24th Annual Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade

I went to the Halloween Dog Parade in the Tompkins Square Park Dog Run yesterday to check out all the adorable dogs in costumes. I should have guessed when I saw that they've been doing it for 24 (!) years that it would be crazy, but I was completely overwhelmed by the crush of people and dogs.

Of course, since it's New York City, most of the dogs were pretty small. There were many, many chihuahuas. There was only one little ram, but he was so cute, I drew him from a few different angles, until Mr. Bumblebee there got in the way.


I loved this dog's costume because it was so understated. The guy clearly had to go out and buy some dog shoes, but the rest of it was just kids clothes and beats headphones. And he looked great!

Again, this golden retriever's costume was simple, but made great use of a transparent cone. Bonus points for involving booze.

Disney princesses and Pixar characters were popular.




Of course, superheroes are perennial favorites.
These two were having some kind of conversation.


Wonder Woman, from the back, and taking a load off.

A few miscellaneous ones. What is this first one? A handsome fellow with a leather jacket and a white scarf. Anyone out there have any ideas?


A lot of people dressed up with their dogs, and this seemed to be one way to get into the honorable mentions or to show or place. The other way was to build a whole set for your dog(s). Gomez and Morticia Addams were there, with Thing perched on Gomez's shoulder. You could barely see their dog under his long wig and hat because he was Cousin It.

This Princess Leia and Jedi had built a whole Ewok village for their little Ewok.


Another dog you could barely see under her costume: a blue dress and blonde wig. The give away were the dragons perched on her (and the big dragon carrying her). Khaleesi!

There was another Khaleesi there with Khal Drogo, carried by one of his bloodriders. Unfortunately, I couldn't get around to the other side, so you only get the bloodrider holding his little Khal Drogo.



This one was the runner up, and I have to say, I thought it was one of the best. Full makeup, props, and a lot of skulls.

The winner was the Titanic complete with, well, the Titanic! Three dogs dressed to the nines pushed by a very proud captain.

I had my personal favorites, though. I think Barking Bad was pretty genius. The big dog was the RV and the little dog was Walter White. Their human was dressed in the yellow hoodie, so I guess he was Jesse Pinkman.

This couple went all out also. They were dressed as mushrooms and were carting their little caterpillar around in a little garden. When it came time for their presentation to the judges, the caterpillar transformed into a butterfly!

And there was even a sneaky cat (!!) disguised as, guess what? A dog!

And, last but in no way least, a little Yorkie chia pet. The owner told me that his wife and her mother had made the costume themselves. I love a DIY costume!

Mostly, I was impressed by how patient all the dogs were. They don't care about dressing up, or winning a contest. They just want to make us happy. And if we tell them they have to put on something uncomfortable, or perch on a toy horse (I missed that one, but he was there), they're willing to do it for us. I mean, look at how happy this
dog is:

If you can't get enough dogs in costume, go check out my friend Carly Larsson's hilarious blogpost on the Fort Greene Great PUPkin Dog Costume Contest.

From the Archive

"From the archive" sounds better than "from that giant pile of old drawings," right? I found this drawing in the same...archive (wink wink, nudge nudge)...as last week's. I had sat down in Epcot's Japan pavilion in a drizzle with Veronica Lawlor and Margaret Hurst. At first it was just us, and I reconciled myself to a quiet drawing of pine trees and the pagoda. As the rain slowed and finally stopped, everyone popped out of their hiding places and I had a much more fun, chaotic drawing of people doing all the things they do (including using stools as a drum set).

In Line for the Carousel

I found this drawing of people waiting to get on the carousel while I was going through a big stack of old drawings. I remember feeling so excited about the thumbnail, and then feeling distinctly unhappy with the drawing itself. I've left the thumbnail in the corner so you can see for yourself (click to see it larger). Looking at it with a some distance, I'm not sure why I was so upset. It's a good reminder not to be so hard on things when they don't turn out quite how you expected.

