Q: "Do you post anymore?" A: "No, no, no... yes, yes. A bit, a bit."

First of all, there are no excuses, only explanations. So let me exc... er, explain. This is how the past few weeks have been:
- "Are we ever going to find an apartment in Park Slope that we like?"
- "Oh, yay! We have an apartment!"
- "Oh god, I hate working all weekend. At least I have a week's vacation after this."
- "Are you okay honey?"
- ".... What do you mean you walked to the emergency room?"
- "Okay, we're home... take your pills... and I'll... zzzzzzz....."
- "Oh, Massachusetts is lovely!"
- "Finally home. How relaxing that was. Now why am I so goddamn tired?"

Somewhere in the middle of that (the Massachusetts part) I actually did some sketching. So generally, the idea is that I'm still posting on here, in hopes the few people goodly enough to visit the blog will forgive me for the interruption in service. Your patronage is appreciated.

Not much, but here's what we've got:


I felt very classy having a drink in the Hilton Lounge before boarding a LimoLiner bus for the trip up. And yet somehow I managed to feel disappointed, because I was the only person in the room not wearing a suit. Disclaimer: above sketched while a little disoriented and imbibing alcohol.




What was I doing with this one? You guessed it: I was sitting in the living room of Ms. Smash's lovely childhood home, dividing my attention appropriately between the adventures of her nephew Dr. Ozbert and the adventures of Ed Norton as The Illusionist. So of course, I did studies of the lad, as well as Jessica Biel and... well, um, Paul Giamatti's nose, quite frankly.

Aha, character designs for a possible Zuda submission! Yes, this fellow is supposed to be manacing! So much so, in fact, that I accidentally gave him a mustache very reminiscent of some German fellow. I forgive myself, because I very politely penciled in my self-reproach right next to him. The bust in the corner, obviously, went a bit more as planned.

My evil friend here is so clever that, at the top of this page, he somehow grew himself a pair of Ben Franklin spectacles. I'm sure John Hodgman would have something to say about the success of Mr. Franklin's pandering - it got me. He's taking shape as a bit of an older man now (the glasses help, no?). And here, by the end of the page, we have the beginnings of our intrepid hero, who is emphatically not a Daniel Craig look-a-like. Really. I mean, he has dark hair, unlike the new James Blonde. Are you blind, or just suffering an unhealthy, homoerotic fixation on Daniel Craig? I'm not.



And the two meet. Someone gets bitch-slapped. Why? I hope you'll care enough to find out if/when this becomes a submission. Should that happen, I imagine I'll have to take these pics off my blog; but that would be a good thing, if it meant you could run over to Zuda and see the finished product there!

I won't get ahead of myself. I have some rough thumbnails of the sequence this all fits into, but I'll have to ponder whether those are worth posting here. Either way, keep your eyes peeled, because I'm not dead yet.

Draw-A-Thon at the Gershwin

A few weeks ago (Feb 21st, to be exact) the good ol' girl and I went on a new adventure - and it didn't disappoint! We took in the Draw-A-Thon at the Gerswhin Hotel. Two rooms off the lobby were set aside for an absolute truckload of artists to draw (and enjoy) nude and semi-nude performance art. It was an absolutely fabulous chance to practice drawing from life - something I've never really put in the time to practice before.



I had a little trouble at first (and I've spared you the one or two pages where it really shows), but I realized quickly that when people are performing - even if for the benefit of some sketching - you definitely need to be, well, quick.



You can see a bit of my troubles here above (lovely non-face the one on the left has, no?). Luckily, "Mangina" (right) was lovely enough to sit still long enough for me to get a good impression of his awesomely unmistakable features.

And in the image to the left (yeah, shit's sideways - so, sue me) we can see where I was still struggling to keep up with the hustle-bustle of the main chamber. We retired to the back room - smaller, quieter, less models - where I started getting a better handle on nudes reclining on a piano, and someone with a mask and a feather-duster...

And below, at last, is the star of the show - at least, in my opinion. This sublimely beautiful woman made it easiest for me to study a variety of poses, whilst taking my time. She even had white makeup all over, making a perfect study of light and shadow.

Even then, though, I got a little antsy waiting for the next pose (how fickle) and snuck in a view of one of the other artists doing her thing. Oh yeah, did I mention my girlfriend was with me the whole time, taking it in for her own nefarious purposes? And by nefarious, I mean her writing... not banking jealous quips for some distant argument. Yes, Virginia, there is such a thing as a healthy relationship. Oh, but please do let me know if you have any pointers or general comments. In particular I'm interested in knowing what anyone thinks about the shading, postures, and balance of realism against simplification (erm, cartooning). ... Lataz!

Here goes...

If you're reading this, I'm amazed. To be honest, the only time I've tried to blog was on myspace (not exactly professional, I know), and even then, at my absolute best I churned out the occasional rant, doing my damnedest to be witty, verbose, and biting. At my worst, by the way, I churned out results from quizzes like "Which Looney Tune are you?"

That's not my purpose here. My blogger sketchbook is just that: an interweb extension of the sketchbooks I carry with me most everytime I leave home.

See, I've loved drawing since I was a kid. I started out young, drawing my favorite characters by rote imitation. Then, the magic happened: I developed my first mental toolkit for how to break out on my own, via the godsend that is How to Draw Comics the MARVEL Way. I mark that as the moment in history when I officially started teaching myself how to draw.

My commitment has been sketchy, though. I have this problem with my imagination - since childhood I've daydreamt of a million and one things I'd like to be when I grow up (I still do it). I thought my last aspiration to professional art died when I turned down my acceptance to the Kubert School (I still regret that! What a place! And to be accepted there, no less!)

Today I find myself inspired again by a wonderful, wonderful woman I had dimly hoped against hope would exist somewhere out there (you may know her as Jennie SMASH!) and her near and dear friends. From 2004 to the start of this year, I filled roughly 40 pages of a yellowing sketchbook in occasional fits and starts; since the renaissance of Miss SMASH, I've filled more than that amount in the past two months. God forbid, I had to go buy more sketchbooks!

And now I find myself hungering to do anything and everything to get into the good habits that'll make me not just a dreamer, but a producer - a creative machine. If I want to do anything with this, I've got to churn out something - ANYTHING! - on a regular basis, until it's second nature. I love to sit around daydreaming much as the next bloke, but I see Will Eisner's early start in The Dreamer, the endless pursuit to create something day in and day out and flood the drawing board until something really sticks, and I WANT THAT!

But I need something else - I need to follow up on what I've started and reach out to others, seek advice, criticism, feedback. And I need to build an audience (even - especially - a casual one!) that expects me to deliver something on the reg, even if it's not my best. I need that audience, if they'll be so kind, to leave comments on my sketches, so I can take in a broad sweep of what makes people ooh and ah, what they find clear, what they find confusing, and what they find downright unappealing. After all, I want more than just to doodle (I've been doing that for years)... I want to make things that people will consume and enjoy, and maybe even treasure.

Will you be my audience?