I was recently in Washington DC so I drew the elephant at the Museum of Natural History. A week later I was in the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens drawing the flowers. Over time, I kept adding wacking stuff to my sketch little by little. At some point, I had to tell myself to stop.
Vegan art
May is, No Meat Month. It’s the perfect occasion to see what it’s like to give up meat for a month. Why not try it and make the world happier. This drawing is the first collaboration I’ve ever done. One of my favorite artists, John Casey, does this show each year where he supplies various artists with a line drawing of a hand and a blank pair of pants. Then you have to make it into a work of art. This is my final piece which is very much a tribute to going vegan. You can visit the website that features the art that the other artists involved came up with. https://handsandpants.com
Elegance
I always loved people with great noses. I was overseeing a fashion photoshoot and I was killing time by drawing something from a fashion magazine. Doing my best to exaggerate every feature of this lovely girl.
Alternative Milks
Dairy cows have been modified to produce up to 10 times more milk than they would naturally. Seems like a cruel experiment to me. Today we have great alternatives to cow's milk. You got your rice milk, soy milk, and of course, oat milk, which they can't even keep stocked on the shelves of my supermarket. Oatly is in such high demand that the company can't keep up with the demand. It's a sign the vegans are having an impact.
Second Animated Gif
Finished my second animated gif. I used a needlepoint work of art that my niece, Megan, made for me of my logo.
Back Page
This is another example of me drawing the artists who are drawing the nude model at life drawing class. I like to jam a lot of stuff onto my pages. I’m a bit nutty about filling every square inch.
Florida
I recently went on a little R&R trip to Florida. I needed to find a new way to draw my usual sea shells. This is what I did. Drew one muscle shell with plants and seaweed coming out of it. I’m always trying to reimagine the same objects over and over.
A First
I made my first ever animated GIF.
Art Directors Who Draw
In all my years in advertising, I very rarely met anyone who could draw. The ad world is full of people who went to art school, yet they didn’t teach them the simplest skill, sketching. Recently 2 creative directors I worked with have been coming with me to my figure drawing classes. Steve Pedonis and Keith Butters have been improving in leaps and bounds. the biggest thing though is that they have become addicted to drawing. On days they have freelance work and cannot attend class, they get depressed. I understand that illness. I took them on our first excursion to the Museum of Natural History. This is what I did.
Supreme Skateboarder
This is a photograph taken of me when I was 17 years old. I could skateboard like a mother. My collection of tricks was quite something. I could famously stack 3 skateboards, one on top of the other and then do a handstand on them while going what seemed like 50 miles an hour. I would run bent over, holding the top skateboard, while pushing down to keep the 3 together while moving at a good clip. Then I would just push up into a handstand while moving and it worked every time. I was fearless. I wish to god I had a video of me doing that. There are many eye witnesses who can vouch for me having done it. For those with any skateboard knowledge, that is an original Gordon & Smith deck with some of the very first polyurethane wheels ever made.
Drawing Below The Belt
You have to admit, it is a bit weird to be sitting in a room while one person is completely naked. I do have to say, I admire these models who come and do it. They have courage. Some are actors who do it for extra money. I was finished sketching this guy and had more time to draw, so I started to draw the artists who were sketching him. I didn’t have much room on the page, so when I drew them it looks like they are sitting one foot from his johnson, which wasn’t the case at all. When everyone saw my finished sketch, it made them laugh. I’m a bit of a deviant though.
Folding Chairs
Figure drawing is all about folding chairs. Every place I go has different variations of every folding chair ever sold. From cheap, falling apart plastic to ancient 20 pound metal ones. The trick is to grab a good one to sit on. The nude model uses one too. I end up drawing them too because they can be quite beautiful.
Deep Freeze
During one of the rare, cold winter days in New York, the model asked if she could leave her socks on. Then she went for the scarf too. It was a nice change from the usual.
