with texture. You can see my study for it below. Rather than the squares you see there though, I thought I could extend carefully selected swaths of color roughly along the lines I had drawn. Or even just one color.  Or hints of color along the lines, keeping mostly white.  But I have been hesitant to do any of it. I am concerned that adding more color will keep the face from standing out on the page.

What do you think? What would you do? I've left the white, but I can still change my mind, and very well might..that's the thing about white. 



This is my first post of the year. The end of 2011 and beginning of 2012 were full of happenings, both good and bad. I felt tossed about. That was not so good for my art or for this blog. Fortunately, the good was very good, and the bad, ultimately, not so bad, and I'm back.

The best of the best was the graduation of my son Ian from Georgia Tech with a Bachelors in Chemical Engineering. The word "proud" does not begin to describe my feelings. Congratulations, Ian! It's on to grad school now.

an ink sketch I made in GA

On the art front, I was a touch hard on myself. Ultimately two things freed me from my destructive thinking: First, a blog post at Zen Habits that I recommend, which is here, entitled, "The Best Goal is No Goal". It is freeing.

Second, I realized I was being too self-critical (a good trap for artists, I'd say). This realization came to me because of a man on tv talking about a fish. This gentleman, in a fine British accent, was extolling the virtues of the halibut. He went on and on. He said this fish was "noble" and was not like its "ugly cousins".

Really.

This gentleman did not have self-contemplation as a problem. So I needed to refocus my attention as well. It is the world that is my inspiration after all. I need to be outward looking.

So without further ado is this my quickly-penned ditty inspired by this gentleman (best read at a slow cadence in British English. You are a step ahead, if you already speak that way):

The halibut is a noble fish
Unlike his ugly flatfish cousins.
His eyes may migrate,
But he is ever faithful,
And though his eyes may roll,
The halibut is never haughty.
What can we do, but stand in awe
As we all hail the halibut, this
Helluva bit of a fish.

So if you ever have a creative block, come back to this post and read of the halibut, and you will be cured, I guarantee it.

No, you needn't thank me. It's my gift for the New Year.

Really.

Pamo vs. The Old Man (And No, I am Not Talking About Me!)

Pamo and I have finished our virtual comic Tic-Tac-Toe Game. And we have Simulblogged (or something like that) so you can see all about it!

So first please go to Pamo's blog, here, and see our finished tic-tac-toe board. There Pamo will tell you the story of our collaboration. And then - don't forget to come back!! Promise?! Come back please, and there is more..the pictures in order, and a story.

************************************************************************************

Back so soon? Great! Here are the pictures we made in order. After that is a story that Pamo wrote (and that I contributed to) that is based on the pictures:

Square 1

Square 2

Square 3

Square 4

Square 5

Square 6

Square 7

Square 8

Square 9

Pamo vs. The Old Man

Square 1

It was a sunny day full of promise and sunshine. Pamo looked at Scooter and said, “Let’s go to Circle Park and have a picnic lunch.”

“Woof! Woof!"

Square 2

Pamo and Scooter jumped in the car, top down, picnic basket in the back, excited to be going to Circle Park where the trees grow tall and the grass feels silky. “There’s that nice Old Man enjoying his daily walk.”

“Woof!”

“Hi!” Pamo shouted and began to wave. “See you in the park.”

Scooter wagged his tail and barked, “Woof! Woof!” to the bird flying above. And they continued on their winding path to Circle Park, leaving the Old Man to enjoy his exercise.

Square 3

The Old Man relies on his daily walks to keep himself in shape. He uses his cane. He doesn’t really need it much, but it keeps the dogs and birds at bay. Circle Park is the perfect place to exercise and then relax.

As the Old Man sat down on the bench, SPLAT! The bird pooped on his head!

“Darn bird! Watch where you’re flying up there,” he yelled as he shook his cane. He pulled out his handkerchief and wiped the bird poo off his head. He thought, Maybe now I can get some peace and quiet. I think I’ll just rest my eyes. He began to snore.

