Children.

I was deeply shocked by shooting of innocent small children in Connecticut. This the end of the world for their families, scars for life for their siblings and classmates, wound in the heart for everyone who consider themselves human. This is the first page in Gamma sketchbook, which I intended for happy sketch in a Subway with ink and Kuretake, but instead it took my tears and grief about 27 lives taken so violently.  How scary to live in the world where we can't protect our children?

First spread in brown book.

I came back to the first page, drew even on a book's jacket. This tree was gleaming in the night on the Gas station on the way to college, I had few extra minutes because I came to early, so I put Ipod on loud and had fun. Amazing Lynn Chapman said that one of the tricks to start  a day to dance for an hour (she was able for 10 minutes) before starting work ( in her case on book illustration) alone in a studio, to clear head and prepare yourself. I used to do it in my young oil painting days, when lived alone and wanted to paint for 16 hours a day. Anyway here trying different materials on this brown paper. Face doesn't look like me, but white acrylic goes on this thin paper.

Beginning

First page in my Moleskine (watercolor small) open to me a new world, where people seems so self complete and a lot of them draw very good. Sketching is a way to exist. To connect to reality, to people, without being too physical, without touching, smelling, brushing against a stranger. Anyway I have to go for appointment and can't postponed any longer. I wont be able to sketch in my tiny Moleskine on a subway, its too precious and I don't know how to use watercolor in NY crowd. I'll use my red sketchbook with pressed Japanese letters.