The Old Guitarist, 2004

Charcoal on paper

This has always been one of my favorite paintings, and not just because Picasso's Spanish. I feel like Picasso painted an emotion when he painted this -- loneliness. This simple drawing was done in college, when we had to do a study in black and white of a famous work.

Here's a bad photo of me with the original in The Art Institute of Chicago, about 5 years ago (time flies!):

Cowboy, 2004

Charcoal on paperboard

On Christmas Day 2004, my sister told me she wanted to decorate her living room in a southwestern theme, and she wanted a "big picture of a cowboy." I had nothing better to do than eat Christmas candy, so I drew one for her!

A rare glimpse of the artist at work. (On the living room floor, NOT being helped by Lucy the cat!) Also, some in-progress shots that show the random photo I found on the Internet and used as inspiration.

And here's my sister, delighted by the final product! :)

Jesus, 2004

Charcoal on textured paper

I drew this as a Christmas gift for my friend Tim, who has been an inspirational friend to me. It is based on the famous painting by Warner Sallman.

Chocolate, 2004

Charcoal on paper

I took one art class in college, the first semester of my senior year, and I drew this as my final project. I'm most proud of this drawing than any other I've done. I displayed it in the school art show at the end of the semester, and then mailed it off to Spain as a Christmas/thank-you gift to my Spanish family for their hospitality.

It's based on this photo I took on my last night in Madrid, of Ignacio and Elena eating fondue. I thought their expressions were priceless!

Honeymoon, c. 1999

Oil pastel on paper

This is a drawing I did for fun quite a few years ago (probably in high school). It hung around my parents' house, until I decided to give it to Shane for his birthday in 2005, because he loves the water. He named it "Honeymoon" after we got engaged.