ruff stick man/leaf animation

Just a couple of scenes for a short short film- all done on post it note pads. I hesitate to even call it a film but there is a little hint of a story here. I just missed flipping paper that's why I chose to embark on this little project for myself- trust me, staying up until 4 am every night scanning these little guys in is starting to wear me down. It takes longer to scan everything in and composite it than it does to animate these- but there's really no other way to share them.

R train drawing

Riding the N/R train home late last Saturday from the Draw-a-thon,I sketched this woman while she was sleeping. There was a religious fanatic rambling about loudly. I ignored him but a few words crept into my consciousness. Words like "women","alcohol" and "Jesus". I thought that drawing him would require too much effort, especially if we were to make eye contact. Rather, I pretended I was asleep, hopped off the train at Union Street and headed straight for Canal Bar.

Post its from breakfast Saturday

Keeping a pad of post it notes in my back pocket is something I picked up from my good friend Sean. In Brooklyn he’s known as Canadian Sean, not to be confused with Sean McBride- American Sean. What’s great about post its or napkins is that you don’t feel the pressure to draw when you’re not in the mood, unlike always lugging around a bulky sketchbook crying for you to draw in it- like a spoiled fat kid, begging his mother for more ice cream.
No disrespect to the sketchbook though- I just cleaned up my closet and must have stacked a few dozen from the last 3 years. Looking around my apartment floor now I see piles of yellow rectangles, and a whole lot of them crumpled up as well, and I wonder where all of them will end up, if not in a shoebox on the corner of Carroll and 3rd avenue next to the trash bins.

post its

Out at Canal bar to hang out with Melissa- brought me Post it's along and a pen and sketched some people.

Out at the Tea Lounge on Friday with my good friend Greg- I brought along some post it notes and had some fun.

character design studies

I'm going through the process of organizing the files on my computer- and I found these, 2 studies for a 'goth' girl for a small project for a really solid and entertaining documentary film called "No Manifesto" about the U.K. band The Manic Street Preachers.All the animation is nearly done and I can't wait to show it! The final design of the girl looks nothing like these first quick sketches, but I had to do these in order to get the final look down. I'll post up some more when it's all done- until then, be nice to one another- and share, for the love of god!!!!!!

Sunday Eve Doodlin'

As a busy couple of weeks approaches I figure I'd doodle a bunch on a Sunday night and share one with y'all.

Comic Page

Page 2 of a 5 page comic- the first and hopefully not the last!

Cricket Players in the Park

I just love watching these guys in prospect park playing Cricket. If I knew the rules I'd probably join in. One evening after indoor soccer a couple of years back at the Grand Saloon bar, my friend Andy once explained the game to me using sugar packets. 6 pints later, I don't think I really understood much more about the sport, but was intrigued by the fact that they break for tea.
As for the volleyballers, I really don't have much to say, other than, I hope they at least get dates or meet people. Why else subject your forearms to the repeated slapping of a ball?

making a new portfolio

A compilation of some recent quick portraits done at the Brooklyn Brewery a few weeks back with Sean and Z. The past few weeks I've been assembling a new portfolio, throwing out the old and ushering in the new drawings that will best represent me at this moment in time- which leads me to think that in another few years I'll have long forgotten about these sketches. If I come across them in the future I'll probably cringe at the sight of them- but that's okay, it will have meant that I've improved.

tea lounge sketches

I think that the New York Yankees won tonight, however, I’m not sure. Maybe I’ll catch a glimpse of the front page as I walk past a newspaper stand tomorrow.
Earlier this evening I was at the Tea lounge-one of my favorite haunts. As the Jazz band blared away I sat with my back to them. Directly in front of me was a fellow whose gaze never left his computer screen. To his right a girl just as pre occupied- except she had a smile on her face.
To my right sat two pretty girls, chit chatting away quietly. Just beyond them sat a guy who seemed to be solving a cross word puzzle, or weighing the pros and cons of living with his girlfriend, or both.
A while after that a man stood with his coat draped over his arm, he must have been waiting for his date- what a gentleman!
I left shortly after they walked out arm in arm.
As I strolled down towards 5th avenue to grab some dinner, I could already hear the howls of the Yankees fans.

Brooklyn Brewery Sketches

Here are a couple of more post it note sketches- I had completely forgotten about these, but I remember drawing them. Zee gave them to me the other night, after a 2 week absence of just the two of us having a few drinks and a few laughs.

