Friday, August 28, 2009

Those Sweet Hollywaiians


There's a new album out called "Ticklin' The Strings" by the Sweet Hollywaiians. I don't have it yet, but I plan to check it out. This Japanese string band plays 1920's, 30's, 40's style Hawaiian, swing, calypso, blues, italian music and originals, featuring vintage instruments. There are 3 songs on this album with Robert Armstrong and Tony Marcus (from the Cheap Suit Serenaders)! Yeh!
Get CD here: CD BABY
Read more here and see video: myspace blog

Thursday, August 27, 2009

What am I up to?

I haven't been posting on the blog as much lately, but it's just temporary. I've been sketching a lot in my sketchbook and enjoying the end of summer. Here's a funny old photo of me with my Hokum Scorcher's gear on. The only thing that is missing is my musical partner, Lou. That's his National guitar and, behind it, a "Feed the Kitty" that I made. I am holding a vintage banjolele. Today, I'm looking forward to a visit from an old friend from Richmond, VA. He used to be Lou's partner in a mysterious band called "The Fabulous Daturas".

Friday, August 07, 2009

More drawings, more cartoons, more fun!

Heidi MacDonald of "The Beat" sent boingboing a great link to one of their blog posts called "The Happiest Cartoonists of All Time" . It's about a Life magazine photo shoot in 1950 with a bunch of bathing beauties being tortured by the pens of happy cartoonists. Here's Alfred Andriola doing his thing on one of the young models. Follow link for more photos from this session. Crazy man!

Goya's Sketches




Here are some drawings from Goya's sketchbooks. The top one shows a guy trying to roller skate in 1824. I did not know they even had roller skates back then. Oh, but of course! I love Goya's line work almost better than his paintings. He shows a lot of emotion using simple gestures and classic design. Brushed-in ink washes add volume and light to the drawings. These are from the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston where you will find more.
"Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828) was a Spanish painter and printmaker regarded both as the last of the Old Masters and as the first of the moderns."
What's really great is this website with links to all kinds of sketchbooks (that is where I found the Goya link):