Floor Squat

I might be using the wrong term here—is it a squat if you sit with your legs on each side like this? I could never do this, and I always marveled at people who could even back when I was a kid. I think we used to call this piké, although now that I think about it, pike might be the other direction inward. Anyhow, I started and ended this drawing in a day, which feels quick but I have to remember that when I draw from life or a photo, it's easier and takes less time composing, and more just rendering. It's such a great way to work, I miss doing it more... but thankfully, my friend Ernesto has posed for a number of positions for me, that I have archived as photo references, and this was one of them.

After Ronan 3

One more. After I draw the forms, I start manipulating them as paths, and Illustrator IS an illustration program after all.

After Ronan 2

I have to say I'm really enjoying these...

After Ronan

I've slowly gotten surrounded by Ronan Bouroullec's drawings. Last year it was seeing them in the beautiful Issey Miyake collection that featured them as prints. Lately I had seen them in EQ3, decorating the walls of their store/showroom in Chelsea, and then oddly enough in a video of a Japanese kid's vlog about his life in Japan, where a print of Ronan's shows up in the wall of his apartment.

This past week I found out that EQ3 was closing its showroom in my neighborhood, and I wondered about the frames and later, the prints that I had admired while just passing though. I didn't realize they were all connected, and upon noting the artist/designer's name in the little credits near the frames, I resolved to buy some if they went on sale, which they did. By the time it reached 90% off, I had bought 3 different versions that they had had on sale, for a few dollars each! I don't even have teh wallspace so I have no idea where these are going...

Anyhow, BEFORE I got to buy the prints, I thought, well, I can't afford them all so maybe I'll channel what I like about them and use them in making new prints, but using some Illustrator techniques I recently started experimenting with. I debated whether to consider them drawings, but I did use my Wacom stylus and Illustrator's pencil tool to make the original lines that were filtered into these gradients. It was originally going to be a feather but I kind of went off script...

Bendy 4

Retooling this head and wondering if I really want him on the the bendy nude, or if I'll just take it and make a new, fashion illustration body for him? Hence the more fashion-y haircut on the right...

Bendy 3

I decided I think I should do another white guy. But I realize that since I freehand it, the proportions are always off and I need to go back in and fix things. His head is not quite the right size...

Bendy 2

I'd been retooling yesterday's drawing's face, and thought I'd try an Asian guy. But then I thought, this might not be the best pose for him, as it implies being submissive, which is an Asian stereotype I don't want to encourage. But I thought the face turned out okay, although I do tend to draw the same kind of Asian, when I was hoping for someone who looked younger and more genteel...

Bendy

I saw a model on Instagram doing this kinda yoga pose (I don't know what you'd call it) wearing only a pair of jeans, and I thought this could be a good pose for someone naked, as it would show off the ass in a way that almost implies bottoming (yeah, this is how my mind works). So I put the image away, and then drew from memory and imagination. I don't think the anatomy is quite right so I plan on asking my friend Ernesto to model it for me to get the muscles in proper order (plus he has a nice ass lol).

I like the guy's face but not for this pose. I might do a separate pose and drawing just for that face...

Beary Joey

My friend Joey had a baby shower today, and instead of buying the baby something I decided to just paint a little drawing of a teddy bear but wearing one of Joey's menswear pieces (he's a menswear designer). I did it all in watercolor and colored pencil, which I really should have photographed, so here's a digital simulacrum as stand-in.

Lean On Me 2

I tried to flesh out the form more but in this instance, my proportions are all off. I managed to create the relationships with the head and the shoulder a bit, but it's really off still, and even more so with the body. Maybe I'll just go to a photo reference...

A Single Line 2

I was looking at my Single Line fashion sketch from the other day and wondered if my proportions were even correct. Sometimes the illusion of the perfect distillation of something is dispelled when you try to complete it as a drawing and realize that proportions were all off. I though that maybe the pleats were too far in from the side, but after I made the opposite line, it's not perfect but it works. Whew! I was afraid I was gonna lose faith in my sense of spatial relations...

Lean On Me

Especially if you look like that! Saw a pose online that reminded me of when a nude model was hanging out post-session and he was leaning on a surface naked while checking his phone...and I decided to take pics of him in that pose (he let me, btw). Although this guy is leaning on a higher surface and I'm not sure it looks so natural...

