Some of the best models are those who are engrossed in something. And nothing engrosses 21st century humans like their phones. I take my sketchbook almost everywhere because if nothing else, I can guarantee that I will find someone on their phone. I don’t often ask permission in this situation since they are absorbed in something. But whenever possible I will show them the drawing afterwards and connect with them so they can see it when it is finished.
Someone on their phone is also a perfect opportunity to create a story by adding in thought or word bubbles. These I make up completely and don’t have anything to do with the real person. It’s just an idea I had based on the drawing and what I imagined they could be thinking about.
These drawings are from Sketchbooks starting around 2010 or so, when the iphone made extended phone usage much more prevalent.
I have been continuing to scan my sketchbooks. Each sketchbook has a unique focus due to its own properties of size, paper quality, etc. It also has to do with what I was doing at the time. This sketchbook has a lot of live drawings of people in public settings. I was spending time in coffee houses because I was live streaming regularly on the Periscope app and this was a fun and interesting way to engage my audience. The camera would be pointed at me and my drawing so I could talk while they saw my drawing appear. I would sometimes end the video with me going over the meet the subject of my drawing and introduce them as well.
These are a selection from my 2015-2017 sketchbook.
I’ve been scanning my sketchbooks this year and recently scanned one from 2000-2002. There were a number of drawings of people on planes or about to get on one. Planes and waiting rooms are wonderful places to people draw and I always make sure I have my sketchbook with me when I travel for that exact reason.
In some cases I met these people, found out their name and a small portion of their story. Some knew I was drawing them, like Jess the flight attendant. She was sitting staring down the aisle late at night and it was kind of hard to miss me drawing since I was the probably the only person with a light on in the cabin. Other times I am observing, taking in not just the face but the whole environment, like in ‘A Passenger’s Story’, which really more my story of what is happening all around her rather than what she is thinking. And then again I am often just imagining what someone might be thinking based on just a brief conversation like in ‘Cate Wishing’ or on nothing at all, like in ‘I Hope He’s Nice’.
Click on any image to start a slide show. Let me know what you think, do you have a favorite?
“I can promise you that women working together – linked, informed and educated – can bring peace and prosperity to this forsaken planet.” – Isabel Allende
When I think about the Middle East recently I keep thinking about how powerless so many women must feel as they watch their world being destroyed. They have their differing opinions and beliefs but I believe their pain makes them much more alike than their religion and background make them different. Because of that I am confident of the same thing Allende is. I don’t know the solution to all these issues. But I believe the women of the region are more likely to find the answers than the men are. I can think of no better place and time than here and now to have women in charge instead of men.
As many of you know, I draw in church. When I lived in Tulsa the person I drew at church most often was the pianist. We sat in just the right location to get a good view of her so she was a ready subject. When we moved to Texas and found a church the orchestra was behind a low wall so I didn’t have a good view of them. However, I did have a good view of the singers who led the worship. Next thing you know I was drawing a lot of people with microphones. Most of the time I would actually not draw them while they were standing up in front. I would look at them while they sang, memorize certain things about how they stood, held the microphone, what they wore, etc. Then while the sermon was being preached I would start the drawing with that person in mind. I didn’t worry about being accurate, it was just a place to start on the page.
‘The Mottled Woman’, ink on paper, 2022
Sometimes I think of something the person is saying or thinking, other times I don’t.
‘The Colors and the Grays’, ink on paper, 2023
Singing Apples, Thinking Oranges
At the Edge
The one thing that occurs to me again and again, especially in Christian circles, is how different what we say is from what we think.
‘The Sea Angel’, ink on paper, 2022
Some people are able to rise above. Not many, but some.
‘Cathie Hill Singing’, ink on paper, 2023
My sister-in-law singing at her outdoor church in Colorado.
‘Eve with Singing Snake’, ink on paper, 2022
What if the snake had listened to Eve instead of the other way around?
‘The Singer and the Pain’, ink on paper, 2022
The thing is, people say things often because they believe it convinces others of who they are. But if you are around someone long enough their actions say who they are not their words and no one is fooled.
‘Interview with a Meteorite’, ink on paper, 2023
The drawing attention to disasters all around the world, the big crazy ones, is often a tool by which we hide our own disasters from ourselves and others.
‘Halo of Guilt’, ink on paper, 2023
Being a saint is as much a curse as it is a blessing. You know you did barely anything to deserve the accolade and yet you can’t escape it. BTW, I do not know this from first hand experience.
‘The Show’, ink on paper, 2023
The voice speaks but it is the hand that proves who you are.
I recently finished a sketchbook. It’s a weird thing to finish a sketchbook. I always feel like a relationship is ending. The feel, paper, size, look are all unique. How it takes ink, how I hold it, how it fits as I go somewhere is different with each sketchbook. Some allow me to draw inconspicuously while others are too big to hide. Some say ‘hippie natural’ while others say ‘serious conformist artist’.
But most importantly, what I draw in it is different based on all those things. Some lend themselves to drawing live while others tend to move me to draw purely imaginative images. It isn’t exclusive, I draw live and imaginatively in every sketchbook but there is an inclination depending on the book.
Here are some from a sketchbook that lent itself to a lot of imaginative drawing. I chose recent paintings that include polka dots or other type of recurring pattern on the clothing. I often do this so as to give definition to a form or to define a something as in front of or behind something else. They also include a lot of people holding microphones. That is because I often start the drawing in church, lightly memorizing the person on stage during the singing, then drawing a version of that person once the sermon starts.
Enjoy and let me know what you think. Do you have a favorite?
Finally, after many years of not being able to get out and draw live i’ve started to sketch in person again. These are from the winter of 2022-2023 in various locales; in a waiting room, at a pharmacy, at a coffee shop, in church and on a train. Sometimes I talk to the person, sometimes I don’t. It all depends on the circumstances and proximity.
‘Shit’ – 2022 ‘Not Sure About That’ – 2022 ‘Dostoevsky on Dart’ – 2023 ‘Anita at the Pharmacy’ – 2022 ‘Becky in a Boot’ – 2023 Man at the Modern Well Coffee Shop’ – 2022
Annie finished reading her daily scripture and was contemplating its meaning when the phone rang. She decided, based on her morning study, that she was not going to answer the phone. The phone call was from the National Academy of Poodle Excellence and they were going to offer her a job as Executive Vice President. This wasn’t the first time she hadn’t answered a call from this number so they eventually gave up on her. They offered the job to Sid, a poodle in Oklahoma, who took it and eventually reached world-wide fame as the CEO of NAPE. Annie meanwhile continued her studies and was never the wiser because she didn’t watch the news.
Here are 10 drawings I’ve done over the Winter and Spring of 2021. Let me know your favorites!
‘The Tik Tok Dancer’
Ink on Paper
2021
She practiced her TikTok dance in the mirror in the room with her favorite dog and painting on a Sunday instead of going to Temple.
‘The Sunbathers’
Ink on Paper
2021
“I Like to Sleep in the Sun.” “Me Too.”
‘The Overdramatic Musician’
Ink on Paper
2021
The story is told of the time when the melodramatic musician overreacted to the famous painting of Mt. Vesuvius and burst an embolism and died right at that spot and made it even more famous!
‘Spiraling’
Ink on Paper
2021
‘American Allegiance’
Ink on Paper
2021
‘The Whiner’
Ink on Paper
2021
“Whoa (yes, I know it’s spelled wrong) is me why me who am i why cant i when will this how will i ever what will how will i be?”
“OMG, why did I get such a whiner for a mom? Damn, that means I am going to be the grown up from day one. UGH!”
