work dat body

A lot of these subwaysketches become full out character designs once I add bodies to em. I loved drawing the lady with the big lungs. She sat across from me on the #22 Far Rockaway bus, and her chest was so tremedous I sweat it was down to her knees. I just left a yoga class where the teacher was farting up a storm everytime she bent over. I imagined this lady doing the same...
The old dude in the checkered cap reminded me of one of those old skool wiseguys from Canarse.. HEY! Fergettaboutit!.... I swear the A train was leaning along with this guy who was holding the pole that day . He had to weigh at least 300 pounds.
The guy with the baseball was in a sporting goods store boring the cashier to death with stories about little leaque baseball.

Diversity!

I've said it before, but one of the BEST things about riding the rails and buses in NYC is the vast diversity of ethnic groups that you can see and draw on a daily basis. Here are a few past sketches from 2006-2007 sketchbooks that illustrate that perfectly.

er... I cant think of a title so... enjoy em..

Another Gem

Found this gem hiding literally under a sheet of socks and papers under my bed. Idid this last year and was very satified with the overall design of it. I did it in one shot and remember feeling incredibly focused with the way I captured her expression. The drawing had a nice "graphic feel " to it also. and ... er...yeah I really DO need to clean under my bed....

You really CAN change

Like all artists, I sometimes get in "one of those moods" where "nothing" is going right and i feel as if Im just standing sitll, not progressing, not getting any better. It's easy to feel that way if you DONT keep a visual record to chart your progress, lucky for me, I do.
I ran across a 2005 sketchbook the other day and turned the page to a drawing I had done of Gary, a very talented Painter/caricature artist from Puerto Rico that I drew at a past NCN COnvention. My First one, to be exact. I was actually amazing and a little horrified to re-discover that I actually drew ...er... that BAD and go paid for it!! LOL! I redrew the picture over again , just to see if I could do it better. The results were startling to say in the least. I was able to actually SEE how much I'd learned in just a few years. You truely CAN change if you're motivated enough, and work hard enough on your weaknesses. Maybe two years from now I'll pick up this recent drawing and say to myself, "THAT'S HORRIBLE!! HOW IN THE WORLD DID I HAVE THE NERVE TO POST THAT!!!???"

Rush Hour Montages

From time to time i like to ride the train drawing montages as fast as I can going from face to face as they sit or stand within my field of vision. This is great practice for live caricature drawing as you MUST draw quickly before the person spots you and moves, or gets off the train. These series of drawings were found in an old sketch pad from 2006. I love the way that I used to draw back then, so FREEEEE! I like what Im doing now, of course, but it seemed like I had a level of spontaneousness in my drawing that I lack now... maybe Im just being too critical, who knows.