From the archive - RFC preshift 2003

monday morning figs

From Point A to Point Z

Sometimes it's surprising the distance an illustration can travel between the last ink brushmark...


...to the last Ctl S in Photoshop.

Let's Get This Party Started

The NY Post reported that President Obama's youngest daughter had a special moment with visiting President of China Hu Jintao. I'm surprised an image like this didn't accompany the article.

3rd Ward

3rd ward did a nice little feature on my figure sketchbook from last weeks Drink & Draw.

I recommend attending the next one Feb 4th which will have ten models both costumed and nekkid. See y'all thurrrr.

Don't Lose Control

The great George Adams.

New Velvet Elvis Paintings on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon

Always a fun gig when working with Late Night. But applying acrylic to velvet can be slightly maddening.

Wed Night Drink & Draw

The sketch sessions at 3rd Ward in Brooklyn are a blast and most appropriate in these economic times. 15 bucks gets you 3 hours of figure drawing and all the PBR you can drink. The guy running the show's got a decent ipod to boot.

Drawing Is Thinking

I got up early this morning to go see Milton Glaser speak at SVA Theater on W 23rd Street. He spoke for an hour, dropping his standard insightful gems & epiphanies on a theater full of adoring typophiles young and old. Afterwards they opened the room up to Q&A from the audience. I don't know if it's that MG's intellect surfs a wave too gnarly for us paddling behind or if it's just the failing ears of an 81 year old man but he addressed most of questioneers with a crusty response. Honestly, I was really surprised at the lack of interesting queries posed to the man. A few years ago he came to speak to my MFA Illustration class and I asked him a rather wandering and poorly articulated question to which he responded in that same tone. So needless to say I felt compelled to give him something worthy his consideration and, let's be honest, to redeem myself...with myself.

I asked him - being a man of great coherence and eloquence, does an artist's inability to articulate why he creates what he does somehow cheapen his art?*

*It took me two attempts to successfully pose the question. Sonuvabitch!



MG said that explaining the Why is pointless. It's impossible to truly know why we do the things we do. All of our actions in art as in life are manifestations of things we've picked up along the way. And we are best not to worry too much about extrapolating the arithmetic behind them and put the energy into injecting our own unique beauty into the things we already find appealing.

Well said.