Study of Prince

pen and ink on paper 3"x5"

The eyes, The eyes were the first thing I noticed of Prince. It was striking, especially under the shadow of his gloved hand.

This was a sketch…..MUST!

Even the shadow over the brim of his hat and hand creates a more intense stare.

Prince was/ is a true artist, the most unusual humans are, I guess.

His music, AMAZING! GROUND BREAKING!

Dare I say REVOLUTIONARY!

I didn’t like everything that Prince has created, it would be a boring world if we did, but I‘ve always admired his ability to think and create in a different way. Unafraid to express himself. “ Thinking outside the box! ”

Study of classmates

This event was a small class reunion. Everyone was listening to different testimonies on the survival as an 

illustrator in the “Real World” since graduation.

It was great for the group to share about different challenges, struggle, and joys of an artist. As students, in the pass, it was usually side conversations whenever there was someone up front was speaking to the group. This time, you could hear a pin drop. you could tell some of the people were seriously thinking about their future.

……A very pensive moment but also could lead to growth.

Intro to sketchbook chronicles

Definition of sketch 

(noun)

A rough or unfinished drawing or painting, often made to assist in making a more finished picture....

(verb)

Make a rough drawing of......

What is inserting about sketching from a 3”x5” sketch book was adjusting to a small scale.

 It forced me to visually scale down proportion… OUGH!

I was accustomed to draw pads 11”x14” or 18”x24”.

OH BOY! 

Talk about giving your eye and brain a workout.

These sketches are studies from various photo references to sketches from life.

It’s always a joy to sketch faces. 

The study of faces alone has helped me prepare to create portraits.

Handball

Handball

Acrylic on paper "18 x "24

Growing up, my sister would causally play handball on the side of a daycare in our neighborhood. It was a curved wall. Yes we were silly but we had fun.

This is one the most intense street games in my opinion. Just the speed alone is amazing and trying to hit the small ball against the wall…….Please.

It is usually more than one player but this day, this man was alone and fast.

As soon as the ball ricocheted off the towards his hand, he slapped back to the like a bullet from a gun!

When the ball ricocheted to the left, he swiftly pivoted to left then the ball ricocheted to the right, he pivoted swiftly to the right. I stood there in awe. I noticed also that he wear knee pads. He seemed practicing for a Handball Tournament, I don’t know.

Pure and raw talent for the game or could say,” The passion” for the game.

https://youtu.be/vqUXOHV6jFw 

http://www.nycgovparks.org/facilities/handball

Double Dutch 3

Double Dutch 3

Acrylic on paper "18 x "24

This is usually the time when you lose one person but you still want to continue to jump. So you jump in two’s. POP, POP, POP, POP!

Scottish Girl jumping rope

http://ssa.nls.uk/film.cfm?fid=0799 

Double Dutch 2

Double Dutch 2

Acrylic on paper "18 x "24

Ohhhh the energy of it! Now inside the rope. Still counting the beats or not. Just hoping to stay in the rope more than a minute. Sneakers pounding the pavement, The popping sound of the rope hitting the pavement….POP, POP…. POP, POP….POP, POP…. POP POP.

Double Dutch Bus

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mr7QvpHsJBg

Double Dutch 1

Double Dutch 1

Acrylics on paper  "18 x "24

This is one of my favorite games to play when I was growing up. My cousins and I would jump rope for hours. We used  two extension cords. We were careful of course….but I must admit, the sting from the POP of the wire motived me to stay in the rope and jump correctly…..OUGH!

We didn't do amazing tricks like the Double Dutch League but avoiding turning double handed and staying in the rope for more than one minute was our trick. We had fun. I wanted to recreate the moments of double dutch. Thanks to my sister Kish, her friend Kandis,and our cousin, Rashida, I created a series of three painting.

There are three phases of double dutch, in my opinion, first the moment before entering the rope. Count the beats, don’t get hit by the wire, jump in when rope on your side is up so your can enter, oh no WAIT! The rope is too fast, I keep missing the turn, forget it, stop being afraid, the rope is up now now, jump in now, keep your feet up, there you go…… JUMP, JUMP, JUMP!

http://www.nationaldoubledutchleague.com/

Basketball

Street Games

I created a series of painting with the theme, Street Games. 

Acrylics on paper.

The most popular street games in my neighborhood

 are basketball, double dutch, and handball.

Basketball

Acrylic on paper 

There is a guarantee that you’ll find a basket ball court within a block and half radius in my neighborhood, no joke and no LOL. This is a serious pass time for many, young and old, male and female. There are serval basketball tournaments held every year. 

This was not a tournament but you couldn’t these local guys that. It seemed like they were channeling Jordan, Russell, Johnson, Chamberlain, O’Neal and Erving.

I could go on and on………anyway these guys were playing between catching their breathe 5 minutes into the game. Bless their hearts, they had the competitive spirit. People ask me all the time if the the guy made the shot. I say with all the excitement I forgot (I'm sure it did) ha ha ha!