Ciao Corto

A drawing inspired by the redoubtable Corto Maltese, hero of the eponymous series by Hugo Pratt. I don't often do fandom-related pictures, but there are exceptions.

The drawing began in black ink, and was finished with photoshop.

Tarragon with the Complete Works of Frederick Seidel, mk II

I sketched (and posted) this drawing some time ago, but recently decided to add colour.

Reinisa

I know I'll see you

I made this drawing with a black brush pen at a Toronto Keyhole Session in February of 2012.

The colours came later, in photoshop. It's a bit more garish than I'm used to. I recall that I was listening to A Place to Bury Strangers when I chose that green. Which may seem a trivial reason to select such an aggressive hue, but a lot of this comes down to instinct, and instinct comes down to experience, aural and otherwise.

lassitude

Godalming Power Lines

A landscape drawn with black markers on site - along the riverbank west of Godalming - and coloured in photoshop.

No Contest

Danielle enjoys a No Contest cocktail on the porch. It's made from rum, port, lime juice and both Angustura and Peychaud bitters. More information on that here. It's delicious!
Maya the cat is not partaking.


The drawing was done very quickly with a micron. I added some colour later in photoshop.

The Plague Doctor

Many a despicable or repulsive practice may be laid at the door of pre-modern medicine. Among them the fact that, so as to avoid troubling the dying with the chance of a peaceful or relaxing death, the medical profession thought it a good idea to dress up in one of the most terrifying costumes known to history.

Not all the time, of course. Only during the plague, when mortality was at its highest, and fear the most unchecked. During the Black Death of the 14th century, visions of skeletons and worm-gnawed reapers danced in everyone's heads. Apparently feeling the need to live up to their ancestors in the matter of macabre visions, doctors of the 17th century invented the image of the Plague Doctor.

It purported to be practical: a waxed cloak and glass goggles to keep away the fumes of the plague, a cane to poke or adjust the patient without direct contact, a mask that contained a filter of herbs so that the doctor might breath without either inhaling the plague or noticing the stench of the dead.

Now, of course, we know that the plague vector was not airborne. The costume, therefore, did no good at all, save to lighten the mind of the physician and oppress that of his patient.

A Sazerac, and Danielle

A fairly detailed life drawing, in which I failed to restrain my love of rendering clothing. I made the drink by way of bribing my model to keep still after a long day of clomping around in those boots.

For the purists out there, the Sazerac that day was made with bourbon, not rye, so it's not 100% authentic. But it was delicious.

I've been experimenting with photoshop of late. It's a bit too easy to go overboard with colour using the computer, so I've been conscientious about keeping it to a minimum. I'll post the original line drawing tomorrow.

Dolebat enim cum dolentibus et cum gaudentibus gaudebat

In the process of reading the vita of Saint Balthilde of France, I came across the phrase "dolebat enim cum dolentibus et cum gaudentibus gaudebat." In English: "For she mourned with the mournful, and with the joyful she rejoiced."

An elegant sentiment expressed elegantly, I thought. It stuck with me, and recently inspired this picture:

It began as a small ink drawing, and evolved on my laptop to the image you see here.

For those interested, the Vita Balthidis can be found in the Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Scriptores Rerum Merovingicarum, vol.II, p.482-508. The above phrase is on page 497.

The text was originally written in the seventh century, probably shortly after Balthilde's death in 680. She was an interesting character, who began as a slave girl and ended as queen of France. The many enemies she made along the way proved no impediment to achieving sainthood.

Lillies

Some lillies I had lying around my apartment.
I rendered them with a brush-pen and used the computer for the colours.

I can't draw things like this without thinking of Hokusai. It's bad for the self-esteem.