Drawings

I've always enjoyed drawing since I was a kid, going on to study art & graphic design at college and university. But over the years with work and other distractions I didn't really create art, so a couple of years ago I resolved to start drawing more, but then with my mum becoming more unwell I stopped doing it again - now I want to try and draw more again. These are all drawings that I've done in the last couple of years and I'm posting them as much as motivation for myself as for anyone else to see them.

 

House on Hill 11/2/10

The Lighthouse 4/3/10

 

Kerouac at Desolation 9/3-21/3/10

Old Joy 25/3-7/4/10

 

Coast 9/4/-11/4/10

Mountain#2 18/4/10

 

California Coast 27/4/10

Coast#2 13/5/10

Lake 10/7/10

Our Garden 8/8/10

Mountain#3 11/9/10

Harvey Pekar 19/2/11

Hullbridge 21/7/12

Harvey Pekar. Our Man in Cleveland.

Two years ago today, Harvey Pekar died, he was 70 years old and there's a fair chance you haven't heard of him. I hadn't until I picked up the 'American Splendor' dvd in my local blockbuster in 2004.

My drawing of Harvey Pekar

So who was he, and why did he get a film made about him? Harvey was a working class intellectual from Cleveland, Ohio, who in his younger life was unable to hold down a job until he got a job as a file clerk in the Veteran hospital, a job he kept until he retired. He came from a jewish background, was a socialist, a jazz critic in his spare time, suffered from lymphoma, appeared on the Letterman Show, oh yeah, and he wrote comics too.

Pekar became friends with budding comic artist Robert Crumb in the 1960's and as Crumb & the underground comic scene took off and moved away from the traditional superheroes, he realised "comics are words and pictures. You can do anything with words and pictures". He couldn't see a voice like his in the comic-world, so he decided to write a comic about his own life, experiences and views, the first issue was published in 1976. Harvey couldn't draw himself so would write the stories and lay them out with stick figures to show illustrators like Crumb what to draw, which added to the appeal of American Splendor, different issues would often be drawn by different artists.

So why do I like Harvey Pekar & his work? His comics document the ordinary, the everyday banality, the frustrations, and the absurdity of life - American Splendor had a cynical, world weary humour. Despite his intellect, his temperament & skills meant he was unlikely to advance in the world of work, or perhaps he didn't want too, so he looked for a creative outlet, a means of leaving his mark on the world. Which is why I identify with him I suppose, I share a similar frustration at the world for not being the way I thought it would be or indeed should be. That desire or need to leave a mark, to be creative is the reason I'm writing a blog at all.

Harvey is also the reason I've become interested in graphic novels relatively late in life, before I watched American Splendor I hadn't read a comic since the Beano when I was in junior school. Now I've read graphic novels by Daniel Clowes, Alan Moore and Art Spiegelman amongst others, and he's inspired me to want to write & draw my own graphic novels. Which is why when the opportunity came along to donate to his wife, Joyce Brabner's kickstarter campaign to create a memorial for Harvey I jumped at the chance - you can read about that here it's a pretty amazing idea, one day I hope to visit it at Cleveland library.

This is just a short tribute to an endlessly interetsing man, that barely scratches the surface of what he was about, I hope that just one person somewhere reads this and discovers what I did. Why not start with the excellent movie starring Paul Giamatti, like I did?

PS. You can take a quick look at one of Harvey's last ventures, the Pekar Project webcomic, over at smithmag.net

Listening #1

Many years ago I used to write a music fanzine & website with friends, it was called To Hell With... and I haven't written any music reviews since it ended in 2006 so these are my first attempt. Just a few short views on some of my recent purchases.

Beach House Bloom (2012)

Bella Union www.beachhousebaltimore.com
I’d seen this album mentioned alot on the internet, so listened to a couple of songs on youtube before taking the plunge, Beach House are boy/girl duo from Baltimore, described as dream-pop and Bloom is their fourth album. That dreamlike quality is certainly evident, as the guitar & keyboard combine to create delicate webs of melody that feel like they could break with the slightest breeze. Victoria Legrand’s vocals are seductive yet detached, the lyrics suitably mysterious, suggesting rather than telling. Bloom is one of my favourite albums of the year so far, and a record that could equally soundtrack a gloomy wet day as a sunkissed roadtrip.

