Arts Festival in the Park (06-02-12)

Despite the bone-chilling morning weather, I managed to draw this portrait of a prospective parent getting information at the booth The International Leadership Academy, a small French school in Lake Oswego, was sponsoring at the Wilsonville Festival of Arts.

I also tried to draw the early crowd wandering about, despite the cold.

It's on days like this that I remember how much I absolutely hate feeling cold...

Portrait: Julia (02-05-12)

A nice little portrait of Julia which, I think, captures self-confidence, charm, and fragility...

Miss Jules...

2011 Pen and Ink Project: The Conversation (11-30-11)

A drawing lazily done during a meeting with some friends one evening. Mary M., our hostess showed us her studio space in her fairy-tale house, then served us a delicate cake decorated with a pink rose made of frosting. We then spent the next few hours enjoying each others' company talking about what mattered to us on a personal level. For the second drawing, I tried to draw Mary G.
Looking at these images reminds me of this evening with friends.

2011 Pen and Ink Project: The Instructor (11-30-11)

Sandra S.'s smile suggests that she has a sense of humor and will not put up with nonsense... To draw her, I tried to be sparse with details, and do a linear portrait.

Alliance Française Get-together (11-21-11)

I went to the Brasserie Montmartre for a get-together organized by the French Alliance. French folk singer Tété was present (in town for a concert). I took the opportunity to do a quick sketch of him and asked him to sign my sketchbook.

French chanteur Tété

Dark-haired beauty

I did this sketch of a striking young woman who sat across from met; her hair was black, and with the eyes the darkest shade of dark, she looked like an Iranian princess who had stepped out of the One Thousand and One Nights into Modern Times...

My friend Sian A. likes to participate in French Alliance activities. I enjoyed the relaxed, informal ambiance of this particular meeting.

Portrait: Lawrence H. (10-23-11)

I hesitate to put a name to this sketch because it looks so little like the person... Not all sketches are successful, and this definitely is not a good one from that standpoint, and yet, I still like the finished results.

Not a good resemblance

Portrait: D.Martinez (09-27-11)

This is a quick portrait I did of one of my students as I was explaining the things we were going to cover during the class I teach at the Milwaukie Center, such art materials, recording activities in our sketchbook, drawing in comics format, etc.

Drawing Portraits at Da Vinci (06-14-11)

I volunteered drawing portraits at Da Vinci Arts Middle School last day of school. It was a lot of fun drawing the sweet-faced young kids who lined up and patiently waited for their turn... This brought back memories of other like moments at Da Vinci, when my daughters were younger...

A quirky 6th grader...

And a pensive 8th grader...

Portrait: Suzanne C. (05-11-11)

Probably not one of my best portraits, but it has merit as it stands.

Portrait: Wendy B. (03-06-11)

I did this sketch of Wendy B. at Church.

Wendy is an amazing woman: with the help of her husband Ron, she runs Vintage Market, a classy vintage business equal to any featured in Where Women Create or other such type of magazine. She has great taste, is a great cook, and organizes the best parties. I love going to her house; it has been redone in a lovely way, with a large kitchen where people can gather around a huge table. And there is that sleeping porch that has been converted into a sewing studio, a quasi magical space...

Portrait: Marcie O. (11-14-10)

A simple portrait of a young woman whose beauty reminds me of a 19th century woman, her hair separated in the middle and tied in a bun adorned with fragrant flowers, hands folded in her lap, her radiant, yet mocking smile suggesting words and opinions not said. A perhaps simpler way to describe her would be to say she looks like English actress Kristin Scott-Thomas.

Kelsi W. (05-30-10)

This is a not-very-good sketch of Kelsi W., whose smile is a lot cuter than this.

Portrait: Moso (01-16-10)

A quick sketch of Moso, that doesn't totally look like her...

Moso?

Mary G. (01-11-10)

This is my friend, Mary G., whose pale ethereal beauty brings to mind a mermaid or a fairy (a "fée" in French).

Moso's Birthday (01-21-09)

I took M. to Todai for her birthday.
It was an epic meal; I watched her accidentally send a shrimp fly across the table.
In this sketch, M. is concentrating on what food on her plate she is going to attack next.

