Buttnekkiddoodles

We’re just not getting enough sleep. Folks are conkin’ out in public. On the trains, in bookstores, on benches, cafes, parks, libraries, malls, movie theaters. I’ll concede the narcotic at work could be a drab plot in a movie, not sufficient action packed gore, sex, or violence in the cinema, too much turkey for lunch, terminally long waits for partners to try on every shoe with a sole. Whatever the cause, they’re dropping like flies for 40 winks till pot holes, ushers, or asphyxia jars them back to the realm of the hustle.

       

For the record, the drawings in this post were executed in several stocks of books, Rhodia, Stillman & Birn, Utrecht, Tomoe River Pad, Lakota, and various ledger books. Tools used included ballpoint, gel pens, various fountain pens, and Pitt Artist Pens of severa nib sizes, and some watercolor pencils.

This week, I’m throwing up a collection of head studies and anonymous portraits captured while drawing in public, largely on public transit.

                      

Making use of the same tool kit I have worked with over the last few years. Fountain pens such as Pelikan M215 and M250, Faber-Castell Basic Black Leather, Sailor Bent Nib, Lamy Studio, all filled with Platinum Carbon ink. Don’t forget to rinse you fountain pens out on a regular basis, say 2-4 weeks. And, I make use of the full range of F-C Pitt Pens, all colors, all greys, and the whole variety of nib widths. And yes, those are my fingerprints, it’s automatic copyrighting.

Good news at last. Upgraded the camera I use to take pics of my drawings which will mean higher res. For the last year and a half, perhaps more, since my scanner went ka-blooey, I’ve been photographing the drawings with a an i-Pod that while convenient was low res and so the drawings came out a touch fuzzy. Better definition will mean sharper, prettier images with more information so you can better evaluate the tools at work and the paper in use. It’s been too long in coming and I do apologize. I’ll replace the above image of Franz Spohn drawing soon as the new camera is all set up.

Came upon Florika on the way to a catering job in the Loop. About 45 minutes, Pitt Pens, including the Pitt White, and a touch of grease pencil on Strathmore toned paper.

           

Vintur ist icummin in, lowdly sing the thrush. It’s here for real. Maintaining a regular practice of catching scenes and studies in public, in coffee shops, eateries, and on public transit systems.

            

Man, while I love the Southwest and south and central California, I have to live somewhere where snow is a winter feature. Even if it is wickedly cold as has been the case here in Chicago this year. One of the more brutal winter’s in the 15 years I’ve made my residence in the Midwest. I have a super warm and cosy apartment and I know how to dress for it even though I damn near lost my dick to frost bite one night while tromping for 20 blocks in 20 below zero weather. Last time I head out with boxers on. But the weather here has been beautiful and the feeling of living on the edge of climatic habitability gives one a sublime sense of the amazingly special place in this Universe we call home. Don’t know if y’all are getting a little bored with the usual drawing tools and predictable line quality, but I have been thinking about changing to bristle brushes or something a little bolder. Platinum Carbon ink in fountain pens, and Pitt Artist Pens in one of my favorite ledgerbooks to date.

One of the country’s largest kilns, the Anagama kiln at Montevalo University. I was so smitten with this place that I managed to walk off with just my sketchbook: leaving behind my backpack in which I had the rechargers for my cell phone and iPod. More importantly, I had about $1,000 worth of pens among which were a Graf von Faber Guilloche fountain pen which I had just picked up in Nashville, and one of my very favorite fountain pens, a Pelikan M215. That was November 6th and I just got all that returned via Fed Ex yesterday, Friday, November the 28th.