Oh, the Romanity...

This is perhaps my favorite in the series up to this point. I'm afraid I can't remember the title or artist for the piece I adapted this chunk of magnificence from (and I'm in a bit of a rush, so can't do the usual research). I can, however, tell you that I believe he's a part of the famous palazzo of statues in Naples (some of you know what I'm talking about...). I really like this quality of line. It's almost the ridiculous thinness of a Rapidograph, but with just the right flexibility to not have as technical a look. Problem is, I can never remember which quill I did it with.

You Killed My Snake....

Ever since first seeing it in an Art History course way back when, I've always been fascinated by the statue of Laocoön and His Sons. The Trojan priest's grisly fate is a powerful image of contortion and horror. I know I'm not the only one, as several artists sought to redo the statue with the broken bits repaired. Some came pretty close, but no one captured the agony quite like the sculptors who crafted the original.

Breaking News...

We interrupt the Marble-thon for this image that's somewhere between Klaus Kinski and Ludwig Van....More Marble later...

Hide Your Wife...

Centaurs...always running off with people's wives. Nessus ran off with Deianeira. To those of you who only know Hercules from Steve Reeves or...ahem...Lou Ferigno, Deianeira was Herc's main squeeze. Naturally, Herc shot Nessus with an arrow as he ran off with her across a river. While dying, Nessus told Deianeira to take some of his blood, and to give it to Herc if she ever thought he was being unfaithful. Well, bright girl that she was, she later smeared it all over one of Herc's robes...and only after sending him off did she notice that the blood caught fire when hit by the sun. Herc, of course, not one to go down without a fight, tried to put out the flames, jumped in the water (which only made it worse), and tried to rip it off...taking his skin and organs with it. Before dying, he tossed the servant that gave him the robe into the sea.

The Moral of the Story: Don't use centaur's blood as sunscreen unless you want your husband anything above medium rare.

A Well Deserved Nap...

The next greco-roman quickie was from a reference photo of Canova's Theseus and the Minotaur. If you'd been running through a maze all day and then had to fight a manimal, you'd be a touched tuckered out as well, I'd imagine.

And So It Begins...

As you may recall, I mentioned that I had begun looking for images of centaurs for reference for a drawing I was doing for a friend. Naturally I came across the colossal statue of Theseus and the Centaur, by Canova. It's a very striking piece, and I recommend you go look it up. Of course, I could hotlink it...but uh...I don't want a Canova masterpiece drawing away from the pale first image I did in this quickie sketch series. I'm no dummy.

A Herald

This fella was probably the harbinger of the Neo-Neo-Classical insanity that was to follow. I'd been asked by a friend to draw a centaur that he could reproduce to tag his music equipment in order to distinguish it from the ubiquitously black equipment of everyone else. So...centaurs...certainly a motif of the classical age...a little image research later, and I was up to my eyeballs in marble figures. Those to follow.

The Calm...before the Greco-Roman Storm...

A messy quickie portrait in sepia ink. As you may have noticed if you're a truly keen observer, I "blotted" (an industry term for letting loose an unintentional torrent of ink in the middle of your work) on the left eye (her left, smart guy). Some say it enhances the beauty. I'm not necessarily one of them...in case you thought I was preferential to my own work.

Greco-Romanity...

This underdeveloped quickie begins a series of drawings I did of classical and neo-classical greco-roman statues I took to drawing these last few weeks. I'm not sure what drew me to them as subject matter; however, I did discover that I enjoyed the interesting plays of light and dark on the surface of marble rather than on flesh. So, I was able to get some quality time in analyzing anatomy and structural composition while also getting to look at the human form in a different way. Sounds high-falutin', don't it?

The Moose Rider...

That's right, that's right. Once again, my quill was called to the duty of inscribing internet favorite president Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt. I'm quite sure you can't blame me for it. This Teddy was a warm-up for something I was working on...but I can't recall what. Sometimes, my warm-ups make sense and often coincide with whatever I'm working on. This one...uh...did not. I feel as though I need to do one of him fighting a laser shark or something...just to get my internet fame up another few points.

Blame Fuseli...

Once again, something less of a quickie, and more of a finished piece. In fact, I don't recall what started this one. It's sort of cobbled together from a variety of reference and sources. It's just...well...it is what it is. And in sepia no less...

"I said 'Good DAY!', sir!"

Guess I can't really call this one a quickie. I'd say it's rather obvious that it's somewhat more involved. At home, I've almost exclusively been using my quills. However, I have a regular drawing hangout where nibs and and ink well aren't really practical. (I've yet to find a pen that satisfactorily mimicked the action of a good flexible quill.) I have a variety of pens that I do like using, but I'd fallen out of practice with them, so I tried to get some warm up work in. I'd intended to only draw the gentleman on the right...then I figured, might as well do the fella on the right. I'd call it an artistic choice that I stopped at the middle-left gentleman...but that was the point that I ran out of steam. Still, a fairly good effort if I say so...

