Christian Tribastone

Sketchcrawl 34 + a few couple extras

2012-01-25T11:44:00.001-05:00

DC held our branch of International Sketchcrawl #34 at the National Portrait Gallery/American Art Museum last Sunday, and we had a pretty good turn out! (Erica had to go before we got our shot!)

We met in the Kogod Courtyard, expecting to head into the museums to start sketching, but we were pleasantly surprised to find it was "Farm to Table Family Day" which included a concert by The Richmond Indigenous Gourd Orchestra. The band actually came over to check out what we had been up to, as they noticed a lot of people listening but with their noses buried in sketchbooks.

Afterwords we headed up to the Modern & Contemporary wing and sketched a bit. We toured the museums for a while also, but eventually most everyone found they had to head out or where tired so we called it a day. I was happy to get a sketch of Duane Hanson's "Woman Eating" before leaving though.

And here are a couple of sketches I made when our Sketchcrawl group went to the Native American Indian Museum about a month ago.

Something Good Came in the Mail Today...

2012-01-24T22:45:00.001-05:00

My gratis copy of "The Art of Urban Sketching" came in the mail today! (*see yours truly on page 78)
Get your copy on February 1st!
http://amzn.to/AoAVkH

Figure Drawing

2011-10-25T22:53:00.002-04:00

Some drawing from a figure drawing session at the Arts Institute of Washington in Rosslyn, VA.

Albert Einstein Memorial

2011-10-04T15:26:00.003-04:00

After I sketched Martin and saw how much attention he was getting, I thought I would give a little love to Albert too.

MLK Jr. Memorial

2011-10-03T22:31:00.005-04:00

I may not be the first person to sketch the just-dedicated Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, but I was happy to go finally see it, see the very moved crowds, and get a chance to sketch it myself.

Congressional Cemetery [September Sketchcrawl]

2011-09-19T11:28:00.000-04:00

A bunch of us were itching for another sketchcrawl, so we gathered up at Congressional Cemetery (near the Stadium Armory Station) this past weekend. We started by getting an extremely interesting tour of the grounds from former chairman of the board of the Cemetery Preservation Association & sketcher himself, Patrick Crowley. We had a great overview of the grounds, peaked into a vault or two and learned quite a bit about the cemetery and DC history. Add to that, there was an over abundance of subject matter to tackle.

After our tour I began the sketch below, and managed to halfway finish it before being interrupted by the rain. Now some of the other sketchers braved the rain better than I and made some beautiful work, but not I. So I took a break and walked around a bit, searching for a beautiful little statue Patrick pointed out on our tour. "Marie Estelle Krachmar" caught my eye with her broken legs, eroded surface (marble is vulnerable to acid rain) and the fact that everyday someone puts a coin in her lap. So I began sketching her when a there came a lull in the rain. That lull was short though, and ultimately I had to finish the sketch at home, but the group has talked about coming back on a sunnier day that may be more conducive to sketching outdoors. I'm looking forward to it.

SPX Haul, 2011

2011-09-18T19:42:00.007-04:00

Mesomorph & Instances by Tom Galambos
Ganges #4 by Kevin Huizenga
Uptight #3 & #4 by Jordan Crane
Ben Died of a Train by Box Brown
The Gremlin Movie Incident by Cara Bean
Big Questions poster & cards by Anders Nilsen
Any Empire by Nate Powell
Hark! A Vagrant by Kate Beaton
Wandering Son by Shimura Takako
I Will Bite You, Tantrum, & Early by Joseph Lambert
Optic Nerve #12 by Adrian Tomine
Super Baby Jesus #2 & #3, and Helium vs. Hydrogen #2 by Adam Aylard
Gaylord Phoenix by Edie Fake
Show Off by Mark Burrier
Little Garden by Darryl Ayo

NYSSSA 2011 Figure Studies

2011-09-18T02:24:00.002-04:00

Squeezed in a figure drawing or two over the summer. I had another I liked, but sadly I forgot it in classroom when I left for home.

Sâuçá Restaurant

2011-06-19T18:39:00.005-04:00

The brilliant Sâuçá fleet of food trucks recently opened a brick and mortar restaurant just around the corner from my apartment. And not only is it as delicious as the trucks, with an even bigger menu, but I can now mosey my way over there anytime I like. They took over a fantastic building that has a great retro design to it, with a beautiful overhang that covers the patio, making it a fun subject to draw.

P.S. Get the Fish Taco or Butter chicken with a side of Yucca fries. And ask for a few of their many tasty sauces to dip it all in.

District Taco

2011-04-10T17:33:00.003-04:00

Finally got to sketching the District Taco food truck in Arlington. The main reason I even head over to the Courthouse farmer's market on Saturdays is so I have an excuse to grab a breakfast taco from them. Orale!!

Get Well Soon Leslie!

2011-02-17T18:38:00.002-05:00

A cupcake for Leslie (my cousin's daughter) who has been sick and stuck in the hospital for a while now.
Get well soon!

Brutal Noodle

2011-02-14T15:36:00.001-05:00

I made a trading card for my favorite DC Rollergirl. #689, Brutal Noodle of Scare Force 1!

Sketchcrawl #30- The Library of Congress

2011-02-04T12:34:00.002-05:00

We were at the LoC for our latest Sketchcrawl and while I didn't get to see or sketch the hawk in the reading room, there was an overabundance of decorative architecture, displays and statuary to sketch.

