I am now deep into working on my Cinefield®. Of course I never forget how labor intensive it is, but the memory becomes purely intellectual until I start the next one. The mind remembers what the body forgets. In the interim I draw every day. I have two small pads which I have been switching back and forth between.

There is also my photography. I was gifted a “toy” camera. I have slowly been learning how to use it, what it’s voice is, so that we can collaborate. I think whether a pencil or camera, every piece of equipment has its own voice & properties which once you learn you know when to use. Miles had specific horns he used for ballads. No matter what he was playing, he always sounded like him but the flavoring was contributed to by the equipment. So it is for me and all my kit.

The toy camera is not meant to be hi-def or even comparable to what one’s phone does. It intentionally harkens back to those boxy plastic kodak cameras anyone who grew up in the 1970’s/80’s had. (Kodak instamatic 126’s). The pics are lo def and have that look. It is not a filter effect though, but the lens and low MB.

I have noticed some of my peers take photos and then post production add a filter effect or make it black and white and often it’s completely arbitrary. For myself, when I am taking a photo, I have to envision it in black and white from the get go, and not clock through filter options after the fact. Now, with this camera some shots seem to want that older look but without filter. I am lucky it is such small camera as I already carry one or two on me at all times and this wont make bag too much heavier.

Since I won’t have a painting to show for a little, here are some of the sketches I have been doing. I always work quick on them. Sometimes this is a matter of showing off. Always in my head was a practice Matisse did, he would execute portrait drawings intentionally fast. His feeling was if you can capture the essence of a person fast then when taking time for a painting it is easier and also even deeper. There is always a pocket pad on me and even no matter where in the world I am, on my night table.