Per un Pugno...of sketches

A pair of li'l quickies. Quick brush pen sketch of directing great Sergio Leone. Then a parallel pen of Mark Damon. I was just trying some quick technique things out, and figured some spaghetti would do the trick.

I'll repeat myself...

You may think this is the same thing as last time. Look closely. You'll find you are mistaken. Similar. Not same.

Something Peter Falk Said About Choosing Hats...

Ignore the title, I didn't know what else to say. (But for that wonderful monologue Pete has about hats, see Wim Wenders' wonderful Wings of Desire). I've had a few discussion with artist type friends about drawing like you paint or painting like you draw. I do in a sense. But, of late in particular, I've wanted my work to be more painterly (a word I've never liked...not because of what it means but it just looks like a crappy word to describe what it means). I'm not sure what I lack in this department...I think part of it is my strong dislike of redoing things, ESPECIALLY if I'm the one that screws them up in the first place. Making a bold stroke may strongly enhance a work...or it might cause you to have to repaint a bunch of stuff...Hmm, this hurdle is high.

The General Steamboat Sherlock Jr.

Today's quickie was an all too brief tribute to the genius of Buster Keaton, who remains my favorite of the silent comedians. I still recall seeing Sunset Blvd. and hearing Buster speak his only line, "Pass." I've seen other speaking films with him since then, but there was something eerie about hearing the great Stone Face utter a sound. Perhaps it was merely eerie because it was in Sunset Blvd. Anyhow, if you've not seen at least The General, you've done yourself a great disservice.

"John, Paul, George, or Ringo?"

I did this as I was gearing up from the Alice in Wonderland Show at the Hive (My March Hare can be seen Here!). Initially I wanted to do something with the strange characters on the train from Looking Glass. Problem is, the book's been pretty well picked over for imagery. On that train, however, you never saw what the beetle beside the Goat looked like.

The King of the Jukebox...

Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome Mr. Louis Jordan...I couldn't have asked for more entertaining subject for this quickie.

A Man About Town...

Once again, my thanks to the Library of Congress for scanning and posting many photos from one of my favorite time periods...look-wise.

Sepia...Puts Things in a Past Perspective...

Since the rise of sweat pants in public, there are oft times when I've wished we'd returned to an age of suits and hats...you know, class the joint up a bit. Then I've strolled outside into a 100 degree blast furnace...and reconsidered my position on the issue.

"You may have the Falcon, but we certainly have you."

How much more can I say other than the fact that today's offering was a stylistic quickie based off the very distinct features of Mr. Peter Lorre.

Eros and Amor...

This is all I have to offer for this most Hallmark of holidays.

...Pray for Your Death."

Another drawing derived from the first Sartana film, If You Meet Sartant, Pray for Your Death (1968. d. Gianfranco Parolini). This time it's of one of my favorite Euro character actors, William Berger. If you've ever seen a photo of Berger back in his prime, he would've had, in my mind, the perfect look for Jonah Hex. Oddly enough, the original Weird Western Tales of Hex had a far more spaghetti feel to them compared to the other western comics of the time. Anyhow, this was the result of having too much time on my hand over a vacation day...

Thank Jolly Old St. Nick...

For X-mas, I attempted to do a series of pin-ups for friends. For whatever reason, I've always preferred the cute and playful images of a Gil Elvgren over the super-polished works of an Alberto Vargas. Not that I don't like Vargas. I still recall my grandfather jokingly showing me some Vargas girls in an ancient issue of Playboy with a grin, and telling me that maybe I could do some work like that one day. Well, if I could pull together a decent studio space, granddad, I might just yet...haha...

"Ok, but why a duck?"

Granted, this is a quick ink portrait of Harpo Marx, not Chico, as the above quote might imply. However, seeing as Harpo didn't talk, he's a bit harder to quote (and I'm not bored enough to figure out a keyboard vehicle for depicting a fish with a sword in its mouth). Anyhow, I stumbled across this ludicrously melodramatic portrait of the great silent comedian, and felt compelled to translate it to another medium. It's in my Sanity Clause.

The Mystery Press...

I recently located and read a copy of John Franklin Barden's mystery novel, The Deadly Percheron. Barden was an advertising exec who turned out ten or so novels and is considered one of the forerunners of the modern psychological thriller. In the book, the killer leaves one of these great beasts tied outside the abode of his victim. I find the Percheron, a French breed of horse used primarily to pull carts and carriages, to be both majestic and a wee bit creepy...

"If you meet Sartana..."

Today's quickie was brought to you by the Italian genre cinema industry of the 60's and 70's. Gianni Garko starred as the James Bond of gun slingers in a series of films dealing with the enigmatic Sartana. Maybe second only to Django in knock-offs, this drawing is a knock-off from the original film. Or as Jason properly called it, "that's a bunch of lines."

