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The above slideshow are of fishing boats from Santa Cruz and Monterey, California. They are watercolors with sumi ink on 5×7 inch watercolor paper for our project called The Brighton Beach Memory Exchange in Brooklyn, New York’s Brighton Beach neighborhood. You can check out our project called Моя Америка (My America) by clicking on the link. The pictures were given to my mother for Mother’s Day on her recent visit to New York.
The above two images are sumi ink paintings of the residents of Brighton Beach, Brooklyn that I met while working on our project Моя Америка (My America). The project is about people from the republics of the former Soviet Union who live in New York City. Meeting these two guys was one of the high points of the project.
Haddonfield, New Jersey
One of the more remarkable things about living in New York are the people. This gentleman you see here is our doorman Santiago. He’s a great personality to have in our building. He greets us and watches over our building with an air of dignity. We often stop to say hello and to ask how he is doing. This little watercolor will find a frame and will be given to him as a gift. Here’s to you Santiago!
The weather man says there is a classic Nor’easter coming in today . This doesn’t mean much to me coming from California except I’ve learned that it’s associated with cold weather. I walked out of my apartment today for the first time since arriving here in August in a coat, sweater, and jacket and I was still under dressed! Tomorrow the weather is threatening to snow. This gets me to think of warm and cozy foods. I’m thinking rabbit stew this weekend but after painting this I can’t help but feel a little bad, then my mouth starts to water when I think of braised rabbit. Yum!
Known as the Zhiguli within the former Soviet Union, the Lada VAZ-2101 is a small sedan still seen on the roads today. When I lived in Kazakhstan these vehicles were very often private taxis. I made this little painting for my nephew as a tribute to his love for cars.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-14564585
The above link is a recent article about the Lada in Cuba.
My plan is to work on a comic book. I have been working on my drawing and watercolor skills these last few months to develop a look for the book. I have been searching for photos that are related to my father’s stories or images that could be useful to the comic. I found this image of a boy on a horse in the 19th century. It looks like an American Image.
I’ve been getting some good advice from some old friends Tosh Woods and James Reitano. They are both very well accomplished designers/animators/illustrators and it’s really an honor and blessing to have access to their knowledge.
Walking around New York City offers so much architectural history. I stumbled upon this little neighborhood or what’s left of it. Most of it has been bought out by Columbia University. If you walk around here you can get a sense that Manhattanville was a city separate from the rest of Manhattan. This bridge spans Mother David’s Valley the scene of The Battle of Harlem Heights in the War of 1812 where George Washington had been involved. The area feels like a scene from another time earlier in the 20th century. For the most part there aren’t many people who walk around here. Most people stop around Broadway unless you’re walking down to the Fairway Market, Dinosaur Barbecue or the Hudson river waterfront. There is an old cove here that was the entry point to this area and to the rest of Harlem.
