STUDY OF CLOWES SKETCH

8 1/2" x 5 1/2" Uniball pen, Pentel brush pen and Faber-Castell big brush pens in Moleskine sketchbook

STUDY OF GALLO SKETCH INKED

8 1/2" x 5 1/2" HB pencil in Moleskine sketchbook.  Then today I inked it with Speedball super black India ink, crowquill pen and Winsor Newton Series 7 #2 brush.


I usually don't use the pencil but I find it easier to use while lying on my back. I'm only supposed to be sitting 15-30 minutes at a time while I'm healing up, so tomorrow I'll have to ink this drawing fast!


Bill Gallo was a sports cartoonist for the New York Daily news for over forty years. I love to study and learn from his work because it does more than tell a story, it touches the heart. In this drawing a fighter's handler's wouldn't stop the mismatched bout but the referee did. Gallo said "The perspective is intended to lead your eye up the boxer's body, to his head and bloody cuts. You see the compassion of the ref without even seeing his face, just by the way he's holding him, like a father would a son."

STUDY OF A GALLO SKETCH

8 1/2" x 5 1/2" HB pencil in Moleskine sketchbook.


I usually don't use the pencil but I find it easier to use while lying on my back.  I'm only supposed to be sitting 15-30 minutes at a time while I'm healing up, so tomorrow I'll have to ink this drawing fast!


Bill Gallo was a sports cartoonist for the New York Daily news for over forty years. I love to study and learn from his work because it does more than tell a story, it touches the heart.  In this drawing a fighter's handler's wouldn't stop the mismatched bout but the referee did.  Gallo said "The perspective is intended to lead your eye up the boxer's body, to his head and bloody cuts.  You see the compassion of the ref without even seeing his face, just by the way he's holding him, like a father would a son."

PRIVACY

10"x8" Micron pen and Fude brush in Moleskine sketchbook. Part of it from an Adolfsson sketch.

HE MISSED THE TEN COUNT

11"x 8 1/2" Uniball pen, Fude brush, Pentel brush pen and Faber-Castell big brushes in Canson sketchbook.
My Dad was a gentleman and a gentle man. I boxed in my youth and even though he disapproved of the sport, he was glad that I knew how to handle myself. As a reward for keeping my grades up and staying out of trouble he would take me to see the prize fights at the 34th street Madison Square Garden in New York City.
On December 12th, 1969 we went to see Jerry Quarry vs George Chuvalo. Quarry had lost a fight for the Heavyweight championship the previous June and was trying to stay in contention for another chance to fight for that title. He agreed to fight the Canadian heavyweight champion George Chuvalo for that chance.
That night Quarry gave Chuvalo a beating and was ahead on points at the end of the 6th round. Between rounds I heard Chuvalo's cornermen imploring him to "get out there and hit him".
With just under one minute in the next round Chuvalo hit Quarry with a flurry of hard punches, and took a hard punch in return.
Chuvalo appeared spent.
Suddenly he hit Quarry on the forehead with a left hook. Quarry stood for a moment, then stumbled backward falling to the canvas on his side. It was as if the energy force of the punch travelled from his head down through his legs taking them right out from under him.
Quarry jumped to his feet as the referee began counting to ten. I could hear the time keeper counting in unison with the referee over the public address system despite the deafening roar of the crowd. Both referee and timekeeper yelled "ten" and Quarry stood up. The referee began waving his arms. It's over.
Too late. He was counted out He missed the ten count. Cornermen for both fighters began jumping over the ropes into the ring. A photographer jumped into the ring taking photos. After some arguing and pleading the decision stood. Chuvalo was the winner.
At that moment looked up and saw Quarry's face. That image is burned into my memory forever and that is what I have drawn here. My Dad, an accountant, told me on the way home that prizefights should always know how to count to ten.

SKETCHBOOK

10" x 8" Uniball pen, Fude brush and Faber Castell big brushes in Moleskine sketchbook

DATE NIGHT WEST 4TH STREET

10"x 8"  Uniball pen and Faber-Castell big brush pens in Moleskine sketchbook  

STUDY OF JEAN SKETCH

18" x 9" Uniball pen and watercolor on Bee paper

STUDY FROM ADOLFSSON SKETCH

10" x 8 " Micron pen and Fude brush in Moleskine sketchbook

WOMAN IN BOOKSTORE

10"x8" Micron pen and Fude brush in Moleskine sketchbook (from photo)

STUDY OF REDDY'S SIDNEY PIPES

8 1/2" x 5 1/2" Micron pen and Fude brush in Moleskine sketchbook. I'm home post back surgery and sketching laying down. I'l never be able to thank my loving family and friends enough for getting me through this, especially my wife Julie!

