Gypsies in Paris...

Here is my newest sketch for my character series. These figures are based on characters from The Family Under the Bridge by Nancy Carlson. I'll post the color version when it is done but I really enjoy the way this sketch looks in black and white also.

Emil, alone in the city

Okay I just finished Emil from my new series of illustrations from Emil and the Detectives, and I couldn't wait to put it out there. This is actually the second in the series (the first being Pony the Hat) but will post her later when Julia finishes her version of her (no pressure Julia!)



He is such a dignified little man.

Green in the livingroom

I have compiled here for no particular reason a collage of all the green things in the livingroom. It just donned on me this morning what a wonderful array of green there was around me. Enjoy.



Also on that subject, I happen to be working on a etching that will be called "Waiting in the Green Room" I'll post it as soon as it's done maybe along with more green objects.

basement fun: printing with monsters

So yesterday Brian and I went down to the basement so that I could teach him how to print. I will tell the story through pictures.

Here's my trusty little guy:


Here's the plate we started with (drypoint on aluminum):


Ink ink ink:


Squeeze that guy through the press:


Presto chango:


Here is what we got: jackrabbit in a field


And then we did it all over again with pet monster:


THE END

Everyone loves ice cream

I've been working on several "secret projects" lately that I can't broadcast over the internet just yet. So in lieu of writing about what I've been working on, I'll just share this little scene that I came across in my house yesterday. I find some solace in the fact that these little guys are forever enjoying their ice cream.

Remember spring?

Here is an old sketch that I just found and thought I'd put it out there in remembrance of warmer days...

Printing, printing, printing...

I'm finally getting back into the groovey..

I spent the day at Albertine Press today where Shelley so kindly presented me with my very own letterpress merit badges!!! I can't wait to sew these on my apron.


Also, Friday I will be bringing Brian on a field trip to my little etching studio to show him a thing or two...

Ode to Cape Ann

Cape Ann has brought me beaches my whole life, and more recently, given me solace on these cold and quiet days.
A recent trip to Gloucester offered me many exciting things, in the form of records, books, and Leonard Baskin.

There is a great used bookstore called Dogtown Books which specializes in poetry and children's books, where Brian and I decided to invest in an old poetry journal called Four Winds, from 1953. It includes early poems by Charles Olson and Cid Corman and 10 woodcuts by Leonard Baskin. Even though it's in rough shape, I was thrilled to find it, because Baskin's work has become extremely rare and collectible. Here are some photos of it's delicate pages.





Ahhh...Cape Ann is the quiet place in my mind....

Pony the Hat

I recently read a reissue of the 1929 German book, Emil and the Detectives, by Erich Kastner and was deeply inspired by the strange cast of children that inhabit this book. I was especially intrigued by the character of Pony the Hat. Yes, that's her name, and of course there is no mention whatsoever of the origin of her name, it's just presented matter-of-factly with no excuses. She is a wild little girl who rides all over Berlin on her new bicycle.

I was talking with my illustrator buddy, Julia Denos, who had also just read the book, and discovered that she was just as interested in Pony the Hat as I was and so we decided to both do our own versions of Pony the Hat. I'm working on mine currently and I know Julia has started hers, so when we are done we'll both have them posted simultaneously on or respective blogs.

Maybe there will be a trade involved afterwards? What do you say Julia?

Stay tuned.

birds, birds, birds and moomin

What I got for Christmas:

fake birds


real birds


lithographic bird


bowlish bird


...and moomin.