American Standard II

Another work-place urinal fixture reflection. Rather butch I'd say.

Claudia Cardinale

Same night as the previous post, while watching Once Upon a Time in the West. They don't make 'em like that anymore!

Once upon a Time in the West

Drawn while introducing my son to Sergio Leone. Not the wisest move on my part, balancing an open bottle of ink over a reasonably stain-free couch, while sitting next to a 9 year old boy prone to explosive bursts of activity.

American Standard

My reflection in the urinal fixture at work. I like the intellectual look.

Eye Study

I came across this while sorting through old watercolor blocks over the weekend. I know it was a quick watercolor study .... probably 5 or 6 years old. Odd color choices for me.

True Grits

I saw the first version of True Grit in '68 or '69 with my family- we saw every John Wayne movie in the theatres and besides, my sister had a crush on Glen Campbell. It had a big impact on me. The language was archaic, the violence was particularly brutal (Kim Darby falls into a rattlesnake pit and Dennis Hopper gets his fingers chopped off!) and John Wayne plays a drunk with an eye-patch.

A year or so later I spent a school break shadowing my Mom at her job as a church secretary. To kill the time, I read my brother's paperback copy of True Grit by Charles Portis. I was stunned at how closely the movie had followed the book, even at that age I was aware of Hollywood's propensity for sloppy adaptations.

70 years later, I see the Coen Brothers version of True Grit, universally touted as being more faithful to the book than the Duke's version. I'll admit I was nervous about that news since in the film Kim Darby is fending off one rattlesnake in the pit she's fallen into, while the novels Mattie Ross deals with over 40! But, I thought hell, it's been 100 years or so, maybe I don't remember the book that well. Ironically, the Coen version is a negative image of the earlier version. While the Duke's version changed only the ending, the new version changed practically everything but the ending! At least we didn't have to sit through Glen Campbell's crappy acting again ( sorry Sis).

I loved it anyway, and it got me to read the Portis novel again. Lets see, what has this got to do with drawing ..... oh yeah, and it inspired me to draw a picture of the Duke fillin his hands!

The One That Never Did

A case of jotting down a few strokes and moving on. Odd anatomy on the Man-Boobster.

Natasha

I agree, the stance is a little ridiculous, and I can't draw ammo belts worth beans, but I had fun with the hat.

Last of the Summer Whine

Reference sketch for the Post-Dispatch series on local living Troglodytes.

The Last Car

I drew this as reference off'n the internets!

Moms

Various moms caught before a recital earlier in January.

Marvel Event 2012

Cover rough for the first issue in next year's big cross-over story event from Marvel. A story preview: Hydra has teamed up with the Hand again, this time using black arts to hijack the psychic essence of Earth's mightiest heroes and swapping them with the essences of incompetent people. In a frightening turn of events, Tony Stark has traded bodies with a warehouse "associate" from the St. Louis suburbs. Watch as Stark must deal with a supervisor who says things like "irregardless" and "verificate" and who thinks that the other actor in Red River is "Cliff Montgomery"! See as Stark's replacement accidentally kills half of his research scientists while adjusting his repulsor rays (above). Don't miss a single issue true believers! Excelsior!!

2nd Set, Violin Class

More micron sketches from earlier in January.

Micron Sketches

Still delighted by the variety of clothing styles at these weekend group violin classes. A clean bunch of marker sketches if I do say so.

The Sword of Murizakaii

Drew this on a lunch break in the parking lot of Target. Naturally, being parked in one of the county's largest strip malls, the idea of a topless samurai halving a robot came to me.