a weekend of independence

First and foremost, it was a HOOOOTTTTT weekend! Today I got back to Rochester... and feeling guilty about not having a nice long cycle in a few days... went out for a 40 mile ride. It was enjoyable... the best thing about cycling is there will always always wind blowing towards you... but then you stop... and the sweat POURS OFF OF YOU. A few of the miles were treacherous.. but the majority weren't. When I got home I looked (and felt) like this vat of melted cheese:

So the weekend! I had a ton of fun visiting my good friend Gayle in Albany. This was my second time to Albany, and I have to say, I like it better every time I go. I wish I had my pictures to show you, but since the camera is still at her house... you'll have to do with descriptions. Carly and Kira came along too, it was a wonderful reunion of RIT Illustration ladies. The first night we were there, we went out on the town and lived it up. Our second day (the FOURTH OF JULY) started with a walk to their beautiful, beautiful park! We came back home... where we were cooking up some delicious beer ice cream. We ended up cooking a fantastic meal of kielbasa, grilled onions and peppers and mushrooms, garlic bread, and to top it off, 'smores on the street with the grill. We were fortunate enough to get invited up onto a neighbors rooftop to watch the SPECTACULAR fireworks over the capitol building. One of my favorite parts was after dinner, when we watched one of my favorites, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. I'm a Jimmy Stewart junkie, it's true... and I do have a thing for Frank Capra movies. This just capped off the lovely weekend.

Okay, so art wise, I seem to do a portrait of Kira (sometimes demanded) during the long drive to Albany. It works: she drives, I draw her. Have I mentioned my love of drawing hair? I got really into it in this one... but I love it all the same.

As of today (July 5)... only 15 DAYS REMAIN UNTIL I SEE LANGHORNE SLIM IN CONCERT!!!! I'm a little excited... I may have been working on his mailer/gift all week, this is a preview, type is yet to come. Since I have done so many portraits of just Sean, I decided that I wanted to draw all of the boys for the mailer itself. I liked the back view because it made me think of how to make it visually interesting without the presence of faces. I'm pretty happy with it so far.

Finally, an in-progress portrait of George Eastman for the (AHEM) Eastman School of Music.