Flowerball 2

Study for a larger ball

Prospect Park doodles

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When first I moved from Manhattan to Brooklyn in 1998 I was struck by the differences in park lamps between those in Central Park (Manhattan) and those in Prospect Park (Brooklyn). The Manhattan lamps were ornate with beautiful details - really gorgeous. The lamps in Prospect Park were cheap, shitty imitations of the nicer Manhattan lamps. Today, 19 years later, I saw (and drew both here) many of the shitty Prospect Park lamps were replaced with the nicer (though not quite as “genuine” looking as the ones in Central Park, if my memory is correct) with better versions. Notice how on the shitty lamps the metal strips on the sides (swipe to the image to the left) don’t even bother to reach the bottom metal ring holding the glass in place. It used to infuriate me, but I’m glad there are nicer lamps in Brooklyn now - so - happy days.

Pneumothorax

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One reason I draw at all is because it helps be figure stuff out. Last Sunday I was introduced to the incredible world of the pneumothorax. I was skateboarding at Pier 62 in Manhattan and fell 6 feet, flat on my back on the bottom of a cement ramp. There was a loud, weird popping 🔅🔆noise and a dude ran up to me as I lay trying to gain my breath after having the worst wind-knocked-out-of-me I’ve ever experienced. He thought I broke my wrist. Nope. My (padded) wrists are good. My back hurt though. So I ran back up the ramp with my board, took off my pads (I forgot to wear a helmet - so so so fucking dumb - and lucky I didn’t hit my head) changed shoes, slung my backpack 🎒 over my shoulder and walked about 3 blocks to a cab 🚕 . The adrenaline 💉 was wearing off during the traffic choked ride to Brooklyn and holy shit - I started to finally think, what the fuck did I do to myself?! I changed the destination of the cab from home to the emergency🏥 room near to where I live and checked myself in, barely standing, pouring sweat from the pain. Craziest ER experience of my life. 30 hours long - no sleep. It was like a corny Norman Rockwell painting: me laid out on an ER stretcher with my skateboard taking up 1/2 the bed where my legs should be. So many crazy 😜 stories/patient encounters from those 30 hours. I eventually learned I have 5 broken ribs, one of which punctured a lung and collapsed part of it. A pneumothorax is where there’s a hole in your lung from which air escapes and collects, trapped in the pleura surrounding your lungs. There isn’t much room for extra shenanigans in that area (our bodies are so amazingly 😉 incredibly evolved and efficient!!!) so the large air bubble starts to shove up against your heart - which could spell disaster☠️. So they insert a tube under your armpit and thread it toward the air sack to suck the fuck out of it (plus to get the liquidy gunk that collects there) out of the way. That way your lungs can reinflate properly and your heart isn’t in danger of malfunctioning. Glad I’m not a smoker 💨 because it would have been way worse, and recovery would have been more painful and take longer. Pretty amazing procedure - from the very idea to do it, to the material science🔬 that goes into the flexibility of the tube and the system they use to insert the tube - to the vacuum unit they hook up to it to monitor the stuff it sucks ⚡️out. I love that shit!! After 3 days of lung slurping in the hospital (and being attached to the weird vacuum thing) it worked perfectly. They pulled it out (holy shit the burning 🔥 during that short yank) and slapped a shitton of bandages 🤕over the hole. Now I just gotta keep my lungs inflated 🎈 and let my ribs 🍖 heal on their own. Also, pay the medical bills 💸 and try to show my wonderful and amazing loving wife ❤️ how much I appreciate her help and support (while she was taking care of our kids and working full time).

Star Island sketchbook for the week

Sketchbook stuff from Star Island (NH) last week, part of the Isle of Shoals

Sketches

1/6 - Some new sketches that in the fall, will become giant fuckin' sexpot color bombs.🍆🌮

Camp 'n Sketch

Old Sketchbook Sunday

I can't stand sitting around doing nothing so when our family went to the beach I decided to bring a shitty old notebook and broken-down brush pen along with me. I don't want to get sand in my current sketchbook and I thought it'd be nice to do quick sketched where nothing was too precious. I need practice anyway. Now it seems it's the perfect thing to carry with me anywhere I go since I'd much rather pass the time sketching than searching Twitter hoping to see that impeachment proceedings have begun.

Filthy Rose along Ocean Parkway in Brooklyn

progress of sketch to large finished watercolor - images added as they are completed in stages... more like this