Skatchcrawl #29- The National Cathedral/Dupont Circle

2011-01-07T08:32:00.004-05:00

This is coming quite late. Last SketchCrawl back in October we had a great group that started out at the National Cathedral and trekked our way to Dupont circle. I wasn't terribly thrilled with any of my sketches that day so I never posted any of my results. There might be one or two quick sketches I will put up eventually, but all in all I didn't think I produced much to speak of. The same can't be said of the rest of the group, and our visiitor from Orlando, the extremely talented Mr. Thorspecken (Thor) all of whom produced some great work.

I decided to at least go back and try and finish at least one sketch from the day to share, so this is what you see. Besides this and a couple quicker sketches of the Cathedral, the only other sketch that came out halfway decent was of one of the statues on the fountain at Dupont circle. Something I've sketched once or twice before.

Not So Much...

2010-11-29T08:28:00.007-05:00

So that didn't go quite according to plan.

I suppose I have only myself to blame. I originally had in mind a street art project. Kind of a dipping-my-toes-in-the-water street art project. There is a lot of great architecture in DC, but some of the most interesting building in the city had been demolished years ago to make way for large sterile office buildings. On this part of 9th St. there used to be an amazing strip of buildings, including restaurants, movie theaters, and a burlesque house. I had in mind to make a piece honoring those lost buildings.

While there are lots of street artists I could name for inspiration, the main concept for this piece came from Delta Inc. who had made a wheat-paste street art piece that degraded over time in a semi-controlled way, revealing and becoming a new work in the process.

So I created two layers to my piece. The bottom being an image of what used to be, the top being what is now. The top layer had several purposeful cuts made in it, so that as it weathered, it would fall apart in a way to reveal the bottom layer. It being sort of a reversal of what actually happened, this time the office building is destroyed, returning the strip to the beautiful lost architecture that once was there.

Alas, when I returned to the location a week after putting it up I saw that the piece had been completely removed. Which I should have expected, as that part of Chinatown is kept pretty neat and tidy. I doubt it made it past the Monday after I put it up before it was removed.

I'll have to be more clever about this next time...

Urban Sketchers > Washington DC

2010-11-15T06:17:00.002-05:00

Washington DC now has a Urban Sketchers blog: URBAN SKETCHERS > WASHINGTON DC with an eager group of sketchers to call its own. The site will be sharing the sketches of our members, and also the sketches of the DC Sketchers class a the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop, & updates of different drawing events happening in and around the city. Please visit, comment, share, bookmark, link to, follow, stumble upon, tweet & whatever else you can think to do! All of us on the site are excited to share the work & the city with the world.

On The Fly

2010-11-15T05:00:00.003-05:00

This is the last sketch I have from the Rally a couple of weeks ago. Technically its the first sketch I worked on, but I never got a chance to finish it up until recently.

On The Fly is another food truck in town, and it made a good choice coming to the Mall during the rally, as I never saw it without a line. Time dictated that I get moving towards the crowd and events, so I didn't join the line. On The Fly has a pretty good methodology, supporting local companies, using smart cars as trucks, eco-packaging, etc... they've got their green bases covered.

This sketch is also the first drawing I'll be contributing to the new Urban Sketchers > Washington DC blog. Please check it out to see more sketches by more sketchers from DC. They are indeed a talented bunch.

After&Before

2010-11-06T18:32:00.020-04:00

A couple of 3' x 4 1/2' drawings of 9th St. DC, then & now, I'm going to use for a project.
More pics in a week or so...

Rally To Restore Sanity (and/or Fear)

2010-10-30T21:07:00.005-04:00

Well that was fun.
I had a horrible view, it was a miserable Metro ride into the city, and I barely got there on time, but Rally To Restore Sanity (and/or Fear)was a lot of fun. Despite not being able to see the stage (nor jumbo-trons) very well, all parts of the show kept me and the crowd laughing for a solid three hours while making some very good points about our national conversation. At the end, as the 200,00o people shuffled off the mall, I got a little closer to the stage and managed this sketch. I'm a little disapointed I didn't get a sketch of Kareem Abdul Jabar or R2D2, but I did get a few of the other people who attended.

I have a few more half-done sketches, and will share them as soon as I finish them off! Until I get those done, check out Joel's get sketches, as he showed up to sketch too!

Sketchcrawl #29.5 Rally to Restore Sanity (and/or Fear)

2010-10-27T09:14:00.004-04:00

OCTOBER 30.

All Star Rollergirls

2010-10-24T19:28:00.009-04:00

Last weekend was Sketchcrawl #29.. which I will address again later... But that later that same day was a Dr. Sketchy's figure session with the DC Roller-girls All-Star team. Now, I don' t know whats wrong with this town, but I turn out to be the only person to show up. How there weren't dozens of people there, I'll never understand. And while I would have totally understood the team calling it a night and getting home early, they actually stuck around and let me draw for a few hours. So just know that they are indeed as awesome, hilarious and nice (& frankly bad-ass) as you would hope.

I should also add that I wish some figure-class models I've seen had posed half as well as the roller-girls did. They consistently modeled fantastic poses, many of which surely made them sore the next morning.

Pictured above are dr. SKabs (standing), Gun'Her Down (kneeling), and Small Frye (reclining).

