Floyd Patterson

TOM- Within the past few month's, I've been watching a lot of old boxing footage, stuff from the 50's and 60's mainly. There's something about those fights on a purely aesthetic level that is inspiring to me as an artist. There certainly is a great tradition in art, be it film or illustration, of using the subject of boxing as a source of inspiration. I myself often play with boxing themes in alot of my sketchbook work. Recently though, I attempted to create a portrait of a classic boxer and one of my favorites from that time, Floyd Patterson. He was a dude from Brooklyn with super cool hair who would just lay guys out in the ring, it's awesome to watch. I had fun drawing this and I'd like to create more work around this theme. Check out Floyd at work here.

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PDX Model Drawing!

TOM - So I was finally able to find a spot out here in Portland to do some live model drawing. My friend Jon and I went to check it out this weekend. Our model was great and it was nice to free up and do some life drawing again, it's been too long. Anyway, here are some of the drawings that I did. I apologize for the quality, they were taken with my camera phone!

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Synthetic

TOM- Here's a new drawing I made. I enjoyed using acrylic paints to create the 'fur'. The rest is just black ink and it's all on 11x14 bristol. Hope you like it. Happy Monday!

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Ted Williams

TOM- I'm sure by now everyone is familiar with this guy, Ted Williams. A pretty amazing story about a homeless dude with this incredible radio voice. All it took was one video of him to go viral on Youtube and within days he was appearing on daytime television shows, in talks to become the next voice for the Cleveland Cavaliers and getting offers for voice over work from companies like Kraft. It's good to see a positive story like this getting a whole lot of attention from all over the world. It certainly got my attention and inspired me to draw a little portrait of the man himself. As I was drawing this I couldn't help but think that just a matter of days ago, this man was out on the streets asking for money. Just goes to show how unpredictable life can be, in a good way. If we think we know where we'll be in three days time, we're only fooling ourselves. Go Ted!

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Happy New Year!

TOM - Happy New Year, everyone! 2011 is going to be a really awesome year, I'm excited
to finally start it! 2010 was a wonderful year full of new experiences, accomplishments, and big changes.


I watched this year end and start a new here in Portland OR, where I’ll be spending the next few months. I’m having a blast so far, it’s an awesome city and a really great place to make art.

However, being away from New York makes me realize just how ‘New York’ I really am. One of the things I’ve realized is that my history, up until this point, more or less lies within the city of New York. All experiences that have shaped me and made me who I am today, occurred within those five boroughs. I’ve realized that New York is more than just the backdrop in the story of my life, it's a major character, sort of my co-star. As people come and go, as jobs change, as apartments change, New York is always there, absorbing each experience deep within it’s concrete and brick. It wears me as much as I wear it. And like the drawing above, it’s written all over me. They’re imprints on my being and they range from the sweetness of a lip print to the pain of a battle scar. Though where I once tried to hide from them, I now wear them with pride and will carry them with me wherever my journeys take me throughout life.

I’m Thomas Pitilli and I represent my city.

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