Norfolk Drawing Group 65 1/2

In a very small private drawing session, i got together with from of my fellow artist to draw. Regardless of the rain outside and the sick feeling that i had i still drew. Drive and dedication is something that separates the people who do from those who won't. Even though it's not the best sketch i could've possibly created it will hopefully give me some kind of reference to use for future pieces.

Norfolk Drawing Group # 66

Last Tues was one of those weird nights were drawing just didn't seem as glamours as it should. I went to the group late due to the fact that i got out of work almost 7pm instead of 6. Armed with my new sketch pad i walked into the group. This was one of the few times that i didn't give Bernard grief about scheduling a male model. Male model night is never truly a good turn out. Theses are 3 of the 20 mins sketches that i was able to complete. I didn't take part in the final reclining sketch to pure laziness and talking. I guess i was ready to eat dinner and as always we closed down AW Shucks. After the entire group had left it was just Devon, Chris and myself chatting with the waitress. No amount of encouragement would get Devon to approach her that evening but there will be others.

Norfolk Drawing Group # 65

Even thought i was on vacation this past Tues night was especially hard to make it out to. I've been under the weather for some time attempting to bring myself back to life. My throat felt almost completely closed, while my ears were clogged up, and it was plan to say i felt miserable. Still i had to make my way out. Already an hour into the session this is what i came up with.

Clint & the Noose (vers. 2)

this is my 2nd attempt to fix the mistakes that i made on the first sketch. I hate doing back and redoing anything that i've already felt i've completed.

Ann Margret

I recall many of my morning was spend when i was growing up watching The Flintstones. As with everyone we all have our favorite episodes and the one with Ann Margret is one of mine. Oddly enough last week while i was at Panera write a poem and simply trying to unwind i began to draw a photo of her. I've always been a fan of noir movies and photos so it's only natural that i would have brought a pin-up book called "Va-Va-Voom!" Countless models widely known and rarely known danced off the page into my sketch book. There i was staring at an innocent photo of Ann before i knew it i almost had a complete sketch drawn.

Getting back to my roots

I came up with the bright idea this morning to create yet another blog. I've spend to much time posted all my thoughts in this one small area when it was suppose to be decided strictly to my artwork. Yes my ideas whether deep or more whining and complaining explain why i create my artwork . However, I still should have more focus my energy.
So from here on, i'm only posting artwork HERE,

i post my thoughts at http://tlipkins.blogspot.com/

and i plan to post my poetry strictly at http://tommy-lipkins.blogspot.com/

we'll see hopefully this will settle my hyper mind down a little big

Escapism defined

I mentioned in my last blog that i was going to peel away the layers of the poem and show you it's true meaning. My scribbles will show that i didn't do much to modify this poem at all. I simply wrote what i felt and allowed it to take shape on it's own. I remember Mon feeling mentally unable to focus as i sat in Panera. People all around me were talking about trivial things. Some early 20 year old girls were talking on and on about how their love for their boyfriends would stand the test of going away to college. One of the girls was going to attend the same college as her high school boyfriend. At that moment i thought to myself do all women talk like this and if so i don't think i'm prepared to live in that world. I pushed that thought aside and began to add more lines to this poem. Ultimately as i made the 5 min drive in silence back to my apartment i finished it.

It's been almost 4 or 5 years since i;ve wrote to a co-worker of mine. We use to share idea, thoughts, and notes back and forth between us. It's no mystery that i don't enjoy seeming my friends troubled. Especially if i feel there's a situation that they can escape, but this time around she didn't have that option. Thoughts of how would she pay for school arose, work was straining, and the threads of her family were coming apart before her eyes. There's only so much you can do as friend and i hope during her time i helped her escape. Therefor this poem is a way of letting her know that i think about her from time to time.

In general Escapism.. is a way of getting away. Some people drink, use drugs, go to the movies, write, draw, surf the web or tv, and ultimately do anything to detach from everyday life. In lines 1-5 that what i was referring to. I wrote about not to such being a "knight in shining armor" but a lighthouse in lines 6 -10. Relationships and friendships are all about give and take and what else do you have in to offer when you feel all else is lost. The belief that a true friend would do whatever it takes to take someone happy. In line 11 and 12, i wrote about how i hate texts and email. Honestly i don't really hate them because i use them often. There are times when a letter is a good thing. You can see, touch, and feel each stroke of the pen. I'm a very passionate person therefor i want those around me to feel and match my emotions. I also make hints in lines 15 - 16 to my love of movies by making mention of 2 movies that had plots of Holy Grails. One of those movies was a comedy while the other had an adventure theme(Monty Python & the Holy Grail & Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark). Lines 17 - 21 are all about what the perception of love is. In theory most guys approach women with the idea of only trying to get their numbers, have flings, or having numerous kids. So when i said from the bell is a nice of way of saying from the start that i only wanted to love you. After the romance, wedding bells, and death my thoughts of you won't stop. That's an idea that is lost, because often i hear people think that once relationships, romance is over that feelings are lost. Often they're not, however they might be misplaced.

