Nulla Dies Sine Linea

2012: A Return

2012-01-17T23:49:00.000-08:00

It has been nearly a year and a half since posting to this blog. I won't make excuses, but I can say, that the pens and pencils were still busy in that time. Maybe I will share some of that, maybe I won't. What's important is that I'm back. I won't be making any unrealistic promises of posting something every day, but I expect the content to flow more frequently than not.

2011 saw a few big changes (License! House!) and so far 2012 is proving to be another eventful year (Dog! Banjo!). My personal challenge continues to be the effort of fitting everything that I am interested in and care about into my days, nights and weekends and still remain coherent and sane - but perhaps a little incoherence and insanity is good for us all.

Sooner or later, the structure of my blogs will be updated to meet the needs of the content that I am planning, but for the moment, I want to just get right back into the thick of it. First up is a formal drawing extrapolated from a gestural scribble. This style of sketch continues to evolve through my personal sketchbooks and is a refinement of graphic expressions that I have been toying with for a long time.

Drink N' Draw

2010-07-29T23:40:00.000-07:00

A week ago, Jess and I went to a "Drink & Draw" event in San Diego, in which a giant group of people gets together at a bar and just sketches whatever catches their fancy. I whipped up a few doodles whilst sipping back a freshly tapped Blue Moon. The following were the fruit of my efforts that evening. Ahhhh, drawlicious!

Circle Based Shapes

2010-07-28T23:17:00.000-07:00

Took a few minutes today to play around with some shapes. I have an idea of what I want these shapes to become, but I'm not quite ready to share what that is yet. But just you wait!

Beginning Thumbnails

2010-07-27T22:07:00.001-07:00

Starting to play with thumbnails as a exploration of layout and composition. Less about content in these, more about getting a feel for the scale and size of them. Thinking its time to look at film and do a series of these.

Getting Back

2010-07-26T23:18:00.000-07:00

A quick sketch from today. Some sketches exploring a spacial feature idea. Nothing fancy, but I'm trying to get back in the groove of sketching and posting after a good inspirational weekend. More to come and probably some catching up on material from the last couple months as well.

Abstract Composite 001

2010-05-25T22:11:00.001-07:00

6"x6" Ink on Paper

Goodbye, LOST

2010-05-24T22:04:00.001-07:00

Over the weekend, before watching the LOST finale, I watched a few older episodes and started sketching some of the characters. I had done this before with mixed results. Its my small way of sending off my geekiest obsession of the last 6 years. The show ended last night (to mixed reaction). Personally, I thought it was beautiful and by the end, I was as sad as Hurley looks down there. For die-hard fans of the show, it wasn't just another television program, it was an experience that blended mystery, character, humor, drama, theology, philosophy, pop culture and emotion into one magnificent conglomeration and doled it out in one hour increments. The time in between episodes was filled with anticipation and the span between seasons was maddening, but we always knew LOST would return eventually. Alas, all good things must come to an end. And end it did.

Thanks for pushing the boundaries of television and for one hell of an experience. Namaste.

Studies, Revisited

2010-03-28T16:29:00.000-07:00

Feels like it has been ages since a new post, so I'm putting something out there! About a week back I was back in "Study Mode" (the thumbnails, not the cram session), revisiting these styles of collage, or what might eventually become collages. Form, texture, shope, composition. Did a whole sheet of them in pencil on the train ride home and I just spent a little time this afternoon refining some of them in ink, making them pop a little more. Time to get back into collage mode!

...Like Tears In Rain

2010-02-28T15:24:00.000-08:00

I watched Blade Runner again last night and decided to do a few sketches of characters from the film. I also sketched out the composition/lighting of one of the opening shots. There are so many great lighting shots through the whole movie that I could practically draw those all night. Next time, perhaps. The characters are always more difficult for me. I am working on getting the shape of the faces down and trying to stylise them a bit.

Camping Morro Bay

2010-02-24T21:51:00.000-08:00

A few photos from a recent camping trip Jess and I made to Morro Bay, which is a bit up north near San Luis Obispo...

Some interesting formations an Morro Rock. Another in my series of strange landscape perspectives (see Solvang pics from a couple years ago).

A night shot from our site...

Warming hands at the fire pit...

Tiny caterpillar/larvae on the rain fly...

Taking it Elsewhere

2010-02-13T16:17:00.000-08:00

Well, it has been fun while it lasted. I am hereby giving up writing about my 52 books project in this blog...

...and started writing about it in a different blog! Whew- Bet you didn't see that coming!

After a few weeks of posting my write-ups , it became clear to me that the artwork here is being drowned out and lost between the words of my writing. While they are not entirely unrelated, I don't want to overrun what is essentially an art blog with large amounts of text. This is not to say that writing should not happen here, but the format of this project itself almost demands that it be a seperate entity.

