Free Time

Whoa, sorry I fell asleep at the wheel on the blog for the past couple weeks. Haven't had much free time lately, though I miraculously found some earlier this week. Here's what I did with it, starting on Thursday when I decided to force myself out of the studio for....

Jimmy G. ambitiously tackled a street painting with the Fox Theater in it, while I walked down several blocks to paint a burger joint I've had my eye on for a few weeks. A variety of interesting characters passed by as I sketched. I liked what this guy had to say to a passing woman:

On Friday, I met up with my fellow local illustrator buddies, Tiffany Prothero and Christine MacTernan. We went into San Francisco for a good ol' fashioned photo reference and research gathering field trip at Fort Point, a now defunct garrison directly beneath the Golden Gate Bridge. We split up after a short while being there. I was trying to find a place to paint, but it was too windy. The two of them were half-searching for ghosts.... though I don't think anyone's ever died there. Nevertheless, they tried to spook me into believing by tossing a rock while I wasn't looking. They did manage to scare me - I thought the fort was crumbling.

After Fort Point, we took a walk near the Legion of Honor, then drove to nearly the opposite corner of the City to get some sketching done in China Basin, before topping the day off with appetizers and drinks at the Ramp Restaurant.

Saturday was spent at a friend's wedding. This sums up how I felt about it.


Sunday was spent recovering from how I felt about it. I did it by going down to Saratoga with Alex, where we met up with Brian, a close friend and climbing buddy, who agreed it would be a great day to do some bouldering at Castle Rock State Park, despite our various maladies and mishaps.

I look productive topping out up there, but I should say I looked like this most of the time:

Have a great week, everyone!

Aquatic Park

Hung out with a couple friends today to do some painting at the Aquatic Park in Berkeley. I haven't painted on canvas in nearly a year, but these oil primed linen boards from Utrecht have convinced me to do it more often. I was also pleasantly surprised the weather brightened up halfway into my session, rather than the usual other way around.

Bodega Bay

Alex, her brother, and I took a trip up to Bodega Bay this afternoon to explore the coastline and hang out on a couple beaches. The first one was practically empty, and we soon learned why. The horde of gigantic flies would not leave you alone. I barely managed to concentrate long enough to get this sketch in.

We moved to a second beach, where we played some catch.... using lacrosse sticks. I know - What's wrong with the frisbee, right? Well, a close relative of ours, who has equipment for every outdoor activity imaginable, gave us the sticks to play with. So we thought we'd try them out. Turns out it's pretty fun, except for the occasional "Oh no, the extremely hard rubber ball nearly hit that napping beach bum" moments.

The afternoon was topped off with a meal at the Sandpiper, where the clam chowdah is so good the staff wears T-shirts with a joke warning not to order it.

Almost there...

Cartoonists put a little of themselves in every character they create. I often depict myself as this little bear, but ever since I put him in his own comic he's taken on his own traits, as though he's come alive. So I thought it'd be fun to put both of us on the same page. He's definitely based on my more optimistic side, as you can see here. As I mentioned before, things are busy. But not all of it is good busy. I need to keep telling myself -- even if it's through the voice of cartoon characters -- that I'm almost there.

If I'm to remain optimistic, then perhaps I should be flattered that one of my pieces was stolen? I was taking down my art from a display yesterday when I realized it was gone. Thank goodness it was just a print.... nevermind the money, time, and energy it still cost me. But seriously, did this dude not read the part in the Thieves Handbook that artists are broke? My contact information is on the back of the frame. So hey guy: if you follow up on it, look me up online and stumble on this post, my message to you is to please pay up. Anonymously is fine. My other message for future reference: steal the artwork after we're dead.