The bird liked the Old Man. His head was shaped like a giant cue tip, with curly cotton hair, perfect for her nest! “Tweet, tweet,” she sang and then swooped down low and PING! She plucked a strand from his head.

He woke with a start. His hand flew to his head, “Ow! Bird! Stop pestering me.” His arms shot up and he grabbed for the little bird.

Square 4

“Got you now, Bird!”

The little bird looked at the Old Man who now held her tail feathers in his hand. She dangled there not quite sure what to do.

Square 5

“Drop the bird Old Man!” Pamo couldn’t believe her eyes! What a cruel old man! Poor little bird!

Scooter sat watching the bird when suddenly Pamo threw the apple from the picnic basket at the Old Man.

Square 6

In a flash, the Old Man and Pamo balled up in a fight, the bird just above the fray. Scooter barked, “Woof! Woof!” The apple lay on the ground while the bird flew high in the sky.

Square 7

Suddenly, the Old Man went sailing overhead, the little bird soaring with him. Pamo landed on the ground while Scooter gawked in amazement.

Square 8

When the Old Man tumbled down, he was wound up like a pretzel. Pamo folded her arms, and practically floated with pride and confidence.

“Have no fear! I can fix you! I’m practically a doctor!” she said. She began to unfold the Old Man.

Square 9

The Old Man worried that all was not well. “I don’t think you fixed me right,” he said, as he looked himself over.

But Pamo knew better. She was satisfied with a job well done. She had fixed the old man, and made her dog happy too.

“Oh, you’re fine,” she said, as she bit into her sandwich. What a beautiful day it was!

Scooter was satisfied too. Oh, you’re fine, Scooter thought, as he bit into the giant and juicy bone that Pamo had given her. Pamo was wonderful! It was a great day!

And the bird was happy too. All that curly cotton hair, here for the taking, and no one seemed to care. She was going to have the best nest ever!

************************************************************************************

Thank you to Matt Madden who came up with the idea for the collaboration, which was great fun and very rewarding for Pam and me. You can see his post about it here.

101st Reunion

Valentine's Day. It's a shame I guess, that many consider it to be for the young, and I can understand why someone in a settled relationship might not celebrate Valentine's Day. It is an expense for love already shown, hopefully many times over. And if the couple has children, no matter their age or distance, the couple's thoughts are often on them.

About a year ago I saw a remarkable photo on a blog - the embrace of a mother and daughter. It had been a surprise reunion; the daughter had arrived home without an announcement and somebody snapped the shot. I was astonished at the amount of emotion displayed by the mother's face even though so little of it was revealed. And I knew I would draw the embrace some day.

The other day I pulled this photo from a file and sketched it. I attempted to reach the author of the blog to get permission but it appears that her blog is no longer active and I have no name connected to the photo or the blog. If anyone knows the name of the blogger, please let me know so that I can make a proper attribution and contact her, if possible.

This sketch was done with my Lamy Safari and Lexington grey ink. I thought I'd try Lexington Grey, inspired by many of Nina Johansson's beautiful drawings - and was a little disappointed that the grey was so dark. It still looks like a black to me. Still I love my Lamy, and I like the way the ink looks on paper.

A corner of my heart belongs to the readers of this blog, and to my artist friends on line, and the Everyday Matters Group. My last post was my 100th post. That means that this is the first of my second hundred. And that is only because of you. You have greatly enriched my life and I will be forever grateful.

So Happy Valentine's Day to you!

[4/16/11 - EDITOR'S UPDATE: I've just found out that the photo was of Linda from Quotidian Curiosities and her daughter. Thank you so much, Linda.! The link to her post with the photo is here. And she liked the drawing!]

X's and O's

Pam Huggins aka PAMO and I are doing a pictorial tic-tac-toe game. I am "X" and she is "O". The idea is to counter each other's moves and do a semi-coherent complete comic from first square to last at the same time! I have posted the last square (bottom right) above. It was great fun to draw PAMO!! I had to do the last square or Pamo would have won!