50 (Mostly) Blind Contour Self-Portraits

2010-10-18T11:02:00.004-04:00

Below are 50 (mostly) blind contour self portrait drawings I made recently, and I thought it might be interesting if I layered them all into one image. Hence the picture above. I still am playing around with it, and tweaking it in Photoshop, but I like how it turned out.

DC Sketchcrawl #29

2010-10-14T20:42:00.004-04:00

Be there.

Sketchcrawl #29 : Saturday October 16 2010

Where: National Cathedral (you'll find me outside) and we'll 'crawl to Dupont Circle.

When: 10:30am - 5:00-ish

To Do:

2010-10-10T17:31:00.005-04:00

1. Finish & mail off my NYSSSA Art Exchange prints.

2. Finish "Birger Jarl" piece.

3. Finish Eastman Theater Painting.

4. Finish 50 paper-doll self-portraits and drop them around DC.

5. Frame 2 pieces for the WPA Hickok Cole Art Night.

6. Finish homework for Mr. Adams's art class.
7. Finish an Art Drop [formerly known as Urban Sketch Giveway] for H St.

8. Think about an outdoor "Instances" collaboration with Lendeck.
9. Have 2 Sketch Crawls in October, and check for interest in a "DC Urban Sketchers" webpage/blog
10. Sketch & post more for Urban Sketchers.

Wham Bam Pam!

2010-10-10T11:08:00.000-04:00

Burlesque & Cosplay performer "Wham Bam Pam!" posed for the most recent Dr. Sketchy's figure drawing session at The Soundry, and put on a fun show. Not only treating us to some great costumes and poses, but she threw in a performance in the middle too. It was a lot of fun.

Curbside Cupcakes: Pinky

2010-10-09T23:30:00.005-04:00

I browsed around the always fun Crafty Bastards Fair last weekend and lo-and-behold the Curbside Cupcakes [@CurbsideCupcake] food truck was parked out dispensing their tiny cakes of goodness. I sketched a bit and had a amazing dark chocolate cupcake, but apparently the raspberry lemonade flavor is the way to go. Find them and eat their goods.

Mr. Jarl

2010-09-26T22:29:00.003-04:00

So I started this piece a while back and abandoned it after being less then enthused by how it was turning out. Not bad perhaps, just not as interesting as I intended. This is as far as I got with it.

But I'm going to play with it for something else instead of finishing it the same way I thought I would...

SPX Haul, 2010

2010-09-16T22:03:00.000-04:00

My haul from SPX.
Shawn Cheng
Jim Rugg
Polly Guo
Michael Cho
Anders Nilsen
Kate Beaton
Sam Sharpe
Paping by John Mejias
Liz Prince
Matt Wiegle
Sally Bloodbath
Kevin Huizenga
Mandy Dunn
Maré Odomo
Joseph Lambert

(click the pic to see notes on book titles)

Solar Crêpes

2010-09-05T17:18:00.003-04:00

Another case of, "I didn't finish drawing before they were sold out" so I didn't get a chance to try Solar Crêpes' food this time either. Damn!

Demoncats & Dr. Sketchy

2010-08-29T01:57:00.009-04:00

A fellow Sketchcrawler let me know that Dr. Sketchy's had started up in DC earlier this year. Of course I only found out about this in July when I was out of town.
So I made it to my first session this week at The Soundry in VA and they had the Demoncats from the DC Rollergirls posing for us. And they put on some really good at poses, better than models from some figure studies classes I've had & taught.

I can't wait to see the girls in the rink!

Sâuçálito Food Truck

2010-08-22T21:52:00.005-04:00

Since drawing the Fojol Brothers foodtruck I've become a little obsessed with the concept of high-end food trucks in DC. I thought there were just a few of them, but it turns out there are dozens. Indian food, BBQ, Cupcakes, Crepes, Tacos, Bahn Mi, Diner food, Frozen yogurt, a Lobster shack on wheels- there are pretty much options for everyone. Plus most of these trucks have vegetarian and vegan options, which is awesome. So on my to-do list now is the task of sketching the food trucks of DC, and almost as important is to sample their menus.

So I tracked down (one of) the Sâuçá food truck(s) via twitter and managed to get a sketch, but I got there late and the truck was already sold out of its food. I'll find Sâuçálito again though, they have more than a few dishes I want to get my hands on...

Jamestown Giveaway

2010-08-17T00:16:00.008-04:00

While I was in Fredonia for NYSSSA this July (missing the symposium) I made my way down to Jamestown, NY to do a little sketching. There are a lot of interesting buildings and alleys there and last year I had thought it would be a great place to do one of my "giveaway" projects, but time had gotten away from me and it never happened. This time I made sure to make a couple of detours to draw & place a few sketches around the city. I decided to frame 6 sketches (thanks IKEA for the cheap frames!) and place them near the sites I drew them by instead of placing them on car windshields like I usually do. I thought it would be interesting to hang them up on the street as I might hang them on a gallery wall. I forgot to give them all labels, but all of the frames are easily removable to anyone who might want to take one home. I don't really know if they'll all fall to the ground, get taken home, or still be there this time next year- I just dig that they are part of the landscape for a little while.

