Mel-NEH-bone-AY, eer-KOON, em-RERR-rerr?

It takes at least two hours to get to Oakville, and one and a half to get to TSA. The plus side is that I get more of a chance to ride the trains. They aren't as crowded (or as smelly) as the subway, and there's more to see than walls and ads. It's different on a train. There's a special serenity about it. Bits of nature and pieces of neglected civilization mesh together as the train passes, routes often traveled but never settled, suspended in a world that is neither here nor there. For a time there are no destinations to speak of, and no origins to recall. There's a rare tranquility, briefly, in the understanding that things like responsibility and obligation only exist beyond the stops.

I also had this idea about a clown playing a harmonica, but it's night, and he's a hobo. 

Wonder if he plays any Woody Guthrie.

New York, 1960, where infidelity is like saying hello!

God, the international lag on BBC News is horrible today. Everyone knows those awkward few seconds it takes for reporters to respond from the next continent, but when it looks like they're having a staring contest, SOMETHING IS WRONG.

First week of proper life drawings (with the class and everything!) of 14. I'm trying to use a new medium each week, out of this pile of stuff I got before years ago that I assumed I would be using in my capacity as an "artist". Might as well as have cut a hole in my wallet. This week is willow charcoal, or "the box of sticks that I paid money for". It's really messy, especially on newsprint, but surprisingly smooth. These other drawings are sorta crappy, but I'm keeping a log, hoping to see some improvement over the weeks.

btw 20th Century Boys is amazing. So is Billy Bat. And Pluto. Actually, just everything Naoki Urasawa does. It takes some real inspiration to make Doctor Tenma badass. His entire introductory chapter in Pluto had him as this shadowy silhouette, and he never faces the camera, only ominously turning his head over his shoulder, like Batman. Far as I know, he's supposed to be some sort of abusive alcoholic with coping issues. Amazing how they pulled that off, really.

"I hit small robotic children" - Dr. Tenma, sex offender

Mad WASPs

How the time flies. I'm trying to finish up the last bit of Schoolwork/personal work cleanup, but before that, I've been trying to get off the computer. To that end, I've pulled out my pastels again. Just like I remembered, really. The choking dust, the smudges that stay in your clothes and stains your skin, the poisonous residues... it's a special kind of magic.

One small note. Most of these are life drawings, but the top is the eldest Billy Goat Gruff from the Dresden Files (or a crude representation of him)!