Rosemary

This is Rosemary. We met in architecture school at Texas A&M and became good friends.

Doing this portrait was like searching back through the past for her. I kept getting things wrong and scrubbing them out, erasing, redrawing, painting again, splashing water on it. Finally, I put the floor plan over her and searched again with my pencils and brushes until there she was, smiling up at me, saying "here I am, old friend".

Rose lives in Montana. For a few months, about 20 years ago, we both lived there at the same time and I would pop over to see her and her husband fairly often. Since I moved away, we adopted a tradition of calling each other on our birthdays to check in and keep in touch. Just a reminder Rose, my birthday is coming up.

11x15 pencil, ink and watercolor on handmade watercolor paper. #197

The House that Warren Built

At my brother's house in Austin, TX.

Steve

This is Steve. He's also known as "The Plywood Guy from Maine". He puts blocks of high grade plywood together in ways that, when turned on a lathe, emerge as the most strange and beautiful vessels and shapes you have ever seen. When he's not turning plywood, he's carving landscapes into huge panels of it, or building Windsor chairs out of it. His latest creation is a Plywood remaking of a Honda Goldwing motorcycle. Yeah, he rides it too. He has an amazing, creative mind that's as layered and multifaceted as the creations he builds.

12x18 graphite and ink on plywood, of course. #196

Andy

This is Andy. I think I first met him when I started going to a life drawing group that he moderated many years ago. He is a sculptor, artist, inventor, craftsman, painter. Yeah, that's enough.

Here he looks like he's staring off into space contemplating the next thing he's going to create or maybe wondering which tool to pick up next. I relate to that look.

11x8 watercolor, pencil, and graphite. #195

Alison

This is Alison. She is an artist living on Monhegan Island, a sparsely populated island about 10 miles off the coast of Maine that draws artists from around the world inspiring them with it's dramatic coastline and traditional way of life. She paints landscapes, still lifes, portraits, and figures with oils and pastels.

Just about every week during the fall, winter, and spring I see her at a life drawing session. We both like to get there early to get a good place to draw from. I usually sit to her right (perhaps I'm hoping some of her amazing talent will arc directly into me). One of my favorite parts of the evening is seeing the beautiful drawings and paintings she produces.

10.5x6 graphite and watercolor. #194

Ben

This is Ben. He's my nephew and he lives in Los Angeles. He's a director now and makes films. A few years ago he co-directed a film called Strings and toured the country promoting it at at film festivals winning all sorts of awards like "Best Thriller" at the Route 66 Film Festival, "Best Director" at Long Island Film Festival, and was an official selection at Hollywood Film Festival. His latest project is a movie called Synkhole, which hasn't been released yet. It's about a group of students searching a mysterious cave for their missing professor. When they become trapped inside the cave, they discover time passes at a different speed underground than on the surface. 

This portrait is a tribute to his early years when he was obsessed with Ghostbusters. It had a huge influence on him.

16x16 watercolor, pencil, and Artrage. #193

Jennifer

This is Jennifer. I met her on a tour of Thailand a few years ago. We biked through Bangkok, hiked in the jungles of Chiang Mai, kayaked through cave and among monkeys near Krabbi. It was a great trip. She lives in California and today is her birthday! Happy Birthday Princess!

Watercolor, Pencil, and ink. #192