B is for Boris...

If I recall correctly, this was a quickie loosely extrapolated from a movie still of Boris Karloff. Any resemblance to Boris is purely coincidental. I was having more fun just playing with the hatching...which, as you can see, I, like a child, lost my sense of enjoyment in around the halfway mark.

RJE + JSA

Probably one of the few collaborations with Jason Shawn Alexander that I got to keep. I know that our duo placemat pictorials went on to find better homes than we'd give them. The figure in the middle got the ball rolling...then I went to town after that. If you guessed the above was the end result...you'd be right!

"Saw the picture, by the way...

...thought it was swell."

A vampish quickie.

The page had some ink spots left by work on the page previous...well spots be damned. I wouldn't say I incorporated them. I just didn't let them stop me. You work with what you have...and what I have is the total lack of desire to waste a page because of a few spots for a clean page. How's that for attitude? The snarkiness almost shocks me.

At Long Last...Little Candy Hearts...

A few years ago, for a grant competition, I wrote a short for my friend Seaton Lin. From there...well I'll skip the saga of the ups and downs of how the project finally came together...the important thing is that cinematic thunder was captured, cut, and released for you enjoyment. The film's been starting its way out onto the festival circuit, but here's your chance to catch it sans ID card and lanyard. I hope you will like it...if you don't, remember that budgetary restrictions cut all the explosions and Seaton's relentless monkeying with the script and all, that is what ruined it.

And on with the show! Take me to...LITTLE CANDY HEARTS...(Click It!)

Everybody's Heard About the Bird...

A quickie of Charlie Parker. Jason Shawn Alexander admonished me soundly about solid lines...solid lines...solid lines. I like to think he got what he asked for.

The Lines...Do you hear the lines?

A Face Worth $3,000...

This cute li'l fella was inspired by ubiquitous Spanish character actor Aldo Sambrell. Aldo's face after many years of viewing what's somewhat affectionately known as "Eurotrash" cinema is almost...well...comforting in a way. The same way that anything familiar becomes somewhat comforting at times of trials and tribulations. Not that I'm full of tribulations right now...in fact, I'm pretty zen right now really. Still, doesn't change the fact that the pen made me do a rendering of Señor Sambrell.

Simple and Simply Put...

Stop...in the name of the...uh...

Law or Love? With a face like that...it's hard to say for sure.

"You don't play pool..."

"You shoot pool!" Thanks to Robert John Burke and Hal Hartley.

It Ain't Easy...

Yes, that's right. A Frog. Ribbit.

Less Gloomy...uh...Monday

Sure I should've posted this yesterday, when I could've made a bad song-to-drawing tie-in joke. However, I didn't.

In any event, here's a quickie of Billie Holliday.

The Face of 2010...

Let's all say goodbye to him...Here's to a Happier New Year.

Today's Post Could Drink You Under the Table...

In my continued desire to sketch the somewhat inexplicable (in terms of subject matter)...I submit to you a quickie of Oliver Reed and Glenda Jackson from the film Women in Love. Now that I've said that, you're probably all wondering why I didn't choose something with more skin and more wrestling. This is art, you dogs...

Villa Rides...

A roughed out rough of Mexican Revolutionary Pancho Villa.

The Usual Train Wreck...

Once again, the holidays are about us, and playing hell with my schedule and my memory.

Here's a pictorial representation of how things are generally going with staying on top of things...

Cheers.

"Hey, Guess Whose Back..."

Here's something sort of classically serene...

En Garde...

I've often wondered if I could pull of breeches...not so much the hose, but I guess tube socks would be a touch boorish.

Who...Are You? Who? Who...Again?

Much along the same impulse that led me to draw Teddy Roosevelt, I present a quickie of Roger Daltrey. Yup. That Roger Daltrey.

The Week Ends...With a Striped Hyena.

A quickie's quickie...it's only fitting...

"Every reform movement has a lunatic fringe" - Teddy Roosevelt

Perhaps this post would've been more appropriate to the elections yesterday...but I remembered it too late in the evening.

Ok, this moment with the former President got a little more involved. I couldn't tell you what it is about him that has had me return to him as a subject...perhaps it's that larger than life quality he had about him. Sargent's portrait of him is probably my favorite of the presidential portraits. I especially love the fact that the pose and location were found when Teddy turned to Sargent because he was growing impatient over their expedition to find a place to paint it.

"Do nothing which is of no use." - Musashi

Another experiment with the Sumi brush. While it's nowhere near where I'd like to be withone, I wouldn't call it of no use. And you may think it cliché to draw a samurai with said brush as practice, but you've got to have all that stuff to feel like you're doing something with that brush. It's...appropriate...

In any event, I'll have to keep trying...