Post Modern Ennui

2006-07-31T13:06:00.000-04:00

Before me lay a bag of Miss Vickie's Chips. They are lime and black pepper flavored and presumably delicious. The front of the bag reads "From Our Farm to You." I'm overwhelmed. The thought that it should say "From Our Farm to Your Mouth" is unrelenting. Still, I shall crunch the chips until they exist no more and in their place, satiety.

I viewed A Scanner Darkly this weekend. There was one show in Fairfield at 9:50 to choose from. Erin and I decided to choose the 9:50 show in Fairfield. I think there were around five people total in the theater and three of them showed up late. Have you ever been one of the only two people in a theater when the Jimmy Fund begins it's prerecorded effort to solicit your funds from your pockets? Well, let me tell you something. When the guy with the can shows up, it doesn't take much coaxing to get Mr. Washington to cross the chasm between your pocket and a slotted aluminum cylinder.

Gmail's spell check wonders if "Fairfield" was indeed intended to be "Garfield." That, my friend, is good comedy. Likewise, Gmail knows not its own name. Sad. Perhaps, Google should have named it "Garfield."

Surrender

2006-04-10T14:48:00.000-04:00

... with every fiber.

What the Hell?

2006-03-20T22:08:00.000-05:00

This is an all Adobe Illustrator, all vector experiment. I'm scared. Click if you dare to see this dancing, tuxedo clad monstrosity any larger.

Or run. Run away before you need to dance too.

π

2006-03-14T22:25:00.000-05:00

Apparently it's Pi-Day (The date is 3.14). I saw it on Digg. Who the hell knew?

That's neither here nor there. Enjoy the return of Pac-Man and, of course, sleep well tonight under the watchful eye of the first Italian super hero (to my knowledge anyway) The Eggplant Parmagiana Hero!

Loss for Words

2006-03-13T21:52:00.000-05:00

Yeah. I don't know what to say either.

Cat's in the Cradle, Silver Spoon, The Moon... All That.

2006-03-13T21:44:00.000-05:00

They're photos sure, but we've been over this before.

2006-03-03T22:09:00.000-05:00

I've heard you
Take a bow
For now
Your tinder is smoldering
Release
Black out
And follow
And burn
And burn and flutter away

I sat in one meeting this morning and another this afternoon for about an hour and a half combined. The second page here shows the fruit of those two meetings. The first two thirds of the first page were done this past weekend as I enjoyed a venti Starbucks Mocha Valencia, the final third was done just an hour and a half ago.

There are times when I've thrown song lyrics into these posts. They've all been fairly random and included simply when I had nothing to say, but sketches to post. Sometimes they might have captured my current mood. Other times they were simply running through my head. The words above are my own. They might suck. I'm really not sure, but I just felt like writing a little since I haven't done it very much in many years. Do they have anything to do with these images? I don't know. Probably not. Maybe. I don't know. They weren't completely random. However, I'm not talking. Draw from them what you will... or a blank. Whatever. Hope you enjoy the sketches. I know. They're kind of creepy. It's okay. You'll get over it.

-PME-

Will Draw for Coffee

2006-02-27T22:09:00.000-05:00

There's something grotesque about this rendering that's both the worst thing and the best thing about it if I may critique my own work... and I may... it's my blog after all. Here's a plug for the book I took this pose from, Anatomy for the Artist . It's pretty good if you like quality hardcover books and, honestly, who the hell doesn't?

Well, besides you.

Book hater.

And here's a Post-It collage. That's it. I hope you're happy.

I had visited Drawn! earlier and been guided to The Art of David Ho. Disturbing, sure, but I'll be surprised if I don't own one of his prints in the near future. I love this stuff.

IT IS NON STOP!

2006-02-17T00:09:00.000-05:00

I don't care if it is 10 minutes into Friday. This post still counts as three days in a row with new stuff. This one is just to prove a point. The point is that Conté Crayons make everything look richer. Here's a detail of a woman's neck and good ol' Master Shake. Next time I post, I'll have moved off of Williams Street.

Don't get used to this. The well is dry for now.

2006-02-15T21:53:00.000-05:00

My apologies to the late Charles Schultz for greatly aging Charlie Brown and Linus. I can't explain Master Shake making an appearance except that I just got Aqua Teen Hunger Force: Vol 4 which I've been watching and enjoying quite a bit.