Sketchcrawl at Genesee Valley Park

2010-08-15T14:55:00.002-04:00

I've been home in Rochester for a bit this summer, and consider myself lucky that Genine & Rachael have had 2 Rochester Sketchcrawl events within less than 2 weeks of each other. The latest meet up was at the Genesee Valley Park. My first couple of sketches were quite the massive failures-I hada hard time wrapping my head around those kayaks. I think Genine faired much better with them. But I found a couple of sketches in me after those... we'll call them... warm-ups...

Sketching the State of the City

2010-08-09T19:16:00.006-04:00

Friday (Aug 6) was the 2010 State of the City show at the ROCO, which featured a lot of nice work including Amy Casey, Trevor Flynn and Spectres of Liberty. But by far the most interesting part of the show was the participation of the Rochester Sketchcrawlers. The idea was for visitors to join in with the Sketchcrawlers and then share their drawings on a designated ROCO wall, and there was a nice collection of drawings up at the end of the night. I pinned two sketches on their wall, but kept the rest in my sketchbook.

The sketches i kept were mostly blind-contour sketches of people. I have twice as many attempted drawings in my moleskine as I have finished sketches though, from not being able to handle people moving while I draw.

(Amy Casey and her friend #3 below were not blind contour)

(But this gentleman was)

D16

2010-08-08T16:38:00.006-04:00

I spent July in Fredonia, teaching at NYSSSA Visual Arts again. Every year we have an Art Exchange with the faulty and staff of the program, and this year I was one of the delinquent ones who wasn't able to finish his set of work for everyone. Not for lack of trying mind you! I just didn't like the picture I had made, and it wasn't working out as a multiple like I wanted it to...

More on that sketch later perhaps...

So instead I finished a sketch from the Chautauqua County Fair's Demolition Derby! We got there a little late and missed the "Gladiators" round, but what we did see were really fun. D16 was the winner of the last round we watched, and came off relatively unscathed. I may have to finish one of the other drawings of one of the cars that came off a little worse.

So now I just have to do finish 19 prints of this sketch and mail them out... I can totally do that between now and next July, right?

Go now.

2010-07-24T19:46:00.004-04:00

Check out the wealth of July 17th Sketch Crawl DC results on Flickr like this one above by the talented Ms. Graeber.

Also- Don't forget July 31st is International Sketchcrawl #28!

DC Sketch Crawlers will be meeting up at the Corchran Gallery of Art's "Corcoran Sketching in the Atrium!" event Noon to 3pm, July 31st.
Go.
Or I won't consider you one of the cool kids anymore.

DC Sketch Crawl July 17th.

2010-07-03T21:46:00.004-04:00

Elizabeth Graeber & Glory E have put together a Sketch Crawl for July 17th 'crawling from the Washington Monument all the way over to the National Zoo. With a stop at the Fojol brothers truck and a few other spots as well. Register (for free) over here, and join in.

Check out the schedule below!

Fojol Bros. of Merlindia

2010-06-20T19:28:00.006-04:00

The Fojol Bros. of Merlindia have been part of a great trend of Food Trucks/Carts that has been growing in DC... and apparently everywhere else too. The Fojol Bros. have a few great things going for them.

1. An awesome truck.
2. They are a Traveling Culinary Carnival. It's a fact.
3. They have excellent mustaches. Nay, EPIC mustaches.
4. And not least, their food is excellent. Especially nice is that half their options are vegetarian friendly.

So I checked their twitter feed (@fojolbros) to see where they were today, and found them parked out in Adams Morgan at the 2nd Annual Kid Power Carnival. Which reminds me about another great aspect of what they do- a portion of their proceeds fund at-risk youth programs.

It almost makes one want to book a trip to Merlindia.

Violation

2010-05-24T12:53:00.005-04:00

So last week I got it in my head that I would play a prank on a few co-workers who were out of the building with kids on a field trip. One of whom had a slight run in with the authorities regarding her lacking a visible parking permit. So I thought making a fake yet convincing ticket and putting it on their cars while they were out would be a great idea. So one afternoon I dove into Excel, found some legit looking icons and "ticket-speak" from the internets, and threw together what you see here.

Pretty good no? Some highlights include:

$500.00 fine for Lewd and/or unsavory behavior (non-administrative).
$7.24 fine for Administrative misconduct of a sexual vehicular nature.
Possibility of Destaffing and/or rubber room status.
Seizure of vehicle, income tax refunds or lottery winnings to satisfy unpaid fines.
The fact that the school system doesn't have officers and doesn't give out tickets...
All checks must be made payable to our Tech Specialist.

So my victims (mostly) hadn't actually quite noticed all the details to see it was a fake and one took it to my Assistant Principal... who called Security. But my AP got a kick out of it after the fact, and I think it's all cleared up. Now I just need to watch my back a little until I feel said victims aren't going to push me down the stairs, or slash my tires...

Kramerbooks

2010-05-22T18:19:00.003-04:00

I had wanted to sketch Kramer's for a while, and had given it a shot a few weeks ago- but for one reason or another I just couldn't pull it off. So I made my way back to Dupont Circle today, found my spot again on a concrete island/bridge between/over traffic lanes and tried again. And actually finished it this time. And more than that, I an happy I didn't get dizzy and fall into the traffic going by just over the railing I was working on.

DC Sketchcrawl #27. May 15, 2010.

