Grumpy Cat

There isn't just one Grumpy Cat in the world. Lots of cats are grumpy and have a bad cat attitude. This overstuffed fuzzball would be cute if he didn't hate everything. But cute doesn't cut it. Don't you just love the Holiday Season.

Ink on sketchbook page, about 3 1/2" x 2 1/2", December 2014.

Debden Control Tower

Debden, England was the location of an air base which was active before and during World War II. Both the British and the American air forces used the base during the war. It continued in military usage until the mid-1970s. I collect photos of unusual architecture and this airbase control tower appealed to me in a kind of Bauhaus - Deco way. Even military architecture is subject to style.

This is a bit of an experiment, using an ink drawing as a base and coloring it in with Photoshop. That process is commonly used for coloring comics and graphic novels.

Original drawing is gel pen ink on sketchbook page, 3 1/2" x 3 1/4", December 6, 2014.

Cambridge Street View 1984

This is the view out my old Cambridge studio window, that is, the window in the front, not the side view of the previous post. It's in autumn, obviously, and that bright red area is the shining leafage of a small red maple tree which is one of the many street trees in the area. Also note the blue mailbox which was always convenient for me (and the other residents of the neighborhood.). The granite blocks which form the curb have been there for a long, long time and one of them was still mounted with an iron ring which was where you tied up your horse when you stopped here. 

Looking back on these color sketches of Cambridge in 1984, it seems to me that I lived in a kind of peaceful nostalgic place of quiet Americana where I spent my time doing art and taking naps and talking to the neighbors. But while that was sometimes true, it's an illusion that it was always that way, as my journals of the time reveal. As an artist I can create the memory that leads you back to the peaceful quiet city neighborhood where you could still write and mail a letter on an autumn afternoon.

Brown technical pen ink and watercolor on sketchbook page, 7" x 7 1/2", November 8, 1984. Clickonthepic for a somewhat larger view. 

Cambridge Studio Window 1984

My dwelling in Cambridge, Mass. was on the first floor of an old wooden duplex house just outside the borders of Harvard University, and the house was owned by Harvard too. The original living room, dining room, and kitchen were in this apartment, but the second floor had been re-built into another apartment. There was a majestic porch on the house which I used anytime it was warm enough to go outside. The porch wrapped around the main body of the house but the wraparound railing, for space reasons, was merely decorative on one side and didn't allow me to actually walk or sit there. 

The original living room behind the porch, which faced the street, was my bedroom and art studio combined. There was a bay window with two tall narrow side windows. The window you see here is one of them, through which you can see the decorative railing of the porch and some vegetation. I did a careful study of one of the side windows. There are multiple levels of wood and glass in this old sash window and due to overpainting and age, it was very difficult to open so I didn't try it very often. Also, my art table was near the window and there wasn't a lot of space to move around in. Underneath the windows was an old metal radiator, which made apocalyptic steampunk clanking noises  when it started up. The gas furnace for the whole house's heating system was directly under my bed and when it started up (which it often didn't due to the pilot light going out) there was a great whoosh and an earthquake-like bang rattle which woke me up. It's a wonder the house didn't blow up with me in it. Nowadays the entire house has been re-done as a multi-million-dollar single family home.

I am bemused by the amount of time I had back then to do art. Not only was I preparing full-scale acrylic fantasy art for the 1984 Worldcon in Los Angeles/Anaheim, but I did an ink and color sketch of local buildings and scenes almost every day. There was no Facebook or Google or Blogspot or the abominations of click bait to fragmentize and wreck the continuity of time and work. And of course no day job either. 

Brown technical pen ink and watercolor on sketchbook page, about 4" x 7 1/2", July 13, 1984. Please click to see a larger view. Thank you for tolerating my reminiscences.

Coffeehouse Goods

Anything is worth drawing, that is the motto of the "urban sketcher" artistic movement. But should I draw just anything? This jumbly little drawing was done in a nearby coffee shop while I sipped my brew and waited out my work break. I could have drawn the people in the shop but they wouldn't stay still. These shelves and uprights and baskets are full of coffee-based holiday gifts. Why isn't there an art supply store near my work place or residence instead. There's already a Starbucks within walking distance which supplies my coffee needs. I drew too many things in this drawing so if you can't tell what's going on here neither can I.

Technical pen ink on sketchbook page, finished in Photoshop, about 4" x 5", December 1, 2014.

Urban Cabin

In the next chapter of my "Urban Woods Dump Saga," the property owners have reached the old wood cabin in the back acre and are emptying it of hoarded stuff. I have not seen whether there really was a library in the cabin. But if I put myself into an awkward and uncomfortable position in my computer room, I have a moderately obstructed but visible view of the cabin. Here it is. Some details are not drawn correctly because I can't see them, even with binoculars. The building is set on a slope which is why there are two levels, that is, a main floor and a basement. There is a porch as you can see which is set in to the basic rectangle of the cabin's plan. What I don't quite get, because I can't see it very well, is how the stairs to the porch and door work. They are not central and direct to the door, but are side-entry and apparently built out to the side so you can walk up them. This may be because of the slope of the terrain.

Tonight the cabin was all lit up from within with warm golden Kinkade-like light. Workmen were going in and out of it and were sawing wood with a power saw. It's possible that the owners are renovating this place! (Or they could be getting ready to demolish it.) The cabin has no chimney, so there probably isn't a fireplace, but there must be some way to heat it. Does it have a bathroom? A kitchen? A bedroom? Is it for sale, or maybe even rent? Stay tuned for further developments.

Ink drawing on sketchbook page, 3 1/2" x 3 1/2", December 2014.

Chessiecon

I didn't do much sketching at Chessiecon. The convention was sparsely attended and not very picturesque. The hotel was undergoing renovation even as we were wandering about. Some folks (including me) were rudely awakened by the noise of workers removing the old roof, and outside my window roof debris accumulated in bins as it shot through a huge construction tube. The hotel looked shabby and the floors of the rooms (including mine) were unvacuumed and covered with unsavory crud. I have seen this hotel go through many changes and I hope that the renovations will make it a better and cleaner place to stay. 

I didn't have any art in the art show, either. The Chessiecon art show was full of tacky pictures of dragons, kittens, furries, pin-up girls, and bad digital prints, although Tristan's art was a relief from the general mediocrity. I sold four of my winery art books. I did hold my "salon" and despite some exhaustion (from non-convention stresses) on my part, I hosted my friends in my room with wine and snacks. If I had a house with any space in it, I'd  host my "Salon Pyracantha" more often. 

In these drawings you can see a fan reading in public seated in one of the hotel's better amenities, big overstuffed lobby chairs and sofas. I have always been amused by the fannish  habit of reading in public as  people swirl around them. The larger drawing shows some of the hangar-like lobby with lanterns and rectangular panels of reddish fabric hanging from the ceiling. The easel advertises events or workshops at the convention.

Pitt black technical pen on sketchbook page, 5" x 8", November 29, 2014.