The fall semester is over, grades are in, and I am taking a little mental break. It has been a while since I posted any iPhone drawings, but then I hadn't done many in a while. Here are a few recent ones; I guess these constitute my purple or violet period, with some more filled out versions of very fast line drawings. (I do the filling out mostly in real time, though.) All are my usual life sketches/portraits, on the various forms of public transportation I take (light rail, PATH, NY subway, etc.). I have yet to sketch anyone on the Newark light rail/subway, though, perhaps because my trip is so brief. I'll have to take it all the way to the end of the line(s) and draw some of the people I see. Newark doesn't lack for interesting subjects for portraits. I also have to return to drawing on the iPad, which has a larger screen. The software for it changed, though, so it's less agile, at least to my fingertips, than the iPhone version.
Showing posts with label iPhone. Show all posts
Showing posts with label iPhone. Show all posts
Monday, December 23, 2013
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Normalcy + iPhone Portraits
It has been two weeks since the national and local elections, and three weeks since Tropical Storm Sandy, and I feel, at least in some ways, that life is slowly returning to something approaching normalcy, even if there are still many signs that everyone and everyone around me is still recovering, to varying degrees, from the devastation and trauma the storm wrought. I cannot complain and over all feel very thankful; we made it through mostly unscathed, but for the lack of electricity and heat for over a week. Three graduate students in one of the programs I'm affiliated with, however, lost a great deal of their personal belongings, and one of these students was completely flooded out. I know her, though not well, and feel great empathy for what she and so many continue to face. Every day I read about people who've lost their loved ones, homes and jobs, who are struggling to rebuild and recover, who are not sure how they are going to keep going on, beyond hope and perseverance and and prayers.
The physical damage is still present too, even in Jersey City: lights are still out at some intersections; many small businesses remain shuttered or, once you step through their open doors, have had to tear out walls, shelving, flooring, everything, in an effort to rebuild; and other businesses, having gone days without power and weeks without customers, are hanging on by the most gossamer thread. The garbage trucks have mostly hauled away the first few mountains of rotted drywall, spalted wood, moldy carpeting. Littler heaps nevertheless reappear at curbsides. One local restaurant on Grove St., one of the main commercial downtown strips, though reopened, was still unable to restock just a week ago, and its proprietor nearly started crying as she recounted the challenges she faced. Her emotion, just below the surface, is visible in the faces of so many.
I noted to C how last week, when in Manhattan, I noted a muted, almost wary, melancholy mood on the streets. Some people looked like I have felt: wrung out. I thought it was the rejiggered schedule, the hyperpacked PATH trains, the rationing date schedule, the sense that in the wider world, the storm and its damage have left the news for so much else. (There was the election, which was a burst of positivity in so many ways.) Then I read Jeremiah's Vanishing New York, and he committed to his blog a fuller portrait of what I've detected. Just a quote from his post "Post-Sandy Mood", which I felt could really be titled "Post-Sandy Blues" or "Post-Sandy Blahs," to give you a sense of what he says:
"Tired" is the predominant feeling--represented by the largest type in this word cloud (I collapsed synonyms like "exhausted" into it, as with others). This tiredness is a tiredness that seems to go on and on, for those hit hardest and for those barely impacted. Most of us are tired.
Curiously, no one said they feel angry. They're frustrated and annoyed, resentful and cranky, but what about angry? Anger takes energy, and when you're exhausted, it's not easy to be angry.
Along with feeling exhausted, depressed, and worried, unmotivated and annoyed, many people are also feeling grateful and lucky--for not losing their homes or for just being alive in the midst of loss. Many feel hopeful. Several said they feel empathetic for those who are suffering.
JVNY features word clouds that quite accurately reflect, at least to me, the malaise lying beneath the surfaces of things. Or perhaps not a malaise, but a disquiet. I'm not sure it could fill a book, as Fernando Pessoa once did, but it does feel worth mentioning. Soon enough, it too will pass, though the struggles of so many, Sandy-related and not, will go on, as they always do, without any notice or notation from the wider world. Helpfully he provides links to psychological resources for those still trying to cope.
