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.

Wedding Dress Fashions (09-11-11)

I have a nice collection of wedding dresses, but the most outrageous one is a 1980s Jessica McClintock dress that fits no definite style category: a close-to-the-body tight-fitting knee-length sheath with a high neck, mixed lavish embroidery, and at the back, a cascade of fabric flares reminiscent of a Belle Époque bustle!

There is in fact no bow at the back...

The other dress in my sketchbook is the one that my daughter Valérie has chosen as her wedding dress: a classy, elegant, 1950s (I think) pleated polyester knit dress with an embroidered lace bust and collar.

Ten Year Tribute (09-11-11)

It's been ten years since the infamous date of September 11, 2001. A shocking day, and the world has not been the same since.

I'm not much for retrospectives, but I decided to go back to my sketchbook of the time and scan the artwork I had done then.

Horror

This is still a very powerful image; the flames from the underside of the plane represent a rip through the fabric of everyday life, bringing about horrible things.

Ruins

 This is a mournful image, a twisted castle of smoke...

Stop in Aberdeen (09-04-11)

On the way down the Washington State Coast, we stopped for food and gas in Aberdeen, a pretty ghastly place. We had a great meal at Billy's Bar and Grill, a charming, old-fashioned restaurant in the only old building I saw in town.

Beach in Washington State (09-04-11)

I am timid when it comes to watercolors, but I tried to put my impressions of the Washington Coast on paper.

A Fine Rat (09-02-11)

This drawing of a rat is from memory... (Thankfully, not from direct observation!)

Models (09-01-11)

Quick sketches of fashion models...

The Money Changer (09-03-11)

My son Chris and I went to one of those traveling coin merchant shows who take out fill-page ads in the paper "We Give Cash for Silver and Gold! Great Rates!" Of course, despite the lavish advertisement, it turns out that the rates offered are, in fact, pretty bad...