Swedish Summer

I recently took a vacation in Sweden and was completely charmed by the natural beauty as well as the graciousness of the people. I've never met people who talked more about the weather, or cherished the summer sun more, I guess because the country is dark and cold for so much of the year. While I was there, they were having an unusually spectacular Swedish summer, I was told. It's true enough that the days were mild and warm, and the evenings cool and crisp. One of the things I noticed was that the Swedes are always ready for a swim. Even in Stockholm, I spied bathing suits and towels tucked into work bags in case the opportunity for a dip presented itself. The water felt COLD to me, but they just called it refreshing and jumped right in! So here are some Swedish swimmers on the Stockholm archipelago island of Grinda caught taking a dip during a midday break.


Sunset Series III

Remember back in February when I shared those sunset watercolors? I've kept at them, and I thought I would share a few I did this spring. They've gotten a bit bigger. The ones I posted last time are only about 4"x6" or so, but these have grown to 9"x12" or even 12"x16" or larger. I just felt like I wanted more space! And though it might be unusual for an artist working in New York City, I usually ignore the buildings, although occasionally, I'll put in some of their lights. Mostly I just concentrate on the sky, or a small group of clouds. I really enjoy the daily doing of it. Watercolor feels just right for the ephemeral nature of the clouds, and the their ever-changing colors. And in the end, I have a record not just of that day's sunset, but also how I enjoyed it.









Sunset Series II

Since I've had the watercolors out so much, I've been using them to do my sunsets. I thought I wouldn't really have time to finish each one before the light changed, but it's actually been perfect. By the time the light's changed, it's usually time to start the next one anyway. These are from last month, and I have a whole lot more to share. Those of you who know me IRL will know that I like to go in order!



Year of the Horse

The Lunar New Year has just passed, and so I sat down with some watercolor and a roll of very thin paper to do a little horse watercolor. The paper's not really meant to take all this water, and you can see that in all the wrinkles and marks of the water evaporating. I don't know if I just like breaking all the rules, or the impressionistic effect.



Once I amp it up in Photoshop, of course, it takes a more intense feeling. I couldn't decide which I liked better, so I'm posting them both.



Here's wishing you and yours health, wealth, and prosperity!

One Watercolor a Day

Some of you might be familiar with my friend and teacher Veronica Lawlor's book One Drawing a Day, a book of drawing exercises for the artist and non-artist alike that grew out of the blog of the same name from the artists of Studio 1482. They've recently put out new book on watercolor. The first exercise in the book is an easy one: just play! It's been a while since I sat down with the intention of just playing, and it reminded me how fun and how necessary it is to do. January's a great time of year for bringing yourself back to good habits!

I was surprised as I did these, that so many of them took on the feeling of landscapes or still lives. This first one is especially landscape-esque to me.







Get your own copy of the book here, and Happy New Year!

Upper West Side Café

In case you haven't heard or live elsewhere, New York is COLD right now! As in, single digit temperatures! When winter comes around, I try not to let it affect my social life too much. In the warmer weather, there are plenty of outdoor activities, but on days like these a café is my most likely destination. I'm lucky that every neighborhood in New York has its own cafés and each showcases the personality of that neighborhood. In this case, I went to meet April of Brass Ring Studio on the Upper West Side where we found a very Upper West Side crowd. It was a good chance to break out my watercolors and work on my people!

There was a college student working on her paper.



A couple having a very thoughtful discussion. I know it was thoughtful because he kept stroking his beard.



A couple of older ladies talking about mutual acquaintances and holiday plans.


A little girl dressed very stylishly and complaining about her hot chocolate as her harried mother tried to work out their schedule.


Hope you're staying warm, wherever you are!

Sunset Series

I'm lucky enough to have a great view of the sunset from my apartment, and lately I've been taking advantage of it to make a drawing or two if I'm home around 4:30 or so. It's become a nice little tea time ritual.



What always surprises me is how fast the light changes. I did these three just this afternoon, about 15 minutes apart.

Line, Mark, Color

A few posts ago, I shared a drawing from an exercise where we had to separate line from marks from color. Towards the end of that afternoon, we got to loosen up the strict guidelines. So here is a quick study of the Crystal Palace, where I happily reunited color, marks, and line. Felt good to let them all get together again!

Congratulations!

