455 Drawing Friends

These are some of my best friends

454 Birth of a Phoenix

The end is only the begining of something else...

453 Couch Potato

or it could be a potato couch. Its very stylish indeed.

452 Vultures

Vultures always circle about...

Filipino Slum

All over the world people live in extreme poverty but they are able to survive even though they have almost no resources. For this drawing I focused on the slums of the Philippines. I have visited some when I was very young and I still remember the experience of that place. The slums are a place full of texture and smells. People are out and about in the streets and the slums seem so alive. Life survives even in the destitution of the slums.
The drawing media consists of Micron pen for the outlines and various markers for the color and the surface is a cold press illustration board. When mapping out my slum I wanted to capture the ideas of overpopulation and lack of any government regulation mixed with the energy found in these places.
First to really express the overpopulation I decided to use a large drawing surface and packed in as many houses as possible. The houses are placed at various angles and they are butted up so close to one another that any possibility of a street between the houses would be impossible. The angles of the houses and lack of space shows how these houses have sprung up randomly because the people have simply started building their own shelters. There are no building codes and there are no government inspectors that come to places like this to ensure that everything is proper. Houses keep rising up and almost choke out the sky. Since there are so many people living here it seems that the only place to build a house is to rise up higher.
The slums possess a certain energy and sense of community that I do not feel in the well kept suburbs of cities in the 1st world. I captured this energy with my line work as well as the vibrant colors I decided to use. The lines I used were much looser than to the tight lines that I use. The lines seem to vibrate with the energy that flows in the air of the slums. I used very vibrant colors for the houses to help express the liveliness one feels in the slums. You are constantly surrounded by people and commerce in the slums. It is as if you are in a metropolitan city made of small corrugated steel buildings. The doorways are kept white to show an empty interior because the only treasures that people have are their relationships to each other and that the material processions that they own are insignificant.

451 Red Velvet Cake

The dye from red food coloring comes from the Cochineal. It is a small beatle and the females are crushed up into a powder. Using this dye gives red velvet cake its signature color as well as making it all natural.

450 Flip Flop Tan

This is a clear sign that it is indeed summer.

449 Cranium Movies

It seems I always have a film playing inside my head where impossibly "romantic" things occur. Life is not like the movies.

448 Midnight at the Crossroads

It was midnight at the crossroads when I made a deal that forever changed my life...

447 Lady at Buffet Line

It could be anyone at that line...

446 Fair Cunegonde

To be cut to peices is a fate not fit for such a fair princess...

445 What Can Be More Absurd Than Choosing to Carry a Burden That One Really Wants to Throw to the Ground?

This drawing was inspired by the passage in Candide where the old woman talks of her life. In the end of the chapter she says that she has come close to ending her life hundreds of times and yet she is still very fond of life. She says that this is weakness is one of humanity's worst instincts. Humans tend to carry on a burden rather than to drop it to the ground. It is in our nature to endure even when we know that we would be better off by losing our burden.

444 O Che Sciagura D'Essere Senza Coglioni

I am currently reading Candide by Voltaire and I find it very inspiring. So the next few drawings will dedicated to the book. This scene in the book involves this Castrato finding the beautiful daughter of the pope sleeping beneath a tree and he says, "O che sciagura d'essere senza coglioni". Which means o what a misfortune to be without balls. I found what the castrato said to be funny even though it carries with it some dark connotations. If he had had the balls then he would be doing some terrible things at that moment.

443 Big Box of Junk

Sometimes it takes a bottomless box to get rid of all ones junk.

442 Caterpillar

It is so cute and so squishy.

An Observer

I have always been a good observer of situations and never a good participant. Maybe this is why I have chosen art as my profession. Ever since I could remember it seems there seems to be a pane of glass between me and the rest of the world. I could see all of the splendor in front of me and yet I cannot step out and be a part of it.
Perhaps expressing myself through art is a way for me to live out what I have observed. It is a way for me to explore these situations from behind the pane of glass. Right now I am not sure if I should try and break down that barrier or to simply keep painting on...

441 A Dove and A Toad

Do you know what famous couple this daily drawing is about?

440 Material Boy

One tends to accumulate so much junk during the course of life.

439 Do Not Prepare for Victory Instead Prepare Yourself for Death

I think of my uncle as the all knowing wise man. He does not speak much but when he does he says very wise things. One has to listen carefuly because he gives out valuable advice when it is most needed. Tonight he said do not think of crossing the bridge when you are nowhere near it. This particular saying is in context of my aunt thinking of what future success may come my way. So the saying translates as one should not think of rewards and ritches and success when one is still striving to get there. To think of success when one is still nowhere near it leads one not to work as hard for their goals. It creates a falls sense of security that lulls us into thinking that things will simply fall into our lap when it will not.
My uncles saying made me think of another phrase I heard of a long time ago. Do not prepare yourself for Victory, instead prepare yourself for death. It is when we see failure and accept is as a very real possibility that we truly do anything in order to suceed. This is when we risk everything and that is what one must do to become a success in the world.

438 Family Vehicle

I am trying to free people from their dependence on cars. As you can see a motorcycle is perfectly capable of transporting an entire family :)

437 Paving Destiny

Working for my future dreams are finally building up to something and have a clear path.

436 Its a Hat a Boat and a Crumpled Piece of Paper

This children's paper invention can be many things. It can be a hat or a boat but ultimately it always ends up on the floor as a crumpled piece of paper.

435 Pretty Petticoat

Perhaps this one was inspired by the coming rain outside.

434 This Must Be?

I once thought that my destiny was certain. What I was so sure of before is nothing but smoke now. In life nothing is ever certain.

433 Satellite

I am no rocket scientist but here is a little satellite that I drew floating in space.

431 Imaginarium of the Amazinly Ordinary Mr Rolfe

Enter the imaginarium at you own digression ;-)

430 Living Alone Inside My head

Showing no emotion on the outside, living within. This was actually inspired while watching the film the Young Victoria. I too know how she felt.

429 Edge of the Unknown

It is a time of great change. For once I am completely by myself on the edge of the unknown.

428 Complications

Two beings can never share the same path. They may cross occasionally but they travel in completely different trajectories.

427 Mountain of Doors

There are plenty of doors on the path to the summit...

426 Center of a Dying Universe

What is the use of being the center of the universe if its a dying one. It will fade out eventually.