Abbey Road

 

We went to the Queen Mary for their 4th of July celebration. Different areas of the ship were designated as different "Eras of Independence." We settled in to the 60's era and never really left. The Beatles tribute band Abbey Road played three sets and we recorded some of it with our phones. The sound quality is not the best, but you get the idea.

Daily Sketch -- Something Old

Digging around in my garage this morning I found this, which is really old. I remember drawing this when I was in high school. This proves I had no idea how to draw trees back then.

This is the first in a number of sketches I have recently found and will be posting for the foreseeable future.

WTF Happened to Movie Posters?

I could not agree more with this YouTube video if I have produced it myself. We need a hell of a lot more Drew Struzan and a hell of a lot less Photoshop.

The Show Must Go On

Next month's Rock and Blues Fest featuring Johnny Winter is now the Rock and Blues Fest, a Tribute to Johnny Winter, which means, the Fudge shall be seen! Here is another of my favorites by the Vanilla Fudge.

Sara

The beautiful Sara, another of my favorite models. As usual, this is a 25-minute pose done in black and white charcoal on gray Strathmore paper.

Trying To Smile

I was trying to smile, but I’m sure it did not come off looking that way. Though my cheeks were uplifted, my teeth were clenched tight and the words were slowly spat out of my mouth, “Nice to meet you Charlie.” He has a weird look in his eyes, well, he ought to. My body language, the fists at my side, say I am about to take Charlie’s fucking head off.

Who the fuck was Charlie and what was he doing with his arm around my girlfriend? I think I would have exploded on this guy if not for the look on Lynn’s face. It was half pleading for understanding and half stark fear. Fear of me? Fear of what I might do to Charlie’s face? Fear I wouldn’t understand what was going on here? Hell, I didn’t understand what was going on here. Lynn was my girlfriend and yet she shows up at our church youth fellowship meeting with this dickwad Charlie draped all over her and her friend Judith in tow, looking as frightened as Lynn is. Judith’s fear is masked by a fake smile as well, but while Lynn is standing there meekly, Judith is in motion.

“Hey David, good to see you again. I have a question for you, it’s personal. Can we take a walk?” Without waiting for an answer Judith is pushing me away from the happy fucking couple and whispering under her breath, “I’ll explain. This isn’t what it seems. Do everyone a favor and stay calm.”

We move around the building, “What the fuck is going on Judith?”

She is speaking rapidly, like she thinks I may go off at any minute if I don’t hear it all. “She met him last summer on vacation, before she ever met you. They had a summer thing, but that was all. It is over, only he showed up today, came out of his way to see her. She doesn’t want to hurt his feelings...”

“What about my fucking feelings?” My hands are aching my fists are clinched so tight.

 “She hopes you will understand. He gets to be with her tonight, in public, you get to be with her from now on. She picks you, she just hopes you understand the terrible spot he put her in by just showing up on her doorstep. She picks you. He leaves tomorrow and she will end it once he leaves, just…just don’t embarrass her tonight. Don’t embarrass him.” Judith grabbed the back of my head and pulled us together so our foreheads touched and our eyes were locked. “She thinks you are a great enough guy to help her through this…I think you are too.”

I backed up, shook my head “no,” that I didn’t quite get it. “She doesn’t seriously think I am going to sit here and watch the two of them carry on tonight, does she?”

“No, she thinks that would be too hard on both of you. She is hoping you will leave.” Judith could see I was not convinced at all. “She is just trying to not hurt this guy. She loves you.” She poked me in the chest. “You. You won.”

“It doesn’t feel like I won,” but my fists were unclenching.

“She says she will make it up to you tomorrow night.”

I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself. I give Judith one of those Bogart-like taps on the chin, “Shit.”

I close my eyes, and center myself for the longest walk of my life. I step around the building and walk toward the crowd of friends. I see that Lynn and Charlie are holding hands now. She looks white as a ghost. As I approach I say to no one in particular, “Something has come up, I gotta run.” As I move past the crowd I look Lynn in the eyes and she looks relieved, but that is all. I don’t look at fucking Charlie at all.

As I get into my car I can hear him asking, “What’s up with that guy?” I think twice about getting out of the car and showing him what is up with this guy. As I peal out I slam my fist into the roof of my car and wish it was Charlie’s pasty fucking face.

Copyright 2014 Barry Keller. All rights reserved.

Johnny Winter R.I.P.

Sad news about Johnny Winter's passing. Not sure how this will affect the already purchased tickets to see him and Edgar and the Vanilla Fudge next month. Celebrating the joy that was Johnny with Mean Town Blues from Woodstock 1969.

Maude Redux

It is always a joy to draw the wonderful Maude. This is from my latest session with her. Black and white charcoal pencil on gray Strathmore paper.

Bloodbath Rising

This is another acrylic painting of Bloodbath, reimagining a scene from Mayhem #1. Bloodbath was Lester Connors, the "payload" for the first human teleportation experiment. During the experiment an earthquake sends Lester not only through space but through dimensions to the planet Marba, where magic still exists and people still settle their arguments with the sharp end of a sword.

Bloodbath

In the 1970s I did a couple issues of a comic book called Mayhem. My contribution besides a few full page illustrations was a strip called Bloodbath. Bloodbath was Lester Connors, the "payload" for the first human teleportation experiment. During the experiment an earthquake sends Lester not only through space but through dimensions to the planet Marba, where magic still exists and people still settle their arguments with the sharp end of a sword.