Belgium: My Aunt and Uncle (11-25-08)

While in Belgium, I went to visit my aunt (Tante Marcelle) and my uncle (Onc' Jacques).
My aunt is 83; she always has some interesting story to tell, while my uncle (85) tends to joke, with the same sort of dry humor my cousins inherited.

Tante Marcelle:
"Ah, that reminds me what happened with the neighbors, but that was 16 years ago, no, wait, it was 12 years ago, because I remember the wall hadn't been rebuilt yet, well, what was I saying? Oh, that's right, the neighbors, nice people; they always say "Hello" so nicely. But they have the nerve to park the truck right across the gate and there's no room left for anyone. Did I tell you the man is a truck driver? No? Anyway, they always say hello very nicely, but then, the kids do the darnedest things. They keep kicking their soccer ball over the gate, and it pisses me off that they keep doing it, over and over. When I go down the alley, if I have to go get groceries, and I find the ball, I throw it back over the gate, but I had to go tell the mother to tell the kids to stop ringing the doorbell at the gate. It's happened several times, I had to go all the way down the alley, then the stairs. -Ah, it was exactly 12 and half years ago, because we redid the stairs after the wall!- So you see, it just doesn't seem right for an old lady like me to have to go down all the way down the alley then the stairs, and just for a soccer ball, you see. It's bad enough that I have to go down those stairs twice a week to go get groceries. Ah, yes, that's right; I was telling you about the neighbor. What did I want to tell again? I can't remember anymore... I have the worst memory. No, really, I assure you. I can't remember anything. It's terrible how low we sink. So, as I was saying, those people are always parking their darn truck in the street and there is no room to do anything, see, since it's a cul-de-sac, no one can turn their car around because of his %^!! truck. But they're nice people...for the most part."

Onc' Jacques:
"You can almost tell whose car it was by the color of the paint scrapes on the side of the truck!"

Wordstock: Lynda Barry (11-09-08)

Alas...Wordstock is over.
I managed to escape from my obligations today and go to the Convention Center this afternoon. I had a great time walking down row after row of booths and tables hosted by small presses and other vendors who deal with the printed word.
My main reason to go was to see Lynda Barry, and she was worth the trip. She was shorter than I expected, wore cat's eye glasses and a big red and white polka dot headband wrapped around her head and tied into a knot on top. She laughed a lot, sang funny songs, and was natural in an I-don't-take-myself-seriously way that was both humbling and very real at the same time. (I'm afraid I don't make much sense here. What I'm trying to say is that her unguarded manner endeared her to the audience.)
I had purchased her new book (full of drawings!) and had been given a big ad poster for the book. As I approached the signing table, with my sketchbook, the poster and the new book in hand, wouldn't you know it? The Powell's guy-in-charge made some grumbling sounds to the effect that people should one get only one thing signed...event though he hadn’t said a word for the people before me.
Once at the table, if I was going to get only one signature, I wanted it in my sketchbook. She drew a monkey on the page across from the drawing I had done of her, and then offered to sign the new book and poster also. She was really cool and friendly. I showed her some of the Maxine comics from my "Maxine on the run" blog and gave her a card with the address for the website.
Lynda Barry: A+++

Paul Theroux at Portland State University (10-18-08)

The world changes, and the travel writer rarely revisits places he may have written about, but in "Ghost Train to the Eastern Star: On the Tracks of the Railway Bazaar, his latest book, well-known travel writer Paul Theroux tells of his returning to places he documented in "The Great Railway Bazaar" in the 70s.
Theroux's visit to Portland State University was the main event of PSU Week-End. As soon as the doors to Smith Ballroom opened to the general public, baby boomers and PSU alumni ($10) and students ($5) filed in early for a chance to get a seat close to the center of Smith Ballroom to hear Theroux.
His speech to a full room with nary an empty seat, was somewhat disjointed, like, say, it was a speech he may have prepared for a generic college graduation, but reworked for the old folks (Class of 58) who were sitting at the front of Smith Ballroom, eating a $125 lunch served by PSU Catering services, -and based on the food served by at the English Department’s “Meet and Greet” event a couple of nights before, a frightful prospect if there ever was one.
Despite the many conversational-style pauses and hesitations in his delivery, Theroux told interesting anecdotes, confirming that a travel writer would certainly experience the unusual during his trips.
I was particularly thrilled to get him to sign one of my favorite books of his, “The Collected Stories,” and, of course, my sketchbook.