Cubist Comix

The Quiet Industry Of The Cafe

This is my first post since our recent move. I've actually got five other pages that I'm working on but haven't finished because of said  move. I will be posting those pages in the days to come. The people on this page are: two girls that I saw one day at the cafe and my friend, Monsieur Jean Claude Crhi. The girl at the far left was sitting and chatting with a young man that I often see at the cafe. She was beautiful and had delicate features. However, as I was drawing her I could not help but notice that she seemed to be a very demanding and fussy woman; "High Maintenance" was the term that kept coming to mind. She was attractive and she knew it. I see lots of women like this at the cafe and, quite honestly, I am considering doing a sketchbook focusing on these "Coffeehouse Hotties." Believe me, I would have no trouble filling the pages! The girl at the far right was sitting on one of the couches and typing on her laptop while chatting with a friend about selling on eBay. She was young, 21 or 23 at the most, and she had striking cat eyes that drew my attention and made me want to draw her. She might have noticed me drawing her because after a while she moved over to the bigger couch that was farther from me to lounge and continue chatting. I was really hoping to do another drawing of her but she left before I could. This happens to artists way too often! The gentleman at the bottom of the page is my friend Jean Claude Crhi from Cameroon. Jean Claude is a writer and musician who is part of the local cafe scene. He has recently written a book of folk-like tales entitled "Cry: The Lost Book Of Seven Chapters." Click on the bold type to check it out and order a copy. The cafe is a place where individuals formulate and hatch ideas and plans. It's a place where there is quiet industry going on beneath all the chit chat and coffee drinking. Did you know that?

Has Anyone Seen Chuck Barris Lately?

This series of sketches was done about a week ago at our local Open Mic Night. I actually wanted to draw more people but I was coming down with a cold and wasn't feeling a hundred percent. My wife and I have been attending Open Mic Night on a regular basis for a month or so now; we both agree that it's better to get out and see something live than sitting around the house watching TV. Open Mic Night is an interesting amalgamation of people and talent; you run the gamut from first timers to seasoned pros to everything in between.  Some of the performers can be pretty impressive and really get the audience going. On the other hand, others can be pretty awful and provide the audience with a lesson in patience... and I'm talking SERIOUS patience. This will not be my last attempt at drawing during Open Mic Night - I shall return!. In fact, I wanted to go out tonight and do some drawing but we are in the middle packing and getting ready to move so, unfortunately, there will be no Open Mic Night tonight. Oh, by the way, the Chuck Barris mentioned in my post's title was the host of the Gong Show from the Late 70s; I've thought of him from time to time as I sit there at Open Mic Night and wonder what sort of comments he would make or how many of the performers would have been gonged if he were present. Talent is talent. You cannot force it and you cannot fake or God forbid buy it. You either have it or you don't. 

The Unsuspecting Victim

About a month ago, I was sitting at the cafe with my wife, Allyce, our roommate, Jessica and Brad, our good friend from Southern California. Over the years I've had to teach myself how to draw people in a live setting and not be too obvious about it. I can say, with some amount of pride, that I've honed this skill to a fine art. As I was doing this drawing  it seemed like everyone was aware of what I was doing except Brad. When I finished my pencil drawing and showed it to him he confessed that he was totally unaware that I had been drawing him. This, of course,  put a smile on my face. Over the years, I've referred to the people I draw while out and about as unsuspecting victims; this drawing may be the greatest example of that. I also feel that this drawing is the beginning of a new phase for me. usually I draw people from a distance and, up until now, that's been OK but I want to take it to the next level now and begin to draw portraits while out and about. I feel that this will challenge me and make me get out of my comfort zone. I would love to be able to capture a little bit of each person's character and share that with you here. I look forward to this challenge.  I hope that you will enjoy discovering a little piece of someone's character as much as I will enjoy drawing and learning about my subjects.

New Faces, New Café... More Coffee

Here we have a new batch of drawings that I did recently at a new/ old favorite cafe of mine. Since starting this blog last year, I have spent countless hours drawing unsuspecting victims that come in to do homework, chitchat, strike business deals, sleep, etc at various cafes, both locally and out of town. The particular cafe where I did this batch of drawings is one that Ive frequented off and on for the last 5 years or so and one that I had stopped coming to (sort of). I think that atmosphere has a lot to do with the drawings I do at any given cafe; the more comfortable I am, the more I'm going to draw.  This cafe, Empresso Coffeehouse, is comfortable, has a good vibe and is always filled with unsuspecting victims for my pen so it's easy to see why I like going there.

    

Just A Thought

This drawing is as to the point as you can get; there's really nothing vague about it at all. I know that it's something that I've had in mind for quite some time and something that I, certainly, felt needed to be expressed. The idea behind this drawing is a combination of things, mostly things that I've experienced in my recent past. Perhaps this drawing may offend some people, but that isn't important to me. I'm not here to score points with anyone; I'm here to do what I'm supposed to do: express myself. Yes, it's true; I have a disdain for the everyday, vapid mindset that seems to affect many of my fellow Americans; their lack of intellectual  curiosity really disgusts me. Maybe what disgusts me even more is the fact that they just follow along with what everyone else does; they follow along like good little sheep stopping off at McDonald's and Wal Mart before falling off the cliff. Whatever happened to individuality? Unfortunately, being your own man/woman is something that doesn't exist anymore; it's easier to have Dr. Phil tell us what to do instead of making our own decisions. So, yes, it's true, I have no sympathy for the Wal Mart lifestyle that seems to exemplify the American dream today. Perhaps I'm elitist in my viewpoint, I may even be arrogant, but if loving to grow as a person,viewing myself as a citizen of the world and not wanting to try to fit in with a certain group (any group) makes me elitist and arrogant then so be it. Life is too short to waste on conformity.    

