Alice at the Cafe

I went to the local luxury coffee shop,"Caffe Amouri," as I often do with friends. We get together every week to talk about our creative and craft work. Added to our group this Friday was Alice, the daughter of one of my fellow-crafters. She is an artist currently working on a graphic novel. The coffee was excellent, and the atmosphere at Amouri feels like being in a college town.

I don't usually do pictures of people but I did this time because sketching is my craft and I wanted to see whether I could depict a recognizable Alice with the simplest pen-line available.
You haven't seen her but I think I did a pretty good sketch portrait job here.

Sepia brown tech pen on sketchbook page, 5" x 7", August 10, 2018.

Prairie Doodle

This Photoshop doodle could be used as a background, with a horse rider or buffalo in front, or it could just stand alone as a non-contrasty abstract nature piece. I have all sorts of digital image textures that I never use so I decided to experiment with a few of them here.

Photoshop, 5" x 5", August 9th, 2018.

More Big Puffy Clouds

This is the moment for them, my friends the big puffy clouds that sail in the sky above me, and throw thunderbolts and torrents at those below. They only have a couple of months left above us before they fade away in the autumn. I lost most of my summer to illness and rehab so I am appreciating everything summery that comes my way.

Colored pencils and markers, 5 1/2" x 4 1/2", August 9, 2018.

"Charis" character portrait 1975

Here's another character portrait from my Byzantine adventure story from 1975. It is in my sketchbook journal from my Brandeis days and the journaling on the page describes my classes, friends, food, music, etc. This journal is so well-illustrated, I am amazed that I was able to add so many images to it, and elaborate good ones, too! This character, "Charis," was either the mistress of a nobleman or a noblewoman herself. The story took place around 400 A.D. and the shiny silk fashions she wears are typical of a woman of high rank in that era. I based Charis on my fellow Brandeis student Karen. I lost contact with Karen after a few years and I have always wondered what became of her. How could I have made so many highly detailed small illustrations while holding down a whole set of college classes? Maybe because I wasn't wasting my time staring at the Facebook feed for hours? But I had a TV in my room and went out with friends, so all I can say is those were the days.

Ink and watercolor on sketchbook page, 5 1/2" x 8", February 1975.

Tropical Plant Color Doodle

I have an astounding number of markers. When visitors to my studio see them, they almost faint. How could one person have that many colors? Actually, markers are one of the least expensive means of making art, as long as you don't care about the colors fading. So wherever I turn, I can pick up a marker of any color and create...at least something. I started with red here, and then went into dark green. I wasn't thinking of anything in particular but it turned into a tropical plant abstraction. No actual plants are represented here.

Markers on sketchbook page, 4" x 3 1/2", August 6, 2018.

Crescent Street Cambridge 1984

Artist's blurb: I lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts for 12 years during the 1980s. For most of those years I lived a very bohemian life in an old house just one street away from Harvard Divinity School. I worked on art commissions and book covers, sold art at science fiction conventions, and did a lot of sketching. I often drew the houses and trees of my picturesque urban neighborhood. 

This image is of backyards and fences on Crescent Street in Cambridge. The inkwork was done on site and it was colored in the studio. I love these old wooden houses and wish there were more of them to draw here in Metro DC. Many still exist but it is hard to find a spot to draw from.

Brown tech pen ink and watercolor, 5 1/2" x 8", August 22, 1984.

What I Saw: Steampump

This fabulous assemblage was in the lower level of the rehab building where I spent my captive days. The lower level didn't have residents. It was where physical and occupational therapy was done. There was a pleasant little gym where I spent time exercising under supervision. When I saw this 3-D steampunk assembly by the elevator stop on the lower level, I knew I had to bring it to you. What was it, really? I was told that this was where the water and steam pressures for the whole building were regulated. I think I surprised my rehab keepers by my artistic behavior during my stay there.

iPhone, July 1, 2018.