And thus it came to be that on this day I hereby RE-introduced "Project: 52 In 52" at the link below:

project52in52.blogspot.com

Please feel free to check it out. I'll also put a new link over on the side for easy access.

View From Pershing Square

2010-02-12T19:59:00.001-08:00

Another lunchtime sketch in Downtown. This one looking at the corner of 5th and Hill Street. Really only wanted to spend a few minutes sketching today, but the building proved to be more complicated in the form than expected, so it took about 20. It all worked out though, I think.

Lunch Sketching

2010-02-11T23:16:00.001-08:00

It really seems like forever since I went out on my lunch break and sketched. I went topside at the 7th+Fig center downtown and drew for a few minutes before heading back to the office.

Actual boring buildings:

Actual big dude:

(Book #5) Ken Kesey - One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

2010-02-08T23:29:00.000-08:00

This post has escaped and gone to a better place.

(Book #4) Ian Fleming - Live and Let Die

2010-01-31T19:32:00.000-08:00

I have transferred this post to a new location on another blog dedicated to this project!

(Book #3) John Hodgman - More Information Than You Require

2010-01-23T12:03:00.000-08:00

This post now has a new home on a blog dedicated to Project: 52 In 52.

There are more hobos and molemen there.

Samurai Swag

2010-01-19T22:49:00.000-08:00

I recently found a few "Afro Samurai" posters while cleaning out the closet. They were picked up at Comicon a couple years back with the sole intention of making them into some kind of collage. Finally, I got around to doing it! I think the sliced strip pattern works well from the derived source material.

Seraphim Falls

2010-01-17T11:06:00.001-08:00

Watched the movie Seraphim Falls last night. Its a great movie about the pursuit and revenge in the post-Civil War era, though I can only watch it when Jess is not around due to one particularly gruesome scene involving a horse. Regardless, there are some great compositions and beautiful landscapes throughout the film. I tried to draw some of the characters - a gruff Pierce Brosnan is the one on the left and the right is supposed to be Liam Neeson peering from the shadows. I learned that Liam Neeson is not an easy likeness to capture, especially while wearing a hat.

(Book #2) Jose Ortega y Gasset - What Is Philosophy

2010-01-16T12:51:00.000-08:00

This post has moved. It now exists here. Or does it?

Vases or Lamp Bases?

2010-01-15T21:04:00.000-08:00

Some ideas that came to me, conveniently at lunchtime, for some desktop containing devices, vases, lamps, or larger planters. It's less about a specific purpose and more about the shape, texture and color.

"Confined" - IF

2010-01-14T22:48:00.000-08:00

First collage of the year! It's certainly felt like a while since I have posted one, but I have not been without ideas! This is also the first time I am trying a piece out of a new "medium", paint samples. I must say there was a few tricks in using this material and it will take more experimenting to really get a sharp look out of it, but I am satisfied by my first go at it and it is certainly something to continue working with. This also marks a triumphant return to "Illustration Friday", which feeds artists a topic once a week to be wrestled into art.

(Book #1) Stephen King - The Stand

2010-01-08T22:02:00.000-08:00

I have taken my write-ups elsewhere. This post has gone to elsewhere too.

Downtowne Oldtowne

2010-01-03T22:40:00.001-08:00

As the last post I made in 2009 was of a few photos on a recent trip to Chicago at Thanksgiving, it seemed symmetrically appropriate that the first[ish] post of 2010 be of photos of my recent trip to Sacramento for Christmas. Here are a few shots that I took while roaming around "Old Town" Sacramento with the wife:

Siding at the ol' train depot...

Texture of the boardwalk basking in the winter sun...

Strange ruins nestled in an empty lot between shops...

2010: The Odyssey Continues

2010-01-01T23:26:00.000-08:00

Well, it's that time of year again... the first day of the year time! A time when we make outrageous resolutions that could dramatically affect our lives for the better (or worse). This year is no different! While I could resolve to live up to my blog's name, and get back into literally drawing every day, I was drawn more to the blog's motto : "A Haphazard Exploration of Life through Art, Architecture, Photography and Word". Now that last part, since the inception of this blog, has been almost entirely ignored or overseen, but this was never my intent. To stimulate that particular aspect of my productions, in addition to my usual endeavors, I have laid upon myself the task of reading and finishing 52 books in 52 weeks, or a book a week for the year.

This has been an idea that has been kicking around in my head for a little while now, and once New Years rolled around, I simply verbalized it, and it was so. I'm not saying that I am going to be reading a tome a week or even a great piece of literature a week. I expect this to be a cross section of a multitude of topics, genres and length. My bookshelves are filled with a multitude of books that have been sitting there unread for far too long (or are calling to me to be reread), and it is high time to start tackling them!

On top of what I expect to be an increasingly daunting task, I feel obligated to write a few words in response to each of them: essay, review, a one sentence cast-off... something. Its one thing to glance over a piece of writing, but another to understand, absorb, articulate and respond to it.