Pam has brilliantly summed up our collaboration - in cartoon- at her blog here. (If you haven't seen her cartoon on what we have done, you have got to go there - it is great fun!)

Other moves in our tic-tac-toe game are in posts here, here and here. Hmmm, looks like Pamo hasn't posted all of her squares - but we will have the whole tic-tac-toe board online for you to see if we ever finish!

Well it's been a long day, I'm tired and have little to say. So I leave you with this thought:

Life is like tic-tac-toe:
A bit of a puzzle,
A bit of a game,
And if often we can't get ahead,
We usually don't get too behind either.
And the most important thing
Beyond all else,
Are the x's and o's.
xoxoxo
Don't you think?

(Yes, I always wax poetic when I'm tired.)

Illustration Friday: Mail

For this week's Illustration Friday topic, "mail", I had a simple idea which I thought would best be illustrated simply. So I drew it rather quickly in ink on a large sheet with a Sharpie.

* * *

A: (Wide-eyed) Is that IT? Is that the whole post? That couldn't be all there is - not in Dan Kent's blog! He always has something to say!

B: (Frowning) Too much to say if you ask me. The man doesn't know when to shut up!

A: (With derision) So, who asked you?

* * *

Well, it does seem like a rather short post, and I do happen to have a true story about the mail that springs to mind.

* * *

A: (Delighted) See?

B: (Throwing up his hands) Oh Brother.

* * *

I remember a sunny day a few years ago when a letter arrived in the mail at our home. The letter was scented with perfume and my name and address were written with beautiful penmanship on the envelope, as only a lady could write it.

"What's this?" my wife demanded. She handed me the letter.

I inhaled the sweet scent and examined the envelope. It was addressed to Fr. Daniel Kent. A small bead of sweat rolled down my forehead, although I knew I was innocent - really I did.

I opened the letter. My wife leaned toward me. I leaned back and cupped my hands over the paper as I read the long handwritten letter. It turns out that the woman was hoping I was the Daniel Kent she had known. She was depressed and wanted help. She was writing to the man that had been her priest.

I handed my wife the letter. "How could you ever have doubted me?" I asked, wondering all the while what would have happened had the contents of the letter been different.

I located Father Kent through the local archdiocese, and forwarded him the letter. He said he'd call the woman. We spoke on the phone and exchanged holiday cards for a few years. And that was that.

Sometimes, even now, on sunny days when the postal worker is walking up our steps, I feel a cold breeze carrying a sweet scent. At those times I shutter, wondering what is about to be delivered.

* * *

B: (Pretending to gag) Shmaltzy. I hope he's done.

A: (Indignant, with hands on hips) Aw come on, that was a great story and you know it!

B: (Brows furrowing, crossing his arms) Hmmmph.

* * *

Happy holidays everyone!

The Bald Truth

Welcome to the celebration! Come on in - grab some chips! So good to see you!

The plates are over there. The drinks are in the cooler.

What's the occasion, you ask? Of course, you wouldn't know - would you? Why, this is the first time that a painting on canvas has ever been featured at Dan's Canvas!

Yeah, go figure. After many years, I picked up the acrylic paints, and a small 8" x 8" canvas, and decided not to try too hard or take it too seriously, just get my brushes wet, grab a clock as a model, and see what happens. In the process I dripped some paint on the yellow border so rather than wipe it away, I decided to put some splashes of color around the clock. Then I wiped on some titanium white to soften the border area and they smeared a bit. The result is "Confetti Clock." Appropriate for the occasion, don't you think?

I'd like to introduce you to some other folks I've invited to the party. My most eminent guest is Richard Serra. Yeah, the sculptor. You can see one of his works behind him. I was watching an art documentary and his face was so interesting that I paused the documentary, and drew him in vine charcoal. The drawing is about 7" x 10".

Then later this week I was watching a good movie but grew restless anyway. My trusty Pigma Micron is never too far away, so I grabbed an envelope and began sketching from a photo that was on the cover of a magazine while I watched. The drawing on the right is the result.

