A Site to See

Chris Jordan, photographer

Take a look in particular at "Running the Numbers: An American Self-Portrait" 2006-2007

(via Drawn!)

An Artist's Date in the Garden

It's been a really wonderful day. This morning I had a long-overdue bike ride, and I came home and sat out in the garden with a sketchbook and my Derwent pencils.

The tulip was very frustrating. It is a very flesh colored tulip. I had a very difficult time registering any depth in the drawing because I was attempting to remain true to the color. The color is so light, that it just wasn't working out. So I did the best I could with the basic form and then added some depth using colors that were not quite there. The final outcome is not objectionable, but a far cry from the real thing.

I stepped away from the tulip and did the periwinkle flower. Messed one up at the bottom of the page. I was about to write off the day as a "bad art day", but I wasn't ready to relinquish the sunshine just yet. I picked up the book again, drew the top preriwinkle, and decided the tulip couldn't get much worse and "finished" it.

Anyway, thanks for stopping by!

Datebook 4-17 thru Today

No quote for today's spread. I went searching for one, and ended up putting it on tomorrow's spread. How's that for a teaser?




The quote: "The price of freedom of religion, or of speech, or of the press, is that we must put up with a good deal of rubbish." —Robert Jackson

I found this quote on the same day the media released the video of the VT shooter. I was disgusted by the fact they would show it. It served no purpose but to cause additional pain. There was nothing there that the public at large "needed to know". I was somewhat mollified later when they chose to pull it.


The quote: "It is very necessary to have markers of beauty left in a world seemingly bent on making the most evil ugliness." —Thornton Wilder (April 17, 1897-Dec. 7, 1975)

A note about all the little sketches on these 6 pages: They were all done on Saturday or Sunday.

Illo Friday "Polar"

A 5-minute sketch of a topic that deserves more than 5 minutes of our time.

Thanks for Your Patience

It's been a while, eh?


The quote: "Enjoy when you can, endure when you must." —Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)



The quote: "Men have become the tools of their tools." —H.D. Thoreau

The pencil sketches were actually done on the 18th on the train in the morning.

There's been so much going on lately that I did not make it to the Chicago Bike Show. It used to run Friday through Sunday, and it was great to pop over there Friday after work. Now I'd have to make a special trip into the city—far less tempting. Sounds like that is one vote for adding Friday back on. Who's with me?


The quote on the 11th (added on the 12th): "Like so many Americans, she was trying to construct a life that made sense from the things she found in gift shops." —Kurt Vonnegut (1922-2007)

The quote on the 12th: "One should, as a rule, respect public opinion in so far as is necessary to avoid starvation and to keep out of prison, but anything that goes beyond this is voluntary submission to an unnecessary tyrany, and is likely to interfere with happiness in all kinds of ways." —Bertrand Russell (1872-1970)



The quote: "There's a fine line between fishing and just standing on the shore like and idiot." —Steven Wright

The website: www.findsolar.com. As you might have noticed from all the little notes about meeting realtors, I'm in the process of selling my house and buying a new one. After 11 years in my little townhome, I'm ready to find a lawn to mow all by myself. In the way of pipedreams, I was doing a little research into installing solar panels on my imaginary new home. I don't want to say it's impossible, but it's pretty far out there. If you have copious quantities of loose cash around, and want to help the environment, check it out for your home.


No quotes here. Sorry. There is, however, a giant colored dinosaur egg for Easter. Wasn't that a tradition in everyone's home, you know: The giant colored dinosaur egg in the driveway with a big bow on it, and men in lederhosen blowing long horns attempting to get the dinosaur to hatch? Well, wasn't it...?


The quote: "Organized crime in America takes in over forty billion dollars a year and spends very little on office supplies." —Woody Allen. Just had to laugh when I read this one. In my opinion, Woody Allen is better on paper. I get too distracted by all his fidgeting when I see him to pay attention to what he is saying. This is a problem, of course, because he says some very funny things.

The hands were doodled while riding the train on the 18th. The vase was drawn Saturday morning (the 14th) in a fit of self-recrimination for not doing enough drawing.

By the by, the Easter bunny made an early appearance on this spread. Can you see him?


The quote: "The most erroneous stories are those we think we know best—and therefore never scrutinize or question." —Stephen Jay Gould (1941-2002)

How's this for a hideous background? Sometimes the muses are napping. I think mine had had a fifth of vodka and passed out cold. Mid-week too...naughty muse.

Thanks for stopping by.

Illo Friday "Green"

Pencil sketches with the green in...uh...green. The parrot ended up looking a little strange, but had to be true to the theme.

Datebook 3-26 Thru 4-2

The quotes: "A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer." —Bruce Lee (1940-73)

"Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself."
—Charlie Chaplin (1889-1977)

"I wasn't born a fool. It took work to get this way." —Danny Kay (1913-87)

I'm afraid to admit the three mile mountain bike train commute on the 2nd was the first of the year. That is a rather late start on fuel conservation for the year—my apologies to the environment (and to my waistline).


The quote: "Peace is not an abscence of war, it is a virtue, a state of mind, a disposition for benevolence, confidence, justice." —Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677)

The sentiment above is an important one. If it were more widely embraced—if it became the core of man's (mankind's) motivation to act—it would certainly dampen the rage that leads to war in the first place. As a comfort in a time of war, however, it fails as any piece of rhetoric is doomed to withstand that level of violence. I'd simply rather have my peace without war. Still, I'll tuck the idea away and try to protect it from encroaching cynicism, and I'll hope to see it blossom some day.


The quote: "Cheese—milk's leap toward immortality." —Clifton Fadiman (1904-1999)

The news (which I acquired on the elevator at work during lunch via the Captivate [or captive] network): Lloyd Brown, the last U.S. Navy veteran of WWI passed away today (the 29th). He was 105.

Thank you, Mr. Brown, for your years of service to the United States. Thank you, also, to all the veterans and active service men and women.


The quote: "We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails." —Bertha Calloway

This quote would have worked a bit better on the next day's spread. Oh well, you never know how these things are going to work out.