Escapism

I spoke a friend yesterday about his poetry. I tried to explain to him how liberating writing can be. The best thing about poetry is that you don't write for someone else but you write for yourself. Your thoughts and idea may be directed in one direction or another but ultimately it's to unburden your soul. I'm still flirting with the idea of getting my act together and writing more often. Even going to open mic nights to overcome my fear of being in front of crowds and feeling so emotionally naked. I offered the same advice to him but understandable it's an overwhelming experience.
In theory i guess my job offers me with the ability to share with i've learned with others. Some may call me a teacher but i prefer to call myself a student because i'm also learning each and everyday from others. It's been a while since i've wrote something that quickly that seemed to write itself. It seems odd but that's what happened. This poem wrote itself.

Escapism

Even after all this time my pen has never left the page
but it open doors of locked cages
Can't you hear me calling you
Far away from traffic jams, fear of old age
Thoughts of what's for dinner and endless days barely above minimum wage
Allow me to set the stage
where normal days end.... mines' begin
Pouring out my dreams, thoughts, and ideas... so say when
Prepared to lift your head and remove your hands from your chin
Stop thinking about whether you will break or bend
I'm against sending texts and emails
because there's no way my essence can be shrunk down to scale
Emptiness and loneliness aren't harbored here to dwell
Ships named Disappointment and Sadness have sailed
When i utter your name it's not a comedy or adventure
it's like reaching the Holy Grail
I'm not just here to say hey, that's for farmer's bale
So when you round your love ones up from the bell
Until you left a veil of engagement bells
Even after a coffin receives nails
My thoughts and aspirations won't fail.

Hopefully later on this evening if i'm not to tired i'll explain the meaning behind this poem because could be viewed as cerebral.

Norfolk Drawing Group #64.2

You know how sometimes certain things go on you. Well i hope shortly i can say the same thing about this oil pastel sketch. For some reason i'm just not feeling what i thought ishould have been feeling that night. some parts pop out while others just seem flat.

Clint, myspace, and me

Apparently , myspace isn't to fond of my work yet again. somehow they removed it citing that it either shows nudity, violence or some other random reason. go figure. Well anyway i like Clint Eastwood's western movies. this just so happens to be a picture from one of them. the more i look at it the more i realize it not even a good one. I need to try harder.

Learning to Laugh at myself!

I will start of by telling you a good story about this brown shirt. We all need laughs every once and while and this one just so happens to be about this henley thermal.

Occasionally i prefer to wear looser clothing but the current trend in the fashion world is to wear more form fitting clothing. Since i watched I Am Legend and i felt that i too could look like Will Smith in the movie. Therefor i set out to buy more fitted henley to show off my lack of physic.
Granted i am the furthest thing from being built or Will Smith.

As i was at work yesterday one of my co-workers came up to me and asked me did i shop at the Baby Gap. While another customer as i rung her up played 50 questions: What time do you get off? Are you working all weekend? What do you do for fun?

I gave her the cashiers version of speed dating. Opps, time is up! So was the shirt a good choice i don't know?

Sketch pads thoughts of the group

Oddly enough it's painting night and and i had 2nd, 3rd, and 4th thoughts about going. Forcing myself to head out i left the paints at home because i was in a oil pastel mood. 3 Hours of drawing is to long for me to focus on my work without beginning to mess up what i created. Therefor i began sketching other members of the group around me as they painted and drew. Of course they didn't stay still, like most people that you attempt to draw without them knowing they never do. There are just some very very rough sketches from this past Tues.

I Saved the World Today?

It's not mystery to anyone who knows me that i was a huge fan on all the HBO series. I have Curb Your Enthusiasm, Oz, Flight of the Conchords, Six Feet Under and others in my personal collection just to name a few.
This song in particular was part of the closing credits for the Sopranos as Tony assuming thought he had fixed his problems. As this song reflect to how life can be. Troubles arise and we find solutions to those problems. The sky opens and for a moment at least everything seems perfect until you have to do it all over again.

What are you working on this year??