Highlights: ‘Myth’, ‘Other People’, ‘The Hours’.

Cornershop Urban Turban: The Singhles Club (2012)

Ample Play www.cornershop.com

I bought this album, having heard the song ‘What Did The Hippie Have In His Bag?’ on BBC 6Music. Like quite a few people of the britpop generation, the only Cornershop album I have before this, is ‘When I was born for the 7th Time’, an album I adored for it’s east-meets-west sitar & tablar tinged indie-funk. Well they’ve moved on from that, adopting a more electronic & eclectic style, that took a while to grow on me, the old funk sensibilities are still there, as are the indian influences, each track here is a collaberation. While I still find it a bit patchy, repeated listening is rewarding as tracks like Milkin’it & Dedicated reveal themselves.

Highlights: ‘What Did The Hippie Have In His Bag?’, ‘Who’s Gonna Lite It Up?’, ‘Milkin’ It’.

Coasting You’re Never Going Back (2011)

M’lady’s http://coasting.bandcamp.com

Coasting are, as best I can tell, two girls from Brooklyn that moved apart (to Portland & Memphis) but still made a record together in Michigan. I was introduced to them by Everett True’s excellent Collapseboard, and the song ‘Kids’, a gloriously joyful indiepop song that makes me want to jump around with a cut n’paste stop motion video to match. The rest of the album is deliciously lo-fi indie-punk with a firm grip on what makes a great harmony, an adundance of energy and vitality and a love of the old quiet-load dynamic that when done well as it is here, never gets old.

Highlights: ‘Kids’, ‘Portland’, ‘Pirates Cove’.

Azealia Banks 1991 EP (2012)

Interscope www.AzealiaBanks.com

Azealia Banks probably isn’t someone you would expect me to like, I was also led to her by Everett True and the song ‘212’ from this EP. She has been compared to Nicki Minaj, not something I can qualify, the Minaj songs I’ve heard haven’t been my type of thing and to be honest the 3 other songs here I find pretty bland and formulaic, fast paced rap-pop to a nightclub beat. ‘212’ however is a different animal altogether, beneath the filthy lyrics is a primitive beat that opens up into a dancefloor beast, that as Banks’ wraps her tongue around the sexual imagery with considerable relish (watch the video) could make even the shyest person bump & grind with the best of them.

Highlights: ‘212’

Shellshag Rumors In Disguise (2010)

Don Giovanni Records http://shellshag.blogspot.co.uk/

Yet another I found from Collapseboard, hailing from Brooklyn, Shellshag are husband (Shell) & wife (Shag) duo. Rumors In Disguise is another minimal punk record, in places reminding me of a more lo-fi grungey Lemonheads, it has all the touchstones that are bound to make me love them, squalls of white noise, stripped down hooks, ‘Resilient Bastard’ could almost be Weezer in their prime, the short sharp burst of ‘Rumor’ comes complete with doo-wop handclaps & catchy as hell "I wanna make it with you" refrain, and dirge of ‘Rock and roll ruined my life’ contrast greatly with bittersweet closer ‘Carry On’. Oh, and it has the best album cover I’ve seen for a long time.

Highlights: ‘Resilient Bastard’, ‘Crashing Rockets’, ‘Carry On’.

Akira The Don ATD28: Unkillable Thunderchrist (2012)

LITF www.akirathedon.com

Unkillable Thunderchrist is the latest from the UK’s most prolific rapper, Akira the Don, his 28th mixtape is full of impossible to clear samples & is better than most artists official releases. What sets ATD apart is the joy he takes in everything he does, even when he’s eviscerating the coalition & politicians on ‘Lemmings’ & ‘Weird & Creepy’. And yes ‘Lemmings’ does sample the classic computer game. ATD’s collaboration with Time on ‘Too Sweet To Be Sour’ is a fitting & suprisingly touching tribute to Adam Yauch, while closing track ‘Wu-Wear & Acid’ is a stunning end to the collection, and shows a man, as the Hunter S. Thompson sample* suggests "riding the crest of a high & beautiful wave", long & far may it carry him.

Highlights: ‘Lemmings’, ‘Too Sweet To be Sour’, ‘Wu-Wear & Acid’.

*Well actually a quote from the Fear & Loathing In Las Vegas film.