I hereby accept my own challenge.

Downtowne Chitowne

2009-12-13T21:50:00.000-08:00

Over Thanksgiving, Jess and I made a trip to Chicago to visit family. On one day, we went Downtown for some pizza, walking around and some city life. Here are a few shots from our travels that day....

Reliance Building by Burnham and Root, one of my favorites and a staple in Chicago architecture:

Marshall Field's Signage - Now a historical plaque on the corner of the now Macy's store:

Cloud Gate at Millenium Park... fondly referred to as "The Bean":

Belated Dr Sketchy Post

2009-12-10T23:04:00.000-08:00

A couple weeks back, Jess and I went to this event called Dr. Sketchy's, which was a travelling sketch studio which was part Live Model drawing class, part burlesque show. Having never taken a live model drawing art class in school or out, I was pretty excited just to be trying out the format (it was also my fist time drawing nudes as well). Started out by doing some one minute exercises then slowly worked up to 20 minute poses.

I have always struggled with drawing people in terms of form and expression, so it was good to break out some pens and really work on that. Truthfully, some of them came out awful, but I was pleased by the end of the night and walked away feeling like I had a good experience.

Here are a couple of my sketches from that night:

Back Again

2009-12-06T23:24:00.000-08:00

Well, after another bit of a hiatus, I am back once again at the blog. There is much to post from the last few months of non-posting. The following isn't one of the greatest things, but it is a tease of a bigger project that I did a couple months back. It was a slap-dash idea/sketch/diagram for a competition that I did through work. I had a shape of a site and I just started going at it. It doesn't have a whole lot of meaning behind it, and it doesn't really resemble the project in any way... but I still kind of like it and I needed something to get the ol' blog ball rolling again. Thus, here it resides.

Following Through

2009-09-27T23:22:00.000-07:00

Following through on one of my quick collage ideas from a few days ago...

Another Round of...

2009-09-24T20:42:00.001-07:00

Been a busy and distracting sort of week. Here's some stuff from a few days ago that I did on the train.

Occasionally someone will stand over me, watching me sketch. A guy this particular day gave me the usual ,"What the heck are you drawing?"

"Some layouts of abstract shapes and..."

He interrupts, "So you just draw whatever you feel like. OK." and put his headphones on.

Sketch for Layered Painting?

2009-09-18T22:53:00.000-07:00

Another sketched out idea for a painting... or perhaps a collage...

Sketched Screen Idea

2009-09-16T23:21:00.000-07:00

Quick sketch done to develop an idea for an architectural screen or surface. Made of wood slats and cable.

Freeform Composite Collage

2009-09-14T23:42:00.000-07:00

This collage was made on 6x6 matte board and was a trial run of a collage style I have been wanting to attempt. In addition to composition and balance, the illusion of form and space was also an intended goal.

Retro Week 2009 - Day 7

2009-09-13T11:47:00.000-07:00

From a book that was made for a Studio Class in the Spring of 2003. By this point in school, I was getting really tired of making books, but the teachers just loved to work them in to the curriculum. This particular image out of the aforementioned book was a representation of a range of colors that I thought reflected me. The glare is intentional to show the varied textures and finishes of the pages.

...and so Retroactive Week Aught Nine comes to a close. Looking forward to looking through my dusty old work again next Labor Day. Tune in tomorrow when new content will return in full force.

Retro Week 2009 - Day 6

2009-09-12T22:45:00.001-07:00

A random page taken from a 2003 notebook. Clearly my mind was wandering from something very exciting.

Retro Week 2009 - Day 5

2009-09-11T22:45:00.000-07:00

This drawing was done in 1999 back when I was attending my first design courses at College of DuPage, or as we called it, "COD State". It was a composite drawing of multiple other drawings which was then color coded and acted as a map to derive extrusions of many little shapes and pieces which were then assembled into a model, or "construct". All in all I went through about 8 Prismacolor pencils to render this drawing.

Retro Week 2009 - Day 4

2009-09-10T23:02:00.000-07:00

This was a model for a project I worked on during my intern years at Perkins + Will. It was made during the schematic design phase for the W Hotel in Hollywood. In the end we were not awarded the project and the client decided to go with "someone else".

Normally, I wouldn't post my professional work on here, for various reasons, one of which being the potential of creative plagiarism, but as that already happened with this design I don't see the harm. Below, be sure to check out a rendering of what will actually be built (and is currently under construction) for this project. You be the judge:

Retro Week 2009 - Day 3

2009-09-09T23:59:00.000-07:00

Quite possibly the first pastel piece that I ever did. This most likely was made back in the early 90's when I was in middle school, maybe even high school. I like that I couldn't quite figure out what to put in the background , so I just smeared around some of the other colors. Ah, to be young.