The PATH trains are running irregularly; the World Trade Center and Hoboken stations are still being repaired after flooding that could easily have appeared in a 1970s disaster flick. One image from the Hoboken PATH station eerily recalled The Shining, though it was salt water, and not blood, that gushed through the elevator doors. (Is "thankfully" appropriate here?) The Exchange Place Station also remains closed. Whenever I envision the volume of water that rushed down its vertiginous stairs onto the tracks below, I get chills. Given the damage, the Port Authority has not offered any predictions on when any of these stations will open. The light rail trains, in Hudson County and in Newark, are running again following their regular schedules, but like the PATH, they are sometimes so full it amazes me they can advance down the track.
In those moments when I am not pressed like a piece of herring in a tin and the trains aren't seesawing around the bend I still try to get in a few sketches. Drawing is a deeply calming, centering, enjoyable activity for me, and has been since I was small. Here are a few very recent life portraits, all on my iPhone, using Sketchbook Pro. I got a stylus with the new phone, but I have yet to use it. I have gotten so used to my fingers working in favor of pen and pencil tips that they've become my default. At any rate, I'll take rocking trains and an altered schedule that requires a bit more pre-planning over having to get in a car and drive on the highway, even if it's a 15-20-minute trip, any day.
The physical damage is still present too, even in Jersey City: lights are still out at some intersections; many small businesses remain shuttered or, once you step through their open doors, have had to tear out walls, shelving, flooring, everything, in an effort to rebuild; and other businesses, having gone days without power and weeks without customers, are hanging on by the most gossamer thread. The garbage trucks have mostly hauled away the first few mountains of rotted drywall, spalted wood, moldy carpeting. Littler heaps nevertheless reappear at curbsides. One local restaurant on Grove St., one of the main commercial downtown strips, though reopened, was still unable to restock just a week ago, and its proprietor nearly started crying as she recounted the challenges she faced. Her emotion, just below the surface, is visible in the faces of so many.
I noted to C how last week, when in Manhattan, I noted a muted, almost wary, melancholy mood on the streets. Some people looked like I have felt: wrung out. I thought it was the rejiggered schedule, the hyperpacked PATH trains, the rationing date schedule, the sense that in the wider world, the storm and its damage have left the news for so much else. (There was the election, which was a burst of positivity in so many ways.) Then I read Jeremiah's Vanishing New York, and he committed to his blog a fuller portrait of what I've detected. Just a quote from his post "Post-Sandy Mood", which I felt could really be titled "Post-Sandy Blues" or "Post-Sandy Blahs," to give you a sense of what he says:
"Tired" is the predominant feeling--represented by the largest type in this word cloud (I collapsed synonyms like "exhausted" into it, as with others). This tiredness is a tiredness that seems to go on and on, for those hit hardest and for those barely impacted. Most of us are tired.
Curiously, no one said they feel angry. They're frustrated and annoyed, resentful and cranky, but what about angry? Anger takes energy, and when you're exhausted, it's not easy to be angry.
Along with feeling exhausted, depressed, and worried, unmotivated and annoyed, many people are also feeling grateful and lucky--for not losing their homes or for just being alive in the midst of loss. Many feel hopeful. Several said they feel empathetic for those who are suffering.
JVNY features word clouds that quite accurately reflect, at least to me, the malaise lying beneath the surfaces of things. Or perhaps not a malaise, but a disquiet. I'm not sure it could fill a book, as Fernando Pessoa once did, but it does feel worth mentioning. Soon enough, it too will pass, though the struggles of so many, Sandy-related and not, will go on, as they always do, without any notice or notation from the wider world. Helpfully he provides links to psychological resources for those still trying to cope.
The PATH trains are running irregularly; the World Trade Center and Hoboken stations are still being repaired after flooding that could easily have appeared in a 1970s disaster flick. One image from the Hoboken PATH station eerily recalled The Shining, though it was salt water, and not blood, that gushed through the elevator doors. (Is "thankfully" appropriate here?) The Exchange Place Station also remains closed. Whenever I envision the volume of water that rushed down its vertiginous stairs onto the tracks below, I get chills. Given the damage, the Port Authority has not offered any predictions on when any of these stations will open. The light rail trains, in Hudson County and in Newark, are running again following their regular schedules, but like the PATH, they are sometimes so full it amazes me they can advance down the track.