He says he has some better ones , some napkins that we drew on at a bar called Pianos last month. Zee and Bryan are two of my biggest supporters I must say - brutally honest at times, they have pushed me to the next step in my long ascent up the artistic ladder, but wait...where does it lead?

fort lauderdale

I found it difficult to just lay there in the Florida sunshine, after all, had I dragged my sketchbook and pencils all this way- just to lay in my backpack?

napkin doodle

Why does it happen so often when Z and I are drawing next to each other at a bar, someone will always ask if we're having a drawing contest. If we were having a drawing contest, then obviously we'd be wearing our wristbands and racquetball goggles, a requisite to each and every drawing contest.
I just assumed everyone was aware of that.
If we're wearing our casual wear, then we're just having fun-
and trying to do better than our last drawing.

Sketches from Dorval

These two sketches are from my most recent trip to Montreal. As I was adding some texture to the woman's hair, I heard a familiar voice say "there he is". It was my brother and his lady friend who by chance walked past me. I knew they were to arrive a while after I did, but we had not exchanged flight information. Although the arrivals area at Dorval airport is quite small, I still like how the trip started off, by chance. The synchronicities did not stop there however. Perhaps I'll get into them another time.

Straight ahead animation done a few weeks ago at a quaint little bar called Great Lakes.

painting in progress

Up shot of a painting in progress.
of various women,
in various stages of undress.

time

just a random, late night doodle.

paint

poetry month





Green or red,
Red or green,
Is the life we’ve chosen,
Is that so obscene?

life drawing

life drawing at the B.A.G. WITH POST ITS! and Modelo beer. What would life drawing be without a can of beer, eh? maybe it's my Canadian side shining through.

post its again

Zartosht also drew the guy on the right. One fun aspect of drawing with a group is that you get to see how other people see the world, and moreover, how they chose to interpret it. His drawing of this guy exaggerated his heroin, haggardly, zombie-like presence even more. When the zombie dude saw Zee’s drawing he exclaimed “…..but it’s only a caricature, right?” As his scrawny arms made a lunge for his chair awaiting him at the table next to us, I caught Zartosht smiling.

more post its

The sketch on the right makes me think that sometimes less is more, but it also makes me think that I could have spent a few more seconds adding some more lines. I wonder, if napkins had feelings would they be jealous that I'm drawing on post it notes? Oh, the things that keep me up at night.....

PI_6C

Real quick, loose character studies of characters at the aforementioned bar.

post its and pastels

instead of sharing some animation I did on bar napkins, I will post these. I tried a few times to upload the video, but all I got was the spinning wheel of death. Maybe I'll try another time.

bar napkin animation

Idle hands are the devil's playground-
and blank bar napkins are there to be drawn on, which is what I did the other night at Great Lakes over on 5th ave.

PI_7A

Out at the Brooklyn Brewery this past Friday, Zartosht , Sean and I sketched for a few hours on some post-it notes.

PI_6B

Just a couple more post-it sketches from KGB bar- your typical snapshot of most bars I would imagine- a newly formed couple anxiously close to one another, talking to a third person who may or may not be waiting his turn at a chance with the lady.

PI_6A

The drawing of the girl on the left does not quite resemble the subject but does that really matter? If I wanted to I could have taken a picture I suppose- but she probably would have smiled, which would have totally ruined it, not to mention she would have thought me to be really creepy. She was hamming it up for her friends anyway- no need to inflate her already blimp like ego.
Sarah, on the right, was listening intently at this moment in a conversation at the KGB bar.- if you’re reading this Sarah, I hope this drawing finds you.

Post it series_01

I’ve pre-posted some recent post it note sketches for the next 2 weeks, so that there will be a couple of new sketches every day, most of which were done at the Brooklyn Brewery on Friday, and KGB bar on Thursday. I’ll kick it off with sketches from Union Hall, and each post will be accompanied by some minor rambling by yours truly.
Enjoy.

There’s just something about a pretty woman with a bob haircut and an exposed upper back that makes me scramble for the nearest pen and paper, and mutter the words “man alive!” She could tell that I was perhaps drawing her, which led to the second pose. Which makes me wonder- if she hadn’t realized I was sketching her would she have appeared to be so vivacious?

20 min pose

I've been back into the swing of life drawing this past month, and although I've got a ways to go , looking back to my life drawings even from 4 years ago I see some slight improvements. I guess that's all we can ask of an artist, just to put forth their best and see what happens.

