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The Studio

NOVEMBER 23, 2009
Panorama of the studio.
In July, I moved from New York to Boston.  I knew it was going to be an interesting move because I lived in New York for 28 of my 38 years and was worried about the culture shock I may experience.  I was originally from the New England area and enjoyed visiting family frequently in Connecticut, but I wondered how well I would fit in.  Besides rabid Red Sox fans, so far so good.  ;o)

I do have pangs of homesickness.  Last week, I took the trip down to New York for about 5 days to do the American Illustration party thing and catch up with some good friends and I was able get the homesickness out of my system for now.
In coming up here, I lucked out finding a wonderful place to rent.  I was able to find a 3 bedroom 1910 Victorian to call home which is a far cry from the little Long Island apartment I was renting for quite a few years.  I loved that apartment but man, I LOVE this house.

So, here is a little tour of one and a half of the rooms in the place that I use as the studio.


I decided to just take shots of what was going on in the studio at that moment.  As I type this, I just finished 8 paintings for a show at Giant Robot in Los Angeles which I will be posting about in a few days or so.  This was a print of my Shakespeare piece for an auction in New Jersey that I had to sign and send over to them.  As a matter of fact, I need to send it out...it is propped up right there in the doorway...I keep forgetting to mail it.


This table is to the left of my drawing table.  The box there contains my acrylics.  Sitting on top of the box is my green messenger bag I carry around quite a bit with art supplies and the sketchbook you see there to the left.  The larger sketchbooks are used for working on jobs and thumbnails.  Sitting underneath the messenger bag is another shared sketchbook that I've been s-l-o-w-l-y working on with Alan Witschonke.  Sorry, Alan...I didn't forget it!

On the bottom shelf are a couple of recent magazines I did work for and they are waiting to be cataloged, bagged and filed away in my storage bins I have in the closets and in the basement.


I bought a bakers-rack years ago and I just felt it had a good space to store supplies, paintings, boxes, etc.  The bottom shelf contains the last few months worth of art for clients and some studies.  That one on the left is one of two jobs I just did last week for Runner's World which I may post when published.  The paint box in the center there is my beloved oil paints that I haven't touched since 2001 when I switched over to acrylics.  I've been threatening myself to do some oil work again.  We'll see if I get the motivation again.  I just get concerned about my health which is one of the reason why I switched to acrylics.  The box to the left is the box I use to carry around the acrylics when I do demos at schools.

That Pearl bag on the right covers a flat cardboard folder which contains about 30 pieces of art that need to be framed up.  Hey Wax, your Poe piece is in there and next to be framed!


Right in front of me, taped to the wall...actually, taped up all around the room, are some sketch ideas and notes I've been tossing around, articles for projects, gallery show information, etc.

Here's the computer desk.  There's my datebook over there on the left.  Man, if I lost that my world would stop.

That scanner on the left is the most coolest scanner ever.  I own 3 of them because HP doesn't make them anymore and I haven't found anything like it.  The lid is actually the scanner and you put the art work face up in it.  You can see the art so you are able to scan large pieces and be able to line it up pretty well which makes for stitching the art together a heck of a lot more easier.  Even better, it comes off the base with a long USB cord so you can scan larger pieces on the floor.  The most scans I made for a single painting was 16 and it was a breeze to stitch together.  It is the HP Scanjet 4600.  I keep buying them off of eBay when I think about it until some company gets their head on straight and start making these things again.


This is the bizz-ness desk.  *Yawn*

Here's a sneak peek at some of the wall space around the house of some of the originals I have staring at me daily that keep me wanting to be a better artist.

On the left is a Beetle Bailey Mort Walker original.  One of the first things I copied when I was about 8 or 9 years old was Beetle Bailey comics.  When I had the chance to own an original, it was something more that just an acquisition.  On the right is a Murray Tinkelman book cover he did and I traded for.


Jack Unruh on the left and a signed print from William Low.

A special piece from Drawger's own Laura Levine.  I got this very cool and very wonderful Bjork photo hanging right by the front door.  :o)  I remember seeing this photo bootlegged all over the place in the early 90's and always loved it.  It's so cool that Laura and I are buds now....

A wonderful Lorraine Fox illustration for Redbook from 1959.  One of my favorite artists of the era including Coby Whitmore, JoeBowler and a few others.  There's just something neat about that time period in illustration and love looking that stuff.

There is plenty more that still need to be framed up.  Another thing on the list to do....

I thought I would throw in a shot looking from the living room through the dining room (which is still table-less) into the kitchen.  I never had a real dining room so I am still working on that space.  I am stil working out the furniture situation in the place little by little. 

Although, that hasn't stopped me from throwing an occasional Fajita Night Party and an upcoming Holiday Party in a few weeks.


Oh yeah!  I almost forgot...we can't forget the 3rd bedroom/studio over-flow room that has all my wonderful books!  The most recent addition to the collection is Esther Pearl Watson's 'Unlovable' special signed 100 copy limited edition glow-in-the-dark version.

Since coming up to Boston, the local illustrators have been great and we've had some great times.  BBQ's, gallery hopping, fuzzy nights of too much bourbon...you get the idea.  The areas are beautiful and chock full of history.  Since I like to consider myself an armchair historian, it really keeps my mind going with all that's around here.  But, apparently, according to the locals I've been warned that I 'haven't experienced winter until I've experienced a Boston winter'.  If that is the case, I am very thankful that the weather has been quite mild lately...and hope it lasts.



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