Retro Week 2009 - Day 2

2009-09-08T22:38:00.000-07:00

Another piece from the old SCI-Arc Years. This model study was made in Spring of Aught-Two. It was made out of plaster and was about 14" long, 9" wide and over 3" deep, if memory serves. This shape was derived from an extrusion of a disassembled-reassembled Franz Klein painting, and was a study in gesture.

Retro Week 2009 - Day 1

2009-09-07T17:19:00.000-07:00

Well, it's that week of the year again, where I go through my old work and pull a bunch stuff out of the 'Archives' to share. I have been on a roll lately making some new stuff so I don't REALLY need to do this, but it is kind of enjoyable (yet painful) to go through old drawings, sketches and work and put it out there for the world to see.

This particular sketch was whipped up back in the fall of 2000, in my first studio at SCI-Arc. I remember sitting in a Starbucks with some friends, drinking a caramel apple cider (because I didn't drink coffee at that point), and an idea for the centerpiece of my main project came to me. I scratched it out on a napkin, as architects are wont to do. Though I really liked it, the element wasn't relevant to my design and never actually made it into my final project.

Luck of the Draw

2009-09-06T23:59:00.000-07:00

I had Jury Duty on Friday, and this collage was a bit of a nod to the day as a whole for me. And for the record, I was reading Ian Fleming's Casino Royale whilst waiting endlessly for my name to be called, which thankfully it never was.

This one is 6"x6" on matte board.

Recent Ideas, Doodles, Scribbles and Gestures

2009-09-05T23:59:00.000-07:00

A few collage ideas, idea for extruded collage, some scribbles and general doodles from the last couple days.

Orientation

2009-08-31T23:15:00.001-07:00

Jess and I have been watching some old LOST episodes lately. We are back on Season 2, and I felt compelled to sketch up some loose scenes from the episode "Orientation", when we first hear of the now ubiquitous Dharma Initiative. This is of a study in composition, light and technique more than an accurate depiction of characters or figure, though it's good to get practice in those areas as well.

The Station Fire

2009-08-30T23:37:00.000-07:00

This collage came together today in a little collage workshop that a friend hosted. We had an informative and enjoyable session for a few hours, learning some good techniques.

The piece didn't start out as but somehow evolved into a response to the out-of-control fires that are currently plaguing Southern California and in particular the LA area. The largest of the fires in the state is fairly close to us just north of Glendale. It was dubbed the "Station Fire" though I am not sure why it was given that name. This fire seems to keep spreading and causing more and more damage by the day. We can only hope they take care of it before it rips apart too much more of the area.

Shankill Sketches

2009-08-25T22:54:00.000-07:00

I've been on another Decemberists kick lately and whenever I listen to their music the artistic wheels get a spinnin'. So I am starting to make good on my longtime desire to do some artwork based on their songs. [sidebar: if you haven't heard any of their music or have no idea who I am talking about, you should check out their site via the link above. Great stuff that's part folk, part sea shanty, and part rock opera. Their songs and albums are all very story driven with rich lyrics and visuals]

I started out a few days ago doing some panels for a larger "Hazards of Love" spread (I'll get to posting those when they are more complete), and this week started working on content and composition of older songs. Today I was particularly fixated on the song "Shankill Butchers", which is all about a father telling his young daughter to be good and treat her mother well or the titular butchers would come to take her away and chop her up with cleavers and knives. Rather chilling song, actually. Tried a couple different depictions of that scene from a couple different perspectives. Leaning towards the first one if I were to choose one to develop further.

Studies Again?

2009-08-24T23:26:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since I have posted any collage studies. It was only after I drew an entire page of them that I remembered I wasn't going to do any more studies of collages, but just go straight into the actual collages themselves. Oh well, when it has been so long you forget these things...

Shards of the Subconcious

2009-08-19T23:43:00.000-07:00

This collage was compiled last night out of a stack of doodles that I recently salvaged from old notebooks of mine that were getting thrown away. Sometimes the lines and scribbles that work their way out onto the margins of lined note paper can lead to grander ideas, but oft times they just get forgotten and filed away with whatever pertinent information was jotted down.

These shards of the subconscious have been assembled almost haphazardly into a field, but even still, patterns and connections emerge and unfold as a map or a window into a string of lost moments unified by a slight sense of boredom and busy fingers.

The Lunch Doodle Rant

2009-08-16T23:10:00.000-07:00

I doodled this up at an in-house lunch presentation at work the other day. It was one of the longest winded steamiest piles of drivel I have ever heard, and I have heard many. It took most of the session before I understood what service and/or product they were trying to sell... and it was office furniture, or more specifically human-technological integration in the work environment. My opinion is this: Not only is the entire ergonomic furniture industry a complete waste of money, energy and attention, but you have entire companies dedicated to peddling jargon that feeds into this notion as a valid branch of Design.

