Is the Lap-Band right for you?

Doing a quick entry here just to say hi to my former AOL-J-landers! And hey Mrs. L.: do you have an online presence anywhere?

I did the accompanying quickie drawing whilst waiting for a bus... For some reason, in the first month or two of moving here the Goddess of Public Transportation was being particularly cruel to me. She was like: "Really? L.A. without a car? REALLY?" She seems to have been appeased since then-- I think that when I downloaded the "Next Bus" app on my iPhone she hung her head in shame and just gave up on me. But since then the buses have generally arrived more promptly or sometimes I actually walk, which I'm sure is still pretty weird for L.A.

I was thinking of doing a whole series of L.A. lap-band billboard drawings because there's one I just passed on Sunset Blvd. that I liked. Well that would be a series of two. I'd need to find more! Hmmm. Anyway, I shall take my sketchbook the next time I'm headed that way, for sure!

Late afternoon L.A. signage

A photo I took recently which somehow captures L.A. for me... Canter's Delicatessen on Fairfax Blvd. Mid-sixties-ish graphic style.

Yesterday's Museum Visit

I'm experimenting with breaking my silence on this blog... scary! I've decided to see what it would be like to rev it up again. I've been reading several Art Blogs lately and getting some inspiration and information from them. I'm not even sure if there's a reader out there for this anymore, but I've grown a bit frustrated with the space limitations of Facebook.

The archives of this blog have some crazy s*** in the entries, so no need to explore, ok? ;-)

Yesterday I wandered around the third floor of LACMA's European collection with the aim of drawing something. I came back to this porcelain verson of a Pieta grouping that was apparently cast from a wax model of a work by Massimiliano Soldani-Benzi; the original was cast in bronze. Got that? I had been moved by this work on a prior visit. All the figures are exsquisite and worth drawing, but I was particularly enamoured of a lamenting angel on the far left... so here's my drawing. I spent maybe 1/2 hour on it... my arms were getting tired and shaky! I have been having this urge to draw from classical forms and figures, in an effort to improve my skills in anatomy and proportion.

I also got a members only sneak-peek of this amazing room-sized kinetic sculpture by Chris Burden, Metropolis II, with 1,100 miniature cars whizzing around this cityscape at speeds of scale 240 mph, plus some slower-moving trains and trolleys.

But this re-intro entry is all about the lamentation of that lovely angel... Thanks for the inspiration, Massimiliano, and what a great first name!

Ciao! Grove/Albert