Monday, June 25, 2007

Illustration Friday: Camouflage

Brought home a project over the weekend involving turning a photo of John Steinbeck's truck Rocinante into line art... so I decided to get some mileage out of the project for IF and grabbed that old GMC camper package and hid it amongst some of his words from Travels with Charley (not the same Charlie you've found on my blog previously).

Wasn't really worried about how the thing applied to the 'camouflage' topic, but I started thinking about what Steinbeck did those 45+ years ago when he decided to travel among the people of the U.S., virtually unrecognized, blending in and listening to their lives, their beliefs, their prejudices. I decided mebbe it fit the topic okay.

Peace to all, and may we pay attention to what the other person has to say.

Saturday, June 16, 2007

Monday, June 11, 2007

Illustration Friday: Suit


"I came out here with one suit and everybody said I looked like a bum. Twenty years later Marlon Brando came out with only a sweatshirt and the town drooled over him. That shows how much Hollywood has progressed." -Humphrey Bogart

Peace to everyone, and remember, it's not what you wear but how you wear it.

Sunday, June 03, 2007

Illustration Friday: Paradise

There's a small river that springs from the Ventana wilderness of central California. It's called the Arroyo Seco... or dry... well, dry arroyo, which I guess translates to wash or riverbed. But this little river generally has water year-round.

The Gorge, Horse Bridge, Fred's Camp, Miller's Lodge... all these spots are on this river. Charlie and Louie frequented them all in past days. Neither have been there in years.

Should have finished this awhile ago, and I think it shows... seems a little over-worked; like I didn't know when to stop. And, no, I didn't know when, and I don't think it's done, but it's time to move on away from it. Sort of the way Charlie and Louie had to move on with life and leave the places and times of their youth behind.

Peace to all, and may we all treasure the memories of paradise lost.


Added note below: looking at this and reading some of the comments, I think it may be a little under-worked, but I'm still gonna leave it as is. Below is an illustration of the Salinas River, with Valley and Santa Lucia Mountains in the background (the Arroyo Seco comes out of those hills). Really can't beat the weather here, though the wind can come barreling down the valley from Monterey Bay and the Pacific beyond.
The vantage point for this drawing is very close to Steinbeck's setting for Of Mice and Men... ' A few miles south of Soledad...'