Now, I will admit that most people who experienced this particular presentation expressed afterwards how insulted their intelligences were or how duped they felt, but there were some who lapped it up and many who merely tolerated it for the sake of the free food. While I do concede that the sandwich that day was damn good, I still hold strong to the fact that nothing in life is free and that most times, the lure of free cold cuts is just not worth it... unless there's pretzel bread involved.

LACMA Visit - Sketches

2009-08-13T23:19:00.000-07:00

As promised, here is a small sample of the sketches that I drew up at my most recent visit to LACMA. Was trying out a fine point and thick pen on some Giacometti sculptures, with vastly different results.

LACMA Visit - Photos

2009-08-11T22:59:00.000-07:00

Went to the LACMA a few weeks ago (Yes, I am just now getting to posting it!) for a day of sketching and checking out art. Even though the intent of the visit was to draw, sometimes I just can't resist taking a few photos of the spaces and architecture. The sketches that also came out of this day will be forthcoming.

Top of the Oviatt

2009-08-04T23:35:00.000-07:00

I took this shot at the Oviatt Penthouse this past Saturday, when we were there for Daisy & Damon's wedding reception. The building, and the penthouse itself were fine examples of the forgotten Art Deco of downtown Los Angeles. At one point in the evening, we made our way out to a small balcony, overlooking Olive Street, and had quite the view from there. It never ceases to amaze me that once you get off the ground it almost seems like we have a legitimate "Downtown".

The lighting of the buildings and sky at this particular moment struck me as theatrical, as if the facades scattered in front of me were all made of plaster and plywood. Hell, knowing this town, they probably were...

Long Beach Jellyfish

2009-08-02T23:45:00.000-07:00

At the end of June, we wend to the wedding of a couple friends, whom got married in Long Beach on the sand. After the ceremony the reception was held at the nearby Long Beach Aquarium, which was fun overall, but uniquely so because we had nearly free reign of the entire place for the evening. After finding my way around some ropes, I found myself upstairs, faced with several tanks filled with the slow undulations and luminous tendrils of a throng of jellyfish, glowing eerily in the darkness.

One can lose oneself in a place such as this, and I will admit that I did for a little while. Luckily I was fortunate to have a camera with me to attempt to capture the beauty of these amazing creatures...

Pitch People

2009-07-30T23:33:00.000-07:00

Went tonight to the 'Story Board Pitch Night' that Jess runs monthly and I occupied myself by attempting to sketch people this time. By the end of the night the sketches were starting to look like people!

Maui Condo and Lanai

2009-07-29T22:58:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple sketches that I did at our condo in Maui a few days before the wedding. The place was a little dated, but the view was amazing. That rattan cabinet held a stereo and a box of old CD's, and I must note how delighted I was to discover a copy Weezer's Blue album nestled in the stash. The second sketch is the view from our lanai with lots of palm trees and a clear shot of the ocean.

Back Inaction

2009-07-27T22:15:00.000-07:00

When I think about how fast the last nearly 5 months have been, I wonder what I could have been doing in that time to warrant a drought such as this. The list forms in my mind...

There was a couple months of studying for a few exams with a false start thrown in for good measure; There was my wedding on Maui with Honeymoon on Kauai and all the preparations that entailed before the trip. Upon our return we had a couple of weeks of additional prep work for the in-town reception here in Los Angeles with family and stresses on top of that. There was my final architecture exam a couple weeks after that and then I went on deadline for my project at work. Which brings me to last week, when we went to San Diego for the legendary Comic Con, and all the insanity that came with that.

And then realize... I don't have to explain my absence to a BLOG! I was gone and now I'm back.

In the last few months I have accumulated a lot of scraps, sketches, photos and ideas which I have been eager to post. Since posts were not actually made in that time, there are a few items which will be disseminated in the days to come.

I'll start with this photo of the vast array of party favors that Jess and I put together for the guests of our reception. The story that led to this image is long and I won't write it here, but this image captures the final product of our labors.

More to come!

Green Collage - Final Product

2009-03-10T23:03:00.001-07:00

I should have scanned this before I varnished it... too shiny now to scan I think... Perhaps I will try again tomorrow. In the meantime here is the long awaited Green collage (which I fully intended on submitting to a gallery for a "Green" themed show, but I don't think that's going to happen, but I am going to submit it to another show, the "Winter Gallery" at work).

I made this collage on a wood block and I think that actually worked out really well for the idea that I was trying to get across with this one. The wood block also makes it suitible for hanging as it is, without additional framing.

Orange Peel #7

2009-03-01T12:51:00.001-08:00

Another in the series... One of these days, we will stop buying tangerines!

Suds

2009-02-28T23:17:00.000-08:00

Got some inspiration while I was washing my hands....

