Buttnekkiddoodles

Once in awhile, I actually put up some doodles of naked butts. Went to the Palette & Chisel last night to see a strong show of Errol Jacobs paintings from the last few years and made it upstairs for the last 2 hours of life drawing. Been awhile.

  

Well it’s been some time since I settled in to some nude drawing having managed to travel the country extensively this Fall so I squeezed in a half session last night with less than what I might have hoped for. Since I returned to Chicago 5 days ago much has gotten in the way of my daily drawing so some of the slap dash I was looking for came in fits and starts. I also left the house with a limited range of grays and wound up making careless use of cool and warm grays on the model which is irritating me  sufficiently on the morning after. I did have with me a Sailor bent nib fountain pen that give both bold and narrow line widths depending on the angle you attack the page with and you can see it’s effect in the drawings of the dude with the Jeff cap & blue backpack and the slouching fellow in ski cap texting away. Fun to draw with and loosens you up. On the page immediately above of cafe goers and transit riders, I could have used some of the darker Pitt Big Brush Artist Pens which would have knocked in richer values and strokes on the clothing.

 

Swung into California, SFO to be specific, and headed by bus to Napa catching the young fellow above napping en route. He later awoke to see me drawing and commented favorably on my drawing. Owner of a landscaping business and a super nice dude. Glorious weather, and made a culinary discovery that could turn things around for many friends of mine who dislike raw oysters. Grill ’em! Came upon them at Hog Island Oyster Company in the Oxbow Public Market.

 

Gear used: grease pencil, Pelikan M215 (which I have since lost), Pitt Artist Pens, other fountain pens, ledger book, Moleskine watercolor sketchbook. The value of pens lost on the road is getting to pile up. I might be nearing $2,000 just in lost fountain pens. The drawing of Degas’ Little Dancer was done in the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena.

  

And yes, that cup of chocolate was decadent and nearly thick as pudding.

Ah, the glorious Northwest. I can’t go there often enough. This last trip took me to Seattle by air, flew to Bozeman, then by car to Missoula, Spokane, Pullman and back to Spokane. And finally, after hearing so much about the Palouse I went into the heart of that great agrarian region. Reached the Palouse just after the combines had harvested the wheat and lentil crops and had begun the flash burn and plowing under the fields.

          

Back in Chicago working on a litho at Anchor Graphics Studio before heading out to California. Jumping back and forth between ledger books, a Moleskine watercolor sketchbook and toned paper sketchbooks by Utrecht and Strathmore. No surprises with the tools I’m using, Pitt Pens, grease pencils, fountain pens. On the road I made big use of my Pelikan M215, broad nib, rich f and Pelikano Juniors but for the brief time I’m home I’m working the Graf von Faber Guilloche Chevron broad point. Platinum Carbon ink and Noodler’s Ottoman Blue. Since I draw with my fingers as well I notice the Noodler’s and many water soluble fountain pen inks really stain the skin more tenaciously than Pitt Pen ink or even Platinum Carbon. Not totally sure what this means in the long run but…the older I get, the less I’ll sweat that.

   

Productivity has sagged due to house search. Copped a few drawings here and there. Shot down to Hilton Head for my cousin’s wedding and brought the sketchbook along but managed only a few complete pages. Just below is a quick double sketch of Cheap Trip guitarist Rick Nielsen about to board a flight at the gate next to mine in O’Hare. Yes, I’ve fallen to being just a shameless celebrity hounding paparazzi.

Ania and her mom Dixie going bananas while play video games together. Serious body count and general mayhem.

Spent an afternoon talking with painter and serious bon vivant Scott Covert in Michigan. Scott has been making paintings and drawings from tombstone rubbings of deceased celebrities. He spent many years in the art and club scene in NYC and was chock full of crazy stories. One of those guys with an incredible constitution to survive years of professional partying.

Pitt Artist Pens, fountain pens, and grease pencil in a toned Strathmore sketchbook. I do like the toned sketchbook by Strathmore but, the fall apart fairly easily if you work them as I do on a regular basis and have a need to fold the spine back now and then.

I was walking home up Clark Ave on afternoon and wound up at the gates of Graceland Cemetery around 3 PM. I had about an hour before they locked the gates at 4 so in I went. Found a bit of headstone drama with the sun back lighting trees and monuments. It’s just so much easier to capture the mood and time of day using toned paper and adding white selectively. Unfortunately the paper Strathmore uses doesn’t have the absorption delay sufficient to allow for smudging, so I wasn’t getting the range of marks that increases the variety of textures I try to put into play.

 

Riding the #22 home in the city of big shoulders.

Life drawing.

Medium: Pitt Artist Pen and white grease pencil highlights on toned Utrecht paper.

Dimensions: 9 1/2″(h) x 12″(w)

Date: 2/8/13

signed: Darn

Price: $250 shipping included