STUDY OF EMEK'S PEARL JAM

11 1/2" x 8 1/2" Micron pen and Fude brush in Moleskine sketchbook

HANSRUDY'S WITNESSES

10" x 8 " Micron pen in Moleskine sketchbook.

STUDY OF ADOLFSSON SKETCH

10" x 8" Micron pen in Moleskine sketchbook.

HEIDI MOORE ON TOUR

18" x 24"  Speedball super black India ink, Fude brush and Faber Castell big brush pens on Canson Bristol paper

STUDY OF A REDDY SKETCH

10" x 8" Uniball pen and watercolor in Moleskine sketchbook. I'm taking Steve Reddy's class and I'm learning at lot. He's a gifted teacher and artist who explains and demonstrates concepts in a non-dogmatic way that I'm able to understand. (Hope that wasn't too brown nosey)

STUDY OF A CRUMB SKETCH

10" x 8 1/2" Micron pen in Moleskine sketchbook. It was time to review the crosshatching lesson from Tommy Kane and after checking out the video again I decided to try a study of a Crumb sketch. Thanks to both of these great artists for the lesson. Whew, that's a lot of books and crosshatches!

PRANKSTER AT THE FAKEOUT SALOON

11 1/2" x 8 1/2"  Uniball pen, Fude brush and Faber-Castell Pitt big brush pens in Moleskine sketchbook.

CYBORG

11 1/2" x 8 1/2"  Uniball pen, Fude brush and Faber-Castell Pitt big brush pens in Moleskine sketchbook.

HEIDI MOORE ON TOUR

(Preliminary sketch) 11 1/2" x 8 1/2"  Fude brush, Micron pen, Faber-Castell Pitt big brush pens and acrylic in Moleskine sketchbook.  A friend of ours is pursuing her dream as a musician and I'll be ready for her posters when she hits the road to stardom.  For some reason my lettering and spelling were atrocious today! Now you know why I do preliminary sketches!

STUDY OF FISH FROM AN EMEK DRAWING

8 1/2" x 5 1/2" Micron pen in Moleskine sketchbook.

I have only discovered Emek's work this year. I found a used copy of his book: Emek The Thinking Man's poster artist and although the term blown mind has been overused in our world to the point that it has lost it's original intended meaning, my mind was indeed blown.  Shattered even.  I've been told that if you want to strive to draw and paint like a master then study and copy the masters.  Well Emek is surely a master. Don't be thinking that "poster artist" is some kind of lesser artistic designation.  His work is much more than an advertisement for  music concerts.  What I enjoy (beside the obvious artistic skill) is the subject matter that is incorporated into the work.  Things like machines, gears, cogs, robots, cyborgs, skulls, flame, trees, plant life, outer space. No limits.  And talk about detail!  I just love looking at his work, scrutinizing it as I attempt to copy it in order to learn and develop my own artistic voice.  There are few things in this world like learning to get comfortably lost in the details of a drawing. I've actually started a piece at 6:00am and looked up to find out it is 6:00pm and I haven't even noticed!  That is a great zone to play in.

I recently purchased his father Yuval's book The Flavor Of His Youth and it is a work of special genius.  I wish now that a big book of Yuval's 50 years of making art will be published.  I've only been able to study his work from online photos.  In the next week or so I will be writing a review of both Emek and Yuval's books.  In the meantime, don't wait.  Go find them, buy them and study some of the best art around.

STUDY OF AN ADOLFSSON SKETCH

10 1/2" x 8 1/2" Micron pen and Fude brush in Moleskine sketchbook.  I got so lost inside this practice sketch that I started adding things that were not in Mattias Adolfsson's original sketch.

ROBOT REFLECTION

8 1/2"x 5 1/2"  Fude brush and Faber Castell Pitt big brush pens in Moleskine sketchbook

SPINAL DISCS

11 1/2" x 8 1/2" Micron pen, Fude brush and Faber-Castell Pitt big brush pens in Moleskine sketchbook. Going to see the Orthopedic surgeon soon and until then it's yoga and mindfulness for me. Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.

STUDY OF EMEK'S STUDIO SIGN

10 1/2" x 8 1/2" Speedball super black India ink, Winsor Newton Series 7 #2 brush and Faber-Castell Pitt big brush pens in Moleskine sketchbook

SQUAWKING CROWS

8 1/2" x 5 1/2" Fude brush in Moleskine sketchbook. There was a whole lot of crow squawking going on outside yesterday over the field.