Please bury me with all my stuff because you know it's mine.

Something Awful

2006-02-14T22:09:00.000-05:00

There is so much wrong with this, but there are small things here that I like. I won't say which is which, but I will say that for the most part, I don't like it. However, I'm posting this anyway in the interest of some kind of bizarre honesty with the four or so people who actually view this page. Also, I've been drinking.

I'll have more soon. I've got a small cache to post from for the next couple of days.

Also, I've been drinking.

2006-02-06T21:00:00.000-05:00

in pitch dark i go walking in your landscape broken branches trip me as i speak just cause you feel it doesnt mean its there just cause you feel it doesnt mean its there-radiohead

Post-it Modern Ennui

2006-01-24T22:02:00.000-05:00

Q*bert and Pac-Man. Tag-team champions of the world.

some shlub.

I'm going to bed.

2006-01-05T23:27:00.000-05:00

Just messing around for a few minutes with Alias Sketchbook Pro. Check out the gallery on their site if you want to see what can be accomplished with this software. I'm in awe.

2006-01-05T22:03:00.000-05:00

so glad to see you well overcome and completely silent now with heaven's help you cast your demons out and not to pull your halo down around your neck and tug you off your cloud but i'm more than just a little curious how you planning to go about making your amends to the dead -a perfect circle

Last of the Year

2005-12-29T17:56:00.000-05:00

Chances are this is the last time I'll be posting in 2005. Happy New Year. Have some stuff. Big stuff comes to those who click.

That's all you get from me until '06... now go check out Le Musée des RocknOats.

"Baby, I'm a fine artiste. Baby, I deserve to be kissed."

2005-12-20T23:00:00.000-05:00

-R. Crumb and His Cheap Suit Serenaders

I ended up in conversation with someone just yesterday at the local Starbucks. I began drawing in my Moleskine and the guy sitting near me noticed and asked "Are you an artist?"

I said yes.

I may as well have thrown in that I was a mechanic because I pump my own gas.

My apologies.

~PME

What a shame...

2005-12-17T17:54:00.000-05:00

More from the Moleskine... It's been awhile, I know. I'm sure the both of you reading this will get over it. Remember. Less is more. Now let's all sit back and watch this poor bastard get smashed in the head with an errant baseball.

~PME

Digital

2005-11-10T23:41:00.000-05:00

Yeah. It's been awhile. I know. Same as it ever was, you can click for a larger view... or not. I'm finding it fairly difficult to give a fuck. This is something I did rather quickly in Photoshop. I decided to dust off the wacom tablet and try my hand at some digital art. Here's the proof that I suck as much as I expected. Still there's a darkness in this image that's just disturbing enough to post here where almost no one will ever see it. I'm finding it fairly difficult to give a fuck. ~PME

"I can't remember how this got started
But I can tell you exactly how it will end"
-Nine Inch Nails

Dissatisfaction

2005-08-13T17:30:00.000-04:00

That word would describe my feeling towards this post. When I added the head to this pose, I got preoccupied with the features and lost sight of the big picture. That being the case, I ended up with a drawing of a figure that, while not being a complete disaster, has a disproportionately large head. What a shame. I would have liked to go back and fix it, but the hard edged style I was trying to work in made erasure unfeasible. I may take another crack at this pose at a later date. Click=big.

In other news, I'm still not done with the project mentioned in the previous post and no, I'm no richer.

-PME

Wednesday

2005-07-27T21:01:00.000-04:00

This will probably be the last one for a bit of time. I'm about to start a monstrous freelance design job that should tie me up pretty well through the weekend. I shall return (hopefully richer).

-PME

Weekend Sketches

2005-07-25T20:44:00.000-04:00

Here's the result of a Sunday morning at Starbucks as well as Sunday afternoon at Reality Cafe.
Just to reinforce how awful I am compared to "real" artists, browse on over to Michael Hussar's web site. It takes a few clicks to get to the meat, but there's some amazing stuff to see once you're inside. His stuff is pretty dark and disturbing in nature, but man is it well done! An article about him appeared in the latest issue of Juxtapoz (which is, fairly obviously, where I came across his work). That's it for me. You know the deal. Click it big.

