Wisteria.

Another corner in Brooklyn done in ink and touch of color with few Kuretake pens on watercolor paper from old sketch pad. It brought to mind In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower: In Search of Lost Time, by Proust.

Sketching in square book.

I took this little book with me and sketched on the way. I like to have with me this little buddy in case I need a highlight over a dark spot. Mostly it just hanging out in my orange pencil case along with white pen.

People waiting and eraser. On the train back I was socializing  instead of sketching.

Blue pencil.

Pencil drawing got interrupted by the guy hitting on me. So I beautified the page afterwords with this turquoise pencil made with few Kuretake pens.

Cyrille Aimee
Just love her music, very talented.

Truck.

I didn't notice that summer came, and got hot, and people wearing shorts, and shadows got sharper, and white is blinding. This muscular truck was parked on the backyard long enough. I used ink and Kuretake on watercolor paper from big sketchbook. Interesting that this paper does not allow thin lines. Where is the paper which does?

Central park, entrance.

Central Park. I used ink, Namiki Falcon pen for few outlines and red Kuretake pen brush on thin paper. The day was beautiful and people, playing on a distance, looked so happy. I may want to repaint this scene, because, I think, my own feelings prevented me from being objective.

Hero M86 pen.

I drew people while waiting in the bank. On the top drew very interesting Hero M86 pen with bent nib. I used few Kuretake Twin brush pens and Stabilo pencil. 

Central Park.

Scene from Central Park in Manhattan. I used interesting paper I got on one of my trips to new York Central store, famous for their huge variety of papers from all over the world. Of course I don't know what paper is this, on the corner it said Glazed in pencil. It takes ink nicely, even half transparent, didn't bleed through. May be it is sort of rice paper? If you look against the light it shows thin white lines like stripes. It tried to fly away like a dry leaf, so I had to use extra clips. I like this new ink I mixed, it is less Sepia, but still breaks sometimes into antique gold.

House in Brooklyn.

Random house in Brooklyn with some architectural fantasy. I ran out of ink, so had to stop. This paper is nice but a little too thirsty, didn't allow play with puddles. Too bad, I don't know the name of the sketchbook I used, no cover. I add blue from Bienfang brush, not directly, first put some color on plastic lid. Other wise is too bright for my purpose. At home I mixed new ink and now my fingers stained again. It was pretty hard to scan, size is around 11x10 inches.

Homecrest.

Just small street in Brooklyn, Homecrest with nostalgic feel to it. With few dots of color. In the right corner quotation from Guillaume Apollinaire, poem we use to love, my best friend and I. My friend died at the end of May 22 years ago. But it didn't change anything. I used sepia ink and Kuretake H20 on aged watercolor paper.

Eggs Benedict.

Finally finished Eggs Benedict, add color. It was very special breakfast my daughter made for me. Colors, shapes, taste was amazing. With hollandaise sauce and sauteed spinach, splashes of green and crazy yellow of yolks. Food is not just for taste, it is way of communicating, sharing thoughts and pleasure, creating memories. I used ink and few Kuretake pens. Touch of yellow marker. I wrote in Russian : Every breakfast with you is a celebration. It is not food or still life. It is life...  in ink.

Ave U.

 Ave U is Chinatown of Brooklyn, colorful and authentic. I like one big store there where you can buy Chinese and Japanese products. I like wild rice from Taiwan, interesting sauces, unknown vegetables, Japanese lollipops, sweets, pickled vegetables, edamame,  etc. Street is packed and colorful. I used Sepia ink and Kuretake H20 on old discolored watercolor paper. Added color later. This paper is so much fun to watch, it absorbes ink right away, drying in seconds and sometimes lives weird small dotes inside the brushstroke, creating sort of nostalgic look.

Funny photo.

She always amazed me with her creativity, even when she was little.  Some people just gifted. This photo made me laugh. It is also play of words, because girls created a new word in their friendship circle.
I have to do so many things and my drawings laying unfinished and I am afraid cats will steal dry fish from the still life.

Sketch on the run with Uranus Multifunction pen.

Quick sketch using Uranus Multifunction pen over pencil and ink spot in square Hand*book while waiting few minutes in the car. It is my goodbye drawing to this place, where happiness, love, pride, tears mixed for me. May be it deserves better drawing? But as I like to say nothing ends, it continues, influencing us, changing, teaching, sometimes beyond our physical existence.

Pelmeni.

Drawing of cheap Russian style ravioli. Main thing here play of reds. I used Sepia ink and 4 Kuretake pens on old stock watercolor paper.

Found online, digital archive.

Moscow in 1931.

Published by California University. Glass negatives, hand painted. Too cool to pass by.