Illustration Friday: Skyline

I rarely paint anymore, as my family frequently disrupts my work time, so I am forced to stick with drawing these days. However, I enjoyed painting, and thought I'd pull out an old one for this week's Illustration Friday. It is a rooftop view of part of Pittsburgh, during the winter. I painted from a photo I took on a typically bleak day in January. Thankfully, those days are behind me now as I pack for the desert, which is stark, but never bleak. At least I hope. * http://www.cafepress.com/ottoblotto?pid=8246890

Linoleum revisited

So I'm back here, destroying the purity of the print world much more. This is the linoleum block print I was working on a few days ago, although it is almost unrecognizable as a lino print because of all I've done to it. I collaged and painted into it a whole lot, which I think and hope improved it a bit from the stark B&W I started with. It was fun, so I don't care. It is a street scene in Pittsburgh, in a rather notorious area called the Hill District, an area for which the series Hill Street Blues was named, but that is a different story. I lived in Pittsburgh for 9 years; three years getting an MFA at Carnegie-Mellon, and 6 more years because I was too stupid to realize that it was too cold and grey for me to survive. But at some point, my mind thawed, and I retreated to points south, never to shovel out my car again. All in all, Pittsburgh is a lovely city in its own way, and I'm glad for the years there. Go Steelers!