Broken Down

Daniel was waiting, sitting on a bench – feet on the seat part and butt on the backrest.

His car had broken down. Well, actually, he left his headlights on when he parked his car on the street outside his office and now, six hours later, the battery was drained. He had called his insurance company and they said they’d have someone there within the hour to jumpstart his car.

It was a real hassle because at first he thought that it was just the battery in his key-remote that died so he walked a couple blocks over to a local drugstore to buy a new battery. When he got back to his car, he hit the button on his remote repeatedly to no avail. It was at that point that he realized that the car battery must have died. No longer afraid of setting off the alarm, he used the analogue key to unlock the car door and sat inside. He pulled out his cell phone to call his insurance company.

What made the situation worse was that half way through the call Daniel’s phone died and he was forced to go into a nearby Starbucks to borrow their phone. The Barista was kind and understanding but after the insurance company said it would be more than an hour before “Knockup-Lockup” people would be there to offer him a jumpstart Daniel’s mood had reached a new low.

And so, Daniel was waiting, sitting on the bench – feet on the seat part and butt on the backrest.

He pulled out his iPod and plugged in to drown out the sounds of the DC traffic that surrounded him. He had a book in his backpack and he could have done some reading for class but he wasn’t really in the mood. He pulled his sunglasses down over his eyes and stared into space as the sun was setting between some office buildings down the street.

An old woman in a heavy coat passed by Daniel and sat down on a nearby bench. She was fumbling with some bags when another large woman in her thirties walked up to her. As the younger woman approached, Daniel noticed that she was wearing a navy tracksuit of navy sweat pants and a white-stained purple sweatshirt that didn’t match. Her feet were in a tattered pair of sneakers that at some had probably been white. She waddled and was sucking her left thumb.

Spare a couple of bucks? Tracksuit said to the older woman. Daniel turned away and turned the volume up on his iPod so that he could ignore the situation more effectively.

Looking up the street he saw the shadow of his figure on top of the bench stretch out in front of him on the pavement. The large woman’s shadow was approaching his. He ignored it until he felt something touch his knee. He turned to face the woman who had her hand on his thigh now. He turned down the volume on his iPod.

Can you help me out? I’m hungry, she said to him, shifting her weight from her left leg to her right. Daniel found it difficult to understand her with her thumb in her mouth. He just stared up at her through his sunglasses.

Do you have a couple bucks? She said to him. She shifted her weight again.

Yeah, but I need it, Daniel said. He was aware that he sounded rude and unsympathetic but he really was concerned about how he was going to get back home with no phone and the likelihood of no car.

The woman just stared at him. At first he thought he had offended her but then as she continued to stare, her expression turned into a smile.
You’re cute, she said. She stared at him a little longer and shifted her weight again.

Thanks, he replied.

How old are you? She said.

Too young for you, Daniel responded.

Tracksuit took a second – switched thumbs – switched legs again. Then began to laugh hysterically as she waddled away.

Too young for me! Daniel heard her mumble to herself. Then he turned the volume back up.

Poster Designs for Work

Well, working at USA WEEKEND this summer has been a good overall experience and I've definitely gotten to meet some interesting people in the media field but because of the nature of the publication, the vast majority of what goes on here is fairly routine. That's why it was nice that today I got to work on a couple of posters for social events that are coming up at the work place:

Speakers Corner

I took this photo last summer but I recently decided to have it blown up to put in my room. Now it's hanging on my wall with all me other work and photos.

Common Room

My roomates have been asking me to do some art for our common room for a while now and since I had some time yesterday I put this together-Its coffee and acrylic on primed canvas. It's the bigger piece that I did some studies for in previous posts.
Until now our common room has been pretty bland as you can see-
The wall opposite my artwork is my apartment's work order wall. Whenever there's anything wrong with the apartment, from a broken light bulb, to a leak in the bathroom, to flooding toilet, you have to file a work order. As you can see, we've had many over the course of the past few months which prompted my roomates and I to get a little creative with them. Here are some examples of work orders we've sent in:

The handwritten comments were left by the maintenance men who came to fix the problems.

Showdown

This was an experiment and study for a much larger piece that I'm working on. Will post that when it's done.

Me in Israel

Okay, this one is pretty old, but I just came across it and thought I'd make it today's.

Guitar Chiller

So I guess the daily doodle thing failed because truth be told, I just don't have time but this is something I've been working on for a little while and I'm still not sure it's finished. But anyway, it's summer now so I will hopefully have more time to do some art -- between my three jobs, travels and pool visits...

Band in Black and Pink

Because everyone should always do their best no matter what.

Diamondback Newsroom Sketch

Awesome Dude

Diamondback Cartoon

Canes are BADASS!!!

So I thought I sprained my ankle when I slipped on some stairs today but it turns out I'm fine. However, before I figured that out, I told Leia, and she suggested I get cane. I thought this was an excellent idea because canes are badass.

Also, check out this awesome site - fashionable canes and walking sticks

Floating Girl

I just decided to be more proactive with this blog thing and try to produce work not only when I have to but also when I feel inspired instead of just letting work and people take over my life. I'm gonna try to do a daily doodle even if that just means a little etch-a-sketch. I'll see how that lasts...

Diamondback Cartoon

Diamondback Cartoon

Diamondback Cartoon

Diamondback Cartoon

Diamondback Cartoon

Diamondback Cartoon

Diamondback Cartoon

Calling can be scary

I did this series as a set of illustrations for a brochure I've been designing for the University of Maryland's HELP Center. I wanted a sombre but serious and motivational feel. It's not done yet :)

Diamondback Cartoon

Self Portrait

This is based on a photo from a few years ago. I had less hair then. I drew it digitally in Photoshop. It's been a while since I've done a self portrait and I almost don't really want to anymore but I found this photo laying around and I didn't remember making that expression but really wanted to make it starker. I guess you could say I was inspired by Frank Miller's drawing style.

