Sketching in Boston and Brookline

I bring my sketchbook everywhere, and there is nothing I enjoy sketching more than cityscapes and buildings, preferably with people in them. Landscapes and cityscapes alike seem lonely if there isn't at least one living creature in them (a squirrel will do, but I prefer people, and most of all people with a bit of a personality or attitude that I then want to capture). Or maybe the way I draw people says more about me and how I view the world than the people in my pictures? You be the judge.

Kenmore Square. A made-up billboard ad promoting "romance, marriage and financial security" a toned-down CITGO sign and a crowd of indifferent students (how could they not be indifferent?). 

 The Koo Koo Cafe across the Brookline Village station. I used to come here all the time with friends, because there are toys for kids to play with at the back. Now that my kids are all in school, I only stop by when they have lemon poppy seed muffins (which is only once in a while).

On the C-line (which is more like a sluggish trolley bus than a subway train), a day in November. The quote is from Thich Nhat Hahn, and one of my favorites.

On a bench overlooking the Boston Commons. At lunchtime, there were people everywhere, spilling out from office buildings, the State House, schools and subway stations. They crossed the park to go who knows where to have lunch, to meet up, or, as the elderly (probably retired) guy on the right, to go for a run. I was listening to music, and some lyrics from Bob Dylan's Abandoned Love ended up on the pages as well.

Sunday at the Arboretum in JP. The brutal-looking concrete building housing the Mass State Laboratory was at once a contrast to the nature of the park, but also seemed to belong there, in the surrounding city with its eclectic architecture.

Inbound 5: Release Party!

Getting ready for the release party: hanging up the original drawings from the stories in Inbound 5

Atomic Bean Coffee Shop

The first six pages from my Inbound 5 story, "The Sardine's Tale." Pages 1 and 4 will be on display at Atomic Bean.

More on Inbound 5, the latest anthology from the Boston Comics Roundtable!

Friday, November 5 (yes, this Friday!) at 7-9 pm, we are having a release party for the book at the Atomic Bean coffee shop in lively Central Square (902-904 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge). The book will be on sale, artist and writers will be there to sign it, the artwork will be on the walls, and because it's hosted by a coffee shop, there will be access to coffee and pastries! Bring anyone you know who is interested in comics and/or food (Inbound 5 is the food issue, after all!).

Can't make it to the release party? Then order the book online:

http://www.bostoncomicsroundtable.com/inbound-5/

It makes a perfect gift for those foodie friends you have, who otherwise have all the kitchen gadgets you can think of!

Also: read our first review!

http://thirteenminutes.blogspot.com/2010/10/inbound-5-food-issue.html

Eat This: Inbound 5, The Food Issue

The latest anthology from Boston Comics Roundtable, Inbound 5 came out just in time for M.I.C.E., and it is dedicated to food. I wanted to post a picture of the cover here on my blog, because the watercolor picture (by Ellen Crenshaw) is awesome, and because I want you to know what you need to look for at your local comic bookstore! Is your comic bookstore not in the Boston area? Then you can order it from the BCR homepage:

http://www.bostoncomicsroundtable.com

We are going to hang up some of the original pages from the anthology at Atomic Bean Cafe (Central Square in Cambridge) this weekend and have a release party next week. More on this later!