Waiting in Heathrow Airport

Waiting in Heathrow Airport. I was waiting in Heathrow Airport, waiting for a trans-Atlantic flight from London to New York. December, 2007. One of my last drawings from 2007, in fact.

From the Warm Blanket sketchbook.

Five Sketches of One Nude

Five Sketches of One Nude. From the Long Dark sketchbook, sometime in January or February 2007. I like the way all five drawings exist on parallel planes within the same page.

Sorph and Bobby at the Sunrise Festival

Sorph and Bobby at the Sunrise Festival. From the Sunshine sketchbook, June 2007.

Kew Gardens Mural (Wall Enlargement)

Kew Gardens Mural (Wall Enlargement). Pictures from the left wall of the London Bridge Hostel Murals.
I like to approximate form with ideal geometries.

I like to draw the mathematical relationships which connect different objects.

I like to simplify things.

The Influence of Symbols on A Pigeon I & II

The Influence of Symbols on A Pigeon I. Symbols are abstractions, defined by context. Remove the context, and you remove the meaning.

In this movement I conduct an experiment to see how a neutral participant, one with no pre-formed symbolic conceptions, would react to a rather ubiquitous symbol.

Woman on a Couch, Looking Left

Woman on a Couch, Looking Left. It was February, 2007. Cold. Dark. In the basement of the El Paso pub on Old Street, a group of artists met to draw a model.

The Spiral Id at the Sunshine Celebration

The Spiral Id at the Sunshine Celebration. Actually, the Sunrise Festival. It was June, 2007. I was camping with Sorph and Bobby. The morning I left, I got up too early. With loads of time, I could finally draw. It was the beginning of the Sunshine. (in between the Necklace and the Lost Summer).

What I can't tell you is that Bobby had just won an award at the Sundance movie festival, that Sorph had written an article for my band, that we were strangers who agreed to meet on the field of a new spring. And I was still trying to shake the weirdo out of me. That there was one sunrise which was more than I had ever known:

"The yellow sun consumed and turned me pink as I floated into everything. Liquid light grew soft and warm across the horizon until one line became an ellipse of my vision. And when my vision could no longer exist, there was no green, only pink. Only energy.

In the overtones of the light I was everything, the primal life, the foundation. In my survive, there was no one, only my own eyes. And my palette changed into true color, depth in dancing transparency.

When form returned, we were clean. In the horizon, beyond the sky, beyond the return, there was no burn, only peace." - from Adventures in an Instant, a postlude to Sunshine

This was the drawing which led me to think of symbols, and the incorporation of an abstract symbolic language of primitives as a method of defining form.

Sketchbook: The Necklace Video Trailer

Sketchbook: The Necklace Video Trailer. The week started innocently enough, a Sunday stroll through Camden Markets on a beautiful day. I was looking for a necklace, but wanted the right one to find me... I think that necklaces have to match your internal energy. Needless to say, I couldn't find anything until the right one was mailed to me from Amsterdam one month later. Made by a fairy, and a gift of friendship, I had no idea what I was getting into when I signed up to stay for a mere two-day layover in Noodjwick...

Graciously added to this fantastic list of online sketchbooks!

Amy in a Chair

Amy in a Chair. As many of you know, I've been going through the pages of the Lost Summer sketchbook. Well, there's loads more of those pages left, but I'm tired of putting them up. This painting is from the Women I Don't Know series.

After Amy graciously agreed to pose for four sittings, I proposed to finish when I found the perfect yellow (see the upper-right corner). Started in October 2007, I still have yet to find that perfect yellow. Which is disappointing indeed, since Amy is patiently awaiting the delivery of this very portrait. I hate to disappoint.

Check out a drawing from the Amy sessions.

The Brick Fireplace

The Brick Fireplace. The corner of the fireplace which rests in the center of the living room, (downstairs to the right) in my house in Hendon. I was sitting on the floor with my back to the couch. You might recognize the color pieces....

This is a still life pencil drawing with gouche (page 14) from the Lost Summer sketchbook.

Richard in Noodjwick

Richard in Noodjwick. I know that I'm in the middle of the Lost Summer Sketchbook series, but Richard just sent me this picture. I had forgotten what it looked like. And honestly, the story is just too crazy to pass up.

It was April, 2007. I hadn't talked to anyone in three dark London months. So, when spring came, back to Amsterdam I went. Actually, Amsterdam was just an aside for a few days until I caught a plane to Barcelona. Or so I thought...