2010-05-16T00:20:00.007-04:00

We gathered up for Sketchcrawl 27 at the Brookland Metro stop this time around. With a few more sketchers with us since last crawl we started our way around a neighborhood and part of DC that was unknown to me until now. We were luck to have Dan & Frederick to show us around. And especially to have Dan fill us in on the history of the area.

Our first stop was on a main strip, with lots of shops... and that sketch isn't quite done yet, so I'll have to post it later. We had a very nice lunch and headed to the beautiful Franciscan Monastery, of which I only saw a very small part of. Though, what I did see what absolutely beautiful.

Our next stop was Howard U School of Divinity that has fantastic building pictured here with amazing sculptures on its exterior.

These are always a lot of fun- I'll be sad to miss the next one in July.

May 15th.

2010-05-10T11:46:00.004-04:00

Saturday, May 15th.
10:30am.
Brookland Metro Station.

Sketch Party

2010-05-10T11:43:00.001-04:00

I want to do this.

The Sketchbook Party from Ethan H. Minsker on Vimeo.

[wooster]

Sleepy Hollow

2010-04-28T19:55:00.001-04:00

A drawing of my school my principal asked me to make for our school's re-dedication in May.

Intern'l Sketchcrawl 27- DC

2010-04-12T11:38:00.002-04:00

Save The Date.

Sketchcrawl 27 : Saturday May 15 2010

Not sure where.
Not sure when.
We'll figure it out soon.

Dr. Sketchy's

2010-03-12T11:48:00.004-05:00

Crap.

I've always wanted to go to a Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art School drawing session, and while tonight they are actually going to be here in Arlington, I can't make it.

So if anyone with a more open schedule than mine feels up for it, you should really check it out. Sugar Anne Spice & L'il Dutch will be performing at Art Whino Gallery for the G40 summit from 8-11 tonight.

Sketchcrawl 26 results

2010-02-27T23:04:00.008-05:00

There was a great turnout for DC's Sketch Crawl this weekend. Joel, Erin, Erin, Frederick, Dan & I sketched our way through a good number of Smithsonian museums over the day.

We started at the Freer.

Then the Hirshhorn.

Lunch at the NMAI.
Yum.

The US Botanical Garden.

The National Gallery.

We ended at the Nat'l Gallery Sculpture Garden... but I have very little to show for that stop. Drawing people while they skate is quite difficult. So I tried to make up for it with a quick sketch on the Metro on my way home.

All in all a very productive day spent with a great group of artists.

Highland Park Diner Giveaway

2010-02-18T09:15:00.002-05:00

Thank you Colleen for helping give these away at the Highland Park Diner while I am back in VA!

(And I love that you left one as a tip)

Saint Joseph's Park

2010-01-12T17:45:00.002-05:00

Just finished it. It's about 7' by 2 1/2 ', give or take an inch or two.

And a detail:

DC Sketchcrawl #26. February 27, 2010.

2010-01-10T20:37:00.003-05:00

Save The Date.

Sketchcrawl 26 : Saturday February 27 2010

Not sure where.
Not sure when.
Though someplace warm I think.

Go here: Sketchcrawl Forums

Highland Park Diner

2010-01-08T19:11:00.005-05:00

So I've made it a habit to go drawing around Rochester on New Years day while back home for the holidays. I wasn't outside sketching the diner for long before the cold got the better of me. Thinking back on it now, I'm not sure why I didn't hop in to the Highland Park Diner to get something to warm me up.

I took the sketch and used it to make a few prints on craft paper. I also made a set of small prints that I am using for another set of giveaway prints, which I will post about soon I am sure.

Lamberton Conservatory

2010-01-05T11:32:00.004-05:00

I was fortunate enough to join Genine, Rachae l & a dozen others for a Rochester sketchcrawl at Lamberton Conservatory, this January 2nd. Meeting them for the crawl was a nice way to start the year.

Rochester Sketchercrawl on Jan. 2, 2010

2009-12-31T14:24:00.000-05:00

For lack of anything else to post...

2009-12-30T21:36:00.002-05:00

here is the latest state of a Rochester piece I'm working on...

View from St. Joseph's

2009-12-14T21:52:00.006-05:00

So lately I've been working on a bigger piece than I usually do, and tonight I was laying out some buildings & trees and such in the background. Sort of where St. Joseph's park in Roc would be.

When I feel done, I go online, tool around a while and eventually make my way to Genine's (awesome) blog.
And what do I see staring me in the face? Her sketch of nearly the exact same view. A sketch I somehow missed every other time I've visited her site. Weird.

And damn. Its way better than mine...

ps. I'm kind of hoping I am in Rochester for a sketchcrawl sometime in the future. Crossing my fingers the timing goes right.

Giveaway in Chinatown

2009-11-28T20:56:00.004-05:00

For this giveaway I decided I didn't want to make 10 or 12 individual drawings to give away.

I am lazy.

So I took the drawing of the Chinatown Gate I made from the last sketch crawl and made an edition of 12 prints from it. The original drawing was in my sketchbook, but I wanted to make prints on sheets from brown paper bags. So I made some stencils, and used them to lay out the whites of the image I wanted to keep.

I ran the papers through my inkjet printer and voila.

With only one or two misprints.

So I printed 3 good sheets, for a total of 12 prints. I chopped them up, bagged them, and brought them back to Chinatown.

