Roll Over

And why not?

Alchemy

Alchemy is a great little bar in Park Slope, Brooklyn on 5th avenue. "so what?" I hear you cry, "My word, didn't we wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning." is my response to that. I guess the honeymoon's over.

Setting Up

This was the scene two Sundays ago at the flea market in La. It says Sunday to me.

Color Sketch

I came across this whislt looking for something else. Makes a change does it not?

Bob Long

Bob Long has a reaaly good face to draw. As soo as I saw the reference, I knew I was in for a good time.

Rose Bowl

I think this was one of my favourite drawings from the Rose Bowl, I almost abandoned it at one point because I felt the truck in the foreground was all wrong. I stuck with it because I know I have a big problem with patience. I was going to add some color but then again I liked it as it was. I might add color at some point and repost it but this is what it looks like when it looks like this. Profound.

Franklin Park

Franklin Park is my local bar about a ten minute walk, great beer garden and free WiFi. A real gem in Crown Heights. 12 good beers on tap, that's more than could fit on to this drawing, I might have to try again.

A Train

Is'nt there a jazz standard called the "A Train" ? I was on the A train yesterday, life is sweet.

Setting Up Shop

another drawing from the Rose Bowl this was done at about 7.30 am as things were just getting under way.

Rider on the 4

It's not all LA

Bad Day

These guys sat in the chairs they were hoping to sell were complaining about the lack of interest. Apparently gas prices were keeping the punters away and the recession wasn't helping and the chap on the left had an argument with his daughter about getting a tattoo, she didn't want one. I might not have heard that correctly.

Setting Up

We got to the flea market at 7am when most people were still setting up their stalls.

Cherries Jubilee

This is Sheri at her stall at the Rose Bowl Flea Market. I drew Sheri the last time I was at the rose Bowl but it wasn't quite bloggable.

Street Scene

I think this is Abott Kinney but I'm not sure where I was. My job on these LA trips is to drive my wife and boss to where ever they want to shop and then find somewhere to draw until they are finished.

Palm Trees

I'm back and at long last here is the first of my LA drawings, I had a great trip, I'll be sorting the bloggable from the unbloggable drawings today so there will be more to follow.

Gone Hollywood

Yes folks it's true, I was hanging out with George last night and he's all "You should move out here and be a movie star" and I'm all "You should move to Crown Heights and help renovate our kitchen". Oh how we laughed.

Theresa Palm

This is Theresa Palm, she is the closest I could come to posting a Palm Tree. I have had a good day drawing many a palm tree but with no scanner, they will just have to wait. I'll be able to post my first palm tree on Tuesday so mark your calenders good people of the world. Having a great time in LA.

This Is Not A Palm Tree

I'm in LA and due to circumstances beyond my control was not able to draw yesterday on top of which my trustee traveling scanner got broken in transit so I'm hopefully going to be able to buy a new one today and draw a palm tree to boot. This drawing was on my desktop and available for blogging purposes, enjoy!

Now We're Talking

It's one thing to show illustrations and drawings that have been laboured over but this is a sketch blog and was started to show my attempts at drawing from life. This sketch was done at Franklin Park on my way home from the city. It was done quickly with a ruling pen dipped in ink, no room for error here, each mark is as permanent as it is quick.
I'm off to LA this morning, so my next posting should include a palm tree.

The Usual Suspects

There is always something to draw in a bar.

Murder Mystery

I guess in this book the murderer bludgeoned someone to death with a heavy book, dusted them off for finger prints and fancied a doughnut.

Old Town Bar

I used to have a lot of opportunities to sit in bars and draw but these days they are fewer and far between. I can't complain of course but as the cooler weather starts to creep in I'm hoping to get back out there.

Nonsense

This was just a bit of nonsense I did a while ago. I was never quite sure what to do with it and this is the first time it's seeing the light of day.

Another Daytime Drinking Session

What I liked about this one was the smokers outside the bar.

Reader

This one worked out well, I was on the A train and some of the seats are at angles to each other giving me a close look at this womans face whilst she worked her way through a romance novel.

Richardson

This was a job I finished yesterday, It fell between styles for me, The client had chosen the Samuel Beckett portrait from my website but wanted color. I put the color down first and pencil on top.

Lunch Time Drinker

You can't beat a liquid lunch and the Old Town Bar is the perfect place to have one.

Back on the 5

I was lucky enough to get a seat yesterday and was able to balance a sketchbook on my knee. I started drawing this woman but then as the train continued to fill up my view of her was obscured, I think she looked like this.

Book Cover

This is what I'm calling the finished painting for the book cover, I had posted the rough HERE back in July. Now it's up to the art director's approval.

Last Day of Summer

My friend Bill Stanton took these photo's of me whilst I was drawing this self portrait It represents my summer. I had a really great summer.