Mark Burt, of the amazing mind and pen of C. Mark Burt, asked for a small sketch with head, body, legs. He's got a serial sketch thing going. This what I found in the sketchpad and ink well.
Hope it works for his assignment. He said "the radium the better." Hm. I'm afraid this fellow's radiality is quiemus. .
Monday, December 21, 2009
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Alonzo Maxile, Jr, with a title and proper respect
In Albrecht Durer's age, artists sometimes put the name of their subject on the canvas beside the portrait. It was a variation that has always attracted me, somehow.
I've taken the idea of painting the name of the subject on the canvas and made it larger, bolder and more modern. Subject-wise, Alonzo is no longer a characterful black man, a stock figure. This piece proclaims his name in attention-getting form, both with a classic calligraphic edge to the lettering as well as with an idiosyncratic spacing of the letters on the canvas. In the spacing I was influenced by an antique map that I found online of Terra Incognita America.
This is my idea of a good Christmas card. Happy holidays, Xmas 09, all!
Please check the fresh link in the title box to viewing a range of my sketches.
I've taken the idea of painting the name of the subject on the canvas and made it larger, bolder and more modern. Subject-wise, Alonzo is no longer a characterful black man, a stock figure. This piece proclaims his name in attention-getting form, both with a classic calligraphic edge to the lettering as well as with an idiosyncratic spacing of the letters on the canvas. In the spacing I was influenced by an antique map that I found online of Terra Incognita America.
This is my idea of a good Christmas card. Happy holidays, Xmas 09, all!
Please check the fresh link in the title box to viewing a range of my sketches.
Saturday, December 05, 2009
While listening to Regina Spektor
What a lovely and thoughtful songwriter and performer she is. Heard an interview at NPR.org.
Friday, December 04, 2009
Friday, November 20, 2009
Edward Plankton, 1954, Shreveport
Driving through Shreveport on his way from Cleveland to New Orleans, music promoter Edward Plankton stops to enjoy a Saturday night at the Louisiana Hayride.
Alonzo Maxile, Jr / a study
Not happy with this sketch but this work-in-progress, a presentation of a striking and warm downtown denizen named Alonzo Maxile, Jr, is driving me. I shot 4 photos of him on Spring St during the Revel and he was soft-spoken, kind and sort of magnetic. Hope to find him again over the holidays and to find a fluent way of capturing his holiness.
Hilaire Manteaux - a study in Warholia
Soon I will be exploring the Andy Warhol blotted-line technique. It involves India ink and Strathmore paper and I am excited about the possibilities. This portrait of Hilaire Manteaux was a first run, but without the ink. Nonetheless, I think of this sketch as evocative of the early Warhol illustration style.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Vis a vis / Robert Trudeau 08
The aching difficulty of appropriate communication.
Sometimes we become patchy-headed robots when we cannot gather the personal resources needed for effective communication.
"You made a mistake. I've been wounded."
"I know. But that's as good as I can get it right now. Mistaken and wounding."
"Can't you see it as I do?"
"Essentially, my understanding is limited. Why can't You see it as I do?"
"You are frustrating."
"Sadly, so are you."
You can see some degree of warmth as well as obtuse distance in the figures. Facing each other, they are looking past each other. They've shaved their heads in mourning, in sacrifice. Otherwise, the terrain is that of a cold, denuded battlefield.
Yet the idea of a struggle to get past the ramparts is implied.
Sometimes we become patchy-headed robots when we cannot gather the personal resources needed for effective communication.
"You made a mistake. I've been wounded."
"I know. But that's as good as I can get it right now. Mistaken and wounding."
"Can't you see it as I do?"
"Essentially, my understanding is limited. Why can't You see it as I do?"
"You are frustrating."
"Sadly, so are you."
You can see some degree of warmth as well as obtuse distance in the figures. Facing each other, they are looking past each other. They've shaved their heads in mourning, in sacrifice. Otherwise, the terrain is that of a cold, denuded battlefield.
Yet the idea of a struggle to get past the ramparts is implied.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Jambo
Jamming on a rug, on a face, on a mass of knots tied in woolen thread. Got to do another one like this. The improv nature of this one has a certain appeal, but I'd like to see one executed with more deliberation.
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
Cole Porter & Josephine Baker in New Orleans
Yes, they fell in love in Paris and, despite his marriage and other liaisons, shipped out for a sortie to New Orleans. There they stayed at the Roosevelt Hotel on Canal St and hung out, incognito, in the Blue Room. Their after-hours suppers at Bailey's were part of the legend of the Roosevelt.
Billie the Kid and his mane
Is there anything more joyously eye-catching than a fine hat? Well, yes, there is. But in this sketch it's the hat and people who know how to purchase and wear them that's up front. And what of a finely processed head of hair? Equally righteous, I'd say.
I plan more sketch work on Billie but as a character he's part of my pantheon.
I plan more sketch work on Billie but as a character he's part of my pantheon.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
The new interlocutor / trudeau 09
Since this is one of my favorite images, I've redone it in cross-hatching. If you search for Interlocutor you will see my explication of this sketch - the tendrils go in many directions.
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
Creole riders, almost done
Cold Carnival. Most of them are cold. And it's raining. Sobers you. Still, there might be jolly fun ahead. You go with the ritual and see where it leads.
Creole men can find fun even when it's hiding.
Creole men can find fun even when it's hiding.
Thursday, January 01, 2009
Smile, Shreveport / Trudeau 08
With population sliding and the recession making itself felt more clearly, it is reasonable to offer this encouragement. Shreveport may not be handsome, but a smile makes it better.
Rabbin
Secular priest, and all that. Since this site is composed largely of works in progress, it's good Rabbin finds a place here.
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