Tinariwen - Tinwaywen

black pen & colored pencils, los angeles, 2013

Lines go where they want to. That's life.

There is no such thing as an incorrect line until another line is drawn next to it.

Colors, on the other hand, are like flavors.

Alpha Blonde - Jerusalem

black pen & colored pencils, los angeles, 2015

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Beautiful things

Black sharpie on beige paper

Rosemead 2012

"Dream pretty dreams of beautiful things,

let all the skies surround you.

Swim with the swans and believe that upon

some glorious dawn love will find you"

Townes van Zandt

This drawing just came out of nowhere. Like a mystical gift, one day it just happened.

Little Boxes - Pete Seeger

Colored pencil & black sharpie

Los Angeles 2019

One day, a couple of years ago, I was looking around the apartment for something to draw when my eyes landed on three boxes, stacked upon one another, in the corner of our dining area.

So I quickly sketched them in pencil.

It was an OK drawing and I still have it lying around here somewhere but after I had drawn the boxes in pencil I got out my sharpie and redrew them in ink.

The result was nice..

Three Boxes

Black sharpie

Los Angeles 2019

This got me stared drawing boxes. I drew boxes at home. I drew boxes at work. I drew boxes in my moleskine. I drew boxes.

I soon cut the stack down to two boxes because it looked better.

Two Boxes

Black Sharpie

Hollywood 2019

I drew these boxes over and over. Like about thirty times.

More Boxes

black sharpie

Los Angeles 2019

Why did I keep draw these boxes?

Here's why.

When I look at these boxes I always get this erie feeling of...

Time is standing still.

I don't know why, but it gives me tickle.

Time is standing still

Black sharpie

Los Angeles 2019

Utah Desert

colored pencil on paper

Los Angeles 2014

When I was a young boy in the 1950s we lived in Utah for a while. I was maybe six or seven. We, my friends and I, would go for long walks through the beautiful high plains desert. In the distance we would here the deep booms of atomic bombs being tested across the mountains in Nevada. No shit. What a memory.

Even with the bombs though, the American Southwest was so beautiful. I miss it dearly.

Fast forward sixty five years. I now live on a small island in the Philippines. On the other side of the earth. Hiding.

In the distance I can hear roosters crowing and dogs barking.

So strange.

Philippine Sea

colored pencil on paper

Los Angeles 2014

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Each time you fall in love

Coloredpencil and Watercolor

Monrovia 1996

I made this drawing in 1996.

When I drew it, by the grace of God, I had been free form alcohol for one incredible year and I remember, so clearly, that as I drew, I was feeling a deep new creative surge born of hope.

Life is an epic journey my friends.

Each time you fall in love - Cigarettes after sex

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"Hijos Del Sol" - Hermanos Gutierrez

Black Sharpie on manila paper

Miami 2010

I lived in Miami for a few years. I rented a small apartment right on the bay. It was lovely. Iguanas and land crabs used to wander around the yard. Beat that!

Miami has some of the most lovely beaches on earth. I used to hang out at oceanside cafes sipping esspresso coffee and drawing.

Back then my main art tool was the ultra fine black sharpie.

I was into drawing what to me were guilts. Crisp black and white drawings done off the cuff. I drew a bunch of them.

Here's another one.

Black Sharpie on paper

Miami 2009

Bay Harbor beach, Miami, Florida

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A curious snail

watercolor on paper

black and white photo

Los Angeles 2018

It's easy, at least for me, to imagine that snails have characters.

Maybe it's those eyes, poking out on their stocks, looking....

I wonder, do snails dream?

And if so, of what do they dream?

Do snails dream of wet concrete and fresh clover?

Do juvenile snails have wet dreams?

I've never thought of that before but why not?

Little snail nuts messing up the grass where they sleep...

So cute.

watercolor

Los Angeles 2018

pencil drawing in my Moleskin

Calbayog City 2024

For the past two days I've been playing with the zygomatic process. It gives some drama to a drawing. And I've always thought it had the coolest name in all of human anatomy.

This morning as I lay with my wife she thought I was massaging her head. And I was. But I was also appreciating her zygomatic process.

pencil drawing in my Moleskin

Calbayog City 2024

self portrait

ballpoint pen, los angeles, 2018

I drew this one day looking at the mirror.

My wife said it looks just like me.

Not certain what to make of that.

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So beautiful

The Blacksmith (Live in Cotopaxi) Lady Moon