COMMANDER CODY AT THE BOTTOM LINE

18" x 24" Speedball super black India ink, Winsor Newton Series 7 #3 brush, Fude brush and acrylic on Canson Bristol recycled paper

STUDY FROM EMEK POSTER ART

STUDY FROM EMEK POSTER ART - 10 1/2" x 8 1/2" Micron pen in Moleskine sketchbook. A lot can be learned by studying his work and also the work of his father Yuval Golan.

IDIOT BOX DOODLE 5

 8 1/2" x 5 1/2"  Micron pen and fude brush in Moleskine sketchbook. Done while watching tv.  Netflix allows us to catch up on what we've been missing all these years.  Poirot (1989 series) is actually pretty good (especially the cars).

IDIOT BOX DOODLE 4

 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" Micron pen and fude brush in Moleskine sketchbook. Done while watching tv. Netflix allows us to catch up on what we've been missing all these years. Poirot (1989 series) is actually pretty good (especially the cars).

IDIOT BOX DOODLE 3

8 1/2"x 5 1/2"  Micron pen, fude brush and white ink in Moleskine sketchbook

KITKAT

 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" Micron pen in Moleskine sketchbook. This stray cat is at our back door every morning at 4am. It has trained us to feed it and is all loving and purring early in the day. It reappears later in the afternoon lounging around but as soon as we open the door it looks wild eyed at us and runs off as if it has seen a ghost. I know cats can be weird but what is up with this?

THINKING ABOUT ENGINES

 8 1/2"x 5 1/2" Micron pen and Faber-Castell Pitt pens in Moleskine sketchbook.

IDIOT BOX DOODLE 2

 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" Steampunk Micron pen and Fude brush in Moleskine sketchbook (drawn while watching tv)

IDIOT BOX DOODLE

 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" Micron pen in Moleskine sketchbook. I keep a sketchbook by my chair when we try to watch tv. Sometimes there is something worthwhile on, but most times we just can't get into it. This is the result. It always feels good to get lost in a drawing!

AUNT LINDA'S HORSE

18"x24" acrylic on Canson Bristol paper.  For my Aunt  Linda Tonkin who is recovering from surgery.

BEATIE BOYS 2

18" x 24" pencil, Fude pen and Faber -Castell Pitt big brush pens on Canson recycled Bristol paper. (From concert poster for Joshua Brandt)

PEARL JAM

18" x 24" pencil, Fude brush and acrylic on Canson recycled Bristol paper (From concert poster)

DROPKICK MURPHYS

18" x 24"   Pencil, Speedball super black India ink, Winsor Newton Series 7 #3 brush and acrylic on Canson recycled Bristol paper (from concert poster)

SLASH

18" x 24"  pencil, Fude brush, Speedball super black India ink, Winsor Newton Series 7 #3 brush and acrylic paint on Canson recycled Bristol paper

BEASTIE BOYS

18 " x 24" pencil, Fude Brush and Acrylic paint on Canson recycled Bristol paper. ( From concert poster)

FLOGGING MOLLY

18" x 24" #2 pencil, Acrylic paint, Speedball super black India ink and Winsor Newton Series 7 #3 brush on Bristol paper.  From photo of rock poster.

MORRISON SKETCHBOOK TO PAINTING

18" x 24" Acrylic on canvas. From sketchbook to painting.

CYCLOPS

8 1/2" x 5"  Uniball pen in Moleskine sketchbook. Study from an Emek sketch.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JULIE!

16" x 20" acrylic on canvass

JIM MORRISON

11 1/2" x 8 1/2" Uniball pen, Speedball super black India ink, Winsor Newton Series 7 @3 brush and Faber Castell Pitt big brush pens in Moleskine A3 sketchbook.  Sketch is for a larger painting in the works.

NIRVANA

14" x 11" Pencil, Speedball super black India ink, Winsor Newton Series 7 #2 brush and acrylic on Bristol paper.  Our Oscar in the Netherlands turns 9 years old on September 30th.  He is a big fan of Nirvana so I made him a fantasy concert poster (he will be the opening act).  Will mail it tomorrow!

GYNOID WARRIOR

8 1/2" x 5 "  Uniball pen, Speedball super black India ink, Hunt 102 crowquill pen, Winsor Newton Series 7 #2 brush in Moleskine sketchbook.

POOLDOG

 8 1/2" x 5 " Uniball pen, Speedball super black India ink and Winsor Newton Series 7 #2 brush in Moleskine sketchbook. (From photo on rock poster.)

PEARL JAM

11 1/2" x 8 1/2" Speedball super black India ink, Winsor Newton Series 7 #2 brush, Faber-Castell Pitt big brush pens and China white marker in Canson Sketchbook. From a photo of the concert poster done by Emek.