Lately, happily, there have been a spate of happy events — weddings and births mostly. I have a Thank You card, printed from a linoleum I cut a few years ago, but I never had a Congratulations card until now! Some of you may remember the Chinese Lunar New Year bunny prints I made back in 2011. Since then, rabbits on cards has become a theme with me. They just seem appropriate because in the Chinese horoscope, rabbits are social and gregarious, and I think of the card going out as my little social ambassador to bring the recipient my felicitations.

Color Study

While I was at Disney this summer doing a Dalvero class, I did an exercise that forced me to separate lines, marks, and color and only work with one at a time. Sounds annoying, right? I thought so too, until I started drawing and I remembered that, paradoxically, imposing some limits really helps me work. Otherwise, there's just so many directions to go, it can be overwhelming, baffling. So, I'm sharing a drawing I did during that exercise, all blocks of color. I may have added a line or two later (although a persnickity classmate pointed out that a line *is* a shape!), but mostly just blocks of color! This was a brother and sister. The little brother was getting restless over a leisurely lunch and it looked like it was big sister's job to look out for him, keep him quiet and entertained while the rest of the family finished their meal.


Subway Portraits

When I'm not reading a book during my commute, I'm usually people-watching. I'll admit, I'm very sneaky: sometimes my book is just for cover so I can people-watch all the more! The subway is a great place to see everyone doing their thing. You'll see just about everyone on the subway,

tired, older ladies on their way home from work,


fashionable young men,


hipsters (that mustache was for real!),


people engrossed in their reading material,


and, of course, missed connections.

Looking Back

The Charles W. Morgan is in the water, and the show, which I've been so privileged to be a part of, is over. The Dalvero Academy went to Mystic Seaport to watch the ceremony, and now she floats, like a *real* whaler! But I kind of miss seeing her towering over the shipyard, floating in the air, with all the workers gathered around, attending to her. You could get up close to her, and get acquainted with the hull, hidden now beneath the water. I'm sure in the year to come, there will be plenty of drawings of her in the water to post, but for now, I'm sending this incarnation of her off with drawings of the shipyard workers fixing up the hull, with scaffolding all around. Maybe they miss her like this too.




Several of my fellow Dalverans have posted their beautiful reportage drawings of the launch ceremony. Definitely check out Ronnie's, Evan's, Julia's, Jen's, Eddie's, and Dominick's amazing drawings!

Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo!

And with those words, I witnessed my very first makeover. Even today, I'm still a sucker for a makeover. Coming out of the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique at Disney are all the little princesses with their new outfits and their hair all done up, complete with fairy dust and magic wand. It's a fun place to make a drawing.

(click to see larger)

But what's even better fun is watching the girls walking around in their princess duds. It usually ends up looking something like this:


Most of them ditch the princess look after a couple of hours due to the heat, humidity, and the general discomfort of princess duds. Who knew being a princess could be so tough?!


Nick Cave's Heard NY Part 2

As promised, I'm back to share the rest of my drawings of Nick Cave's enchanting piece, Heard NY. (Scroll down to see part 1.)

After stepping into the bottom half of their costumes (think colorful, layered hula skirts), one of each pair of dancers puts on the head of the horse, also covered in raffia.



The music begins with a dreamlike harp, and a playful, bell-like percussion instrument. The live musicians add so much excitement to the piece, I can't imagine the piece with recorded music.



The horses, newly awakened, sniff and nose each other, and playfully prance and high-step around. They notice the audience and come over to greet curious onlookers nose-to-nose.



Suddenly, a drum sounds. The dancers break apart and sway, shake, and shimmy. The raffia of their costumes make them look like friendly, magic muppets.



And just as suddenly, the drum fades and the harp re-emerges, and the horses reassemble themselves.

I had a professor in college who said that the ancients thought inbetween spaces and states were tricky. Places like crossroads—and train terminals, if they'd had them—could be unpredictable, and wise travelers sought the protection of Hermes to see them through the dangerous crossing. You would leave a trusted space like your home to go to some other known place, but until you arrived there, you were in a space unknown, a space where anything could happen. Nick Cave's piece really reminded me of that idea. At the crossroads, leaving the familiar and the known, we step into a magical place—perhaps unpredictable, but also beautiful and joyous. If you haven't already seen it, it's performed twice a day through Sunday, so definitely go see it!