Creative Musings

Last night, my friends Dan and Howard took me to a wonderful variety performance in Occidental, the kind of strange and wonderful event that could only occur in West Marin County. It was called the Chautauqua Revue, "a variety show inspired by vaudeville, circus, traditional Chautauquas, and storytelling." The host Wysteria McBrylcream presented everything from a skit depicting star-bellied sneetches to a fifth-generation circus performer juggling and spinning ropes and pins. It was a magical...

In college, I decided I wanted to make a living doing art—as a profession, not a hobby or a side gig. That meant I'd have to produce work either for the art market or for the commercial world. I chose the commercial world. I spent the next few decades designing theme parks, movie props, products, and toys; illustrating books and covers, presentations, and ads; and painting Disney characters in famous artworks (over 200 by now!). This was how learned that artists are laborers. We work with our...

On Friday August 28, we had to let go of our dear Rudy. He was almost 19 years old! He had a long and happy life. Rudy in his youth Rudy, short for Rudolph Valentino, was the son of a champion Himalayan show cat, Maximus. I first met him in 2013, when I met his mother, Marylou. I've been his second mother since 2014. We lost his younger brother Leo in 2021, right around the time my brother was dying. It was a tough time. These magnificent cats were both so handsome, fluffy, and gentle, it was...

Short email today--because I spent the whole day struggling with a drawing I FINALLY did a rendering of Phoebe Rose! I used conte crayons which are waxy, which makes it harder to blend with charcoal. Maybe you don't even notice, but it kind of drove me nuts. I couldn't get the right texture on the paper. What took so long is that I filmed myself doing it. Then it took me forever to edit and post to my new YouTube channel. This is why I've resisted YouTube for years. I feel like such a...

Some of my students are learning to paint later in life. They were interested in art early on, but partners, careers, kids, health got in the way, and they had to put it aside. Now that the kids are grown and they've saved enough to retire, they can spend their free time creating. One of these students recently expressed regret that it had taken her this long to get going. Time feels fleeting. Is there enough of it left? Will her skills ever catch up to her vision? It took me about fifteen...

I've watched enough students improve to know that ANYONE can learn to draw better. It always amazes me. It's all about seeing the world the way an artist does. We don't just see a cat--we see shapes, angles, lighting. Everything is in relationship to everything else. Our dear cat Leo, who died a few years ago. He used to sit like this all the time! To keep it simple, you start with the gesture. It conveys attitude, movement. I learned that from animators at Imagineering. You attach shapes to...

I'm currently teaching a workshop that helps artists take a piece from start to finish. Before this, I never really thought about how to explain the process. Early in my Disney days, when I first started painting my own stuff, someone asked me, how do you know what to paint? I shrugged and said, I just know. But the truth is, I didn't know. Images came to me and I blurted them out onto the canvas. I started a painting before knowing what I was going to do, and somehow blundered my way to the...

I felt I had to warn you that this newsletter contains nudity. Why do I think you care? Maybe I'm still sensitive because of my early days at Imagineering back in the early '90s. They used to host life drawing classes every Wednesday night after work, with real naked people. At Disney! Once, someone (I don't remember who) invited us to hang our sketches in the main hall of the office building. I mean, evidence that art was being made, right? But the next morning, all the drawings were blank....

I've only ever bought one painting by another artist: George Scribner. I snagged this painting during a sale he held to benefit a food bank (it's one of his favorites, too). So aside from being a great artist, he has a big heart. Somehow, I convinced him to travel up to Petaluma to teach a painting class August 1-2. If you're in Sonoma County, and want to learn from a talented and funny teacher, sign up here while there's still room. "Hey Gas" by George Scribner, acrylic on canvas We used to...