Coney Island High

Coney Island is such a freaky place. Butch Belair and I were sitting in Ruby's bar on the boardwalk. It's completely open right onto the beach. Yet no one looks like they are at the beach. Not even remotely. Everyone is dressed in the craziest get-ups. You rarely see a bathing suit. The fashion is actually more like everyone trying to look like they are homeless. It's very different, from say, Nantucket. There is also every ethnicity present. Hardly any English being bantered about. It's another planet, for sure. The planet of Brooklyn.

A First

I found my first sketchbook. Here are a few of my first attempts in a moleskine book. These were about 6 years ago. Not bad for a beginner.

Juror Number Five

Recently I had to serve on jury duty. I was put on a tough case that lasted 3 weeks. The only joy I got out of it was each morning buying all the newspapers to read about each days Anthony Weiner updates. This was before he resigned. I couldn't get enough. The best is that his name is Weiner. The headlines each day were funnier than the ones before. One day I overheard Yun trying to explain it all to her mom in Korean. Priceless. Sorry he's gone. He made for good copy.

Phoney Artist's Statements

"My work explores the relationship between postmodern discourse and multimedia experiences. With influences as diverse as Kierkegaard and Frida Kahlo, new tensions are created from both explicit and implicit textures. Ever since I was a child I have been fascinated by the ephemeral nature of meaning. What starts out as triumph soon becomes debased into a cacophony of power, leaving only a sense of chaos and the inevitability of a new synthesis. As temporal forms become clarified through emergent and personal practice, the viewer is left with an insight into the possibilities of our future."
I found a great website that generates complete bullshit nonsensical artist's statements. Check it out here and use one for your own art website.

Tommy Kane Draws Seattle.

One crazy town, Seattle. I must say I love it. The following film will show you why. By the way, fantastic people live there.

Gasworks Park

Yun and I hooked up with Gabi Campanario one other day while I was in Seattle. He told Yun and I to meet him at gasworks Park. It's a picturesque site right on the water with perfect views of the city. There are also enormous industrial structures that have been left standing. Perfect for Gabi and I to draw. Gabi's kids, Olivia and Alex came along too. This is the drawing I did. The little girl running in the front of the sketch is Olivia. She is a hilarious kid who wants to be involved in all activities. She insisted I draw her. Smart move on her part. Alex is more interested in The Seattle Mariners than drawing. Although he and Olivia did some nice drawings of their own that day. Gabi did some drawings of me sketching that are perfect. Yun and I laughed looking at them. He captured me perfect. I'm sure he'll post them sometime.

Flying Fish

Seattle has its famous market where they throw the fish around in the air. It's a little less exciting in person. I think when you see it on the travel channel or some cooking show, they throw big beautiful salmon to each other. That seems to be for the tv cameras only. In real life, they throw salmon without the head on. They way you would buy it. Scaled and gutted. People still love the fish flying show though. I sat on my little stool outside, coughing, with snot running down my nose and blood dripping out of my ears. The toughest part of a drawing like this is the people. No one is going to stand there and pose for me. So what I do is see someone I like walk by. I memorize them as best I can and then just draw them from my memory quickly. It makes for a fun cartoony like sketch.

Ear Yeeee, Ear Yeeee

When Yun and I were on vacation in Seattle, she took me to an island off the coast for our anniversary. It was suppose to be a romantic getaway but I was deathly ill. I had a cold for a week and a half and wasn't improving. this is a sketch I managed to do on the island in the rain. In the morning, I woke up with a splitting ear ache. The worst one I ever had. It lasted 12 hours. Yun got me a prescription for antibiotics from a family doctor. I was going down hill fast. I suffered all day. The next morning when I woke up, Yun looked at me in shock. There was blood on the pillow. It was coming out of my ears. That was a first. We went to a doctor and they assured me I was fine. There is nothing worse than being away from home and sick as a dog. Even in my desperate condition, I did manage to make a few great drawings.

Check out what the great Gabi Campanario wrote about me on Urban Sketchers. Click here.

Space Needle

The most famous thing about Seattle is the Eiffel Tower. So I figured, I'm here so I might as well draw it. I even rode up and down in the thing. It's pretty smart when cities build Eiffel Towers. People with cameras love that stuff. Seattle is always overcast so I caught a break that day because it was actually blue skies with a few clouds about. I think an hour later it was overcast and raining. Yun and I have a friend named Howard Lev who lives in Seattle. He's one of these slow food gourmet guys who makes the most incredible peppers in oil you ever tasted. Mama Lil's peppers. We even went to a Seattle Mariners baseball game with him. Anyway he happened to phone me when I was at the top of the Eiffel Tower. I told him where I was and he said they actually use his peppers on some of the sandwiches they sell up there. Just thought I'd give him a plug. Howard is just one of the many interesting and talented freaks who live in that great city.

Seattle Sketchers

I recently traveled to Seattle. Yun's brother lives there with his wife and son Logan. While I was there, I figured I would meet the famous Gabi Campanario. He is the person who created the Urban Sketchers. I had written to him saying I was coming. He told me that many of the Urban Sketchers who live in Seattle get together and draw on a Sunday every month. He arranged for me to be at one and meet everyone. You can imagine how stunned I was when 20 people showed up. One more talented than the next. A few of them were Mark Selander, Jackie Helfgott and Steven Reddy. Even Yun was amazed at lunch looking through some of their sketchbooks. We all went on the streets to draw together. This is my drawing of a church. Gabi has some art scene going on there. The guy is like the pied piper guru of artists. Gabi comes up with an idea and everyone will follow. Hell, even I find myself following the guy around. He is very impressive and at the same time very humble about it all. I for one am a huge fan of his and I was so happy to meet him in person. Yun and I got invited to his house to meet his wife and beautiful kids, Alex and Olivia. This whole internet thing is funny. Meeting people online and then getting to know each other by your work and blogs. It was overwhelming meeting so many people who knew Yun and I from my drawings and movies that I post. In some ways it's weird but in a lot of ways it's very comforting and rewarding too. My trip to Seattle was a great experience that said to me I'm doing the right things and there are people out there who appreciate what I do.