Bearded In Repose

After yesterday's post's exercise, I thought I'd try a nude, but it ended up being more than a single line...and that's fine! I really like how it turned out. It was originally inspired by OnlyFans model sebleblan's mustache, but I decided to make him bearded just to change things up on my feed. I also made a toweled version just in case Instagram's AI/algorithm get trigger happy.

A Single Line

As a challenge to myself, i started sketching and then I set parameters that i cou;d not life the stylus until I was happy with the sketch. And I was happy with this!

Inspired By 5

I decided he needs a friend in a very Fashion, "we're walking in two different directions" placement.

Inspired By 4

One painting style I see often and I like doing my own version of, is a man's face with prominently red noses and ears. I love how that look feels boyish and possibly sexual at the same time. Strangely, my reds were pretty bright to start with but by the time I stopped painting this in this style, it all had muted down...

Inspired By 3

I wanted to experiment with my watercolor style again, with some other brushes, and see how this face ends up. Line work is always different from full color, so I was curious to see.

Inspired By 2

If you go back to the beginnings of this blog (all the way  back to Jan 1 2007 yo, you'll see how much my style has evolved over the. past almost 18 years. One of the things I'm proudest of is how I draw faces now, as I can identify key moments in my life when I started drawing differently after practicing, experimenting and observing more. Since I like to draw faces without copying from pics, they're certainly not as realistic as one that is based on a photograph. But I like to think my imagination and hand has evolved to the point that my faces look like they could be drawn (ahem) from real people.

With this one, I'm proudest of how his lips protrude. It's such an odd thing but I just feel like it looks to me to be as believable a face as ever, compared to the many faces I've done before, in that particular part where the cupid's bow meets the fullness of the top lip.

French Boy in the Train Light

On my way to Thanksgiving dinner at my friend Erwin's place on the UES, the trains were pretty empty and my car just had a French family of 4 (Or maybe French Canadian, I could overhear them talking). Anyhow, the one son was really well lit and I kept thinking, you need to remember his facil shading. But then I remembered I could actually draw it, since I had Procreate Pocket on my iPhone. The original study wasn't great, so I made a Photoshop version the next day.

Inspired By

 ...Stavrinos, but not in the way that you think.

I haven't been inspired to draw much lately, but reading about the life of one of my faves, George Stavrinos, I felt inspired to try and do something good. And this was a doodle that started to feel more nuanced )I loved his nose and lips) and that led me to refine him more. I think he could look like a contemporary male model of that very young-looking type. And this is just my line style using a new Grut brush (well, new to me—I have not used the P Borrowed Pencil Hi in a drawing that I can recall) so nothing like the Stavrinos style. Just that I was inspired by Stavrinos's story.

Sitter Form 2

After the initial idea, if I'm not particularly set on refining it to an extent that I feel is post worthy, I often leave things to be reworked later. So, this is that later.

Sitter Form

Several posts on Instagram (and porn!) that I was browsing through showed a guy naked and leaning back on one arm. Of course, in the porn his other hand was , uh, getting busy. But in this potential Insta post, I just want it laying there, covering his nethers somewhat.

Ruddy Flush 2

I know models look younger but I'm trying hard not to make him so twinky.

Ruddy Flush

I got an image in my head of a dark blue outline filled in with a very vibrant pink nose and eye. This isn't turning out quite like I imagined but it's not bad

Find Joy 2

My clients wanted a few changes so even if I haven't gotten a full decision on their project this year, I went ahead and retooled it a bit, thickening some lines, cleaning othes, and adding a new character while retooling an older one.

Stance 2

Was thinking a swoop of color (inspired by the brushstrokes or Ronan Bouroullec) might be a good finish for this pose. Plus I retooled his feet.

Behind 2

I was wondering if it would be better to see the guy's face as well as his hands, so I tried an over the shoulder look...he reminds me a bit of 90s model Erik Etebari...

Stance

Still on a dancers kick, I wanted to do something on a profile with spread legs, and just for the form of it. I dunno if this will develop into something further, but it's an immediate line...

