Hung out near closing time at the mega brew corporate cafe on The Mag Mile. Lu Lu, Raven, and Abigail pumping the evening crowd full of caffeine so they can make the club scene till last call. Pitt Artist Pens and a fountain pen on Rhodia Dot Grid notebook.
Stopped into the corporate coffee station at North & Wells wherein pitched battles of chess are in heated swing and sway. The observant among you will notice the gent on the right is playing with the black chess pieces but appears to also be holding a black pawn as if he captured one of his own. The reason being the games were very rapid and would quickly conclude then these two combatants would switch pieces. So as I sketched they were alternating who opened. Anyway, their intense postures didn’t vary much throughout their set.
Fountain pen and Pitt & Artist Pens on a Stillman & Birn sketchbook.
Noggins. In the drawing above, the two heads were drawn while on the #22 bus using Ochre and Dark Sepia Pitt Artist Pens. Later I added the green blue tints and black. The bottom two were drawn as is in a cafe.
With the exception of the last sketch of my brother Bob, this collection was drawn this August in the Chicago/Evanston area. Bob, was drawn watching the t.v. some 27 years ago in Austin, Texas.
Fountain pen and Pitt Artist Pens, most on a Rhodia unlined notebook. Bob was drawn on a repurposed diary from someone had kept notes in from the Second World War.
The old soldier, ears thoroughly bitten, shy a few teeth, still keeps vigil over his domain.
Given the less than appealing name Stinky due to his feisty nature when we got him. What would you expect. The critter was feral. I’ve never come up with a substitute name and refuse to use that one. I haven’t been swatted in over two years and he usually comes over to rub against my leg and let me scratch behind his ears. I make use of Old Man, Dude, Buddy. The nameless wrangler that helped send the rats packing, patrols the complex, and has mellowed considerably. Well, the squirrels would argue with that last part. I could call him Sheriff. Or Sharif, after Omar.
Fountain Pen and Pitt Artist Pens on a Rhodia unlined notebook.
Got in a few hours in the magnificent Cleveland Museum of Art. Fantastic buildings, superb collection.
Drawing #1 one of the Biglin brothers from Thomas Eakins’ The Biglin Brothers Turning The Stake.
#2 two views of a bas relief marble head and a quickie of a Adolph Mengs portrait of Infante Don Luis de Borbón one of King Philip V of Spain’s nere do well trust funded brats. The side label/comment mentioned how characters like him were the subjects of interest when rational skepticism in the Age of Enlightenment began to confront absolutist hereditary power. Kind of brings to mind the spoiled brats like D Trump and his offspring.
#3 gored and dying dogs from a hunting scene by Lucas Cranach the Elder. A little bronze of a dog scratching itself. And a wooden carving of St. Andrew
#4 rt to lft the backside of some dude in a print, the still clenched hand of a dead Christ in a wooden Pietá. Many times the hands of the dead Christ are depicted relaxed, but the graphic realism of this one grabbed me. And a difficult to see sketch of a polished bronze figure with a Fu Manchu that resembled Kenny Rogers after he got plastic surgery “face lift”
Drwg #5 the last drawing before leaving the CMA a sketch of a Civil War Union soldier carving a pipe. Dressed in red cap, blue jacket and billowing red breeches the units known as Zouaves were comfortable and looked great but were compelling targets of Confederate sharp shooting snipers. This small painting by Homer is a gem! Well known for his Maine seascapes and his watercolors, he was a monster draftsman who was a war correspondent and combat artist. He’s knocked me dizzy with a number of his drawings and watercolors. I adore this figure and his hands carving the pipe were so accurately dexterous with brilliant brushwork.
Drawn with a Warm Grey IV Pitt Artist Pen Chisel nib and Brush nib because they appear to be pencil drawings, especially on paper that allows you to smudge ‘em, BECAUSE… museums don’t want you to draw with ink.
p.s. the dog scratching itself was drawn with ink from a fountain pen.