Buttnekkiddoodles

Went to see the screening and discussion of the film FIRSTHAND: Gun Violence, at the Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership. On stage we’re two of the five panel members, Dan Protess, producer and director of the film and Reality Allah, outreach worker for READI Chicago. FIRSTHAND is a 15-part digital series that follows the perspectives of five Chicagoans living with firsthand experience of gun violence in Chicago.

The gentleman on the right, Reality Allah, spent 20 years incarcerated and has since his release vowed to dedicate his life to reducing violence. He is now an outreach worker for READI  Chicago where he uses 30 years of his experience and knowledge to engage men at high risk of violence with transitional jobs and cognitive behavioral therapy and to connect them with other critical support services. He is featured in the documentary series FIRSTHAND: Gun Violence.

At last night’s panel discussion Reality Allah said that a billboard for the documentary was erected in south Chicago with his face featured. When he saw the billboard, he realized it had been placed five feet from where he was arrested prior to beIng incarcerated for 20 years.

For more information:
wttw.com/firsthand #FIRSTHANDwttw

 I enjoy watching people at work. Over the last dozen years or so of going to life drawing sessions, I’ve turned my attention to the artists as they ply their craft. While not completely still, their movements are generally gradual enough to catch the gist of their posture with the added challenge of frequent adjustments. An artist standing at an easel may back off with some frequency but even those seated upon the bench know as a horse might need to shift to relieve pressure or numbness. I draw with ink so should the artist move significantly I either begin a second drawing or incorporate the new position right on top of the drawing in progress in the manner of pentimento. I’ve dropped into life drawing sessions across the country, but the primary place I work on my nude figure drawing chops is the venerated Palette & Chisel.  Some of these artists I’ve worked alongside for years such as my friend Misha, who hails from Minsk, Bielorussia where he studied art as a young man. A wonderful subject in his own right he is very dogged in his approach taking glimpse at the figure before working with a long practiced surety. Others rapidly look back and forth between page and subject. One in particular, Bodo, very actively tilts his head left to right while quickly looking up and down and working alternately on different sections of anatomy making him one of the more challenging to capture a likeness of. Mary Qian, seen in baseball cap and in the final drawing, frequently looks thru a pair of binoculars to help her with detail.

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Medium used: Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Pens, various Fountain Pens, Platinum Carbon Ink, deAtrementis Ink, Pentel Brush Pen, Tomoe River Paper, Hahnemühle sketchbooks, repurposed ledgerbooks, Stillman & Birn sketchbooks,

Flew to Italy on Xmas to join my beloved Giamila and her family on the Ligurian Coast at the beautiful town of Sestri Levante for eight days and then travel together by train back to spend 5 days in her hometown of Milano.

Giamila, her mother, father, brother and sister-in-law had already taken a train to Sestri Levante, so when I flew  in to Milano, I had to hop on a train that took me into the main train station, Milano Centrale where I then boarded another train for a two hour plus ride to join up with them. As I speak no Italian, Giamila taught me a couple phrases to aid me in finding the right train. “Scuzi, dov’é il treno per La Spezi”?

Being that I hadn’t switched to a European SIM card in my cell phone, if I headed off in the wrong direction, it would have required some serious focus on the part of a traveler who didn’t sleep on the 12 hour trip from Chicago to Italy to get back on track.

All worked according to plan and Giamila met me with huge smile and warm embrace at the train station of a glorious seaside town whose views, baked goods, and seafood were off the charts.

The above drawing is an imaginary landscape drawn during the train ride,  the very smooth train ride I might add, back to Milano.

Drawn with Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Pens, fountain pens, Platinum Carbon Ink, in Hanemühle, Tomoe River Paper, and Stillman & Birn Nova Series sketchbooks.

The work continues. I didn’t want it but that’s besides the point now. It is fascinating to watch a construction site from such a vantage point. I haven’t asked for permission, and doubt that I’d get it, to don a hard hat and get on site to draw. There’s been such an array of Earth moving equipment and now as you can see from the sixth image below, they have started building the central tower for the main crane.

All drawings are with Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Pens on either Tomoe River Paper, in a Moleskine Watercolor sketchbook, or in a Stillman & Birn watercolor sketchbook, or a Hahnemule sketchbook.

I’ve had an unusual and superb vantage point of a demolition and construction site which is directly across the street from my apartment. Never having watched a site from start to finish before I have been surprised by some of the developments. Upon demolishing the existing structure seen above in a snowstorm and just below that at night, the rubble was separated into different materials, i.e. bricks, the reusable ones were stacked on pallets and wrapped, banded and carted away for reuse. Metal materials were hauled away then general rubble was removed. But one of the biggest eye openers was the digging of roughly twenty 25-30’ cylindrical holes that had rebar cages inserted before being filled with concrete. Then, these concrete columns were covered up with the heavy equipment moving to dig the next holes.

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drawings executed with Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Pens and graphite on Stillman & Birn Nova Series Toned sketchbook, Tomoe River Paper.