Behind

I love poses where you see a man's hands from the back, as a lot of dancers often do some great things when their hands are the only things you can see on their backs. I saw a few from the dancers I follow and it ins;ired me to do something similar, just on a whim.

Find Joy, Too

I always offer a few variations for clients to select from, so I also did an updated version of my Polar Bear Hugging Penguin card of 2017.

Find Joy

I have a client who asks me to design a non denominational holiday card each year, and with teh results of the election bothering so many, I thought I'd encourage people to find the joy in your everyday lives, inspired by the holiday title of EQ3, a furniture store in my neighborhood, but twisted into a pseudo New Yorker cartoon.

Near Naked for Insta

I took a break from Instagram posting because of the elections, a hectic class sched, and most of all, a reticence to post another nude since I think IG is on high alert with the elections, and they censored one of y cut paper pieces, which is obviosuly NOT a real nude. Ah well, anyhow, I thought this guy would be apt with all those factors involved (after 2 weeks of not posting).

Gym Guy's Hair

 There's a handsome, hot guy who goes to my gym and looks a bit like Chris Evans with a buzz cut. I was observing him under the lights and noted how his hai had an interesting shadow pattern, almost like that of a sphere (if it was a hairy sphere). So I made note of the patterns and attempted ot draw it from memory.

Painted Silhouette

I've been wanting to lay with painted fields with textures for a while now, and I saw a silhouette of a face online somewhere and I got inspired to do the silhouette and add the strokes.

Yellow Sweater

I was doing a sample demo for a menswear student at FIT last Thursday, and I left teh sketch on my school desktop. I thought I'd bring it home and post it for last Thursday retroactively, but I ended up toying with it and making something newer. So, voila!

Trousers Top Too

Gonna see if a better croquis will serve the design more.

Trousers Top 2

That arm looked weird so I adjusted it.

Trousers Top

I had an idea (since I'm still teaching and teaching trouser flats) to do a top that looks like the top of a pair of pleated pants. The drawing came together rather quickly, although I'm not fond of my finishes so will have to retool asap.

Black Cat Man 5

I honestly thought this could first be a Halloween post, then I figured I could always do a Childeless Cat Lad post, then I thought it could be something of a victory post after the elections...but alas, twas not to be any of those. And here he is, almost finished, but with nowhere to be published.

Illustrator Doodles

Still in shock, but trying not to think about it. It's so hard to process, I don't even want to write about it. But I can draw and escape. Life is still going on...

I did some experiments in Illustrator linework, and I'm just gonna post this. I'm too forlorn to do anything even remotely involved.

Aftermath (Black Cat Man 4)

Hold on to your cats and loved ones, the unthinkable has happened. It's a sad day in the US for me and many like me.

Slider Brush Face 2

I experimented a bit with adding Photoshop patterns and I think it looks rather fun, akin to the stuff Cecilia Carlstedt is doing albeit still rawer and more amateur in this style.

Vote 2024

I had made a Vote drawing back in 2020 and instead of uploading my new Childess Cat Lad nude I'd been working on, I thought it best to post a Vote drawing again. I was going to just do a Flashback post and repost the older one, but in the end I couldn't leave well enough alone and had to tinker with the drawing until it was completely different...only Michael J Hildebrandt's Vote design is the same at this point! Keeping my fingers crossed and hoping for the best.

Slider Brush Face

I needed a break so I experimented with teh slider brush a bit to see if I can change things up. It's fun, and not bad...

Story Pose 2

Added a few more details to her outfit as well as cleaning up the form more, but still haven't the wherewithal to finish this one yet...I don't even know what it should look like finished!

Black Cat Man 3

I'm really not satisfied with the body—it's a bit hard to figure out how to angle his arms to accommodate a cat...which I am trying to imagine as a form but decided it was best to suggest one as a mass than figure out all its anatomy as well!

Flats Drawing Help

One of my former students emailed me for help trying to render a particular design. I sent this back to her, although I wonder to myself how much I should help them with their homework?!

Black Cat Man 2

Gonna try and ready this for Halloween deployment, but not sure if it will make it as I draw more, then I send up caring more, then I take more care (and longer!).

Spittle

I'm wondering if this pose would be provocative in and of itself since it implies guys lubing themselves up when they masturbate...? First rough for the idea layout...