I’ve been drawing these little bubble domed hatchbacks lately, for some reason they’ve been stuck in my head for some time, so I had better get them out…

And a thumbnail sketch for a traffic problem.  This might make a nice shirt if anyone is interested. It would be a good excuse for me to figure out how to use Cafe Press.

A few images from my recent trip to New York.

Sketches of people at an ice skating rink in downtown Manhattan’s Bryant Park.

Nice Scarf Dude

I did see a great window display for Hermes on Madison Ave (a store that looked so prohibitively exclusive and not aimed at me and my t-shirt and jeans wearing scrubbiness that I didn’t even care to walk inside) by the artist Aga Ousseinov.

What a great city. I will be back, I will live there….It’s a humbling place. I come away in awe but also accutely aware of my smallness. Just another person not to far off of the average bell curve. There is comfort in that.

On the bus down to New York I sat next to this man, Kader. He was sleeping and had an interesting face so naturally I drew him. When he woke suddenly I quickly put my sketch down but then realized that I didn’t particularly want to hide the fact I was drawing him. We hadn’t spoken for the entirety of the trip and I had already exhausted conversation with the people in the seats (we talked of Naples and Oranges) next to me, so I simply said “Hey I drew you, see..” and then showed him the sketch. He was favourable to his likeness and had a kindness to his demeanor so we started talking of work and life and god and women. He had grown up in Algeria and then moved all over the world. While in Paris he met an American woman, they married and came out to Pittsburgh. At the time (11 years ago) he spoke no English and when he came here - although trained as an accountant in Europe and very bright - his options for work were limited, so in his late 30’s he began working in gas stations, making pizza dough, and doing whatever odd jobs he could find. He had wisdom and he had presence and he appreciated life for what it was. At least in our conversation he presented his philosophy of focusing on what one is doing while they are doing it, embracing each job for all it’s worth and each city and place for their value as well. He referred to God frequently, often with a quotation. I didn’t get the impression that these were statements from a book or dogma, but from lessons and truths that had been garnered through life.