Would you like another drink? There are some hors d'oeuvres over here.

It is definitely freeing to draw on an envelope and not worry about how it's going to come out. I also knew that there would never be watercolor added to this one, so I was able to really play with hatching to get the values. There is something to be said for grabbing loose sheets of paper, envelopes, whatever, to draw on - no pressure, all joy.

Once, a very long time ago, I snapped the picture of a crowd at Disney. In the crowd was this man on the left who has a very strong face, I think. He looks to me like a hero, a 9/11 firefighter. I had read about sketching in charcoal on canvas and spraying the charcoal drawing before painting and wanted to try it. This will be painted someday, but not until I feel somewhat competent in acrylics. He's waited this long. He can wait some more.

What's that? I can't hear you. Do you want to step outside?

Man, look at that that cool shadow on the wall! Let me just quickly snap this shot for Shadow Shot Sunday. Okay. Now what is it?

Oh, you notice that all the other guests at this party are bald? No worries - it is required that you be bald to attend this party, but I have the electric razor just over here. It shouldn't take more than a minute. Come with me.

Hey where are you going? Leaving so soon?!

Diving Right In (Ripple and Shadow Shot Sunday)

The heartbreak of the Gulf oil gusher: as many as 2.5 million gallons per day rush into the Gulf in a giant plume. Four hundred wildlife species are threatened, to say nothing of the economic damage and harm to our coasts. The largest oil spill in United States history does not cease. It spills and spills and spills. Since April 20th, from 67 million to 127 million gallons have spilled. It is difficult to imagine such numbers.

But it is easy to imagine a brown pelican in the paradise of the blue sky diving unwittingly towards the spill.

At Ripple, artists are invited to portray a subject that "should pertain somehow to the Gulf - the oil spill - the oceans and the creatures that live in it and around it." According to Kelly Light, "It's about not feeling helpless in the face of an overwhelming disaster. We're illustrators. We don't lose touch with that kid inside who marvels at the creatures who swim below and fly above the sea. We draw them. We are inspired by them. We need to help them."

Her request is that the artist create "a small 2.5" x 3.5" sketchcard. The cards can be submitted to ripplesketches@verizon.net as a jpeg along with your links and a few sentences about you (ie: where you live, etc). .. These will be made available for a small donation of $10.00 to either The Institute for Marine Mammal Studies (http://www.imms.org/) or The International Bird Rescue Research Center (http://www.ibrrc.org/). .. Every penny will go. When the cards sell, we ask for a donation confirmation and you will be asked to sign the back with a thank you. Then mail them to the address you are sent."

Kelly says that "we may be too small as individuals to do some grand gesture- but together our small gestures can be grand."

I am privileged to have found a beautiful photograph at flickr upon which to base my card. The photo is by Ingrid Taylar whose inspired photographs of wildlife and nature can also be found at her website, The Free Quark. I call my contribution, "Last Dive".

I've recently purchased a few books on drawing hands. I'd like to be able to form hands in many different positions, almost without thought. These sketches of the back of the hand are copied from The Book of a Hundred Hands by George B. Bridgman, a book originally published in 1920. The other book I purchased is Drawing Dynamic Hands by Burne Hogarth, first published almost 60 years after the first. I am only just beginning this study, and as I progress I will give you my thoughts on the usefulness of the books.

One day I carried the wrong Moleskine with me - my other Moleskine, the one with the thick yellow paper that can only be drawn in and that will not take watercolors. As with most errors in art, this was fortuitous. It had been some time since I'd sketched a person without anticipating the watercolor later. I tend to minimize the inking when I know I am going to color (although judging from Raena's recent amazing colored sketch of a turtle, this thinking may be wrong). I saw a man with a very interesting face, and drew with much more detail than I would have done otherwise, just like the old days. I really do love bare pen and ink.

Finally, I contribute a shadow shot for Shadow Shot Sunday. I was struck by these odd bushes with their elongated shadows. I like taking photographs as exercises in composition, and had an interesting time with this one. I had considered cropping lower on the trees to emphasize the foreground. But ultimately I decided that a relatively equal field of blue above the trees, and green below the bushes was the most visually pleasing view.