In those moments when I am not pressed like a piece of herring in a tin and the trains aren't seesawing around the bend I still try to get in a few sketches. Drawing is a deeply calming, centering, enjoyable activity for me, and has been since I was small. Here are a few very recent life portraits, all on my iPhone, using Sketchbook Pro. I got a stylus with the new phone, but I have yet to use it. I have gotten so used to my fingers working in favor of pen and pencil tips that they've become my default. At any rate, I'll take rocking trains and an altered schedule that requires a bit more pre-planning over having to get in a car and drive on the highway, even if it's a 15-20-minute trip, any day.
Saturday, September 01, 2012
Imaginary Maps (iPhone Drawings)
Long time, no blogging. I wish I could say that I've been off on vacation, or doing something interesting and engaging, but I've mostly been preparing for classes, continuing to unpack (at a rate exponentially inverse to July, it seems), catching up on reading, writing, revising, and such.
I am once again riding public transportation regularly, including to and from work, and instead of my usual iPhone/iPad portraits (which I still am working on), I decided to do something different, returning to the sorts of projects I tried when I was much younger, one of which was imaginary maps. I even have a giant one I created when I was about 12 or so and under the spell of J. R. R. Tolkien; it could almost double as a board game, with a few changes. Here then are five imaginary landscapes. As you'll see, each suggests different linguistic principles (though all are transliterated, to the extent possible, into English letter, which is what's available on my ).
If any J's Theater reader wants to write a micro-piece (up to 1,000 words, say) based on one of these maps, do send it to me and I'll consider publishing it here. (Please: no vulgarities, no pornography, and no slurs against any group of people, sexism/racism/homophobia/transphobia etc will be allowed.) If you choose to do so, please try to discern and then maintain the linguistic principles the maps suggest.
I am once again riding public transportation regularly, including to and from work, and instead of my usual iPhone/iPad portraits (which I still am working on), I decided to do something different, returning to the sorts of projects I tried when I was much younger, one of which was imaginary maps. I even have a giant one I created when I was about 12 or so and under the spell of J. R. R. Tolkien; it could almost double as a board game, with a few changes. Here then are five imaginary landscapes. As you'll see, each suggests different linguistic principles (though all are transliterated, to the extent possible, into English letter, which is what's available on my ).
If any J's Theater reader wants to write a micro-piece (up to 1,000 words, say) based on one of these maps, do send it to me and I'll consider publishing it here. (Please: no vulgarities, no pornography, and no slurs against any group of people, sexism/racism/homophobia/transphobia etc will be allowed.) If you choose to do so, please try to discern and then maintain the linguistic principles the maps suggest.
 |
| MKLBGVRTJMBGZPLMBZLPKTWB |
 |
| 'AEAOUIS |
 |
| din•ASTE (The Country of Aste) |
 |
| T€=YE€K |
 |
| LL"X" |
 |
| nNdrh-tDhthrt (the Country of tDhthrt) |
Sunday, July 08, 2012
iPhone Sketches
A few recent iPhone sketches, all drawn from life, now that I'm back to riding public transportation and have a little time to sit and observe people on the train, in cafés and on the street.
 |
| In Jersey City |
 |
| In Jersey City |
 |
| In Manhattan |
 |
| Under the Hudson |
 |
| In Jersey City |
 |
| In Barcelona |
 |
| In Barcelona |
 |
| In Jersey City |
 |
| In Chicago |
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Some iPhone/iPad Drawings
I've drawn very few of my little and bigger portraits since the summer, but here are a few of those and one or two new ones. As always, most are life drawings (save the Sagat portrait--I think I drew his face too long and not wide enough--and the final one, based on an photo of football player Dez Bryant), done in one sitting (or, more usually), standing.
 |
| Woman in café, Manhattan (iPad) |
 |
| Actor/porn star, François Sagat (iPad) |
 |
| Young man on PATH (iPhone) |
 |
| Man in café, Chicago (iPad) |
 |
| Reverse drawing (iPhone) |
 |
| Man on light-rail train (iPhone) |
 |
| Man sitting across from me, Kinokuniya (Manhattan) (iPhone) |
 |
| Man on PATH (iPad) |
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Hockney's New Project + Sketchbook Pro (II)
One of my avatar-heroes in iDrawing/iArt, David Hockney (1937-) continues to push the boundaries of his artistic practice, as Martin Gayford discusses in his article "The Mind's Eye," in the current (September/October 2011) issue of MIT's Technology Review. He recounts how Hockney has been using a special rig, holding 9 high-definition cameras, to view and photograph nature scenes, simulating and expanding the experience of (the) human eye(s) and cameras. With a small crew he travels and photographs moving and still settings, in some cases the same ones but during differing seasons.