Lately I have been toying with acrylics and decided to do this representation of Bloodbath on both worlds. It is not 100% complete, but close enough.

Lovely Lisa

I have had the pleasure of drawing the lovely Lisa Davis off and on for almost 15 years now. This was the latest time, this past Sunday. She is one model I never tire of.

The Rockets' Red Glare

Pretty cool and what an advertisement for the Phantom 2 personal drone. I didn't know they existed but now I want one.

Jennifer Juniper

 

Jennifer, done last week. This is a 25-minute pose done with black and white charcoal pencils on a gray Strathmore paper.

It is Fudge Time!

So jazzed to say that I just bought tickets to see the Vanilla Fudge in August. They still sound amazing.

Loan Explorer Logo

Years ago, before they were taken over by the Feds, I worked for IndyMac Bank in their Construction Lending department. I worked on a piece of software called Loan Explorer, which managed big loans for construction companies. Blowing my own horn here, but Loan Explorer was the best Construction Loan processing system on the planet, and I was not the only one who thought that. When Fannie Mae was looking for a construction loan package, they went to all the banks to see what they were using. They ended up wanting to buy Loan Explorer; IndyMac didn't sell it to them. Anyway, as each new version of the product would arrive I would work on the code, the training docs, the help files, the manuals and yes, the logo. For my last version, Loan Explorer 5.0, I created this animated logo which was presented in a splash/logon page every time the program was loaded. I kind of like it.

The spinning numbers were created with Swift3D software from Electric Rain. That was then merged in CoffeeCup Firestarter to created the finished logo. For the final product I altered the colors and put it on a gray background, where it looked something like this:

The Carnival

I don’t know why I remember the carnival. I’d been to carnivals before, but this one had arisen from an empty lot in our neighborhood. That first day I went, the wild tangle of rides seemed like an unfathomable dirt maze to me. Everywhere I turned I saw something new. I felt disoriented and lost amid the spinning metal, flashing lights and the screams of young girls being pulled this way and that by the Scrambler, the Tilt-A-Whirl or the Whizzer.

 I remember wandering around in a daze in a cloud of dust kicked up by a hundred or more people. As I stumbled between the rides, the rich dusty aroma mixed with the sharp odors of the grease and diesel fuel that kept the rides running smoothly. The sweetness of cotton candy drifted through the air occasionally interrupted by the sour stench of vomit.

 There was a wall of large trucks that had transformed into the “Fun House” and the “House of Horrors,” with barkers outside enticing me to come in, “It’s only a quarter young man.” There was a shooting range with rows of mechanical ducks and bears and geese skittering across the booth at various speeds. Next to it was a booth with a pyramid of milk bottles, just asking to be knocked over with a softball, which I had been told to avoid, by someone I can’t now recall. There was a dunking booth with local girls in bathing suits waiting to be plunged into a tank of water by a precisely thrown baseball and a coin toss with highly oiled plates and poorly placed goblets.

 Wafting across the entire carnival was the delicious aroma of hamburgers on the grill. Not these thin, premade patties of today, but thick, handmade burgers, charred on the outside and pink on the inside, plump with fatty juice that oozed though your fingers and spattered the ground when you took a bite. My parents would take a turn at the food booth every day, which meant I would come back for all four days the carnival would be in town. It was in coming back the second day that I learned how easily one can get comfortable with the new and exciting.

 The carnival no longer seemed a maze of confusion; the layout was quite orderly and neat. I remember my second day there thinking that I had lost something, some sense of wonder that had been present the day before. The rides sparkled a bit less and, the music seemed a little drearier than before. I remember being startled at how fast the magic of the place had died for me.

Copyright 2014 Barry Keller. All rights reserved.

Oh Suzie Darling!

 

A week or so ago I was lucky enough to have the beautiful Suzie pose for me. This was the first time I had the opportunity to draw her and appreciated it much. This was a 25-minute pose utilizing black and white charcoal pencils on gray Strathmore paper. Drawn June 1, 2014. 

Ode to Billie Joe Day Once Again

It is the third of June, another sleepy, dusty delta day...

Greed

Thursday

We walked into the small bedroom in silence. The wall behind the headboard was adorned with cowboy hats, all wrapped in protective plastic. In the corner a beautiful oak display case was filled with expensive toy cars in pristine condition. The man on the bed had smooth skin of an almost translucent quality. His tousled white hair looked fine and silky and rested on a small pillow on top of a larger pillow. His chin rested on a rolled up green washcloth under which his ancient hands, covered with age spots and signs of recent bleeding, lay crossed. Paula bent down and touched his hands then ran her finger along the bridge of his nose. She began to cry again and I put my arms around her. I could feel her tremble. The room was littered with medical equipment, all quiet, as if sitting in silent respect for the man they once hummed and beeped and toiled in service of.

I could hear the labored breathing of Paula’s mother as she shuffled into the room, her oxygen hose trailing behind her, and stood by the other side of the bed. “He lived a good life.” She bent down and kissed his forehead.

“Yes mom, he lived a full life.” I held Paula tighter. She had stopped trembling. After a bit she started to cry and leaned back into me. I squeezed her and kissed the top of her head.

A tall man in blue scrubs walked into the room, just there to “pay my respects.” He was followed in by two women in bright maroon print scrubs who had come for the same purpose.

Eventually we walked back into the living room and sat waiting for the people from the mortuary to come for the body. It was the first time I can recall being in that room without the TV on.

Copyright 2014 Barry Keller. All rights reserved.