Graphic Madness From the Pen and Lens
Pictures - Drawings, Cartoons, Charts
Pictures
Contains a number of images. Most are pen and ink, or chinese brush. They are grouped into
Sketchbook Joy an assortment of my recent drawings
Splashes of Colour which has a small bunch of colour pieces
the "Festival of slack" (some silly comics and sketches),
and finally, there are a few drawings of airplanes and space ships from the archives.
Sketchbook Joy
Contains a mix of some of my recent drawings. Fun new attempts at balancing tight and loose.

A Cairo Marketplace Cairo
Is a sketch of a lovely part of Cairo, with many shiny things for sale.
There's nothing like a series of gateways, to give you the feeling you can go right into a composition
One of the greatest walking-cities of all time


Even half a millenium ago - a great city Early Venice
is a drawing I did from an isometric map that was originally made almost five hundred years ago.
Halfway between a historical diagram and a Richard Scary illustration.
We want the tower on the island in the background.


The shiniest and most confusing town on earth Tokyo
Is about as 'city' as it can possibly get. That they manage to combine such extraordinary density with a high standard of civility, is a challenge to us all.
I understand they even have bicyclists on the sidewalk - but no one ever collides, or runs each other down.
I wonder how many folks cross through this intersection every day.


NYC in the seventies - just past the Manhattan bridge NYC-Walk
New York in the seventies. About as drawable as anything ever got.
I've never been, but I love the town dearly from afar.
Reminds me of home, only bigger and faster


A jewel on the water Nice
Nice looks like a classical painting. I've never seen a good shot of this town, that didn't make me want to grab for a pen.
This was a fast sketch, rough and energetic, but the missus really likes the way it feels.
I love directors who film things in lovely places. Saves me the plane-fare I never seem to have.


Freighters are my favourite Mercury
Is a picture of a great old freighter unloading in New York.
Nothing like rusty hard-working infrastructure, to make complicated lines and compound curves seem worth attempting.
I love a big old frieghter - and I bet frieghters love New York. Not a lot of towns are ports on every side and then some.


Skating, tobogganing, or just going for a long crunch walk - yumm Ontario Road
Is a drawing I made from a photograph I took several decades ago.
I don't even remember which trip exactly it was from, but somehow it reminds me of all of them (in a nice way).
There's something warm about cold this familiar


This one came from a sharp political comedy Rome
Rome - shows a group of wartime pilots, having a particularly civilized meal.
Yes I know we have cafes with street-tables here - but it never feels quite like this, does it?
No one wants to rush a lunch like this


One of the great eccentrics - with one of his favourite projects Howard Hughes with the H1 Racing plane
An odd man - and a fantastic pilot. I think it's simplistic to say that he just loved flying, because he could forget about his hearing-loss up there.
Sometimes, the only way to feel you have control, is to risk everything in a situation where by definition, you can't.
Every rich person should be this creative and determined

Splashes of Colour
Line is my speciality - but now and then I get especially courageous (or foolhardy)

Every view of this place suggests a story The red fort of Cairo
Is a painting I made from an old black and white photo my grandfather took in the thirties.
I used acrylic paints - but couldn't help breaking out the rapidographs for the rigging (once that fever bites, look out).
I could do a million of them, and still not get halfway through what I wanted to do.


A tiny patch of delicious overgrowth, in the middle of the mayhem Wychwood park
Would seem like a precursor to the modern gated community, if it didn't feel so much like a throwback to a peaceful woodland villiage
A small pocket of something precious from long ago - and a bit of almost-forest, to block out all the concrete.
Oil paint is very weird stuff - but this day it was kind to me

Festival of Slack
Is an assortment of silly oddments. Many more to come

You bought it - You Swallow it Since Evian is doing so well.
I figure it is only a matter of time. Does anyone realize that we are directly underwriting the worlds biggest corpoprations acquiring all the sources of fresh water?
Banks are lending them billions because we've proven we're stupid enough to make it a good investment.
Ah well, as long as we feel like we're getting the best - right?


A Self-Portrait of an Unseemly Creature Sincere and heartfelt words for young artists.
(Hey, ya gotta try and help the kids, right?)
Wouldn't it be sweet if there was a way to have freedom for free? Oh well...
Self portrait of an unseemly creature.


Propoganda? Where!Hey! - That's Shameless Humanist Propoganda!
Postered rants are great. No lamp post fails to be more interesting when someone puts a bunch of symbols on it. Recontextualization is inevitable and chaotic - whee!
Here's my propoganda poster. This is the only piece I ever had a photocopy employee ask me for a copy of (high compliment, considering).
Click to see "Hey!" ---- or ---- Download a high-res (300dpi) version to print or poster with; )


Where does this road go?Riding Into Town
Sometimes your life takes a turn and your subconscious sees better than your consciousness.
I sat down and drew this a few months ago. New adventure time indeed!
Click to see "Riding Into Town" (Sorry for the sketchy capture, anyone with a 36 inch scanner let me know!)


You think you had a weird vacation? City kids in the fresh air.
During the German Blitz on London many children were sent away from the capital to stay in the coutriside. For some it was their first sight of unpaved open space. I often wonder about the strangeness and richness of their experience.
A holiday? A crisis? An adventure? Still getting used to sunshine. See the city kids in the country

and finally, Airplanes and Spaceships, from the vaults.

Detail of the interior of a Beaver First Rate Beaver.
I love DeHavilland Canada aircraft. The beaver is one of my particular favourites. Arguably the best bush-plane ever built, many of these wonderful aircraft are still flying, though they haven't made a new one in forty years. Apologies for the seam - I need a bigger scanner.
Here is a close-up detailed interior Beaver shot (down-boy) ----- Hi-Res Version (prints at 300dpi).


Determination finds a way Douglas Bader
had both legs amputated after an aircrash in the early thirties and was thrown out of the RAF. He managed to get back in in time for the battle of Britain and it was found that he could handle higher-G turns than other pilots - because the blood couldn't pool in his legs. He also fought hard for his pilots during the battle of Britain, and helped to change the disastrous tactics of the senior command. Cripple? Or Ace, righteous boss, and one of the most important individuals of the war. The difference was will.


What an office!Sunderland flight deck
One of the greatest Flying Boats ever built. With an endurance of twenty hours or more (and a full kitchen for bacon and eggs, mid-flight)
Sunderlands were able to range far over the Atlantic for anti Uboat patrols and search and rescue. Later civilian models worked into the late fifties, in NZ especially.
Imagine flying this beauty for a living.


See the planeRCAF Catalina
Canadians pilots flew Canso-model (Canadian built) Catalina flying boats in many parts of the world.
This particular one flew from Sri Lanka (now Ceylon) in the Second World War.
See the picture --- or --- Download a high res(300dpi) version to print. (and colour!)


Salyut7 and Mir were up at the same time - Cool!Salyut Rescue
There were seven Salyut space stations which preceeded Mir in orbit. The last, Salyut seven was still operational while Mir was up and running - I thought a station to station rescue mission would be cool. And while we're on the subject, why do they deorbit all that stuff which was so hard to get up there - why not start a spare parts orbit? Wait, I mean, why not start a deliberate spare parts orbit? There is also a high res(300dpi) printable version.


I want to go!Soyuz Fun
By far the most numerous spacecraft ever built (Hundreds, in several different variants and still counting).
The Soyuz first flew in 1971. It is still the standard Russian Launch Vehicle, and the only thing besides the shuttle which can reach the International space station.
Personally, I want one.

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