True story: we found an old reel to reel tape recorder in the basement of a log cabin in the Catskills this week. It was lying on a table next to a human skin-bound copy of the Necronomicon but the power was out and we can't read whatever that weird blood-ink language was written in. Probably for the best.
The Log Cabin
To be honest - I've been meaning to ask NYPD officers to pose wearing my donut cloisonne pins for months but I lacked the balls to ask. My 7 year old knew this and prodded me at the perfect opportunity today until I relented. They were so unbelievable cool about it...
get yours here
Looking back two sketchbooks ago I found some pleasingly beautiful botanical and seascape studies. I'm interested in seeing what they would look like scaled up (22" x 30" and 50" x 30") and drawn with pen & ink and intense watercolor.
The whole word measures about 21" across but will be shrunk down to 15" or 16" as a silkscreen print.
Drawing varying line widths is the most satisfying part of the inking process. If I don't exercise patience when applying 3, 4, 5 layers of ink I inevitably smear wet ink spots with my wrist.
A portion of the drawing for a Primus silkscreened (edition of 200) show poster for the summer.
![I rejected this first round because proportions were off (a painful exercise because this took a couple of [wasted] hours to draw). I especially didn't like how high the letters reached into what will eventually be the middle of the poster. It looks…](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5005fc2ee4b09ef22529406a/1491511218590-3JJM459QF2KBWIQCAKT9/image-asset.jpeg)
I rejected this first round because proportions were off (a painful exercise because this took a couple of [wasted] hours to draw). I especially didn't like how high the letters reached into what will eventually be the middle of the poster. It looks weirdly blocky because I always draw these with straight lines to get relative measurements correct before curving the, uh, curvy parts.
My 2-person exhibition with the great Renee French "Teachers from Memory" is live online, though the actual opening at La Luz de Jesus in Los Angeles is on May 8 from 6-8 pm. See descriptions of the teachers here.
I like to imagine there's a company that makes pink tires meant only for the sides of tug boats. so I made a sign. I think I'll make more. Maybe with a yellow background instead of white?
10" x 14" pen and ink on paper 2017
Click for more like this.....22" x 30" 2017 Tugboat pen & ink and watercolor on paper
22" x 30" pen & ink and watercolor. Click for more.
If there was once a special brand of tires used exclusively for the sides of tugboats this would be an antique enameled metal side advert you might see in a nice Austrian restaurant today for decoration.
3-8-17 sketchbook
I've recently become more interested in drawing from life. Too early for an appointment in SOHO and with unseasonably warm temperatures, I found a great bench to sit on overlooking Lafayette and Broome street with a view of 240 Centre Street: the former Police HQ where I quickly sketched this page. Built from 1905-1909, it was used by New York's Finest until 1978. In 1988 it was converted to luxury condominiums because, of course it was.
sketchbook
Tug 'n Hug, 2017. Pen & ink and watercolor on paper. 6 ft. x 4 ft.
to show scale of drawing^
Adrian (next door neighbor) Triptych. 20" x 66" pen & ink and watercolor on paper. 2017.