Let's just say that:
a) I never went to Barcelona. Instead, I spent two weeks chillin on the back porch of a surf spot in Noodjwick talking to some of the coolest people ever (all detailed in my sketchbook, "The Necklace"). One of whom was Richard. Don't ask about the night Richard, Buddy (the only nineteen year old fisherman from Alazka I've ever met), and I had our own collectively seperate adventures...
b) From New Zealand, Richard just happened to be walking down the street in Cheshunt a few weeks later, the very same night I met Maria. He had just moved to London. Needless to say, several adventures ensued (including my introduction to Mexico City).
c) As I just re-discovered this drawing, I just happened to be listening to the Manu Chao song that kept playing over and over during the entire two weeks.

Hmm. Coincidence? Or, a confluence of events that makes me shudder in the shadow of it's significance...

The Living Room

The Living Room. Friday, August 17th, 2007. It was late Friday night. I was sitting on the living room floor with Ted, my new housemate. The painting on the mantel is the second sitting with Isabel. I was happy to finally find a place to live, a rather nice house in Hendon, but things seemed empty and bleak. I had convinced Ted to start drawing (surprise, surprise- me convincing you to draw is a consequence of spending any amount of time with me), so he was also on the floor making notes in the visual sense.


This is a still life pencil drawing (page 13) from the Lost Summer sketchbook. I skipped a few drawings. They're for the book...

Maria

Maria. I first met Maria the night that I drew these figure drawings at the London Life Drawing Society meeting:
A Naked Man's Feet
The Naked Chair
That was back in May 2007. Since then, she's been quite a good friend.

On Tuesday, August 14th 2007, I had just moved into the house in Hendon and was completely stressed out. So, according to our usual, we met for a coffee. A coffee and a drawing session....

Coffee shops are some of my favorite places to draw.


This is a figure drawing (page 12) from the Lost Summer sketchbook.

Four Bananas

Four Bananas. Sunday, August 12th, 2oo7. Cloudy, Bright. I just got back from New York today. We (Jenya and I) took four bananas on the bus from New York to Richmond. Mine were brown from too much contact, so I threw them out. Bananas certainly have a nice form, but I hate to eat them when they get too slimy.

This is drawing (page 11) from the Lost Summer sketchbook.

Fountain Park, Bishops Stortford

Fountain Park, Bishops Stortford. Fast forward past Coopers, and it was late afternoon on Saturday, August 11th 2007. Mel and I were once again looking for a place to draw. We found a park, complete with a massive skateboard ramp. Under a willow tree, we sat down and began to draw in Fountain Park, Bishops Stortford. It was a very peaceful time. I had been living with Mel and Sarah for about ten days. Without them, I would have been sleeping in Hyde Park. And it was a very cold summer.

The sun had a way of finding me those two weeks, shining in exactly when I needed it to. There's nothing like sunshine to make you feel like everything's going to be ok. I had no money, nowhere to live, and no one to wonder where I was. But the warmth of the sun brought me safe, everytime.

Mel moved back to Australia today, back to the sunshine.

Page 10 from the Lost Summer sketchbook.

Coopers of Stortford

Coopers of Stortford. We were on a mission, Sarah, Mel and I, to find a place to draw. Well, two of us were looking for a place to draw. Sarah was looking for a place to read.

So, we wandered around Bishops Stortford. It was a sunny Saturday afternoon. Finally, I spotted it. Coopers of Stortford, a garden supply center.

And it only took me four tries to get the orange garden pots the way I wanted them.

Page 9 from the Lost Summer sketchbook.

The Green Plant and the Yellow Wall

The Green Plant and the Yellow Wall. The last of my four drawings from August 10th, I had hit a sweet spot. Almost sculptural, the plant had been named by its' owner (Rob- Mel and Sarah's housemate). I can't remember the name right now. It was 11pm, everyone else was out, and I had just seen House of Flying Daggers. Visual poetry.


Page 8 from the Lost Summer sketchbook.

A Bowl of Fruit

A Bowl of Fruit. One peaceful summer evening after another...August was nice. After drawing my apple, I decided to conduct an orchestra. The insects were listening.

Page 7 from the Lost Summer sketchbook.

Red Apple on a Yellow Table

Red Apple on a Yellow Table. We had come back from St. Albans, it was cool and the freshness of the summer evening felt great. Everyone wanted to go out. I wanted to stay in. So, I drew an apple. Pen, gouche, and pencil.

Page 6 from the Lost Summer sketchbook.