A page from my sketchbook (ca. 11-25-09)

A page spread, worked on over several days...

At left, Julia, and at top middle, Wendy B.

LeeAnn B. at Church (11-22-09)

LeeAnn B. is always smiling and everyone loves her classes.

LeeAnn B.

Video Games Live (11-07-09)

Great concert at the Arlene Schnitzer Hall: Video Games Live. Although my knowledge of video game music is limited to the Metroid series, this was a superb concert!

From a Book of B&W Photography (10-23-09)

This sketch was done from a photograph of (I think) an industrial or banker from the 1940s, found in an older coffee table book with many photos of famous people from the last century. I'm embarrassed to say that I don't know who it is...

Mystery Celebrity

An Entry for 1000 Journals!!! (10-18-09)

Such exciting news! I stopped by artFIBERfest at Reed College. One of the organizers, Tracy Moore (whose journals are fabulous) had one of the journals from the 1000 Journals project with him, and he asked me to draw something in it. I also got to draw in one of his journals.

Left: what I drew in Tracy's journal; Right: what I drew for 1000 Journals

Best of all, he drew a House Fairy in my sketchbook, with a promise that she'll intervene to help me find a new house...

Stan Ridgway at The Woods (10-03-09)

Well, once again, Stan Ridgway came to Portland, this time for an all-acoustic concert at The Woods. Although I prefer the louder sounds of old Wall of Voodoo and Drywall, it was a very enjoyable time... Here is my sketch of the musicians (autographs removed).

Pietra Wextun, Stan Ridgway, Rick King

Thugs (09-15-09)

This newspaper photo of three would-be terrorists caught my attention. Interesting faces.

TV: "Lost" (ca. 09-03)

A few sketches done while watching Lost.
Funny to see some characters that were once very important but have been phased out (usually killed off either intentionally by friend-turned-to-foe, unintentionally by enemy-turned-friend, or through supernatural-yet-cheesy means by the malovelent island).

Portland Creative Conference (09-12-09)

I worked as a volunteer at the Portland Creative Conference at the Portland Center for the Performing Arts.


I am really pleased with the sketch of poster artist Emek, especially since it features him talking about his well-known poster of a Decemberists album, which I asked him to sign in my sketchbook (autograph removed). Pretty cool.

Emek and the whale poster

Party in the courtyard

Haikus: The Seller's Lament (08-22-09)

My house on Woodward
is lovely and for sale now.
Great neighbors. Much space.

Three bedrooms, two baths,
the best kitchen in the world.
An artist's retreat.

Time passes, so slow.
The house sits immutable,
while my hair turns gray.

Fickle buyers, all.
Only complaints: too spacious;
the tree...too much shade.

Complaints, excuses:
No lawn, no fence, tree too tall,
house and rooms too big.

What about agents?
Large or small, from the same mold:
"Make it bargain cheap!"

"Price low! Give it up!"
But one thing is sacred, one:
The commission, always high.

"Sell my house," I said
to all agents who came by.
No results. Nothing.

(By Pascale Steig)

Trip to Washington (07-31-11)

I tried to draw some cars on the freeway. I am not very good at cars, but I found that if I focus on the general shapes, I get a result that works, kinda...

Then I tried to draw trees... Here, it was also a matter of getting the general shape down.

In a Coffeeshop (07-11-09)

I stopped by a coffeeshop at the corner of Killingsworth and Albina; there was no one else aside this guy working on his laptop.

Mississippi Street Fair (07-11-09)

I went to the Mississippi Street Fair and had a great time walking around and working on a few sketches.

Street scene

With his soft and subdued demeaner, rap singer Madgesdiq caught my attention.

Madgesdiq

Julia at bottom right

Movie: Jesse James (07-07-09)

We watched the movie The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, and I drew this with a pen that was almost out of ink; yet, there is something about the unusually fine quality of the pen strokes that I find visually pleasant and fitting with the subject matter.

BluesFest (07-05-09)

I love Blues, so I recorded another great Portland event in my sketchboook: the Waterfront Blues Festival! I wandered around from stage to stage, enjoying the wonderful music.

On the Bus: Homeless Man with a Hat (ca. 02-09)

I like the way he looks from under the rim of his hat.

"Daires" Rehearsal at Bridging the Gap Night (02-05-09)

I dropped by Cleveland High School and went to listen to the top Choir rehearse (J. is a member).

On the Bus: Woman and Man (ca. 03-09)

They were not a couple, but I like the way they both are disconnected: the woman looks away to negate the close proximity of other people, and the man has that suspicious look everyone takes on when gazing at others on the bus. (Who knows, with my sketchbook and pen, I may be some sort of crazy freak...Am I?)

On the Bus: Man Sitting (ca. 03-09)

This man looked like he was in his mid-50s, but I felt that he had a lot of life experience (I know, hat sounds inane, but there was something weary and wise about him).

A plant at Thuy's (ca. 03-09)

I liked the graceful shape of this plant in the waiting room at Thuy's (my long-time Vietnamese hairstylist).

Movie: "Die Hard 4: Live Free or Die Hard" (2005) (ca. 02-09)

Bruce Willis in another stupid movie...