Old City Hall, Lawrence, Kansas

   

This Victorian-Gothic civic building was finished in 1880 and is still used for legal and social needs. While Regina was getting her marriage license confirmed, I sat outside and did this drawing. As I said before, builders and craftsmen from America's East took their inspiration and created their Eastern college town here. They wanted Lawrence to look like the old home with its own European  -style buildings. Even the colors of Kansas U, as Regina explained to me, were meant to recall college life back home. KU colors are dark red and blue, signifying Harvard Crimson and Yale Blue.

Ink and colored pencils on sketchbook page, 4 1/2" x 5", October 13, 1998.

Kansas Mini-Landscape and Cats

 

Kansas is rated one of the flattest places in the world. I got to see some of that later in my stay in the state. But surprisingly there is a bit of higher ground in Lawrence, in the environs of Kansas University. This tiny drawing shows a bit of slanted land as well as a swampy area behind Regina and Ron's house.

Another cat image. This is the portly puss, "Puddin" who you saw in the previous posting.

Ink and colored pencils on sketchbook page, 12-13 October 1998.

Kansas People and Cats 1998

 

Naturally I had my art equipment with me but for this nothing more than the usual tech pen. We did a lot of sitting around and talking which gave me plenty of time to draw. I noticed in fact that people from the Midwest and West liked to talk, whereas New Englanders like me are instructed not to be excessively gabby. But I like to talk, both to humans and to cats. The guy at upper left is Byron, Regina's brother. He worked in the oil industry and I enjoyed talking with him about it and the flaming torches of refineries. The overweight cat is "Puddin" who Regina and her new husband were fostering. Another guest cat at lower right is "Gremlin," long-haired with a sweet disposition. In the center was "Analog," a tiny but fierce rescue cat who made life miserable for the other cats in the house. Missing from this group is "Digital," a charming, humorous long haired grey stripey cat who just ran away one day, because he couldn't stand living with Analog.

Black tech pen on sketchbook page, 5 2/3" x 7 1/2", October 18, 1998.

Cleveland Airport Tower 1998

 

In October 1998 I was on the road again to attend my friend Regina's wedding in Lawrence, Kansas. The first stop was Cleveland Airport where I made this drawing. Regina is gone now so this series of drawings mean a lot to me. Here you see the control towers of the airport as well as a little sketch of traffic. Next stop was Kansas City and then drive a rental car to Lawrence.

Black tech pen on sketchbook page, 5" x 8", October 12, 1998.

Roman Blue Sky 1975

When I used to walk around Rome doing drawings, I would marvel at the bright colors so many buildings displayed. A common color among older buildings was a brilliant but slightly tawny orange. Almost any building from the 19th century earlier would be this flowery color, even a church. The sky was intensely clear and blue. I tried to reproduce this orange-and-blue combination here in a 1975 study of a corner of "Santa Maria Sopra Minerva." The title translates to "Saint Mary's built on top of a temple of Minerva." 

Pencil and colored pencils on sketchbook page, 5" x 10", Rome 1975.

Red Angles

 

Here's a bright Geometrikon for you, in plenty of color. When I was first learning digital art in 1991, blending one color to another was the spiffiest thing I had ever seen, and it still is. This is not a final version by any means. There is plenty more for this. The original design, though, will remain the same. There is no biocomposition or creature in this image. The red spherical gradation in the center would have taken me hours to create in paint.

Markers and Photoshop, 8" x 5", October 2, 2020.

October the First is Too Late

 What? No picture for October 1? I guess it's finally time to review my posting policy, or obsession as it were. The title of this entry comes from a famous science fiction novel written by the great British astronomer Fred Hoyle. I read it once but I have long since forgotten it and perhaps I should read it again. Anyway I didn't get my October 1 posting in on time and as I have blathered some times earlier, I am under pressure from within and from the world, trying to keep from losing my wits and sense of purpose during this prolonged plague scenario. I have other projects which are not as time-sensitive but still need to be done. I should keep posting but if necessary not every day.