I placed all 12 on windshields back at Chinatown. And only one woman came running up to me yelling at me for leaving a ticket on her car. But she was okay once I explained what I was really doing. I also left an art ticket on a Metro van, and watched the Metro employee find the print, and look around with a confused look as he opened it up. I got a kick out of that.

Sketchcrawl 25 results

2009-11-22T00:08:00.005-05:00

As per usual I was batting about .600 as my third drawing never really came together. Joel and I found a couple of spots to draw around Chinatown and the Shaw neighborhood before we called it a day. Being in Chinatown especially, we had a lot of passers by making kind comments.. and perhaps even one gallery owner... it was a nice day for a Sketch crawl.

DC Sketchcrawl 25

2009-11-20T22:10:00.002-05:00

Sketchcrawl 25 is tomorrow, November 21, 2009.

We'll begin at Metro Center and make our way up 9th St. Then we'll probably play it by ear. (If it is terribly cold out we'll have some indoor options we can figure out!)

We'll meet around 10:30/11:00 and you can stay as long as you like.

If you have any questions, head over to the forum http://www.sketchcrawl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=48&t=4327
or drop a message right here.

A Good Reason to fly Midwest...

2009-11-07T11:22:00.006-05:00

MyMidwest Magazine (the in-flight magazine from Midwest Airlines) has published an article featuring the Urban Sketchers website.

The article was curated by USk founder Gabi Campanario and features Gabi, Fred Lynch, Thomas Thorspeken, Shiho Nakaza, Kate Johnson, Marc Taro Holmes, Tommy Kane, and myself. Somewhere in there is a drawing I did of Ben's Chili Bowl.

Check it out. And fly MidWest!

(And Thanks Gabi!)

ATE '09

2009-10-30T21:03:00.004-04:00

I'll have a piece in my district's second annual juried Artist Teacher Exhibition!

November 2-14th.

Opening Exhibit is Nov. 5, 6-7:30pm.
Ernst Community Cultural Center
NVCC Annandal Campus
Virginia

Hickok Cole Art Night

2009-10-23T18:31:00.005-04:00

Hickok Cole Architects teams up with Washington Project for the Arts to host Art Night 2009. Over 50 local artists (including yours truly) showcased their work, splitting the profits even with the WPA.
Of course I post this the day after... (bad blogger bad blogger bad blogger...) Regardless of my tardiness in mentioning it, Lisa & Brooke (of the WPA) did a wonderful job with the show and the VIP tour.

A nice video preview here.

"Comics from SPX"

2009-10-19T21:12:00.003-04:00

Crap, I almost forgot to mention.

My SPX cohorts have put a show together collecting our own work, as well as work we have found at SPX.

Internal Combustion Events

Comics from the SPX

Greg Lendeck, Christian
Tribastone and Tom Galambos.

October 14–October 28

"Three Rochester artists explore the boundaries of the comics medium. They will display their own work as well as samples of contemporary cartooning culled from the 2009 SPX in September."

So, my Rochesterian friends, if you have a moment or two stop by MCC's Mercer Gallery and see some artwork and comics that you are guaranteed to like!

SPX Haul, 2009

2009-09-29T20:31:00.000-04:00

Kevin Huizenga's Ganges #3

Matthew Swanson & Robbi Behr's Ten Thousand Stories

Theo Ellsworth's Sleeper Car & Capacity

Justin Madson's Birch vols. 1-3

Nate Doyle's Crooked Teeth #4

Bill Kelter & Wayne Shellabarger's Veeps

Ivan Brunetti's Ho! The Morally Questionable Cartoons

A collection of Greg Lendeck prints of his amazing Wax Paper cut-outs.

S's (daughter of Greg) The Zoo

C's (son of Greg) Future Seas

Sean Ford's Only Skin #4

Tom Galambos's print of a geriatric JLA & JSA

Ethan Rilly's Pope Hats

JP Coovert's Insides

Paul Karasik's second collection of Fletcher Hanks comics- You Shall Die By Your Own Evil Creations!

Ken Dahl's Monsters

Erika Moen's DAR: A Super Girly Top Secret Comic Diary

Alexis Frederick-Fros t's Ship

Joseph Lambert's Untitled (Dinosaur)

Kevin Panetta & Andy Kettler's Super Wrestle

and

Kevin Panetta & Mike Short's Monster Fight!

Matt Kindt's 3 Story: The Secret History of the Giant Man

Sammy Harkham's Crickets

James McShane's Archaeology

The Book

2009-09-28T08:50:00.006-04:00

So I settled on "On Sight" [sic] as my title. And here is the final product I sold this weekend at the Small Press Expo.

I managed to put together 10 books, 5 of which actually sold. TO REAL FRICKIN' PEOPLE nonetheless!
It was pretty sweet.

Granted one of them was sort of a pity-buy by a friend (though he kindly denies it) but I'll take it anyway. My table was shared with two friends, and talented artist both, Greg Lendeck and Tom Galambos. Our table space was a little smaller than anticipated so only two of us could fit back there at a time.

I have to admit I felt a bit of frustration for the first... oh, 12 hours of the combined two day (14 hour total) event. Not because I wasn't having fun talking to people and seeing *coughbuyingcough* a whole lotta beautiful books other people and publishers brought, but I had really hoped to sell at least one copy to someone I didn't know. So when Greg was behind the table and somehow tricked a very kind gentleman to buy a copy I was pretty happy and suprised. The next 3 sales were all just as unexpected. Especially the lovely girl who came running to our table as we were clearing it off to leave SPX until next year. So thank you Greg for pushing my books and making those sales.

