In Thanksgiving Spirit

This summer, Dalvero Academy went on a drawing trip to the Plimoth Plantation in Plymouth, MA. There, one can visit the Pilgrims' settlement, and the Wampanoag homesite.The actors who work for this "location" museum never go out of character, and they clearly enjoy what they do.  It was the closest thing to time travel I've experienced.

The Pilgrims Village

Chickens in the 17th-century village. A wood-carving Pilgrim.

A Pilgrim woman tending her garden.

A Preacher

Bustling Life in the 17th-century English Village.

Pilgrim Household.

A Wampanoag woman cooking inside the tent.

A Wampanoag woman.

Shakespeare's "Measure for Measure" by New York Classical Theatre

“Well, heaven forgive him! and forgive us all!
Some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall” 

~William Shakespeare, "Measure for Measure"

 

Here are some reportage drawings from this summer's staging of "Measure for Measure" by New York Classical Theater at the Battery Park. This is their 16th season, and if you haven't been lucky yet to catch one of their performances (which are free to attend, and take place in Manhattan and Brooklyn parks), the best way to describe them is to quote The New York Times: "a movable feast! All the park's a stage!"

In New York Classical Theater's panoramic productions,  the audience is prompted to get up and follow actors to a new location  about every 10 minutes or so. It's such a fun way of experiencing classical plays! The actors are hysterical, the costumes are beautiful, and Shakespeare is...timeless.

Check out upcoming performances on New York Classical Theater's site.

 

“Our doubts are traitors and make us loose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt"

~William Shakespeare, "Measure for Measure"

 

“ Music oft hath such a charm
To make bad good, and good provoke to harm."

~William Shakespeare, "Measure for Measure"

 

 

Shakespeare's "Taming of the Shrew" by New York Classical Theatre

 

“ There's small choice in rotten apples"

~William Shakespeare, "The Taming of the Shrew" 

  “I see a woman may be made a fool,
If she had not a spirit to resist.”  

~William Shakespeare, "The Taming of the Shrew"

 

 

 

   “Sit by my side, and let the world slip: we shall ne'er be younger.” 

~William Shakespeare, "The Taming of the Shrew"

 

 

  “No profit grows where is no pleasure ta'en”  

~William Shakespeare, "The Taming of the Shrew"

 

 

Here are reportage drawings from this summer's staging of "The Taming of the Shrew" by New York Classical Theater in Prospect Park and Central Park. This is their 16th season, and if you haven't been lucky yet to catch one of their performances (which are free to attend, and take place in Manhattan and Brooklyn parks), the best way to describe them is to quote The New York Times: "a movable feast! All the park's a stage!"

In New York Classical Theater's panoramic productions, the audience is prompted to get up and follow actors to a new location  about every 10 minutes or so. It's such a fun way of experiencing classical plays! The actors are hysterical, the costumes are beautiful, and Shakespeare is...timeless.

Check out upcoming performances on New York Classical Theater's site.

 

 

 

Spread in "Reportage and Documentary Drawing" by Veronica Lawlor

I am thrilled to be included in the latest book by Veronica Lawlor "Reportage and Documentary Drawing", illustrating the chapter about "The Whole Event" (pg. 74-75), alongside some of the fellow artists from Dalvero Academy, Studio 1482 and The Urban Sketchers global community. What an incredible company to be in! The 3 featured drawings date back to 2012, when I took my Dad to see a basketball game at the Barklays Center in Brooklyn, and had a lot of fun! Here's the original post with more drawings from the event.

Check out this newly-published handbook-the format is great, you can take it with you on location and find tips to help you draw in any situation. Thank you, Veronica, and congratulations on another beautiful and educational art book!

Drawing Music :: John Zorn's Masada Book Three - The Book Beriah

Last Thursday I was at a phenomenal concert at Roulette in Brooklyn: John Zorn's Masada Book Three - The Book Beriah. Here are drawings of *some* of the great musicians that occupied the stage that night.

Frank London on Trumpet

Matt Hollenberg on Guitar, from "Cleric"

[screaming] Nick Shellenberger on keys and vocals + Matt Hollenberg on Guitar, from "Cleric"

Loren Sklamberg from "Nigunim"

Loren Sklamberg + Frank London, from "Nigunim"

Cyro Baptista on Percussion

Shanir Blumenkranz on Bass + Tim Keiper on Drums, from "Cyro Baptista and Banquet of the Spirits"

From Zion 80: Marlon Sobol on Percussion, Cyro Baptista on Percussion, Frank London on Trumpet and John Zorn on Saxophone

Notes from Cuba, Part 3: Tobacco

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Hotel Nacional: Cigar Aficionados

This post combines drawings form several places in Cuba, with one unifying theme: tobacco!
Below, there are drawings from a trip to the small town Viñales in the Pinar del Río Province of Cuba, where we visited one tobacco plantation, smoked freshly rolled cigars, got soaked in the rain and saw a lot of countryside beauty. Then, there are drawings from Havana's Cohiba tobacco factory. And at the end, there are drawings of cigar smokers at Havana's Hotel Nacional. I smoked my first cigar in Cuba! And I liked it.

Viñales

From the bus: scenery en route to Viñales

From the bus: scenery en route to Viñales

Two emaciated horses at a pit stop

On the streets of Viñales: house renovation

On the streets of Viñales: ox-driven cart

On the streets of Viñales: horse-driven fruit cart

From the bus: Tobacco drying house.

Tobacco plantation in the rain

Inside the tobacco drying house: rows and rows of tobacco leaves.

Rolling tobacco at the plantation for the tourists to try.

Tourist enjoying freshly rolled cigar.

From the bus: en route from Viñales

 Man on an ox under a banyon tree

Ox under a banyon tree

Cohiba Cigar Factory in Havana

The tour through the Cohibo cigar factory was brief, no photos allowed. Rows and rows of workers at old wooden "stations" with cigar presses get paid per cigar, and have a weekly allowance of 2 cigars to take home. Sometimes they listen to the radio, and other times they are being read to. The list of books, according to the guide, includes Shakespeare. But the current book, we were told, is "Fifty Shades of Gray". Go figure...

Hotel Nacional, Outdoor Bar

Hotel Nacional: cigar aficionados

Hotel Nacional: Late night at the bar

Hotel Nacional: dance party