mug shots

I've been reading this book by the guy who helped to pioneer the FBI's Art Crimes division, and spent several years chasing down art and artifacts that had been stolen or were otherwise being sold or traded under dubious circumstances.  When I looked at the photos section (people who have read a lot of true crime books will be familiar with this), I noted that most of the people who were arrested for shady dealings were real characters.  I wanted to draw them, so I did.  Apparently, you don't have to have a mustache to get arrested by the Art Crimes division, but it certainly does help.

welcome to my castle

So, I recently resumed work on a painting I abandoned in the fall of last year, and it is slow going.  I never actually took a painting class despite my art degree*, so I'm teaching myself as I go.  Anyway, this has taken up a lot of my time lately, so I haven't really worked much on other projects.  Also, much of my sketching these days has been done at a weekly meeting that takes place at Cafe Racer, so yeah.  Not a lot of sketching going on for me.  I know, I should get back on it.

Anyway, a little while back, I took these pictures of my drawing space.  I know nobody really cares about one's (makeshift) studio unless one is famous, but here it is.  

*I can just hear all of the "does not compute" thoughts going on here, because when most people think of art, the first thing they think of is painting.

The incredibly well-organized top of my filing cabinet.  Note high-tech items such as the coaster, mostly-empty bottles of ink, and multiple rolls of tape.

My drafting table and (1970s?) office chair, which I snazzed up with a flag purchased several years ago at 826 Valencia in San Franciso.  The window and the top of the table are all overexposed because I, uh, meant it to be that way.

The table top, featuring actually invaluable items such as the full-spectrum lamp and the Vyco board cover.