Well, that's got to be three serious posts in a row, I think - this blog is going to lose it's reputation for mindless frivolity. I hope to correct that in the next post.

UPDATE: The Ripple sketch sold..

In Memory of Taylor Nicole

This year my daughter Taylor would have been sweet sixteen had things been different. But she was born with a defective heart. Despite heroic efforts on the part of the medical team at Jackson Memorial Hospital, and a successful heart operation, her lungs would not adjust to the corrected blood flow.

My wife and I were changed by her short life. There was beauty, and there was horror. We were enriched, and we were broken.

This year during a Spring cleaning, I found a poem that I wrote on May 10, 1994, within a month of Taylor's death. It is raw, and speaks of the separate struggles that my wife and I had to endure. People cope and mourn in altogether different and sometimes seemingly incompatible ways. That we grew to understand this was the reason, I believe, that we survived the loss as a couple, when many under similar circumstances do not.

Until this poem was found, nobody - not even my wife, had read it. The last line of the poem seems to point towards where we are today: we find much to appreciate and enjoy about our lives. I was tempted to extend the line length, and change a few words here and there, but it is probably better to present it as it was written.

So let this poem be a tribute to Taylor's memory, and a testament to all who lose a loved one and especially a child, that you can and will make it beyond the loss, with time.

In memory of Taylor Nicole Kent
(March 11, 1994 to April 18, 1994)

Sweet angel,
The family trembles.

Rocks crumble
Beneath your short existence,
In aftershock.

The mother's dream
Inexorably
Slips through
Trembling hands.
The father drops to his knees
To recover what he can.

Time falls heavenward.

Lifelong companions
Thrash,
Amidst merciless rapids,
Unable to grasp one another,
Except
Occasionally.

The mother drowns in
Your assaulted purity:
In you, the candle,
The innocent flame,
Hacked
To pieces;
In you, the baby's breath,
Smothered
By her own traitorous
Lungs.

The Father is dragged
Downward; his kicks,
His struggling arms,
Amount to nothing;
He breathes alone.
He buries himself in
All things living,
Excavating
The pain of your absence
From them.

He enfolds himself
As a cocoon
Around your brother, and
He touches your mother
As a precious jewel.
Light, deflected
From the prismatic well,
Is dim,
But an occasional flicker
Or spark, makes him dare
To Hope.

The Poor Stepchild

In my poor stepchild of a Moleskine - the one that doesn't take watercolor - I sketch, I experiment, and I play. The exploding mandala, of a couple posts back, was in there, and much crazier stuff too that won't see the light of day. On some pages I literally just scribble (with style). On one page, I create faces from imagination to find out what comes to me without actually looking at a person - to check what I know automatically. Raena was doing this on her blog the other day.

It is necessary for growth to do the rough and ready that no one will ever see, I think. But here's a peek inside. You can pretend that the rest of the stuff in there is just like these.

I'd like that.

I usually don't carry this other moleskine with me, but one day I found myself sitting in a waiting room for some time and drew the bamboo plant on the right.

One thing that I've been doing, and plan to do more of, is to copy sketches of other artists. This is in the hope that I might divine what they are doing, and learn something for myself. I was delighted to find out that Nancy has been doing the same thing, though much more methodically. Great minds think alike, eh, Nancy? Anyway, I didn't spend any real time doing these, I tried to sketch quickly but follow the lines of the artists themselves - to get a feel how they would do it. I wasn't worried about being exactly correct, and that is good because they are not.

My copy of a the sketch of a little girl by Jean-Antoine Watteau is on the right. He drew his version in the 1700's. Amazing how we must learn again what people already knew so well, so long ago, before we can progress.


I've been quite impressed with everything about Andrew Wyeth's Helga drawings and paintings. I copied some of his sketches too.