Stair:Book Case

2009-02-26T23:59:00.000-08:00

This here sketch is the first inkling of an idea for a staircase that also doubles as a bookcase. Stair becomes bookcase becomes wall. Time to start playing with it a little more....

More Studies in Green

2009-02-25T22:44:00.000-08:00

Here are a few more studies that I did a couple days ago for a collage that I am currently working on. I'm really hoping the sentiment translates into the collage medium. Even the most literal of translations can look completely different.

Wall and Silhouette

2009-02-22T19:48:00.000-08:00

Silhouette of a sharp plant in front of a white washed wall. Took this at the end of a long day after a couple parties. This is actually a color photograph.

Cleaning Desk

2009-02-21T12:40:00.000-08:00

Its amazing how much crap you can find in and around your desk (work or otherwise) when you haven't cleaned it in a while. Here are some little snippets and sketches that have been kicking around at work for what I'm sure has been a while.

Dual Pattern

2009-02-20T23:05:00.000-08:00

Just a quick sketch of an idea I had today, based on some paneling that we have in our project at work. Looks nothing like this in my project, but isn't that what ideas are? Manipulations and developments of existing notions and patterns.

Studies in Green

2009-02-19T23:59:00.000-08:00

Several sketches and studies for a collage or collages to submit to a gallery next week. Green be the topic.

Headache Monday

2009-02-16T22:34:00.001-08:00

My head was pounding all day today. A piercing throb over the right half my face. All. Day. Long. I sketched the top thing on the train ride home from work, and the lower towards the end of the same train ride, but with a slightly lesser pain in my brain.

Cup O Doodle

2009-02-15T23:59:00.000-08:00

Couple of quick post-it doodles from the weekend from various phone calls and note takings.

Storm Rolling Over

2009-02-13T22:30:00.000-08:00

I took this shot a few weeks ago out in our apartment courtyard, the last time we had a wave of storms coming through. Thought that given the rainy weather that we had to day and the gloomy weekend ahead of us, that this was appropriate.

Window Box

2009-02-12T22:39:00.001-08:00

Had this idea today for a sculptural window box, made up of slats inset at various depths. Haven't exactly figured out what I can make out of it yet, but its just the early stages of the idea of a technique possibly worth exploring.

Fluffy Details

2009-02-09T22:14:00.001-08:00

Haven't gotten to posting in a few days and was studying for another exam tonight, but decided to throw a few images up anyway. Some macro shots of Rufus. You really get a sense of the texture and color of the fur at this scale. Down on that last shot I think you can see me in the reflection in the eye...

Room With A View

2009-02-06T22:44:00.000-08:00

Had this quick idea for a room the other day that I needed to hash out a little more. The room would be made entirely of planks that would curve up in a floor becomes wall becomes ceiling fashion. The frame and structure around the room would be functional and aesthetic. The perspective view shown suggests connectivity to adjacent rooms, but even drawing textures and (ugh) cabinets beyond, was a pale suggestion to the potential that the penetrations in the plank surface could be.

While the intended pattern of the striations on the walls was parallel, seeing the minor offsets and irregularities in the sketch unleashed a new idea for alternate patterns, including but not limited to forced false perspectives, disorienting crookedness or visual tom-trickery!

I Love Lamp

2009-02-05T20:10:00.000-08:00

Took a few photos the other night of some interesting light fixtures. I delight in making lamps and lights almost illeligible as a singular object and push the more subtle details of the play of light and the abstract forms that interact with it.

Clover Leaf

2009-02-04T23:15:00.000-08:00

Started doing a doodle and just starting with some symmetric circles; one of them came out rather cloveresque, so i started exploring that a little. Now, I should probably take a look at some of the actual leafs, the likeness of which came out of some quick curving lines.

Hotel Scribblin'

2009-02-03T23:59:00.000-08:00

Did this quick scribble drawing while I was up in Sacramento last night for work.

Slice N Peel

2009-02-01T23:38:00.001-08:00

I know it has been a couple days since I have posted anything; I'm delinquent. Thats bad.
But I'm making up for it with a couple photos of an orange peel! Thats good!
But the photos were taken from my iPhone... Thats bad.
But there are two photos! Thats good!
But the photos contain potassium-benzoate...
... that's bad.

Canopy

2009-01-29T23:58:00.000-08:00

Was at work late tonight finishing up the modeling of a giant freaking canopy in my project in Revit. Took about a day and a half to get it right and to make sure everything around it also worked. Bit of a pain, but satisfying at the end. and tomorrow I'm sure it will all change anyway.

Was trying to sketch out quick what the canopy was doing to Jess when I got home. The LA Weekly (and a sharpie) was the closest paper I had to me, so that is what I used. I think I only confused her more.

Abstract Geometries

2009-01-28T21:26:00.000-08:00

Bit of a quick sketch here. Now that I scanned it in and sat back and actually took a look at the composition, it kind of looks like the building I have been working on... although quite disheveled and possibly crushed in some way. Only if you squint, though. Maybe I'll save a more literal dismantling for another day.

