finger pickin on a six string, and the strings are made of steel.

I've been trying to sketch from memory/imagination a lot more lately, since my friend Carly inspired me to :) This is NOT from memory, I definitely looked at my hand while doing this sketch... and tried to add more patterning. It's a very interesting sketch for the situation, sitting in a coffeeshop in Brooklyn, feeling a bit defeated after missing our train back to Rochester, because we spent too much time going to Grimaldi's for lunch. Also feeling guilty about being away from my studio for so long.

I've been really itching to do a piece based on Miles Davis. After trying (and failing) to draw a younger version of him, I returned to an old photo reference in my library, and realized that I had drawn this before, in July of 2008. The great thing about his face, and many people's, is that your true character comes with age. The reason that the younger painting didn't work out is because I couldn't get a likeness, the character of age just wasn't there yet. So, a blast from sketchbooks past, the drawing from 2008:

In-progress drawing from May 2011. I'm working both with a micron and liquid ink, which I haven't used in awhile. The final product I want to have a lot of nice texture from the pen when you get up close, and still hold up from far away. I'm working on the windows, since I have a show going up next Monday at Roc Brewing Co., a new brewery opening up in June!

I can't get away from this image of Buster Keaton. I painted him on a window last year, and the window broke. Take 2!