Life As I See It

I like to take my sketchbook everywhere.  In fact, I'll probably take one to my grave. Much like exercising at the gym, it's important for artists to exercise their observational skills on a daily basis. Here are some recent journal excerpts - drawn at my gym, in the courtroom, at church, in the club, and more!

Sitting at a Trivia contest which raise money for the Red Hook Public Library.

Drawn while working out on an exercise bike - at IXL Fitness, Rhinebeck, NY

Drawn at Daryl Hall's club, Daryl's House - of guitarist Davy Knowles

A view of my father and sister sitting in his living room, Buffalo NY

The Rev. Will Mebane gives a sermon at St. Paul's Cathedral, Buffalo, NY

I burned 200 calories while drawing this scene at IXL Fitness, Rhinebeck NY  Woo hoo!

Random views of Rhinecliff Train Station and IXL Fitness

Sitting in at zoning board hearing, Red Hook Village Hal l 01.27.16

You can view a fun gallery of sketchbook excerpts here!

Life as I See It

On Monday I attended the funeral of a very good man - who also happened to be a Korean War Veteran. At his interment, I couldn't help but pull out my sketchbook to capture the flag ceremony (above). What a powerful way to honor service to our country.

Below are more recent observations captured in my sketchbook: 

Attempting to draw while exercising at the Jewish Center gym, Buffalo NY 08.03.15

The Compact performs at Bread & Bottle, Red Hook NY 8.28.15

Quick sketches of Dan at the my drawing class, Atwater Gallery, Rhinebeck NY 9.03.15

Red Hook Community Pool   7.19.15

two minute drawings of Dan, Atwater Gallery Rhinebeck NY 9.03.15

Erin Hobson performs at Bread & Bottle, Red Hook NY 8.28.15

At the funeral service for my friend Bob, St Christopher's Church  Red Hook NY 7.29.15

You can view a fun gallery of sketchbook excerpts here!

Winter Blues

The polar vortex has forced many Hudson Valley residents to hunker down indoors this winter. I've discovered sketchbooking is a great way to battle cabin fever. It's been fun to draw the dogs in my life - as we patiently wait for spring to arrive.

Clementine and Lily relaxing on the couch

I beat the winter blues is by working out at the gym on a regular basis. It's also a unique and energetic environment to draw in.

You can view more sketchbook selections here.

Thanks for visiting, and stay warm!

 " In the depth of winter I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer. "
~ Albert Camus

In the depth of winter I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer.

Albert Camus

Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/winter.html#Aev8YyKp3wk7JsqT.99

Burn Calories while Drawing

If I were to sketch a scene while training on an elliptical machine, it might look something like the drawing above. Oh, wait. That's exactly what I did! This is a great way to practice drawing - and burn calories at the same time.

It was also fun to draw scenes while spinning on the exercise bike. I work out at the gym on a regular basis, so it felt right to start sketching observations there. January is a great time to draw at IXL Fitness - because it's full of people attempting to honor their new year's resolutions.

The kinetic atmosphere there led to some very sloppy - but energetic drawings.

You can view more glimpses inside my sketchbook here.

Year-end Sketchbook...

I drew the picture above as my dog Lily sat in my lap - shivering in fear - as she awaited her yearly check-up at our local animal hospital. Fortunately, the vet was able to extract a rotten tooth, Lily's up to date on her shots - and is in great shape for 2014.  I love sketchbooks, because they remind me exactly what I was doing at specific autobiographical moments in life. Each drawing is like a marker in time. Here are a few excerpts from the last week of 2013, and one from the new year.

From a beautiful Christmas Eve service...

At the movie theater, waiting for American Hustle to begin...

At 88 years old, mom is allowed to take naps any time she likes, especially on Christmas.

I burned 109 calories on the exercise bike while drawing this scene ( at IXL Fitness)

Thanks for viewing. You can see more sketchbook excerpts here.

Here's to a happy and healthy 2014!

Take a Kripalu Yoga Break!

Intuition tells me that yoga would be beneficial in managing the stress of daily life. If only I could motivate myself to attend an actual class. Well, this assignment helped to bring instruction right into my studio!

Elena Erber, a fabulous client for over 15 years, is the creative director at Kripalu, a premier yoga center in the Berkshires. She approached me about illustrating a new feature on their website, 'Take a Kripalu Yoga Break'. It's a series of 5 minute recordings, by expert instructors, who guide you through an entire exercise right in front of your computer.

 These exercises give a taste of what Kripalu offers; a retreat from our stressed out professional lives. The drawings would be a visual aid to go along with the recordings. For novices such as myself, this is helpful to know you're posing properly. So far I've drawn over 130 frames for this enlightening project. These drawings have done wonders for my downward doodle!

You can take a yoga break right here:  http://www.kripalu.org/article/649

I went through numerous rounds of  sketches to achieve the right look for this project. I played with the palette which Kripalu uses for identity and publishing materials. Below are some examples.

I found it invaluable to have photo references of all the exercises. My yoga-instructor friends, Alice & Teresa, were so helpful in modeling these poses for me. Putting the photos into order helped me see the flow of each exercise:

Namaste.