.

recent drawing

pencil drawing, Calbayog City, 2025

Beauty and love remain undefined.

And that's best.

.

Song for a winter night

GORDON LIGHTFOOT

If I could only have you near To breathe a sigh or two I would be happy just to hold the hands I love And to be once again with you To be once again with you

Gordon Lightfoot

.

black sharpie on bond paper

San Francisco 2003

I spent Christmas 2003 with some friends in San Francisco. They lived in this big two-hundred-year-old house that sat on the prison grounds of San Quentin penitentiary. It's a long story actually but what I remember most was the bed. The guest room of the house had this large old four posted wooden bed frame with the softest thickest most wonderful mattress I have ever slept on in my entire life. I will never forget the moment when I laid down and sank into the loving folds of that luxurious mattress. I felt embraced by softness, and I fell asleep as if floating on a cloud.

When I awoke the next morning I was amazed at the time. I had slept through the entire night without waking up once. I felt wonderfully refreshed.

After breakfast I sat down with my sharpie and drew both of these drawings in a single sitting.

black sharpie on bond paper

San Francisco 2003

Of Mice and Men

black sharpie on beige paper

Rosemead, 2011

This drawing is actually petty big. About 36 inches in length. I spent some time on it.

Let me tell you a story.

A year or so after I made this drawing, I met a guy who loved my art. He told me he had connections in Hollywood. He was friends with a guy who owned a gallery. He was going to arrange for a showing of my drawings. This, of course, sounded great to me, so I went out and had six of my best pieces professionally framed, including this drawing.

And then... the guy went crazy.

Seriously.

The guy had a complete mental break down.

Babbling crazy kind of breakdown. Dude!

The last I heard about the guy he was being taken to his family's home in New York where he was going to be committed to a mental hospital.

I still have the pieces framed.

Kind of funny.

I made a few nice inverse color prints of this drawing.

.

black sharpie, Monrovia 1998

Another swirl drawing. I put those gaps in the lines just because I thought it would look cool but then the drawing took on a completely unexpected life. I was surprised.

Drawing those big swirls was a challenge. I remember feeling neurotic about them not being perfect. A couple of them still bug me. I'm a nut. :))

.

.

Candy says - The Velvet Underground

pen and ink

Calbayog City 2024

Somewhere between right and wrong there exists a sweet spot.

Candy Says.

.

.

Next

colored pencil, calbayog city, 2025

These drawing are like playing with finger paints but with maybe a little more intectual input.

I work in layers. The above drawings is made of five layers. Below is the drawing after three layers. Really fun to watch them grow.

black and white

Massive Attack/Horace Andy - Man Next Door

.

Those thoughts followed him

pencil on newsprint

West Los Angeles 1977

In 1977 I was renting an apartment in West Los Angeles with a surfer friend of mine. Every morning we would wake up before dawn and drive up to Malibu to go surfing. When we would get to the beach it was usually still dark but never once did I see the waves empty. No matter how early we got there, there was always somebody already out there in the dark surfing.

Surfers...

I can remember so clearly hitting the surf in the pre-dawn darkness. We would dive headlong into the waves with our boards.

What a way to start the day.

I was doing a lot of pencil drawing back then. I drew on newsprint so most of the drawings have disintegrated with time. I did however manage to save this drawing. It was one of my favorites so I put it away in a folder and forgot about it for thirty odd years until I found it again. I just took this picture.

Brings back fond memories.

Dawn Patrol - The Eiminators

The Band - The Weight

ballpoint pen and alcohol

Calbayog City 2024

I was fortunate enough to see The Band's farewell concert at the Hollywood Bowl in 1976. My friend's mother was a reporter for the LA Times and she had guest tickets but she couldn't go so she gave the tickets to us. It turned out the tickets were for the VIP section! What a great show. There we were, three crazy young hippies, high on peyote, sitting in front row center seats, along side a bevy of Hollywood dignitaries, digging The Band and all their guest artists.

Fond memory.

What a trip.

E ticket.

The Band

.

Blaze Foley - If I could only fly

black sharpie on paper

Monrovia 1996

Almost felt you touching me just now

Wish I knew which way to turn and go

Feel so good, then I feel so bad

Wonder what I ought to do

If I could only fly, if I could only fly

I'd bid this place goodbye

to come and be with you

But I can hardly stand,

I got no where to run

Another sinking sun,

one more lonely night

- Blaze Foley

black sharpie and colored pencils

Westwood 1986

.