Tom's Art Adventures

I tought it would be fun to have Diana visit the Bay Area. I did a little research
as to her ability to fly and I was surprised by the controversy as to whether she
can fly at all. What about that invisible jet?

Well, the way I see it, I remember specifically that she flies in ‘Kingdom Come’
and I am almost positive that she is flying in other comic stories without the aid of
her Jet. In my research there are also accounts that she can gluide on a zephyr,
a breeze or wind current – the powers of a goddess. So, there you have it.

I must have a thing for Super Heriones and bridges. Here’s another
drawing I did a while back of SuperGirl making a landing on a bridge-like structure.

This may date me, but to reflect on this man’s life and legacy,
it really doesn’t matter. I met Pete Kleinow at Premivison/Suasilito,
CA in 1987 when I joined the crew on Gumby Adventures TV series.
Our time there overlapped briefly as he was just leaving the project
as I was coming in. He had already been there months before
helping Art Clokey get the studio set up.

I met him again a few years later in Los Angeles through a mutual
friend on the set of “Army of Darkness” a sequel of Sam Raimi’s
“Evil Dead” film. Pete was stop motion effects animaion supervisor.
I was in awe and totally inspired.

Again years later around 2000, Pete tracked me down through the same
mutual friend and we worked on a proposed stop motion animated
short film series that would revolve around his other great talent and
love – music. The project essentially was shelved we lost touch and
then Tuesday morning I got the news from a studio mate that he had
passed away over the weekend. I wish I had had the fortune to run
into him again recently, if anything to hang out with him just a little
while longer. He was a very generous and thoughtful man.

We’ll miss you Pete.

Here’s an SF Gate write up on his passing:

“Sneaky” Pete Kleinow

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — “Sneaky” Pete Kleinow, a steel guitar prodigy who
rose to fame as one of the original members of the Flying Burrito Brothers,
died Saturday. He was 72.

Kleinow, who also worked in film as an award-winning animator and special
effects artist, died at a Petaluma convalescent home. He had been living with
Alzheimer’s disease since last year, his daughter Anita Kleinow said.

During a musical career that spanned six decades, Kleinow helped define the
country-rock genre in the late 1960s and 1970s by taking the instrument he
had picked up as a teenager in South Bend, Ind., to California. His prowess
with the pedal steel guitar influenced a generation of rock-and-rollers, including
the Eagles, the Steve Miller Band and Poco.

Besides co-founding the Flying Burrito Brothers with the Byrds’ Chris Hillman
and Gram Parsons in 1968, he enjoyed a steady gig as a session musician,
recording with such singer-songwriters as John Lennon, Jackson Browne,
Linda Ronstadt and Joni Mitchell, and bands as varied as the Bee Gees
and Sly and the Family Stone.

He played and recorded regularly with Burrito Deluxe, a band he founded
in 2000 following the rebirth of alt-country music and fronted until
Alzheimer’s was diagnosed.

Before, during and after his steady run as a Burrito Brother, Kleinow
won acclaim as an animator, special effects artist and director of
commercials in the television and film industries. His credits ranged
from the original “Gumby” series — he wrote and performed the theme
music as well as designed cartoons — and the relaunched “The Twilight
Zone” to the movies “Under Siege,”"Fearless” and “The Empire Strikes Back.”

He won an Emmy Award in 1983 for his work on the miniseries,
“The Winds of War.”

Here’s the original link:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/01/08/national/a022101S01.DTL&hw=Peter+Kleinow&sn=001&sc=1000

Essentially it’s people watching while on the go. Every so often I catch a
glimpse of someone interesting in everyday situations. Typically it’s someone
walking dogs, riding bikes, jogging, shopping – you name it – and naturally
for me I tend to remember the moments when it’s a pretty girl as the subject.

Since 2004 I thought to begin a theme of sketches that differs from
cafe sketching, in which case you are essentially doing a life drawing and the
subject may or may not be aware. Winter Girl sketching is a much more
challenging exercise (at least for me), using imagination and what memories
each individual evoked at the time. I take the memory to the sketchbook long
after the fact — attempting to capture the moment. It makes it more anonymous
for both the subject and myself. Not that I wouldn’t like to meet these pretty ladies.

Anyway, here they are from most recent 2007 and back to when I first started
in 2004.

This young lady I saw leaning against a light post on a cold and misty day in
San Francisco. I couldn’t tell if she was dialing a cell phone or choosing a playlist
on her mp3 player. Her pose kind of described that she might be avoiding glare
on the LCD screen, thus her bent over posture. Not sure if I remebered it clearly
though.

This next girl seemed to have it together in wool fashions of today. She was a girl
I saw shopping in Napa just after the new year, I drew her up from memory but
had a little help from reference for the lighting on her face.

Downtown San Francisco business girl looking happy about her future with a jaunty walk.

Another Napa, CA girl on a sunny, crisp Napa winter’s day.

This memory sketching goes further than the Winter Girl theme. Here are a couple more.

Meet Jennifer. A girl that worked at a local car rental place. She picked me up at the auto
shop and was charming, conversational and quite pretty. A student from the east coast
finishing up at SF State.

And a girl driving a pickup truck that glanced over at a stoplight and offered a nice smile.

I had a little time between projects to get in a little sketching before the end of
the year. There’s a rare self portrait in this grouping. Some of you may recognize
me, though I dare say that likeness is debatable.

I’ve done a few studies for a series of paintings as a contribution to our next exhibit/art
auction later this month (January 2007). Once I have something more to show, I’ll post
some pictures (they’ll likely be too large to scan).