Together these produce works and a visual experience akin, Hockney argues, to and yet distinct from that of human vision, which usually entails two lens and complex, ever-changing light, depth, spatial, and color perception, but the resultant pieces also differ from the experience of a single lens digital, 35-mm or movie camera. They are also akin to but distinct from Hockney's photomosaics and collage photographs (images that really reoriented my way of thinking about photography for a while) of the 1980s. Hockney has been presenting the resulting pieces as 18-screen videos (moving pictures in the literal sense), though it's not clear when they'll be on exhibit.
Hockney has also continued digital drawing, having moved from a tablet and stylus to his iPhone, on which he has produced his now celebrated daily drawings of flowers, outdoor scenes, and abstractions, and then onto his iPad, on which he has enlarged the iPhone images and undertaken really remarkable outdoor drawings that mirror some of his most recent paintings and photographs. The article reproduces one of his pieces using that hardware, and Brushes, which is another popular iPhone and iPad drawing software.
This October, Gayford's new book, A Bigger Message: Conversations with David Hockney, will be available, as will some of those iPhone and iPad drawings, as part of the exhibit "David Hockney's Fresh Flowers: Drawings on the iPhone AND iPad," at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, October 8, 2011 through January 1, 2012.
Hockney's work and daring have always inspired me, and I intend to keep exploring what sorts of very simple--such as the abstractions below--and very complex possibilities exist with both of these two technologies (and any new ones Apple develops that I can get my hands, even second and third ones, on). Yesterday I wrote about playing with Sketchbook Pro for the iPad and some of the differences with the iPhone's version of Sketchbook (Mobile), which I've increasingly familiarized myself with. I posted a few abstractions and illustrations I'd done on the iPhone, so today here are a few recent life portraits I undertook on the iPad, along with some iPhone abstract drawings.
LIFE PORTRAITS (drawn right on the spot, not from photos)
Self-portrait, at Joe's Coffee, Manhattan, iPad drawing
(last year I drew a self-portrait, one of my first in about 20 years, upon turning 45, so here's one for this summer. I did look in the mirror in front of me a few times, unlike last year, when I drew myself from memory)
Path conductor, underneath the Hudson, iPad drawing
Man at café, Manhattan, iPad drawing
ABSTRACTIONS
Jerusalem (I), iPhone drawing
Jerusalem (II), iPhone drawing
Transatlantic, iPhone drawing
Las Vegas, iPhone drawing
Las Vegas (II), iPhone drawing
Ellsworth, iPhone drawing
Together these produce works and a visual experience akin, Hockney argues, to and yet distinct from that of human vision, which usually entails two lens and complex, ever-changing light, depth, spatial, and color perception, but the resultant pieces also differ from the experience of a single lens digital, 35-mm or movie camera. They are also akin to but distinct from Hockney's photomosaics and collage photographs (images that really reoriented my way of thinking about photography for a while) of the 1980s. Hockney has been presenting the resulting pieces as 18-screen videos (moving pictures in the literal sense), though it's not clear when they'll be on exhibit.
 |
| A still from the 18-screen video May 12th 2011 Rudston to Kilham Road 5 PM. Credit: ©David Hockney |
Hockney has also continued digital drawing, having moved from a tablet and stylus to his iPhone, on which he has produced his now celebrated daily drawings of flowers, outdoor scenes, and abstractions, and then onto his iPad, on which he has enlarged the iPhone images and undertaken really remarkable outdoor drawings that mirror some of his most recent paintings and photographs. The article reproduces one of his pieces using that hardware, and Brushes, which is another popular iPhone and iPad drawing software.
This October, Gayford's new book, A Bigger Message: Conversations with David Hockney, will be available, as will some of those iPhone and iPad drawings, as part of the exhibit "David Hockney's Fresh Flowers: Drawings on the iPhone AND iPad," at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, October 8, 2011 through January 1, 2012.
