What an adventure my love dove/co-writer and I had at Natural History on Monday! That place is the best. We were researching for Petrified Girlfriend locations, she with her camera and I with my sketchbook. Mostly we she took pictures. I offended Caitlin’s sensibilities by making her take pictures that look terrible as photographs but are useful for aiding a drawing. So there we were, making tasteless images with flash reflections on glass and blown out light areas that served no purpose but reproducing the displays placed in front of us. Like a couple of tourists. In the dim exhibition halls the camera’s flash was too weak to capture the room and we didn’t have a tripod for some long exposures, so I dashed off a couple drawings to get down the two best spaces while Cait drew plants and animals.

This isn’t to say that Caitlin didn’t get some really cool shots – hell, any of em that she really set up totally beat my drawings. Like check this out (in a Frog Blog first – photography):

I’ve gotta say, though, the dinosaurs have stopped doing it for me. I think ever since they remodeled that whole floor. Maybe it’s just a coincidence and I got old at the same time that happened, but I’m thinking maybe all the clinical, modern glass, and the layout built around evolutionary lineage rather than dramatic impact had an effect. I mean, I’m glad they have the T-Rex standing properly and they’re doing more to teach evolution and all. I just think the ocean life redesign works better because it retains the mysterious cavern atmosphere that the older mammal exhibits still have – plus it has those cool aquatic sounds!

Anyhow, I’m glad I’m not Craig Thompson, and I don’t consider taking reference photos to be cheating. Cause if I was, it would take me a really long time to make a comic that takes place anywhere specific. And I wouldn’t get this snapshot:

Or this cover for Caitlin’s 1978 solo album, Amethyst:

If only I lived in Canada, and I could pull down a sweet salary, health benefits, and pension for sitting at my drafting table, you know? I mean, I’ve been a good boy and done my work! Doesn’t that mean I should be making so much money?

I couldn’t resist posting this one last Met drawing. The museum closed before I “finished,” but I think it actually helped me not take the detail bidness too far. As they always said in foundation, work the whole page, so the drawing can be complete at any moment. I guess I’m not paying those student loans for nothing. OK, now I’ll shut up about money and post a picture:

I’m starting a new blogject, folks! One portrait weekly on these pages. If I make any decent drawings in the series, they might even make into my actual portfolio. Isn’t that just so exciting?

Now, we can’t all expect this blog-drawing gain without some sort of blog-drawing loss, can we? Faithful readers may be relieved to know the images below represent the last of the weekday drawing adventures while the other half of the expeditionary team returns to work animating kids’ shows. However, there is some talk in certain circles about forming a weekend adventure committee.

The Central Park Zoo:

Last Friday, McCool called me up and said we should go to Philly for our drawing adventure this week. It was fun, but after we took the Chinatown bus, got Tastykakes at Wawa, stopped for seriously beyond-street food falafel from a man in a Gypsy cart, walked by the awesome Philadelphia City Hall in the rain, and paid the $500 entrance fee at the Mutter Museum of Medical Oddities, it was already, like, 3:30. Weird, right? So, I only drew these two pages before they closed.

I don’t what to tell youse, the Internets, except that The Office finale was awesome, and so is River City Ransom.

Here’s another drawing from last week’s Met trip. These two statues are on either side of a wide entranceway of the European Sculpture courtyard where the Academy students make those really carefully rendered drawings of the statuary. I cheated them into some close interaction, changed the angles – you know. For kicks. For narrative. For love? Everyone who sees this says it’s a drawing of Girlf Caitlin and me.

Last week’s adventure was to the Met. It’s not as easy to just run around and find something you want to draw there as at Natural History, ’cause you really want to look. at. everything. We started in Egyptian and then we headed through Christian, so…

here’s St. Matthew, flanked by a lion for Mark and a bull [Ox! No balls! -Parsin' Pat] for Luke. I don’t know Christianity nearly as well as, say, someone who grew up Catholic, and I had no idea about the animal symbols for the Evangelists. They’re pretty cool. I redrew Mark and Luke from their fronts because I really liked how their animal hands were depicted clutching Bibles – the split hoof becoming a thumb and fingers is awesome. Yo! Art school! I just wrote “flanked” and “depicted!”

This week, oh buddy, ol’ pal o’ mine Dan and I went to the Museum of Natural History. We looked at Teddy Roosevelt’s horse’s balls, and drew cartoony animals. We both felt very proud of ourselves when the day ended, and we’re intent on going on more drawing adventures. It’s like art school again, but without the stress! Also, I finished my sketchbook, so look out for a different page shape popping up soon. Very exciting, I know.

Here’s my best page: