ICON ART

The Harley is an American icon and artform... the only artform that can wake me up at 4 a.m. thundering past my home. I catch and immortalize this American Dream in rich HB pencil on 3M™ Herculene drafting film. The surface is like sandpaper, and the pencil "grinds" into it in a thick layer that drawing-paper can't achieve.

I've always loved bikes and chrome, and could draw just about any production cycle from memory, back when I was a teenager (remember Hodaka?). Riding has been a different story. Unfortunately, I have the innate ability to put a bike on top of myself whenever I try to do the opposite. I can lay a moped down on an empty Cozumel beach without a drop of tequila in my system. again and again. Some of us were seriously not meant to ride. only appreciate. Not that I haven't wrecked a lot of 4-wheeled shit, but I digress...

I'll be showing some pieces at an upcoming exhibit where there will be no spring-rolls, merlot, or light Baroque quartets. The WorkingMan's Motorcycle and Art Show will feature bikes, music, art, and vendors. Art will be hung on the chainlink fence, and wine will only be served from the brown paper bag. See details at: http://theworkingmansmotorcycleandartsh.blogspot.com and pray for the skinny artboy. My last bike-art show was in 1973 at Laguna Gloria Fiesta. I actually sold a few pieces. with avacado-green mats. damn.

EPIC FACE (theepicface.blogspot.com)

This is an 8 1/2" x 11" section from a drawing I've been working on over a period of years. The full size of the rendering is 4'-6" x 2'-0", so this is only a small section shown. Below is an inset of this one panel. Click on the full-size drawing to open a 400dpi 7MG file...as in, it takes a minute. There are scenes of battles, crucifictions, car shows, Roman architecture, a balloon show, jousting matches, hidden faces and bodies, and on. This is roughly 1/14th of the full drawing. When viewed from across the room, the image is of a hand covering a face with a single eye looking between the fingers. See the full shot at www.theepicface.blogspot.com

HOW SMALL IS SMALL?

While many of my creations are over 80 feet tall, my true forte' is drawing in near-microscopic dimensions. The pencil rendering above is only 5" in height, and the eye of the dragon measures 1/16". Floating around the dragon are hundreds of fairies, some of which are 1/64" tall. I don't need a magnifier to achieve these results. It's an eye-to-hand coordination thing, and I'm basically drawing blind.

OLDER THAN ELVIS

...an illustration plucked from an Austin Chronicle from past years. The article was a book review of a fictional piece concerning Elvis' dead twin brother, Jesse, lost in childbirth. Ah, the Chronicle offices on I-35...also yellow, crinkly, and smelly.