Sketchbook 2

Sketchbook September – December 2011.

The following pictures are from a sketchbook I kept for a drawing class I took in the Fall of 2011. I included the mostly unedited notes to provide some context to the images.

Depicted here is the gnarly water leak that appeared right over my head the other night. It is having a very negative effect on the quality of my rest.

Phillford the Cat drawing

Rorschach

Obama’s change

Istanbul skyline drawing

This is the band I grew up listening to and do the artwork for.

I saw this in Chattanooga when I was on tour with motel mattress this summer. I wanted to try and see if I liked colored pencils yet. not really.

$4,500,000,000, 1,092 foot nuclear powered 6,500 officers and crew 90 fixed wing aircraft and helicopters all for largely symbolic power projection.

Images taken from my inexhaustible supply of newspapers accruing in my room.

The inspiration for this came from the discussion we had in class on what we fill a backpack with to travel. Notebooks, glue, a razor, markers and pens, index cards and stickers, a big book, camera, tarp, towel, and a passport.

This should be the first page- an attempt to explain the most important characteristics of my art and process.

A sad accordion man I saw in Istanbul. First time with charcoal in a long time, think if like to use more of it. I like how expressive all of the lines come out.

After getting home from a long day, I decided to watch the tea party debates. The word Obamacare makes me mad- it’s a word that was constructed to get around actually describing healthcare in any substantive way, making it easier to tie it to tyranny and socialism.

Pakistan’s support for the Haqqani network in Afghanistan acknowledged by the U.S. A Turkish cartoonist- Tugot Ozal inspired me to simplify my cartoons. Without words, cartoons can transcend lingual barriers.

Another charcoal experiment.

Inspired by student protests in Chile.

Grid image of an Afghan boy.

U.S. Predator drone, like the one used in Yemen to kill Anwar al-Awlaki

Five amazing sentences about paranoia and conspiracy by Pynchon in the Crying of Lot 49.

I found this print is a book I was reading, and wanted to show the next thing that happened. (see next picture)

One Month Later

This is a map I did of an argument in an article by Wiktorowicz and Hafez called “Violence and contention in the Egyptian Islamic Movement (2003)” –outlining how the timing and targeting of state repression can determine whether it will crush opposition or will encourage it.” I like the idea of illustrating research because so many of the most interesting concepts get written in an exclusive academic language that’s hard for people to digest.

One night when I was in Istanbul this Spring, I saw a group of young Turks walking around the back alley’s of Istiklal Caddesi with Guy Fawks masks on, who claimed to be members of Anonymous. They were putting up warnings to the Turkish Government over internet censorship.

The sketch for a giant map of the middle east uprisings I did for this class.

The “capital” of the “Kurdistan” region in Southeast Turkey. Impoverished from the Turkish war against the PKK. The black basalt walls wrap around the city and are the second longest in the world, after the Great Wall of China.

In just about 10 years, authoritarian CEO artist Steve Jobs transformed technology by replacing everything that requires electricity with a series of ultra-thing touch screens of different sizes. The question is, where do we go from here?

Drawn from a scene at Zuccotti Park on 10/8/2011

A map of Zuccotti Park/Liberty Square as it was when I visited on Oct 8th 2011. Except for a few pathways, every foot of the small park was layered with people camped out with sleeping bags and gear.

Contour line drawing of my room.

Inspired by my already skeptical relationship with my new companion. For a larger version, see the link below.

The relationship has its tense moements. For a larger version, see the link below.

In the primaries, Republican candidates refuse to use humanizing terms to refer to immigrants. Quoted from the debate on September 22nd 2011. He apologized (using different words) on September 28th.

I of course knew the day prior that Qaddafi et his end, but I bought the newspaper anyway out of habit.

The U.S. announced a withdrawal of ALL troops from Iraq, which is worrisome. There was a very delicate balance of power between Iraq and Iran which was thrown completely off by an incapacitated Iraqi state that cannot even protect its own borders.

Drawing from a photograph from Occupy Tokyo, Oct 15th. Inspired by the global nature of the occupy movement.

Banksy meme

My grandfather Stan was known for unusual collecting habbits. He bought a lot of gadgets- always in doubles. I had heard he collected keys while he was traveling on business and flying. There are hundreds of hotel sketleton keys he kept in an ammo box.

Inspired by the endangered nature of handwriting.

How I visualize weekly time.

I came home from work and was glued to the live feed of Zucotti Park, where police gave 10 minutes warning before tearing the community to shreds. I took some screen shots and glued them on this page along with a timeline of the events.