DATE: 07/17/2008 17:31:08 / MOOD: other

I just posted two drawings from a recent life drawing session.  For the past couple of weeks I've been working on a portrait of a young Navy man.  Will post it here when it's done.

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DATE: 06/21/2008 09:08:30 / MOOD: other

I just posted two paintings done in 2003.  Both Olympia and Carol are of my mother.  They were part of a series called "Old Times" that focused on aging.  My mother was a wonderful woman: very outgoing, active, social, full of fun, smart, independent, and strong.  She was smoker, though, and contracted throat cancer.  After battling it for several years, it finally took her life in 1991.  I handled it very poorly at the time.  In 2003, while working on the "Old Times" series, I created these two paintings and revisited my emotions.  The process was a catharsis of sorts - I worked through a lot of unfinished business.  And I think Mom would be proud of the paintings.

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DATE: 06/09/2008 21:26:25 / MOOD: other

I just posted a couple of drawings.  Haven't been around at all this past month due to all sorts of other things getting in the way: travel, courtroom art duties, getting ready for our semi-annual Studio Stroll that's coming up this next weekend, and just plain being lazy.  You know how it goes.  I keep hoping that once we get past the Stroll that I'll be able to get back to drawing and painting again.  Then again, I keep hoping the Easter Bunny will visit!

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DATE: 05/18/2008 17:05:42 / MOOD: other

I just uploaded two more courtroom drawings.  These were done for our local TV station's news coverage of the trial of a former sheriff.  I did the pencil drawings on hot-pressed watercolor paper in the courtroom, then laid on the watercolor washes back at the news truck.  The trial finished up last week (he was convicted on all counts) and I'm still trying to catch up on everything that got put on "hold"!

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DATE: 05/05/2008 21:36:22 / MOOD: other

I just posted two more drawings from today's coutroom session.  The drawings are getting a little better, I think.  For one thing, this is Day 5, and after all this practice, they SHOULD get better.  But an artist acquaintance of mine is a good friend of Bill Robles, who has done all the high-profile LA cases since Manson, including OJ, Michael Jackson, Paris Hilton, and more.  I took a look at his stuff online and he's good, so I tried stealing some of his traits in order to make mine a bit more interesting.  Will continue to do so as long as this case drags out, and I'll continue to post some of them here.

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DATE: 05/01/2008 21:50:31 / MOOD: other

I've been busy this week working as the courtroom artist for our local TV station.  A former sheriff is on trial for embezzlement, mail fraud, and skimming money from illegal video poker machines.  I've worked with this station as a courtroom artist before, but this is a pretty big case and will keep me busy for quite a while.  This kind of gig is lots of fun: you have to work fast in situations where you've got a lousy view, normally of just the backs of their heads, and there's the time pressure of having it done for the next broadcast that's coming up at 5 o'clock no matter what.  I'm working with a mechanical pencil on hot-pressed watercolor paper in the courtroom, then lay on washes of color when I get back to the news truck.  I just posted two of the drawings and will probably post a few more if anybody's interested.

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DATE: 04/20/2008 09:59:02 / MOOD: other

I just posted two new paintings.  One of them, "Rollo the Clown", was done in my life drawing session.  It's a 2-hour pose done from life.  Having an honest-to-God clown as our model was a hoot - not only was she an unusual model, but also much more challenging than she may have appeared.  It was a fun session.  The other painting, "Back to School", is more of my political commentary.  I've been wondering what life would be like if we were facing the same conflicts in America that they're facing in Iraq.  Or if you took the NRA's positions to their logical extreme.  Hey, it's satire, folks!  (I feel I have to explain this for the same reasons that airliners have signs on the door saying "Do not open in flight" ... for 99% of us it's a "well, duhh"; but there's always that 1% ...)

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DATE: 04/14/2008 21:24:39 / MOOD: other

My painting Warrior was just awarded First Place in a nationwide competition.  Warrior is in my Gallery section; it's the one of the soldier in the wheelchair.  The competition was for Iraq memorial art and was sponsored by Art Cries Out.  You can see more at their web site, www.artcriesout.com.  To say that I'm excited is an understatement ... I'm bouncing off the walls!

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DATE: 04/08/2008 22:04:12 / MOOD: other

I just posted a couple of new figure sketches.  These were drawn from life, very loosely, in pen.  Later I hit them with several layers of watercolors.  Lots of fun to do - very different from my "serious" paintings!

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