Art On The Run

Here you have the first of what I refer to as Art On The Run or drawings created while out and about or traveling; I feel that this will add a new dimension to my blog and give you, my dear readers, more of an insight into my creative process. This particular drawing was created at the request of my friend and fellow artist Christyna McMahon while I was in Southern California visiting family and friends last week. It was the combination of Christyna's request and my recent acquisition of an iPhone that made this possible. Ultimately, the important thing here is the challenge of creating a drawing on the spot wherever I may be and to share it with all the wonderful people that visit my blog from across the globe. I must admit, I really like this idea of creating art on the run; I hope that you like it as well.

Freedom Through Dreaming

This idea began one day as I sat at the cafe. As always, I was looking for an unsuspecting victim to draw when I spotted the lovely young lady pictured here. I originally did this in pencil with the idea of finishing it up later or on a return trip to the cafe but that all changed when I got home; the cool, overcast weather combined with the luxury of a day off spurned me into action. I became excited with the possibilities that opened up to me in that moment and I decided to just let myself go with what I was feeling. The first thing I thought of doing was experimenting with my pen and ink technique; having mastered cross hatching I, now, would like to add and expand that into something new. The second thing that came to mind was turning a basic cafe drawing into something strange and new. I didn't know what I would end up with but I can certainly say that I love what happened with this. This is just a preliminary drawing for a finished illustration that I intend to do within the next two weeks; I can't wait to do it as I've had even more ideas come to mind since I began this.

Two for Two

Here's another "Organic design" that I recently found while digging through piles of other art stuff. What is it? What does it mean? You're asking me? I'm the last one you should ask when you look for an explanation about my work; I just draw and paint and that's all I know - the rest is a mystery. I intend on finishing this series of paintings so keep a look out for those to pop up somewhere: here, Etsy, post cards, etc. So far I've had great feedback on these and would like to do something with them in the not too distant future.

So, what's next on the agenda? What am I going to throw myself into next? For the next six months or so most of my attention will be focused on the comics stories that I'm currently in process of preparing; my hope is to have at least thirty-six pages of material ready for this fall. I will post examples of what I'm working on as I get it done. Writing and drawing your own stuff is very time consuming so please bear with me. Aside from that the only other thing I can think of doing is... drawing. Pen and ink, watercolor, and colored pencil on bristol board.

The Door Must Always Remain Open

I recently found this painting while digging through piles and piles of art books. I did this ten years ago with the intention of doing a series, but as usual, other things got in the way and I ended up doing only two of these. When I did this I did it because I was feeling burned out with representational pictures and I wanted to do something, anything, no matter how strange or bizarre. Oddly, at the time I planned to do these solely for my own pleasure and this is why they were put away for so long.

This find couldn't have been any more timely for me; even though I started this project a decade ago it really pointed to where I am now - I guess you could say that I've come full circle. Over the last few days I've felt very restricted in my work; I do less of what I really want to do and more of what I don't want to do. How crazy is that? Strange, nonsensical ideas are always coming to me but they're not being put on paper and that must stop. Many of my recent posts have, to one degree or another, been about this;I guess it's just a natural part of growing and maturing as an artist. You reach a point where you know that you have to be yourself and follow your heart without caring about what anyone will say; I definitely have reached this point and there's no turning back now. It's do or die, folks. Over the weekend I had a conversation with a dear friend about this but in a more general sense; we both agreed that most people are unhappy with their lives because they're stuck where they're at and they think that they can't get out. They have literally shut the door behind them; they've given up on their dreams. It's all about the credit card payments and the mortgage payment. No thanks; I'll pass. Being yourself  is not the easiest thing in the world to do, but in the end it's all you can be. Pen and ink, watercolor, acrylic, pastel and gouache on bristol board.    

I'm Baaaaaack!!!

 Gee, has it really been a month since my last post? He he, I guess it has. What in the world have I been doing that's kept me from making new posts and keeping in touch with my dear readers? DRAWING, lots of drawing is what I've been up to. I was actually finishing up a long standing commission for a good friend of mine and starting work on some comics stories that I've been wanting to get out of my system. I will post examples of my work as it progresses; I plan to have all the material done by October of this year in time for the Alternative Press Expo in San Francisco. Amazingly, I've actually found time to work in my sketchbook over the last month and I have various pages in progress and should have them up within the next few weeks.

So, what's going on with this page? Well, I guess it's my reaction to all the layoffs that are becoming oh so prevalent these days. I thought to myself, "Before you know it even the cartoon characters will be getting laid off." Yes, we are living in tough times, no doubt about that. But this is nothing new, it's just part of life; things get hard then they get better. So, chill out folks, the best is yet to come! You know, sometimes you just have to laugh it off; it's all too silly to take so seriously. Have a good time all of the time!