Occupy Wall Street (around the corner)

When the protests started, I headed to Wall Street, where I was confused by a yawning emptiness patrolled by mounted policemen in front of the Stock Exchange. I did finally find a smallish pride of painted protesters around the corner, occupying the miniscule piece of land called Zuccotti Park with their itchy-looking mattress forts, and […]

Jersey shore

I was going to post drawings of New Yorkers around the city this month, but there has been a lot of talk this week about ocean front communities emerging from the rubble that Sandy left behind last year, so I decided to post these drawings from the Jersey shore instead. For those who have never […]

The Design museum

I have an extensive archive of drawings I’ve made in and around New York City, and which I will share over the next couple of days; the first set are a series of sketches I made at the Cooper Hewitt Design Museum, where the eccentric visitors were at least as eye catching as the garments […]

Nathan’s famous hotdog eating contest

Once again I managed to brave the heat to make it out to Coney “no shade in sight” Island to draw Nathan’s annual Independence Day tradition, the hotdog eating contest, except this time, I had backstage passes, aka a better view to draw from. Why? Because my friend Yasir “Doggybag” Salem had finally qualified for […]

Moliere in the park

I try to make it to at least one free play in Central Park every summer, and this year I decided to join some friends to check out New York Classical Theater‘s plein-air production of Moliere’s super-entertaining 17th century Vaudevillian slapstick classic The School for husbands. Central Park becomes both stage and auditorium for these productions, and the […]

Mad Men in Times Square

Despite thunderstorms earlier that day I found myself seated in the heart of Times Square to attend the premiere of Mad Men season four, an hour ahead of the rest of the country. I was later upgraded from puddle-seat to VIP area (admittedly way comfier than the  wet bleachers (thank you V!). The majority of […]

Concerto

Here are a few more recent drawings from the rehearsals of the New York Repertory Orchestra. I used a quill pen and a reed pen with india ink for these, and I am really happy with how these came out. They really capture the feeling of the music and the atmosphere in the church and […]

Culver City

On a recent trip to California I stayed in a classic Old Hollywood haunt called the Culver City Hotel, an idiosyncratic red brick wedge of a building that towers over the diminuitive Epcotesque Art Deco buildings around it.  The hotel lobby greets visitors with august, dark-wooded, faux-Patrician charm complete with piano bar, wooden globe, and […]

Mystic Seaport Music

Many years ago, decked out in yellow jeans, matching yellow leather tie, and convinced of my sartorial and general superiority, my twelve-year-old self headed to the Olympic stadium in Munich for my first live concert, the band Queen. A few sweaty hours later I was converted to the enduring love of my life: Music (preferably from […]