These are copies of his sketches that are in the book Andrew Wyeth, The Helga Pictures (1987), by John Wilmerding, which is a picture book, mostly. His sketches, his watercolors, and his drybrush are phenomenal.

On the left I drew the arm twice, because I hadn't captured the subtle turns in the line the first time. I can do anything in this book!


This other Moleskine is almost full, and there was a time that I wondered whether I would ever buy another, with its thick yellow pages, useless for watercolors. But I will, because in it I can be free! And there is no end to what you can do with such a book (just plug the words Moleskine Detour in the search at Youtube and you will see what I mean.)

So adopt a poor stepchild. The reward will be yours.

Our Tilted World

I've been away from this blog for eighteen whole days since my last post, and it's felt like forever. As Ellen so elequently described my family's last few months in her kind note: "Sometimes it seems like the world has just tipped over and none of those close to us can get their footing." And it has been just like that.

Thankfully, though, those I love are coping with their losses, as hard as they are, and overcoming their illnesses and dealing with their medical conditions. They are resilient and strong and admirable. At their age, octogenarians, they should be relaxing and enjoying, but that is not the way it is, apparently, and some of their greatest challenges occur in those years.

I should have realized this, of course. That this is not the way it is. The world is, after all, tilted. To be precise, our Earth has a tilt of 22.4 degrees. Not a single globe on this earth is upright. A reminder for the new year, I think. Each year we want the next year to be perfect. But it never is, of course.

Why not? Because our world is tilted.

And I can live with that. I have to. In fact, I want to.

All in all, 2009 has been a good year. I started my blog in March 2009 and returned to art after a quarter of a century. I have made new friends online - wonderful friends - you have been so encouraging, and I am more grateful than I can say. I have learned much, and have so opened the floodgates of creativity that it is sometimes hard to think about anything else. The blog has fed the art, and the art has fed the blog. I began painting in watercolors, and learn more about the medium each day. And I so appreciate the warm wishes all of you sent my way when things grew a bit harder.

Today I am excited about 2010. So many possibilities. There are so many, I don't know which way to go! The world wobbles as it turns, don't you think? The drawing above is a fun development for me. I've been drawing with waterproof ink. Above, I tried using water soluble ink intentionally, first drawing with the pen and then using a brush to spread the ink. How can I use this?! I can't wait to explore.

I have a new, artist quality set of watercolors that I am just beginning to use. I will continue to sketch in public. I sketched the gentleman on the left through a window, although I colored it later with the new paints. After I sketched this man - I call him Boris - I handed the drawing to my 9-year-old nephew Jake. Jake walked straight to the window directly in front of Boris, looked down at the drawing, up at Boris, down at the drawing, and up at Boris again. Tell me, do you think the man noticed? What a hoot! Somehow there is always a surprise when I sketch in public.

I have been totally taken lately with the Helga paintings of Andrew Wyeth. His watercolors have depth, atmosphere, feeling. He uses a dry brush technique, which I would like to explore. I have spent hours staring at his sketches, studies and finished paintings in the book, Andrew Wyeth: The Helga Pictures, by John Wilmerding. You can almost see how he does it. Almost, but not quite. He uses pencil, and then paints, so I decided to do the drawing on the right at the same restaurant as Boris in pencil, rather than in pen, as a first attempt. I expect to do more of this.

I am glad that the world is tilted. So many facets, so many angles, so many possibilities! There is nothing dull about it! So much to think about, and so much to do!

Happy New Year! May you perch yourself on your tilted world and laugh at the joy of it in 2010!

On the Road

Well, Raena, I too hit the road! We took two days to drive from Miami, Florida to Richmond, Virginia. As we drove through Central Florida, I was able to sit back and sketch what I saw and then apply the watercolors. I tried out some new paper, Fabriano 140 lb. rough, which had a really nice texture and feel.

I was attracted to the shape of the electric posts and I thought, that's great, I will keep having new examples to draw. But after I drew the first one, the posts changed to an entirely different shape. Now, why on earth would that be? So I can complain all I want about people moving when I want to draw them, but this time it was me that was moving! Serves me right, I guess.

We stayed overnight the first evening in the beautiful city of Savannah, Georgia and had dinner at the Cotton Exchange Tavern & Restaurant. I had grouper stuffed with crabmeat; a baked potato; some vegetable or other; and a beer called Fat Tire Amber Ale, smooth and flavorful. So wonderful..

Satiated, I pulled out my Lamy and my Moleskine, and sketched an unsuspecting target in a booth at the end of the room. The waitress loved the fact that I was sketching this poor gent and she approved the likeness. As a result, she got a big tip.

A few days later, we visited Monticello in Virginia, Thomas Jefferson's stately home. I had planned on sketching a few of the flowers that he had grown in his garden but it started to pour, and that was that. I only had time for a quick sketch of one. My wife took photos of some of the other flowers though, so I may complete this yet, though not in the way I had intended.





And this is the as yet uncolored view from my hotel room in Savannah. Because of time constraints, this was also a pretty quick sketch. I think it kind of looks like the sort of drawing you would find in a coloring book - with good reason. Eventually I will apply the watercolors, and share the result with you. I took a photo so I could see the colors. Though not as good as painting from life, it will do as a handy substitute.


So now I'm home. Work has begun. School has begun. But it's not the end of the road, even if I do live at the beginning of I-95. Not by a mile.

Strangers and Yet Connected

The first drawing I made in my watercolor Moleskine (which is almost full now) was of people lined up at Chipotle Grill. I only just got around to coloring it. I did this at Chipotle looking at another group of people. That way I could observe the light source which made the final project better, I think, than if I had colored it at home using my imagination.

Strangers all, but somehow I can relate to each and every one of them.

My son Ian showed me a video on YouTube of a famous father and son in Afro-Cuban Jazz, a wonderful genre of music that we know very well in South Florida. If you haven't heard this form of music, and are curious, one of our public radio stations, WDNA, plays a lot of it. You can listen to the station here.

Anyway, the father is Bebo Valdes (I am a fan), and the son is Chucho Valdes. Both are pianists. The video is here The pair was estranged for 18 years according to the video, and they still see very little of each other. Even so, the father-son connection when they play together is very strong, and in this video the way they interact with one another through their music is quite moving.

The video was filmed employing very strong lighting, with the two pianists (and pianos) facing one another. So I had to draw them, right?

A Subject to Talk About

Remarks about this picture:

By the Subject: [Groan.]

By the Subject's mom: "Well, there's a likeness sure, but he's much better looking than that. [Pause.] Don't tell anyone who it is."

By the Subject's aunt: "Don't you ever draw me, y'hear?"

I thought their comments were hilarious.

In truth, I think that the three of them would be much happier with the picture if it looked something like this:


And maybe they're right.





It's something to talk about anyway.


The pictures in this post were both drawn from life in a Moleskine with a Lamy Safari fountain pen using Noodlers ink, and colored with watercolors.

What Has One Body, Three Heads and No Feet? Answer: This Post!

The gal on the left walked away from Einstein's Bagels before I could draw her feet. There's some irony in that, isn't there?

The two floating heads on the right (from Chipotle Grill) are in my other Moleskine. The paper in that other Moleskine doesn't accept watercolors which is fine with me, since occasionally I just want to be free! Trying to find the ideal balance between detail in the ink drawing and the watercolor can be tiring, and this gives me a break from that struggle. (Not to mention the fact that I am still acquiring my watercolor chops.) At this point I am leaning towards more detail in the drawing - it doesn't seem to hurt the result.

Anyway, I carry both Moleskines around with me, often wearing my Lamy Safari (fountain pen) in my front pocket. I've become quite the art nerd, don't you think?

I have several small Moleskine works in process - none are finished yet. One I am particularly excited about (fingers are crossed). These will be posted in the weeks to come.

But today I leave you with these few small sketches and, as an art nerd, I feel I must provide a challenging word problem as well. Here it is:

Two floating heads plus one figure minus two feet, equals what exactly?

Er, you are good at math, aren't you?