I have an art-store set of pastels which have lain dormant in my drawer for god knows how long. So I had this photo of a green car and a red tail light. I sat down and sketched it. I have probably used every completely wrong technique to do this, but I did it nonetheless. Used some white for the highlights. Seemed to need it - and, there was a white pastel chalk in the box so I used it. The paper is from some ancient colored paper pad I had. Price tag said $.75 on a pad of 24. I don't even want to know how old it is. I imagine it's old, since I myself was born just after the 17th century.

It's inanimate. Without feeling really - I think. I'm still fascinated with drawing what I see and, goddammit, the architect in me is ever dictating this inane, wanton perfection of form. Begone, you anal beast of reason and purpose!! I need to free myself and catch more emotion in my work. I draw and sit back and say "ah, yes, that's what it looks like..." My architect, resplendent with bow tie smiles at the accomplishment. I want the wild man to snatch the pencil and leap to some outburst of feeling, sit back with tousled hair and say to the architect. "What about THAT, dude?"

Yeah, what about that.

Plains, Trains and inverted cones

Internets - Here's a classic. I did this about 15 years ago after a trip back to Kansas, where I spent my first day on Earth. I don't remember much about my first day but growing up in Kansas gave me plenty to remember.

One of the things they do in Kansas is grow grain. They replaced all the buffalo with cattle, who eat the grain and graze on the grass that is everywhere else grain isn't. When the settlers first got to Kansas there were these people living in inverted cones who didn't wear shirts. They were a nuisance so were gotten rid of. Some of them are still around today (you see them sleeping in malls and underneath highway overpasses) and everybody kind of feels bad about what their deceased relatives did but oh well. It's a harsh life on the prairie.

So they have all this grain and need places to store it (so cattle, thieves and any remaining natives can't get it). They built big concrete tubes and put the grain in those. They need to move it around so they built tracks for trains to haul it from one place to another. Sometimes this happens at night.

That is what this picture is about.

The 'Salt Shaker' '57

Internets - I don't remember if I put this one on or not. Got into drawing cars and chrome a few months ago. Charcoal is great for this. the perspective is a little off, but i think it's cool anyway. gives you the idea anyway. an unmistakable icon, the '57 Chevy.

There was something magic about the car models every year through the 50's and 60's. The models were unique every year and easily identified. American auto makers were at the peak of their craft it seemed. Nowadays you can't tell one car from another. That's a stretch, I know, but humor me. And besides, who am I kidding? I'm just yelling in the basement here. Nobody will read this, much less GAF.

This sketching stuff is much more satisfying than doing architecture. I don't get paid for it, but neither did I get paid as an architect - plus, I was liable for other people's mistakes (electrician, plumber, you name it). Good riddance. John Q. Public, you deserve every bit of it.

An Old Car Study with light/dark

Here's another more recent sketch using charcoal. I'm still learning what works, what doesn't. The charcoal forces me out of the detail and more into light/dark, which is what I need. I get tangled up in the detail which you can do with graphite. Oh, the blacks! ain't it rich?

A street in Lefkara, Cypress

This is an older drawing I did about 14 years ago when I was in Cypress. It's pencil and has always been too light. That's why I have started using more charcoal. I love the deep, blacks. Can't get that in pencil. I photo shopped this and intensified it. It's a little faky like that, but pops better.

You can see I was hung up on detail back then. I'm evolving away from that. I'm more into shapes, mass-void stuff now. I really don't know jack shit about what I'm doing and should take some courses. Ain't got the time or money now. Put most of my life into my architecture career which at best, has left me penniless. Plus, most architects have cobs up their collective, self-admiring asses. I pulled mine out and it feels much better already.

Yeah, Frank, you were great - but c'mon, your buildings leaked and fell down. You were better as an artist.

Paris Metro - 1997

Life is a much to quick transition from where I came from to where I'm going, neither of which I understand or know nothing about. Before i catch the first train home, I sketch. it's what i do. enjoy.

Sometimes ya just have a good day

Well, Internets, had a good day today. The real highlight was finding a high quality plastic twisty from an electronics power cord gizmo that I thought I had discarded. I used to keep all this stuff but lately we've been trying to cut down on the pack-rat horde, so now I always untwist the cord and throw the tie away instead of tossing it in my toolbox tray. It's a small step, but you have to start somewhere.

My shoes started becoming unraveled about a year ago. This was upsetting since I was hoping to get more than 15 years wear from them. I noticed my right shoe had become looser and sure enough, the dang thread had broken. You can see by the photo that the stitches are well done. I wanted to repair it in a non-invasive manner so I got out the Elmer's carpenter's glue I had used a couple years ago on the toe of the shoe to glue it down so it wouldn't flap when I walked. The threads were too short to tie back and the glue made a nice fix inside the shoe. The glue broke soon after and then I was too embarrassed to take them in to a repair place, having honked them up with the glue. Not wanting to experience the baffled, incredulous expression from the cobbler I used a grocery store paper wrapped wire tie as a second fix.

This was great for awhile but the wet weather frazzled the paper and I was left with a mangy looking shoe, what with the former glue blob and now this ratty grocery store tie.

But today - today my luck changed. I am now sporting a new tie, resplendently encased in black weatherproof PVC, looking rather sporty in its twisted application.

It's always something and sometimes, well things just turn out for the best.