Outside of the other many sketches that i have lined up this is one attempt at painting that i'm doing again. It's been a while since i've picked up a brush. I'm still trying to work the acrylic so hopefully soon i can reel the painting in.

more helena

I love this photo not because it leaves more to the imagination. Is it a grown women or a little girl hiding over the covers? Especially with the type of weather we've been having lately it makes me want to hide right under the covers.
I know it's been a while since i used a pencil the way i know how to. I've shied away from it because i quickly became jealous of others' application of this medium. I flip through pages of artist magazines and i feel like an amateur when i attempt to use pencil. I also envy the way that pencil was the only medium my sketchbook knew. So this is my lazy attempt to claim some of the shine i once had.

Kimbo Slice

Rarely do i watch UFC at all. I guess because in my small world it's the exact opposite of my favorite past time (wrestling). I know it has a gladiator feel to it as 2 men are inside a small cage trying to destroy their opposition. I see the grand excitement because it's more physically demanding than being int he boxing ring but just as if not more brutal.

A couple of years ago my friend Art forced me to YouTube Kimbo Slice. I've heard his name and seen it here and there but really never paid him any attention. The YouTube videos of his street fighting were very interesting. He wasn't a grapples, kickboxer, submission specialist but just a raw gritty fighter. Today while in Barnes and Noble i saw a magazine cover with his picture of there and this is just a facial sketch of that photo.

Norfolk Drawing Group #64

i got there late due to work again. The first sketch as you can see is in a very rushed state and doesn't show the structure that i nomrally like to show. Overall it was a good night!

My last post of 09

2009 is almost over and so often i hear others make promises to the future. This year... I'm going to quit, stop, and i'll try harder, but i don't see myself falling into that trap. Of course i know i need to improve. I don't make 01/01/10 as the magic start date that everyone has. My change begins right here and now.

Nude on a Chair

Actually i'm very proud of this sketch for a couple of reasons. One being that i was small enough to scan for a change plus it actually looks like my friend. Sometimes it's hard to get this red scrapbook paper to show up and register well. Especially when you apply layers of color pencils in the way i did.
I opted not to pose the original out of respect for her because it might easily be able to see who she is. I still have a couple of areas i could pull more detail out of, but hey it's a sketch what else do you want?

Katsuni: I was jealous of her clothes (pic & sketch)

I can't even recall where i found this picture, but i liked the posed. The bra/camisole strap isn't completely on her shoulder and the manner in with she is posed is teasing. Plus it's a known fact that i'm a sucker for exotic women.

Norfolk Drawing Group #63

I hate getting to the drawing group late because i feel like i miss so much sometimes. Most of the time it isn't even my fault either, it's because of work ( i never get out of that place on time). Honestly i knew i was missing out, so instead of falling victim to a headache i pushed my way out. For the past weeks i have felt a little behind artistically because my friends have been branching out. Some trying mediums they normally don't use as well as drawing on different colored paper. Therefor this time i decided to draw on black paper which is sometime i hadn't done in a while. I actually like the contract value of the white on the paper as well as the manner in which it allows me to slowly build up. I'm not trying to fight the make the image paper but it comes along on it's own.

more Mrs. Christinsen

I know i spoke about Helen Christinsen and how i've been somewhat mesmerized by her. Not because of the music video she was in but because she's a very good model. So last Saturday after work while i was at Panera i began drawing this sketch. I'm not to sure if you can notice it or not but i can tell this still needs some work done to it. Which goes to show an artist's work is never done.

Christmas Spirit...

I had lost the Christmas spirit all together yesterday. I was strongly considering simply not going to to celebrate it with my family. I had made up my mind i would just mope and collect my thoughts before heading back to work on Saturday. It was 1 am by the time i had gotten off work and hopped into my car. Weds i had went to work a little early to help out because i knew it was going to be busy. By the evening I had to count all the money by hand because the money counter was broken [ all 12 drawers]. The store has been a complete mess for almost a month now something which i'm not use to seeing. I had the "i don't think i can do another Christmas again" conversation with another manager as well. A laundry list of things ran through my head as i drove home.
It's very odd how humbling life can be sometimes. You always seem to get the right advice or message at the perfect time. I parked and was getting out my car when i noticed some motoring noise. At first i thought i was the building on the other side of the fence and they had their heater on then i realized something else. It was actually coming from the car beside me. I would have sworn that this was a one time only occurrence until i realized i saw this same car last week with someone in it. The reality of the situation set in, someone has been sleeping in their car. I just checked the temperature and it's 27* outside. Here i'm crying about folding clothes, counting money and cranky customers. How right is that? Honestly do i really have a right to complain when i get off work and i can come inside my own four walls? At that moment i saw how thankful i should be. I just hope that everyone else around me should feel the same way because in all seriousness we don't have as it as bad as we think we do.