Hockney's work and daring have always inspired me, and I intend to keep exploring what sorts of very simple--such as the abstractions below--and very complex possibilities exist with both of these two technologies (and any new ones Apple develops that I can get my hands, even second and third ones, on). Yesterday I wrote about playing with Sketchbook Pro for the iPad and some of the differences with the iPhone's version of Sketchbook (Mobile), which I've increasingly familiarized myself with. I posted a few abstractions and illustrations I'd done on the iPhone, so today here are a few recent life portraits I undertook on the iPad, along with some iPhone abstract drawings.
LIFE PORTRAITS (drawn right on the spot, not from photos)
Self-portrait, at Joe's Coffee, Manhattan, iPad drawing
(last year I drew a self-portrait, one of my first in about 20 years, upon turning 45, so here's one for this summer. I did look in the mirror in front of me a few times, unlike last year, when I drew myself from memory)
Path conductor, underneath the Hudson, iPad drawing
Man at café, Manhattan, iPad drawing
ABSTRACTIONS
Jerusalem (I), iPhone drawing
Jerusalem (II), iPhone drawing
Transatlantic, iPhone drawing
Las Vegas, iPhone drawing
Las Vegas (II), iPhone drawing
Ellsworth, iPhone drawing
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Playing with Sketchbook Pro
It's a busy week, so here are a few iPhone and iPad sketches, of a different sort than my usual portraits. I'm still learning how to use Sketchbook Pro for the iPad; it's almost identical to the iPhone version of Sketchbook, but the screen requires a slightly different kind of dexterity. I've also figured out how to play with text on both formats. In the past, as some of my posted images show, I've had to improvise with my cursive and block print lettering. I'll post a few iPad portraits tomorrow.
"Heart" (iPad abstract drawing)
"West Village" (iPad abstract drawing)
"Sunday" (iPad abstract drawing, after Fred Bendheim's work)
"Irene" (iPad abstract drawing)
"This is not a blank page" (iPhone conceptual drawing)
"The colors of America" (iPhone conceptual drawing)
"Plato's Theory of Art Made Simple: Part 1": iPhone illustration (I thought of these as I was trying to visualize simple drawings to illustrate aesthetic concepts and theories)
"Plato's Theory of Art Made Simple: Part 2": iPhone illustration (another in this series)
"Kant's Theory of Art Made Simple (but not really)": iPhone illustration (another in this series--do you think Kant would be turning over in his grave at the people depicted?)
"Heart" (iPad abstract drawing)
"West Village" (iPad abstract drawing)
"Sunday" (iPad abstract drawing, after Fred Bendheim's work)
"Irene" (iPad abstract drawing)
"This is not a blank page" (iPhone conceptual drawing)
"The colors of America" (iPhone conceptual drawing)
"Plato's Theory of Art Made Simple: Part 1": iPhone illustration (I thought of these as I was trying to visualize simple drawings to illustrate aesthetic concepts and theories)
"Plato's Theory of Art Made Simple: Part 2": iPhone illustration (another in this series)
"Kant's Theory of Art Made Simple (but not really)": iPhone illustration (another in this series--do you think Kant would be turning over in his grave at the people depicted?)
Friday, July 29, 2011
Recent iPhone Drawings
Here are a few recent iPhone sketches. This summer I've usually spent most of my commuting (light rail, subway, etc.) time reading rather than sketching, but I have knocked off a few of these just to keep my fingers nimble. I haven't carried the iPad with me in a while, but when I gather a few more iPad drawings I'll post those too. Enjoy!
Man on subway (iPhone sketch)
Man on PATH (iPhone sketch) [he actually reminded me of a young James Earl Hardy]
Man on light rail (iPhone sketch)
Teenager on light rail (iPhone sketch)
Man on PATH (iPhone sketch)
Three variations on the same drawing
Man on PATH (iPhone sketch) - first pass
Man on PATH (iPhone sketch) - second pass, in B/W
Man on PATH (iPhone sketch) - third pass, in color
Man on subway (iPhone sketch)
Man on PATH (iPhone sketch) [he actually reminded me of a young James Earl Hardy]
Man on light rail (iPhone sketch)
Teenager on light rail (iPhone sketch)
Man on PATH (iPhone sketch)
Three variations on the same drawing
Man on PATH (iPhone sketch) - first pass
Man on PATH (iPhone sketch) - second pass, in B/W
Man on PATH (iPhone sketch) - third pass, in color
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