Regardless, this sketch is getting back to a more abstract architectural free-form.

Climbing, Preliminary

2009-01-27T23:11:00.001-08:00

Working idea for Illustration Friday "Climbing". Rough. Really rough.

Blind Shadows

2009-01-26T22:44:00.000-08:00

This is a photo that i took with my iPhone at work. Just happened to see this visage on the wall in one of the hallways. The window blinds were completely mangled and were shining a bizarre shadow and reflection on the wall. This is not a reversed image.

Morange

2009-01-25T10:40:00.000-08:00

Couple more orange peels from last night's tangerines. I suppose that would make them tangerine peels. Thought I would turn things around a little bit, see a different side of the peel. With this reversal the photo becomes less about the color and more about the texture.

Shapey

2009-01-23T22:42:00.000-08:00

Quick sketch that i started on the train, came out a bit jagged and scribbly, so I kept working over it when I got to sturdier ground.

Pale

2009-01-22T20:25:00.000-08:00

Another one of my small strip collages. Wanted to post this one on Illustration Friday, but I'd feel a little lame posting it the following Thursday. Maybe next week I'll get on the ball!

Regardless, I am pleased as to how this one turned out. Again, the scans really don't do any justice to these pieces, there is a whole other dimension to them when you see them in person.

Change Hath Come

2009-01-20T23:21:00.000-08:00

It was a great and historic day for America today! The world is abuzz with the notion of Change and our new President Barack Obama who is the focus of this. The figurehead of the movement that has gripped us for months and years and we hope will drive us for many more into the future. I will keep it short because I know almost everyone is feeling it, and my words might only blur the excitement... We did it!!! Now, lets get to work...

I took this pic this morning on the front door of our apartment building, as I left for work after watching the inauguration. I'm not really sure how long it's been there, but I really only noticed it last night. Only two words are still seen on this torn sticker, but we all know what the missing word is.

Quick Post-Its

2009-01-19T23:08:00.000-08:00

Been a long day... so a couple quick post-its are all I have in me...

Spare Parts

2009-01-18T23:23:00.000-08:00

A quick sketch for tonight. An idea salvaged from an old memory of how I used to make puzzles for myself, of scribbles and colors and squares. Only now, in this iteration: create, divide, reassemble and disseminate.

Getting Sculptural

2009-01-17T23:59:00.000-08:00

As promised, I started looking at the gesture form as a sculptural object. Here was my first attempt at the idea of two intertwining gestures, three-dimensionally. I used some thin aluminum tubing as the frames, and black masking tape to form the undulating plane betwixt them. There are two things that I learned while doing this piece:

1. By forming a gesture out of a malleable piece of tubing, without guide or preliminary spontaneity, it ceases to be gestural. Sure, its curvy and sort of suggests a swooping gesture, but it is not pure in its nature. I am not exactly sure how I can make something volumetric that reads as a gesture. This is something that I have also had to deal with architecturally. How does one keep the gesture pure and keep it grounded in reality, that is to say the physical existence as opposed to a theoretical one. Which brings me to...

2. It is very easy, even starting with two relatively uncomplicated "gestures" and intertwining them, for the shape to become a physical impossibility. My original intention was to divide up the segments into equal segments and then connect those points with its equivalent on the opposing segment, thus generating form. Again, this was not easily done, and I think that I eventually had to cheat and break that rule to get the form to work. This was acceptable as it gave me a physical way of dealing with a partially non-physical problem...

Vitamin C

2009-01-16T22:40:00.000-08:00

I think I may have the scurvey.

Breaking it Down

2009-01-15T23:16:00.000-08:00

This started out as a diagram of the last painting I did, then I started adding some connective lines about the circles.

The really bizarre thing is how the placement of the circles happened in the painting... I had intended for it to be spaced differently but something else happened. And now here I am trying to break down my accident to get to the bottom of it.

Pressing on...

Circles In Acrylic 2

2009-01-14T23:33:00.001-08:00

Another in the continued series. This one is 8x10. I had done a wash on the canvas in a light orange color, and had started working on the background, fully intending to work in blues for the circles, but the orange tones grew on me and ended up working little bit better for this one.

Coming outward, each circle is twice the diameter of the previous and was placed on the tangent sides of the first and third previous circles. Following that rule, I found that the centers of any adjacent pair of circles aligns with the center of the second consecutive circle following the larger circle of the pair.

I think.