Tara/Victoria (pic & sketch)

It's no great mystery to anyone that i'm a huge fan of wrestling. I have and probably always will be regardless of what's going on in my life. So when i stumbled upon this picture as i do with most drawings i hopped at the opportunity to draw Victoria. I almost completely this 3 color sketch as Panera (my favorite hide away to kill time at) and later on this week finished it.

Norfolk Drawing Group 62

I made it out later than i normally do most evening because i had a mess to clean up at work. My sketches progressed during the night as you can tell from what my friend Noah said about my green sketch. He called it the "mutant mitten" hands that i drew. Time wasn't on my side the time around but overall i had a good time. It was even more fun later on when we went out for food and drinks. That's one of many other stories i can tell.

Norfolk Drawing Group 61 : "The Couch of Doom"

I fell victim to the comfy couch of doom. It was painting night and as much as i wanted to paint. I brought all the charcoal materials trying to convince myself that i would not paint. Mainly because it take just as long to get out all the materials as it does to put it all away plus wet paint and my car don't go well together. So at the break i did what others did and took a break and sat down. Before i knew it conversations allowed me to sink deep into the couch and it was 10 o'clock and we were leaving. This is my attempt at drawing the model that evening. The bad part is that she wasn't frowning but most of the sketches and painting i saw had her doing just that.

Wicked Games & Letter works

Anyone who knows me, know i enjoy drawing on my letter covers. It's like a nice way of giving a small personal extension of myself. My letter work isn't always the greatest thing i possible could've created but then again sometimes i hit the good mine with my attempts.It's like a sketch session to work out my ideas of what the real drawing will or can look like.

The reason why i stumbled upon Helen Christinsen because AOL posted an article about a 40 year old modeling nude for a magazine. Normally that wouldn't be anything amazing or noteworthy but i decided to read it and take a look at some of the photos. For Helen to be her age she is still in tip top shape. So why the outrage? This lead me to actually go and research some of her photos and these are only a few i came across. So these photos are only a small window at the real attempted drawings i will complete soon. Just in case you thought she looked familiar she's actually the girl from the hottest steamiest video that i remember watched when i was younger "Wicked Games."

Aino Kishi (pic & sketch)

I very rarely use Crayola color pencils because they don't have a great range of colors nor do they really have the impression of being true vivid colors. But this is an attempt at a sketch that i did last week sometime in the early hours of the night. Honestly this is my 2nd attempt at this sketch i had to do it over again because the tilt to her head was throwing off my sketch. So even for cheap color pencils it didn't turn out to horrible.

Acts of Random Thoughts Vol. 2

1

.NEVER take those close to you for granted one day they may not be there (the office season 3)

2. How you can hang out with someone every week for months then the next moment they avoid you like the plague??

3. You should never get some comfortable out in public (restaurants, coffee shops, etc) to take off your shoes [unless your under the age of 5].

4. If you have any talent you should be practicing it all the time because when you aren't someone else is practicing harder than you are

5. I wish i could go to other people's job and act the way they do when they're in my store.

6. Don't get mad at me because you didn't read the sign. I wasn't your elementary school teacher.

7. My favorite line that i use at work coming from the movie Airplane. " I guess i picked the wrong week to stop drinking!"

8. I need to get over my laziness and paint on some canvas

9. I need to start my Christmas shopping

10. I need to start working out so i can look like Brad Pitt in Fight Club

A quick story about a Wham! song and me

i'm not sure if they were playing this song at work or not. But i've been thinking about this song very often. Maybe because it really happened one Christmas a long time ago or some wounds never heal. Even now it's still this is my favorite Christmas song.

"Lean in Closer" (pic & sketch)

Sometimes i hate taking photos of my artwork because no matter how much i attempt to touch up the drawing it never turns out just right. I played around with functions on the paged but nothing really came about well. In the words of Charlie Brown "Ugh!

Jordan (pic & sketch)

For the record i didn't plan this out for me to post this drawing on Jordan's birthday. However things have a way of working out that way but the real kicker is she's never read this blog. So why not speak freely. Jordan is an interesting one of co-worker at Old Navy. As i've noted before my job both as an artist and as a retail manager trains me to study people's behaviors. This is my short insight on Jordan. I see her as being the all American girl next door that most guys would find interesting. A girl who claims to fear the word "relationship" but secretly wants one. Yet another like most girls claims to never want to fall in love with but would in a heart beat if the right person approached her. So on the inside behind the clouds of cigarette smoke ( she's trying to quit) and hard exterior she's a softy. That was truly makes me laugh sometimes as much as she pretends that no one can see exactly who she is i as well as others can..