It was a great weekend and all the better for having Greg, Tom and Matt (said kind pity-buyer) around to enjoy it with. I look forward to being even more prepared for SPX next year.

On Sight [sic]

2009-09-25T08:24:00.005-04:00

The Small Press Expo is this weekend in Bethesda MD, as while usually I am happy to be one of the many spectators and consumers of the great art and Indie Comics to be found there, this year I'll be sharing a table with Greg & Tom trying to hock a few copies of a book I made by hand. It's nothing too fancy, just a collection of drawings I've made in the last couple of years. No superheroes or hipster narratives about my childhood. Just pictures of buildings and stuff. I haven't got them totally finished quite yet, but by this evening I should have 10-15 copies and I will post them when I have something concrete to share.

P.S. While some copies are too far finished to change the title, I am planning on scrapping "Looking Around" from my covers... I took me too long to think of anything decent to call my book!

Some results of Sketchcrawl 24

2009-09-19T22:37:00.005-04:00

Today I had the pleasure of participating in a DC Sketch Crawl with two very talented artists Joel & Diahn. We met up, and spent some time drawing at Dupont Circle, where we also ran into artist and teacher Chawky Frenn.

The fountain at Dupont Circle has three statues around it, one of which I drew. I'll certainly have to return to finish the other two eventually.

After some walking and wandering around the city, we soon made our way to Lafayette Park, which provided a nice view of the White House, crowds of tourists who seemed very interest in what we were all doing, and President Andrew Jackson.

Finally we made our way to the National Sculpture Garden on the Nat'l Mall. And here I made a sketch that really didn't come out well, so we are going to pretend it doesn't exist. I will have to refer you to Joel and Diahn's respective blogs if you are curious about that little part of DC, as they represent all locations extremely well.

Sketchcrawl #24

2009-09-18T17:39:00.002-04:00

Sketchcrawl tomorrow (Saturday the 19th)

Dupont Circle, I'll be by the fountain around 10:30(ish)

Please join me!

My New Classroom

2009-09-06T13:55:00.003-04:00

After 4 years of Art-on-a-cart I've now been handed the keys to a newly built art room. One or two things are still to be delivered, but I won't have as much to complain about this year.

St. Joseph's Park

2009-08-12T13:21:00.004-04:00

I've been meaning to draw the remains of St. Joseph's for a while now. It is one of the more beautiful Rochester landmarks. I've got a bunch more Rochester sketches coming down the pipeline, and hopefully I will share them soon.

Monroe Theatre

2009-08-12T13:12:00.006-04:00

After doing the edition of 25 in Fredonia, I've been wanting to play with the process of printing on the paperbags and painting them in to be able to make multiples more easily. Ultimately I am going to try and put together a handmade book using the same method... so I'm getting a little more comforatble with it as well and making sure I can use my printer for this too...

71 Central Avenue, Fredonia NY 14063

2009-07-24T00:57:00.006-04:00

These are a few prints/drawings from an edition of pieces I just made for an art exchange I have the pleasure of being part of as a teacher at NYSSSA SVA. The program is located in Fredonia, NY and while the town may not have the usual amenities of most cities, has a lot of interesting homes and architecture to offer.

This is my edition of 25 of a beautiful house here in town. My printmaking process was pretty ghetto since I've become quite impatient in my old age (coughjustturned30cough). First I drew the house in my moleskine...

I then scanned it in and printed one off from the computer. I fed it into a copy machine onto some 8 1/2" X 11" pieces of paperbags to make my multiples, painting in the highlights with brush and gesso afterwards.

I'm pretty happy with them!

Peachey Road

2009-06-29T23:49:00.003-04:00

I'd been curious to do a quick sketch or two based on Google Street View ever since seeing Bill Guffey's Virtual Paintout website. What better occasion to draw than Cindy's birthday. Above is her former (childhood) house... unless I got the address wrong...

2000 S Street NW

2009-06-23T22:05:00.004-04:00

2000 S Street, the house to be used for Real World season 23. Which will likely be filled with some young, horny, politically polar opposites for a few months. Sadly I am leaving town myself this week and won't be able to witness/stalk the house.. well, until August maybe...

At Least Buy Me Dinner First...

2009-06-22T12:19:00.002-04:00

So far this is my favorite comment that I've recieved at Artomatic...

Erin Antognoli

2009-06-20T22:53:00.003-04:00

Check out Erin Antognoli's great Holga photographs on Flickr. She's been taking portraits of Artomatic artists (among others I'm sure) and even made a great pic of yours truly.

Nationals Stadium

2009-05-25T22:45:00.005-04:00

When I finished my space in the Artomatic building I made my way up op to the roof to take advantage of a great view of Nationals Park. Unfortunately it started raining soon after I started so I ended up retreating to the 9th floor to finish this sketch.

Artomatic

2009-05-25T22:30:00.002-04:00

My Artomatic space is finally done. Though technically I should still put up some labels up... eh, I'll do it friday.

Artomatic
May 29 – July 5, 2009
55 M Street, S.E. (at the corner with Half Street)Washington, DC 20003
(Metro stop: Green Line, Navy Yard, Ballpark exit)
Free Admission!

