Bob Dylan, "Half"

Portrait, 8 1/2 x 11 in
Graphite on Paper

What can you say that hasn't been said about Dylan before?  He's be known as everything from a poet to a madman, thief to genius and it's hard to pin him down.  He sits here lurking in the shadows straight out of the mid-60's as he was just beginning to work with The Band, which was a more than somewhat controversial move at the time.  Half light, half dark - acoustic to electric, I tried to make a connection there.  Either way this Dylan will always remain baby faced for you no matter what happens from now on...

Tom Waits, "Dark"

Tom Waits, "Dark"

Portrait, 8 1/2 x 10 1/2 in

Lead on Paper

So far the final installation in the Tom Waits series he is depicted here in the mid-90's while working on one of his plays, The Black Rider with writer William S. Burroughs of "Naked Lunch" notoriety.  It was this era in Tom's life that made me know he was going to knock his role as Satan in Doctor Parnassus out of the park.  Going well back to his Mystery Men days, this classic fedora and suit look just screams lounge lizard but there's so much more to Tom.  This was the very first picture that I did in the Conte Pierre Noire lead pencils that have become the basis of most of the work presented on this blog.  A fortuitous combination of subject and medium to say the least.

Tom Waits, "Laugh"

Tom Waits, "Laugh"

Portrait, 10 1/2 x 12 in

Lead on Paper

Yet another Tom Waits piece, spotlighting yet another of his many eccentric appearances and personalities.  This particular picture is from the Heart Attack and Vine era in the early 80's just before he got that crazy pin-stripe mustache going on for the next few years.  There is something about Tom when he laughs.  The sound is like gravel being dumped through a steel sieve and it seems to shake the ground beneath your feet, it's no accident he played the devil in Dr Parnasus.  His worn out suit drips off his shoulders as he shakes with laughter, summing up much of his life to me.  Looking back the lines are a little loose and the shirt is a little undefined, and I love it.  It all screams Tom to me and it should look really nice peering down from a mantle somewhere.