GET OUT MORE

I couldn’t help but snap a photograph of this couple as I passed by them on my daily walk. I was struck of course by the absurdity of their static position on this parked motorbike — they seemed more enraptured with the content streaming on their phones than the beauty of the day, or the existence of anything else, really.

But honestly, what made this a really compelling image for me was the intimacy of their stance. You have to be really comfortable with a person to lose yourself in their presence, with no space at all between you, atop a vehicle the width of a sheet of paper, in 90-degree weather, under the sparse shade of a tree. You have to be in love, really.

*singing loudly: Jose y Marta, sitting under a tree, S-C-R-O-L-L-I-N-G!

Technically, I’m continuing to enjoy pastel brushes for their ability to allow a sort of blunted abstraction that is perfect for conveying gestures, moods, and circumstances that feel both personal and universal. I also want to challenge myself to create more one-panel strips, as they free me from my own expectations of perfection. I have a mission to create more multi-panel strips, and these smaller ones are good exercise for those. And as you might have picked up from all my work ever, I love the punchy brevity of the one-liner. Call me, New York Magazine …