Brooklyn Promenade

I was out sketching this past Saturday with Sean and Zartosht. We had a bite to eat on Montague street, then walked to the promenade where I sketched some buildings for a change. Then we all met up later at Building on Bond and drew for another few hours and had a couple of glasses of wine. ok- maybe 4 or 5. but we were there for at least 7 hours. I'll post up some of those sketches later.
Happy Fall everyone.

post it from Building on Bond

Are Post-it's the new Napkins? let's see- change is good, ya?

Williamsburg Savings Bank

Waiting for Lauren a cold Saturday morning in April, I sketched this outside of the bagel shop in Fort Greene. You can't go many places in Brooklyn without seeing the Williamsburg Savings Bank building. If I look at it from this angle, the hands of the two clocks, even though they are showing the same time, appear to be very different. I suppose It's all about perspective, in drawing, as in life- take the time to walk around to look at things from every angle. Okay, enough of the deep stuff. Who wants to hit canal bar and sketch?

tea lounge, bob drawings

a page from my most recent sketchbook- taking a break from the brush pens, well, at least for a few days.

Bob, the funniest cat in Brooklyn.

thoughts on drawing

As we draw from life, our eyes glance at the subject and then bolt down to face the empty sketchpad and as this process repeats itself over and over, the drawing is sculpted.


As our hand anxiously waits its turn, it wavers with excitement, or hesitation, or both.
And then, most often than not, upon returning our gaze to the subject they have moved!
It is then we realize that nothing stays still- even statues erode over time.


As we record these stories in pencil or ink, we are not limited to our subject but rather to our imagination, since each and every drawing is from our memory.


This dude was dancing up a storm, earlier this summer at this outdoor dance party near my place. I didn't draw much at this weekly sunday afternoon event after this day though, rather, I joined in and danced.

Happy Birthday to Canal Bar

A friend of a friend when I asked him why his wife never accompanied him to Canal bar, responded with something like "she works until real late- besides, she'd never go to a place like that". Oh well I thought to myself, to each their own. Fair is fair, I'd probably never frequent the places that she would hang out at.

Everyone does what's right for themselves I suppose- and I am very glad to have been a part of the regular crowd at the Canal bar for the last 3 years. I've met some fantastic people there and many have become close friends, and a few strangers have left me staring into my beer contemplating the meaning of life, after a dose of their bar stool wisdom. An equal number have jotted down movies or books I should check out, many which I have and have made an impact on me artistically and spiritually.

Tonight Canal Bar turns 4, and I'd just like to wish Lou, Tommy and the rest a big congrats, and here's to 4 more years.

One of these sketches I've already posted , and is hanging at the crooked tail cafe, the other, is a sketch I did sometime last year of Ryan Macpherson, Canal Bar's resident Opera singer. (no, really, he IS a really talented Opera singer).

Sketchbook vs. Computers

I am the proud owner of a very slow computer, which makes my job very difficult sometimes since most of the work I do is digital. For instance, today was spent wrestling with a software program which will go unnamed. Rather than spending hours finessing drawings and trying to bring characters to life, I spend hitting the ALT CTRL DEL buttons to restart my computer. But I'm not complaining or anything....I just have to figure out a way to either make the computer work for me (buy a new one perhaps?)- or fore go this digital revolution, toss this laptop in the recycling bin, and burst into the world with nothing but a sketchbook- well, and some clothes of course.

Weekend in the slope

I purchased a new phone the other day and this one has a camera feature. Yes, I can take pictures now, and I am really excited about this prospect. One of the first pictures I took was of a sketch I did early Saturday morning at Barbes. I then gave the drawing away, walked towards home with Justin and Zartosht, had a BLT sandwich then crashed.

Prospect Park Sketches

Just a couple of sketches done in Prospect Park, the guy laying down from late last year, and the trees from this July. Not much beats an afternoon there with a sketchbook some friends, and some wobbly pops.

Wilbur from Canal Bar

Wilbur used to live above Canal Bar. I always wonder what it would be like to live above a bar- would I feel obliged to go there every night? Probably. It's a good thing that I live 172 steps from the Canal Bar, 160 if I'm in a good mood, 190 if I'm feeling down. Wilbur now lives a few blocks away, I'd say at least 500 steps away, but I'll have to check. I'll ask him this Sunday at Canal, where he tends bar.

Keith from Union Hall

This is Keith, from Union Hall on 5th. Zartosht and I were there sketching him a couple of weeks ago. I darkened his shirt after I scanned this, so the one hanging at the Crooked Tail is a tiny bit different. I think my next sketching project will all be about Gowanus. Its people, buildings and of course the canal itself.