The Curious Snail

Esparanza

colored pencil, calbayog city, 2025

A new one. This time red, lavender and pink.

The pink bleeds off yellow when I rub it with alcohol. Strange. Another mystery for me to ponder.

I wake up early each morning and draw to the sounds of roosters crowing.

I draw, in solitude, drunk on colors and black coffee.

It's summertime here so the kids are on break. After everyone wakes up we go down to the beach and hang out.

Hermanos Gutierez - Esparanza

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Sleep

watercolor, los angeles, 2016

When I can't sleep I close my eyes and visualize drawing. Sometimes I visualize drawing with the pencil. Other times I see the brush laying down pigments. At some point my mind becomes interested in the drawing and I begin to dream...

watercolor, los angeles, 2016

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Newly arrived kittens

watercolor and ballpointpen

Calbayog City 2024

Our neighbor's cat recently had a litter of kittens, and being as our neighbor can't afford to buy cat food, our house has now been invaded by five hungry kittens. The kitten energy is infectious.

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love hate

colored pencil & pen, calbayog, 2025

I gave up on this drawing, and then I liked it.

Well, I liked the blue part. To me, the entire drawing is there just to make the blue part look good.

And it does.

Then again, the red and yellow parts are nice too..

Everything in life comes down to red, yellow and blue. And browns.

It was my brother who pointed out to me that browns bring out color.

Which is true, on several levels.

I love this song by the way.

Manenberg Revisited - David Williams

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Tinariwen - Tinwaywen

pencil drawing on paper

Calbayog City 2024

I have a big soft spot in my heart for North African music. The energy and the simplicity are cogent reminders to all artist.

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Time is something

Black sharpie on board

Monrovia 1996

Time is something that happens on the outside but not on the inside. On the inside we are always.. always.

Eternity is not something we earn.

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Time is static

pen and pencil

Hollywood 2019

Bring me home

colored pencil and pen on paper

Los Angeles 2018

colored pencil and ballpoint pen

Los Angeles 2018

I must have drawn fifteen variations of this drawing. I don't know why. Most of them I drew during down time at work. I liked the image. I still do. It gives me hope for the future. Again, I don't know why.

Maybe I'll draw another.

colored pencil and sharpie

Hollywood 2018

black sharpie

Hollywood 2018

Bring me home - Sade

American Tune

Paul Simon - American Tune

"The best laid schemes o' mice and men,

Gang aft agley."

-- Robert Burns To a mouse

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Nothing else matters

Pencil drawing

Calbayog City 2024

Nothing else matters - Metallica

This song...

I have to speak vaguely about this one but there was a morning in 2002 in Chicago when I finally got to do something that I had been dreaming about doing for my entire like. It was a lovely fall morning. For the entire rest of the world it was just another morning but for me..

When I got in the car and started driving into town, this song came on the radio.

As I drove I turned up the volume, and tears ran down my face.

Never give up my friends.

By the way, I based this drawing on a photo of the lovely Jing Yu. Instagram @yuki_injo

i hope I'm this cool when I'm your age

Thank you, Anonymous. Life is a mysterious journey. Just enjoy it and whatever you do, don't let go.

Mysterious nature

Ballpoint pen on a post card

Los Angeles 2014