If You Look

A curious snail

watercolor on paper

black and white photo

Los Angeles 2018

It's easy, at least for me, to imagine that snails have characters.

Maybe it's those eyes, poking out on their stocks, looking....

I wonder, do snails dream?

And if so, of what do they dream?

Do snails dream of wet concrete and fresh clover?

Do juvenile snails have wet dreams?

I've never thought of that before but why not?

Little snail nuts messing up the grass where they sleep...

So cute.

watercolor

Los Angeles 2018

Early mornings

black sharpie and water color

Westwood 1986

Let me try to explain myself.

When I was a young man I loved illustration.

Perhaps the two illustrators who had the greatest influence on me were Aubrey Beardsley and Jean Giraud aka Moebius. Both artist drew with a fine line and I tried to emulate that.

Here's an old drawing of mine.

pencil drawing

Venice CA 1978

So back then I saw myself as an illustrator.

Then sometime around 1980 I was introduced to Abstract Expressionism and I had an epiphany...

Could I approach Abstract Expressionism with an illustrator's line?

A new world opened up to me and I started having fun with my drawing.

And then, for about 35 years I never drew an identifiable object.

No joke.

Still Life

black sharpie

Westwood 1985

Attitude Adjustment

pen, colored pencil and watercolor

Duarte CA 1996

Time never began

black sharpie on bond paper

San Francisco 2003

Dan's drawing

black sharpie

Rosemead 2011

i did a lot of these drawings. And I really enjoyed making them. For over thirty years I completely liberated myself from the rigors of drawing something that had to look like something. And I loved it. But then...

Sometime around 2015 I returned to illustration. Why? I'll be honest with you, I started to miss it.

Call it full circle but that's where I'm at now.

I still treasure my line though.

little boxes

black sharpie on paper

Los Angeles 2019

Thank you Aubrey and Jean.

Aubrey Beardsley

Jean Giraud aka Moebius

Blue, just blue

Watercolor on paper

Los Angeles 2017

Akae Beka - The Earth is the Lord

The island we live on has so many waterfalls. This one is near our home. The cold mountain water is a delight to bath in.

I like to stand under the raging falls and scream.

In the evenings we eat Filipino foods. Chicken cooked in coconut milk. Locally grown rice. Fresh fruits.

We have internet connection otherwise it would be easy to forget there is an outside world. I read all the news and I thank God I'm here.

Am I hiding?

You know it.

These are some watercolor paintings I made a few years ago. I was deep into ancient megaliths at the time. And blue.

The Earth is the Lord

Watercolor on paper

Los Angeles 2017

Moi DTLA

If I remember right, this photo was taken sometime around 2013. I was in the CR at a gas station near downtown Los Angeles and decided to take a quick selfie..

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Song for a winter night

GORDON LIGHTFOOT

If I could only have you near To breathe a sigh or two I would be happy just to hold the hands I love And to be once again with you To be once again with you

Gordon Lightfoot

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Next

colored pencil, calbayog city, 2025

These drawing are like playing with finger paints but with maybe a little more intectual input.

I work in layers. The above drawings is made of five layers. Below is the drawing after three layers. Really fun to watch them grow.

black and white

Massive Attack/Horace Andy - Man Next Door

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Reading tea leaves

ballpoint pen and alcohol

Calbayog City 2024

These drawings are like reading tea leaves. I draw a bit then I splash alcohol on it and see what the smearing tells me to do next. This particular drawing I actually made on the backside of another drawing using the bleed through. Really fun when a face starts looking back at me..

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Paint tube #1

pencil on newsprint

Venice California 1975

I love finding old drawings. These are a couple of drawings I did almost fifty years ago. I remember drawing them quite clearly. I was living at the time with some friends in an old house in Venice Beach, California. I drew these one day sittling at the kitchen table.

I just took these photos today. The newsprint is about ready to fall apart but the drawings themselves look fresh. I'm amazed that we're all still intact.

Paint tube #2

pencil on newsprint

Venice, California 1975

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America - Ray Charles

Oh beautiful for heros proved,

in liberating strife.

Who more than self their country loved,

and mercy more than life.

America,

America,

May God thy gold refine.

Til all success be nobleness

And every gain devine.

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Beautiful thing

Black sharpie on beige paper

Rosemead 2012

This drawing came out of nowhere. Like a mystical gift, one day it just happened.

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