Alas, today Bernie Sanders called it a campaign, ending his candidacy for President of the United States of America. My hope is that the Democratic National Committee will give him enough power to wield to make him a vital part of the next Administration. Here’s hoping!
This is the year of the pandemic, and it makes for a lot of text exchanges. One such that I’ve had with my former co-worker Yuko led down a conversational path to an exchange of not just text, but images. The photo source for this drawing is one of those images. Yuko had explained that she was angry at her mother because she didn’t like the noodles she was given. A sketch, and then an acrostic poem, were born.
baby yuko
bogus noodles every day
and i’m MAD and hope that u
bring me food that is ok
yummy, sweet and tasty too
Some time ago I had a try at capturing my admirable co-worker Amanda M. (Feel free to peruse the other 1500 entries in this blog to find it.) As the months passed my portrait attempt looked more and more like a misfire. Finally I couldn’t stand it any more and asked Amanda if I might try again. She was kind; I took another pic of her; I tried again with the result above, which is an attempt at Making Amanda Amends for that last botched effort.
I wouldn’t call this one successful, but it is less unsuccessful. The lighting is less harsh. The likeness is a half bubble off, but that is because I tried TOO hard and overworked it, so the heart is there.
Making Amanda Amends
Meet her & gain a fine sense of euphoria
Add Work-Commingling in with your Sensorium
Know a Professional Waldorf-Astoroia–be
Into the work tho the noise is stentorian
Nothing wrong with admiration if you understand
Gaining a new friend–a happy supplement to plans
My 2013 portrait of Lynda Barry has been my laptop screensaver for quite a while. She continues to blossom and thrive, and teaches creativity two-thirds of the way across the country from me. I would love to take that class. Some day I hope to.
This October 5th I will be an exhibitor and performer at Meet Your Literary Community, an event conducted by Jacob Friedman of the Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing. Jake suggested that I do caricatures for charity, so I am warming up, and this ten-minute sketch of Ms. Barry, its photo source found via Internet search of “lynda barry 2019 headshot,” is today’s first try. It is Conté crayon on Stonehenge paper.
If you are unfamiliar with Lynda Barry and her work, I urge you to seek out her images and image-rich publications. There is also a fine Facebook group aptly named Lynda! Barry! Rocks! The group name inspired the title of this post.
I went home early from work gratefully because my jaw and empty tooth-socket were aching, and slept and slept, and upon awakening found that I just wanted to dial at random on the Internet various animals and humans. No room for poetry on this one, just a pageful of scattershot portraiture.
I have done more than a dozen portraits of my co-workers at Matt’s Big Breakfast. A couple of weeks ago I approached yet another. She declined, but offered to send me a photo of her beloved and now deceased dog instead. I would rather have done hers, but I do love dogs, so I told her to go ahead.
“Gie” is a genuine word. It is Scottish dialect for Give. The poet Robert Burns famously coupleted
“O wad the power the giftie gie us
Tae see oursels as others see us.”
Burns also famously coupled, fathering many children out of wedlock, but that is another story.
Dog gie. “O wad the power a guid dog gie us/Tae help us truly, truly BE us.” I was best friends with such a dog. His revered name was William Doglas Bowers, known colloquially as Bill. We lost him ten years ago. A thought of him draws an eagle’s feather over my heart now and then.
dog gie
dalmation shepherd boxer pug
domestic bliss requires no drug.
old english sheepdog shih tzu corgi
of grins and snuggles is an orgi.
great dane alsatian malamute
Got Ugly? even so, Got Cute.
Four friends, four poets, four engaging souls, four celebrations. Three are also event hosts and one is also participating in the Index Card A Day challenge, just as I am.
I acquired the photo I used for this drawing from a bittersweet event conducted by Four Chambers Press, which was closing its metaphorical doors. Called “From Our Heart To Yours,” the event was one last get-together that included a giveaway of everything Four Chambers had produced yet not sold. I took one of their anthologies, one of their poet’s chapbooks, a photo of Jake Friedman at a microphone–and the photo I based this drawing on. Among the liberties I took with the pic was moving the four poets around to achieve a more Mount-Rushmore-like arrangement.
4 Poets
Formed the phrases grab and pop
Forgotten time rebirthed just so
Foregone conclusion laid to waste
Formalities seem silliest
Foretaste of life’s peculiar truths
Here is a loose interpretation of a photo I took of myself earlier this morning. I drew this to distract myself from the injured knee that is keeping me home from work today. It worked so well I forgot to take my pain medication.
As with most of my drawings, I end up feeling that this drawing is not an end in itself but a stepping-stone to the next drawing. “The next one will be better” has been my mantra for many years.
Here are the final two pieces of the portraiture puzzle I set out to resolve.
First was a value study. This was not an end in itself, but a means of informing the final version of the portrait.
Lastly, full circle with pencil, not crayon. This is the best likeness and mood-capture of my friend that I am capable of doing right now.
I did my best, but (of course!) I am still dissatisfied. I will show my friend tomorrow. I hope she will like what I have done.
Here is what happened when I Tried Tried Again.
Still too harsh, and Kelly’s eyes have a dreamy quality that I have not gotten right yet. There will be two more tries up the road a bit, another in crayon and the final one in pencil, coming full circle.
