Snack Foods, Investigated

While out drawing on-site with my students the other day (trying to encourage the "sketchbook habit," don't you know), my own entry included the following. Maybe a good example for the students about challenging their notion of what proves to be appropriate or valuable subject matter? Or, maybe just the mundane, banal musings of an illustrator on the loose in a town with a Subway, and not much else. Enjoy?

Airport Ambience, Sketchbook Style

Who among us does not like to travel? The sights! The sounds! The overwhelming feeling of needing to be somewhere on time, or risk hundreds, perhaps thousands, of dollars, paid in advance, to travel by train, plane, boat, etc.! There, I've piqued your interest. My tale is not so interesting- went to a conference recently. But the airport cacophony was, indeed, something for my sketchbook, as was the condition of my seat-mate on the first leg of the journey. Yes, Purell® was involved...

Fun Fact: This is the spread I was working on in my sketchbook in the photos from the "Mid-Air Inking" post. Ok, maybe not so fun. Just click on the image if you'd like to see a larger version.

Mid-Air Inking...

So, often I find myself working in a sketchbook (or on professional work, of course... shhhh...) in random places (hotel rooms, trains, subway, the back yard, and so on). This is really not unusual for any professional illustrator or artist, but there are some interesting challenges. For example, in the "tray tables up" position, at night, you are relegated to holding your sketchbook in one hand, inking with the other, in piss-poor light, negotiating the lumps and bumps of turbulence, along with a seat-mate who won't stop talking.

Wikipedia (I know, a decidedly unreliable source, and, yet, so 21st century...) defines turbulence as "characterized by chaotic and suspectedly stochastic property changes." This is reflected in my inking. Fo' shizzle.

I recently had some fun decorating an air sickness bag, and then leaving it for the next (un) lucky traveler...

Exercise... and "Silence of the Lambs"

This recent page, from my sketchbook, details an oddly beautiful but scary sight. There were so many vultures, all perfectly still and silent. Birds are omens, aren't they? There's something about seeing this many carrion-eaters while you're exercising that says, "Maybe I should hurry up?"

Heat Wave, and Then Some, or, the Trials of a Hot and Humid Homeowner

We've had some unbearable heat lately. And the humidity to go with it. Like downtown Manila. So, what better time to go up to the sweltering hot second floor and attempt some simple home repair? There IS no better time! At least not if I want new sketchbook material as a result.

Afterward, I watched a few reruns of "Breaking Bad." It seemed the right thing to do after such traumatic, but ultimately successful, DIY.

Summer Skin

Summer is upon us, along with its attendant beauty! Who can deny this? Well, maybe me. Another in a series of iPad explorations.

Travel Advice

From my sketchbook, just prior to an international trip a little while back. And for my friend, Terri, who is traveling later this spring. Time to update the "international symbols" on the package of live typhoid vaccine...