Failed Sketches

2009-01-13T20:17:00.000-08:00

I sketched these on the plane today, exploring an idea that i had jotted down a while ago. The idea was that i would take two individual gestures and graphically "loft" them to make an image a sort-of swirling knot. The idea was to take the gesture to the next level... the next dimension. Unfortunately, trying to render a knotted ribbon out of two haphazard lines doesn't quite work so well on paper. In fact, they are downright awful. In the shapes' two-dimensionality, the intended knot was not the actual result, but a muddled mash that merely suggests knottiness emerged! I determined that this is definitely something that can only be explored three dimensionally, at least for now.

They aren't particularly worthy, but sometimes even failures are worth noting.

NoHo Station Floor

2009-01-12T23:59:00.000-08:00

This is a quick photo from my iPhone (not the greatest shot, I realize)of the Red Line train station in North Hollywood. I was standing there waiting for the train to show up, looked down and saw this visage... I thought it was a slight blending of a couple different ideas from my recent pieces with just a hint of collage.

The Perfect Peel

2009-01-11T16:18:00.000-08:00

The golden section never tasted so delicious...

Quickie Scrib

2009-01-10T23:59:00.000-08:00

This was a quick scribble done to get my sketch in for the day. It didn't start out with a pure gesture, as most of my "scribble" pieces do, so I suppose that would make this more of a doodle. I continue to think that these things are much like Rorschach ink blots in that you can see a lot of things within them. I see this starting to look like a head or face, so of course this must mean I have a subconscious desire to destroy all humans.

Spiral Escalations

2009-01-09T23:32:00.001-08:00

I was pretty tired tonight and I contemplated scanning something old to throw it up here, but that's kind of defeating the point, so I whipped these up. They're not particularly fantastic or detailed but the initial Idea is there, and can be hashed out further later, should I desire to do so.

First Scribble of Aught Nine

2009-01-08T21:07:00.000-08:00

It ain't easy bein' green, especially when you are green with the ink from a pen that I found on someone else's desk. Sorry, someone else, but look at what that pen was capable of!

Circles in Acrylic 1

2009-01-07T22:13:00.000-08:00

Hey, I finished my painting early! This is my first crack at one of my circle sketches in painting form, and is 4"x5". I'm not sure if acrylic is the right medium for these pieces, but I am willing to explore it further.

The intention of these pieces is to make images made entirely out of circles, and the forms would take on these organic shapes. I don't think this is quite successful yet at getting to that idea, but it was a good first run, and took on some unexpected celestial qualities of it's own. I also realized that color pallettes of these are going to have to be chosen more carefully.

Study For Small Painting

2009-01-06T11:59:00.000-08:00

Just a simple sketch for today. It's a quick study for a painting that I also started tonight. The painting is fairly small (much like the sketch!), but I should be finished with it in a couple days. So far so good.

Letterbox Collage Studies

2009-01-05T21:53:00.000-08:00

Here are a few collage studies in a new "letterbox" format that I'd eventually like to try out. The techniques are the same, but some of the shapes feel fresh to me.

Prelude to 2009

2009-01-04T16:44:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the first post of 2009! Words cannot describe how glad I am to be rid of 2008. If i could find some way to somehow graphically represent the satisfaction of finally making it through that year, I am sure it would find it's way here or possibly just seep out gradually in the shadings of a pencil or the strokes of a brush.

That being said, December wasn't a complete bust productivity wise, though there were major distractions (exam, holidays, etc.), so I took the entire month off on hiatus here. And while the beginning of this year is shaping up to be just as busy, if not more insane than the last few months, I am hoping it will be a painless and productive breed of craziness. This year should prove momentous in it's capacity for change in every facet of my life, but as we all learned last year... change does not occur by itself. At the very least it takes persistence and someone to push it along.

The last few days have been mostly a reorganization and revitalization of the life and spaces around me that have also been neglected as a result of said hiatus. Tomorrow I head back to work and begin chipping away at the mountain that is waiting for me there. But there is Work to be done on my own time as well, so it seems appropriate that it should begin tomorrow as well. I have been called out by my friend Daisy and challenged to do a drawing a day for the year. In a way, the challenge stares me in the face every time I come to my own blog... "Not A Day Without A Line Drawn", it means.

Perhaps it's time to live up to my own audaciousness.

LA Auto Show - Not Cars!

2008-11-30T22:36:00.000-08:00

Despite the abundance of sleek shapes and bright colors around me, I was incapable of not being drawn to certain... architectural elements of the Auto Show. For instance...

A boring view of wasted space...

...and a pretty interesting fiber-sheet layered wall.

LA Auto Show - Cars!

2008-11-29T23:59:00.000-08:00

Went to the LA Auto show today. I've never really been a huge fan of cars in the way most guys are, but I will admit that after being submerged in them for a few hours I have a new appreciation and a slightly keener eye for these functional objects. While I took a mess of overall car pictures, I couldn't help but dwell on the details. Here are a couple photos of a couple very different Porsche's:

Turkey Day Post Its

2008-11-27T22:35:00.001-08:00

After a day full of food, these couple Post-it sketches were all I could muster.