Once upon a time, I could pull a small computer from my pocket while sitting in a cafe and use it to check my email, write blog posts and short stories, update my resume, and create invoices for clients. I’m not even talking about my Newton, which stretched credibility to call pocketable. No, all these things could be done and done well by my old Palm Tungsten|T3, which I bought in 2003. If truth be told, most … Read the rest
In the long-standing tradition of launching ecommerce websites with incomplete features, minimal consideration to user experience and inadequate testing, I bring you the new incarnation of the old Paroxysm.com.
Sadly, you won’t find the adventures of ‘Zoop’ Dubin, Private Eye there any longer, but maybe that can be added at some later date. What you will find is a collection of my pen & ink drawings, photographs, and luxographic prints, and a shopping cart for purchasing prints … Read the rest
A recent debate/poll in The Economist ended with a tally of 71% to 29% declaring that copyright laws do more harm than good. While I’m the first to admit that there are serious problems with the existing handling of intellectual property, I’m appalled at the seemingly widespread notion that creativity should not be legally protected and encouraged.
Last year, only the $700 Billion bailout distracted the House of Representatives from passing the Orphan Works Act, which would … Read the rest
I’ve spent the better part of the afternoon in the studio working on the second in my series of drawings of San Francisco landmarks (if I’ve started the second it’s officially a series, right?) I’m in the early pencil phase, doing a lot of study of reference photos and creating a lot of outlines, not attending to questions about texture.
One of the fascinating things about the human mind is its capacity to create connections from totally disparate fields, and … Read the rest
I’m watching the second episode of the History Channel series The Universe and am getting aggravated. I seriously hope that the series improved over time. The narrator’s voice is grating on me and the quality of science displayed is poor. The writers seem to have made their decisions based on dramatic impact rather than facts.
The second episode, about Mars, is better than the first episode, about the Sun. I had to roll my eyes when the narrator introduced the Sun … Read the rest
Thursday night at Art Explosion on Seventeenth Street in San Francisco Spring Open Studios 2009 kicked off with an «after-work preview» show to provide a peek at the new work that was on display all weekend, beginning with Friday night’s opening at 7pm. I haven’t the time or inclination to provide a complete survey of the variety of the work at Open Studios this year, but I took some snapshots of a small sample of this year’s notable work.… Read the rest
Mark your calendars and get ready to come on down to Open Studios at the Art Explosion. The essential details follow:
Preview Thursday April 23rd 5pm – 8pm
Opening Reception Friday April 24th 7 – 11pm
Open Studios Sat & Sun April 25th & 26th 12 – 5pm
Between the three Art Explosion locations there are over 100 artists opening their doors so that you can come and see how we work, … Read the rest
In a previous post I explained the basics of Luxography, my digital printmaking process. As Spring Open Studios (and the deadline to get into the catalog for Fall Open Studios) looms ever closer, I’m working extra time to finish a few pieces, and that means building new patterns to use for screening.
My latest variation on the theme is to break up the lines into hatched rows, which is how I hatch in pen and ink. The goal continues to … Read the rest
It’s been a while since I provided a peek at what’s going on at my drawing table. There are a couple reasons for that: first that I’ve been working more on the luxographic prints, which requires a lot of work on the files at home. Second, and on an hour-by-hour basis probably the bigger reason, I’ve been having to pick up the income slack with more hours of Website development. Fortunately the hours are there for me when I need … Read the rest