Happy Birthday Papa

Today would have been my grandfather's 82nd birthday. This is based on a photo that either I or my sister took of him on his 80th birthday. I'm not a morbid person. I miss him, but thinking about him makes me smile. He lived a pretty full life and had a great sense of humor. I could always count on him being up late at night to talk to.

Darfur Kid

24" x 18"
Acrylic, Coffee and Red Wine on Canvas

I started this piece about 2 years ago. I had just gotten back from Israel where I had attended a bunch of 'Save Darfur' rallies and this was my way of expressing my feelings about the subject. The truth is that every couple months, I take this painting down off my wall and work into it a little more. Up until a few months ago, it was just black and white but I've been experimenting lately with different media; specifically red wine and coffee. When you mix the two together, the color you get is so rich and suggestive. Also, it makes the work smell great.

An Era

36" x 48"
Acrylic on Canvas

Controlled Fall

24" x 18"
Pastels, Ink and Acrylic on Canvasboard

I started this piece for an advanced drawing class last semester. The assignment was to take a digital source (in this case, a photo I found online and manipulated in Photoshop) and to represent it through drawing. We weren't really supposed to use paint but I felt a need to have a thicker more heavy mark to offset the delicacy of the girl being thrown backwards.

Diamondback Cartoon

Coca Cola Ad - Graphic Design Project

This is another Project I did for one of my graphic design classes. The assignment was to choose a recognizable ad and alter the message.

It's based on Magritte's "Ceci n'est pas une pipe".

The idea behind his work was that advertisements and drawn representations of things may depict objects are products but that they are not in themselves those objects and they cannot provide the same satisfaction as the objects and products they depict. I basically took his concept and set in a more contemporary context.

Diamondback cartoon from last week

Diamondback Cartoon

Naked Decor Design for Class

This is another graphic design project we had to do for class. Basically the assignment was to re-brand this design firm, Naked Decor and come up with some collateral material to demonstrate how the brand might look when used by the company. I tried to go for a trendy but high-class feel with young adults as my target audience.

Logo Idea --


On a Business Card --


On an Envelope --

Dancer Stamps - Shai Goller

I designed this set of stamps for one my graphic design classes. The assignment was to incorporate the message of "Celebrate" and to make it appeal to a relatively general audience. I chose to draw the dancers because to me, it's the most physical form of celebration. Also, people are my favorite thing to draw. They can be so expressive and that's what I tried to depict here.

Diamondback Cartoon

Acute Mountain Sickness

24 half-inch spikes attached to the bottoms of my boots bite the ice under my feet. I can barely feel the ice axe in one numb heavily gloved hand, while the trekking pole in the other hand and my 5 layers are my only weapons against the wind. I’m standing on an almost-perfect 30-degree angle of tightly packed snow. Below me are 17,200 feet of boulders, rock, ice, snow, sand and clouds. In the east, the sun is rising, causing the clouds below me and the snow that surrounds me to glow a sublime white. In front of me stands the glaciated summit of the dormant volcano, Pico De Orizaba in Mexico -- less than 1,300 feet above me. The third highest point in North America, looks so close. We’re not going to make it.

My friend has just come down with a case of Acute Mountain Sickness, or AMS.He stops climbing and begins chipping away at the hard snow at his feet using his ice axe. Then he sits down in the seat he’s created. With his ice axe and trekking pole, he stabilizes himself in that position while I hurriedly climb up a couple hundred feet to catch up with my other climbing mates; KG and CJ who are far more experienced ice climbers than I am.

When we get back to my sick friend, we assess the situation. He says that he feels dizzy and I can tell that he is disoriented. His lack of stable footing indicates that he is somewhat light-headed and he says he’s starting to get a headache. He needs to descend immediately.

While it may not look that serious on the surface, AMS bears some heavy risks. If one who acquires AMS and does not descend to a lower altitude, it may escalate to Pulmonary Edema, where fluid collects in the lungs, or Cerebral Edema -- swelling of the brain. Both of these, if untreated, will result in death. Someone with AMS also runs a risk of falling down due to disorientation and dizziness – and it’s a long way down. If my friend slipped at this stage, he would slide about 1,200 feet on ice-like snow to a hard and rocky grave at the foot of the glacier.

So we turn around, tie ourselves to our friend with a rope, “just in case,” and slowly begin to make our way down.

As we descend, I can’t help but feel a tinge of disappointment. At 17,200 feet, this is the highest altitude I have ever reached and we are so close to the peak but some things are more important than reaching the top. They tell me, “There’s a reason it’s called ‘climbing’ and not ‘summiting.’” And the mountain isn’t going anywhere.

Alba. There isn't really that much to say. I feel like a bit of a sellout drawing her but there was this really awesome picture and I was like, i need to do that. So i did.

Diamondback cartoon

Amazon Speaker Review

I recently bought a pair of speakers from Amazon.com and they sent me a request for a review a couple days ago so I decided it was a good forum for some artistic expression.

Brittany Murphy Portrait

Did this today during one of my classes.

Ayelet

This is a drawing I did of Ayelet.

Anthony Hopkins Portrait

I've been experimenting lately with drawing on backgrounds that aren't white. It gives the drawing a little more depth because you both darken and highlight in order to shade.