Heavens to Betsy: Deregulate this!

Posted on April 6, 2018 by portfoliolongo.com

I’m just going to say it. These folks are deep-down frightened. They see what’s unfolding, and no matter how hard they slam on the brakes, there’s no stopping the inevitable demographic and economic changes and the corresponding cultural diversification and darkening of our collective pigmentation. Right now all they can do is wall themselves off economically, skim off as much as possible for themselves, take refuge in their own amnesia, and throw it in reverse.

Beer context: Pine and Palm’s Pacific Coast Porter
17th Street Pub
Sketch Club, iPad Pro, Apple Pencil

Click on image to enlarge

Tanisha’s Rainy Merced Morning

Posted on November 10, 2015 by portfoliolongo.com

“Merced Main Street, after the rain and before the sun. So peaceful and beautiful in its own right.” These words set the stage for this photograph (as in click here to see it) from Tanisha’s Facebook page (via Instagram…Cf. @ quichefairy). With her permission I downloaded (and credited) her photo and used it liberally as a side-by-side reference to produce the following digital, freehand study on my iPad in Procreate. If I’ve tagged it properly and thoroughly, you’ll see suggested links below or, at least, a bunch of tags down there to other posts featuring downtown Merced, CA and, in particular, the 17th Street Public House, where Tanisha performs – among other places. Please check out her photo; my rendition barely approximates the beauty that Tanisha caught by surprise!

(Click on image to enlarge to full size: 2048 X 2048.)

Katrinaversary & St. Peter’s Cream Stout

Posted on August 29, 2015 by portfoliolongo.com

Annyth and I picked up 2 prints from Cuba that we had framed and then stopped off at the 17th St. Pub for a beer and some take out from J&R Tacos. I had a St. Peter’s Cream Stout that I snapped an iPhoto shot of because I thought I might try sketching it once I got home. (Nuffs been said about the 10th anniversary of Katrina, which we experienced first hand…well while on forced evacuation via CNN.)

Procreate. Note: I partially traced over the label on a separate layer…only the label, the rest is a freehand sketch using the above mentioned photo reference, as shown in this progress video.

w/ head?

Posted on October 8, 2014 by portfoliolongo.com

This evening, while sipping a beer at the 17th St. Public House, I began this drawing. Even though I was half-way through that tasty brew, I added a foamy head on top.

Now, as I post this from home, I’m reminded of a story that always makes me chuckle. Many years ago and in a country south of the equator a small group of us guys would gather at a little bar at the end of the day to blow off steam and just be in our twenties. The short, elderly woman who ran the joint and spoke English as a foreign language would always greet us at our table with a big smile and a wide tray loaded with bottled beer and glasses. As she poured the beer into our glasses, she’d asked each one of us – face to face – if we wanted our beer with head.

We always said yes. We laughed alright, but never in her face.