-PME

You want a fresh one?

2005-07-21T13:32:00.000-04:00

Yeah... so it's a photo and not a sketch. I set it up and took it, so what of it?!
Keep complaining. You'll be next.
-PME

Causing a disturbance

2005-07-21T12:04:00.000-04:00

This page causes me to be disturbed. Maybe it's the woman's eye improperly positioned on her face. Maybe it's that disturbing little man in the hat. Ever draw something and wish you hadn't? I have.

I'm loving this red lead. Seriously.

I see red...

2005-07-19T13:50:00.000-04:00

Well, guess who did some sketching this past weekend. If you guessed me, you've won. I've no prizes to share, but I do have these two sketches from a Sunday afternoon at Starbucks. The new Gorillaz album, "Demon Days," is good to sketch to, by the way. While I'm at it, Static-X's and Dream Theater's new albums ("Start a War" and "Octavarium," respectively) are quite good too. I digress. You didn't come here for music. You came here for sketches. And chances are you came here because you know me personally and have for many, many years. Hell, if you don't know me, but visit anyway, leave a comment and say hi or give me links to other sketch-blogs you've enjoyed more than mine. I'm just curious to see how vast my audience is for this while finding other folks with more talent whose work I can look at and silently seethe with jealousy. Ah, yes... onto the sketches. Click for a larger view... like in the deal.

Glance

2005-06-25T10:01:00.000-04:00

This is the last figure I've done (click for a larger view). I really need to get out and draw today and periodically throughout the weekend. If I come up with anything worthwhile or at least something that I can impose upon you fine folks with a clear conscience, I'll post it.

media: Derwent Drawing Pencils on toned paper

Seated Figure

2005-06-19T11:11:00.000-04:00

Long time, no posts. I'd apologize for taking so long, but that would imply that I have an audience, which I don't. Here's another one that no one will enjoy. As usual, click the image for a larger view.

media: Derwent Drawing pencils on toned paper

Quick Note

2005-06-08T22:23:00.000-04:00

I've gone and edited all of the past posts to display small images that you can click to display larger ones. Hopefully, it'll help the page to load faster.
-PME

Another Figure

2005-06-08T21:51:00.000-04:00

Here's another figure I did from Virtual Pose (same model too, I believe). Click the image for a larger version.

media: Derwent Drawing pencils on toned paper

A Series (Sort of)

2005-06-07T20:51:00.000-04:00

don't ask...

media: Uniball Signo gel pen on sketch pad paper (first two), graphite on post-it-note (last one)

First Figure

2005-06-06T20:40:00.000-04:00

As promised, here's a fully realized figure drawing. The pose is from Mario Henri Chakkour's Virtual Pose 3 which is a great series of life drawing reference books. Each one comes with a CD containing many poses in Quicktime VR format so that you can rotate the model and draw different angles. I encourage anyone interested to check out his site and buy the books. They are great and since I get the majority of my life drawing reference from them, the least I can do is give them a plug.

media: Derwent Drawing Pencils on toned sketch pad paper

Sketchbook 02

2005-06-06T20:34:00.000-04:00

Another page... again with the Signo.

Sketchbook 01

2005-06-06T20:26:00.000-04:00

Here's a page from my sketchbook. I used a Uniball Signo gel pen to do these. I like the Signo. They flow smoothly, give you a nice dark line and if you use the pen on an angle, you can get some pretty thin, gray lines and achieve a pretty good tonal range for a ball pen.

Dammit...

2005-06-05T19:10:00.000-04:00

Okay. You got me. Now I'm blogging too. Thanks Dan and Jim. What began as a dormant site created simply so as to have an identity with which to post on other blogs has turned into this. I'm planning on posting sketches and drawings, etc. here as often as I can as incentive to keep working at it. We'll see what happens. Here's a little of what to expect. A lot of what goes up here will be human figure drawings and gestures. Pretty much all of my figure drawings will be nude. If you're against that sort of thing, you should probably make your way (in an orderly fashion, of course) to the nearest exit. If not, pull up a chair and try to enjoy. If you hate what you see, chances are you're not alone, so you can take solace in that fact. If you like what you see, you've brought great joy to this old, Italian stereotype. Either way, thanks for wasting some time with me looking at my stuff.