Artomatic is a month-long art festival in DC that is free to the general public celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. A brand-new 275,000 square foot building has been donated to host Artomatic, right next to the Nationals Stadium. The event features nine floors of visual and installation art, theater performances, dance and comedy, three music stages, street performances such as fire dancing and drum troupes, and a film screening theater.

Mr. T

2009-05-25T22:27:00.003-04:00

Some portraits from my students.

Cards!

2009-05-20T19:19:00.004-04:00

My cards for Artomatic came! Once I have finished installing my space at the Navy Yard site I'll post some pics of it.

Given Away on 17th St & U

2009-04-18T12:27:00.008-04:00

Updated:

3rd set of giveaways, on 17th St. between U and T.

I've meant to post these for a while but have been distracted by other projects (below) not to mention a little bit of traveling over my Spring break. Hopefully I will be giving all 10 sketches (see the rest at my Flickr) away today and have a little picture evidence of the act to add to this post later on.

Selfportraits in the Rain... after

2009-03-30T13:01:00.011-04:00

Maybe the rain didn't fall as hard as I had hoped...

Sunday I picked up the portraits I dropped off Saturday. For the most part the rain didn't leave much of a change, but you could see it in a few of them.

The "stop ahead" sign had the most obvious change, with most of the goauche washed off or dripping down the cardboard.

The mailbox pic got faded a bit.

... and you can see how the cardboard and paint have a changed texture in the phonebooth piece.

Otherwise the rest of them didn't have a very obvious difference.

I'll have to give it another shot sometime, and maybe for more than a night.

the rest of them are in my Flickr somewhere.

Self Portraits in the Rain. Before.

2009-03-28T19:38:00.007-04:00

I've placed 10 of these selfportraits around the Capitol Hill/Eastern Market area of DC. I'm only planning on leaving them there for a day, as I want to see how they look after tonight's rain. The cardboard & blue gouache should get changed around a bit from the weather, while the gesso base should show the remains of the facial structure. Hopefully something interesting will happen.

All of my "Pre-Rain" pictures are here in Flickr.

Given Away on 27th & East Pl

2009-03-15T15:05:00.004-04:00

I put the next set of "tickets" in place yesterday despite the rain coming down. The drawings will likely be received soaked or disintegrated from the water. Oh well. I know one woman got hers before it got too drenched. She was walking up the road and must have seen me place the envelope on her car (as well as take a picture) as she gave me a very suspicious glare when I was a little farther down the way. At the very least she took the giveaway and checked it out. Whether she kept it or trashed it is another story I suppose.

27th St NW and East Pl NW

2009-03-11T16:02:00.003-04:00

some more planned "Giveaways" for a little block of houses in Georgetown.

Given Away 1

2009-03-07T22:54:00.002-05:00

I made 10 small (2"x3") drawings around the 1700 block of S street (see my previous 2 posts), and left them on 10 windsheilds on cars around that area.

Four more from 1700

2009-03-02T12:45:00.004-05:00

1700 Block of S Street

2009-03-01T22:53:00.005-05:00

These are some quick & small (2"X3") drawings of a block of houses in DC that I am planning to use for a (quick & small) project. Which I might actually be able to finish it with a snow day tomorrow...

(These aren't in the right order... oh well)

Last Batch

2009-02-05T21:28:00.004-05:00

Third Batch

2009-01-22T22:37:00.002-05:00

Second Batch

2009-01-20T22:29:00.003-05:00

Fun day today. Totally worth staying out in the cold. There are more drawings to come!

First Batch

2009-01-19T11:48:00.003-05:00

A few sketches from the Nat'l Mall this weekend. More to come.

Persistent Little Fella

2009-01-14T22:18:00.007-05:00

I was surprised to find one of my paper-doll self-portraits still (sans feet) intact on a sign on East Ave. near Spot Coffee about a year and a half after placing it on the street.

(before)

My Drawing Kit!

2009-01-11T20:09:00.003-05:00

I just bought a new Timbuk2 bag to hold all my drawing supplies for when I go out sketching. It doesn't take much to make me gidd... er... happy.

Sketch Crawl

2009-01-10T18:04:00.004-05:00

I wasn't quite on my own as I had the company of another first time sketch crawler (Julia). The weather was kind of crappy so we decided to draw inside the Natural History museum and the Arboretum on the National Mall.

Click pics to get bigger versions.

Dinosaur Bar-B-Que

2009-01-09T08:38:00.002-05:00

Another drawing started New Years Day, when the city was completely quiet and still. Finally got around to completeing it.

More Birger Jarl

2009-01-02T20:21:00.005-05:00

I haven't been working on this one as quickly as I should be. But it's the holidays, so I have a good excuse. I even meant to post this about 2 weeks ago before I left VA for NY. I'll catch up I swear!

also: The pic reference I have looks strikingly similar to one I saw online, hopefully no one will yell at me about it from the internets.

The Little Theatre

2009-01-01T21:26:00.001-05:00

Nat'l Holocaust Memorial Museum

2008-12-17T08:23:00.002-05:00

Birger Jarl... In Progress

2008-12-08T22:12:00.000-05:00

Castle, Carousel, Chili & Gandhi

2008-12-08T08:39:00.005-05:00