Charlie by Ben Hecht

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is outstanding in so many ways it’s hard to know where to start. I want to be sure to point out something that might be missed and that is that author Hecht has this biography of his pal Charlie MacArthur with excellent quotes. Much to be quoted is just descriptions made by Hecht. I have my volume full of sticky notes where I found wonderful quotes.

Hecht’s writing is typical Hecht and his love of his friend shines through often in the text. I’m glad he wrote many of the chapters more as if approaching a column than a linear biography. It gives the opportunity to read a part and walk away and savor the writing abilities of Hecht.

Certainly the biggest drawback to the book is that there’s a good deal not told about MacArthur. Especially missing is information in his youngest years. However, the entire book is a joy to read and I highly recommend it.

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Here are a few caricatures I drew near Sarasota on September 6th. Started off outside.

It soon got dark….

So we all came inside.

This is one of the last I drew after more than 4 hours non-stop.  I was pooped!

Found this in Publix – Hamburger Cake! A chocolate cake that looks like a hamburger.

On UStream for a second day this week and another very productive time was had. Watercolored a wedding caricature, inked an editorial cartoon, inked another cartoon for a client, penciled a cartoon for a client and penciled/inked/watercolor a Thank you card for a friend in the military. All in 4 hours. Hope to be as productive tomorrow on UStream, too! 🙂

Got on a drawing spree this evening. 5 projects knocked out in 5 hours.

This is a painting of Manley Fuller who is president of the Florida Wildlife Federation. I painted five of these for those who spoke at a water and springs awareness event back on June 23rd at Silver River State Park. I’m involved with a great group of folks called the Silver Springs Alliance that sponsored the event.

Shall We Tell the President? by Jeffrey Archer
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Pretty standard thriller. Where the book is going at the beginning is the funnest part of the book. As it goes from there it takes a track revealing most of the bad guys and a few other character interactions. After that, it was clear to me how the book was going to end and, unfortunately, it did end that way. I was hoping for more from my first reading of a book by such a long time author as Archer. More tight writing and more of a chess game for a plot. I do like how the ending includes a mistake of missing a clue.

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Charles Lee is the director of Advocacy at Audubon of Florida and came to speak at our event at Silver River State Park June 23rd. He spoke about how water is used. About 50% of our water resources in Florida are used to water grass.  As Charles points out, grass is just for decoration and yet swallows up so much of our water. Something to add is that the decorative grass is also responsible for the poisons of fertilizer and bug killer being added to the soil that filters it’s way into our Florida water supply. His talk is below and was recorded by Live Oak Production Group.

This is another in a series of five watercolor paintings of speakers from a conference I was involved with this past June 23rd.

This is Estus Whitfield, who has been an environmental adviser to four Florida governors and one of the most respected of Florida environmentalists. He co-authored the Save our Everglades program that setup initiates to help clean water for the future of South Florida and it’s residents. He has also steered a series of other outdoor programs critical to the state of the Florida outdoors and all of us who live here.

I recently finished a series of paintings of speakers who spoke at an event I was involved at Silver River State Park back on June 23rd. The event was created to help educate folks about water and springs issues here in Florida. I’ll feature the 5 illustrations in the next week.

35 years ago today Groucho Marx died and the news was virtually lost as folks kept checking to be sure that Elvis had died 3 days earlier. Even the anniversaries of the death of the greatest raconteur of the insult and quick quip are buried by the showy warbler & hip shaker. Well, I’M not going to let the anniversary go by! So, here I place an illustration I drew of Groucho a few years ago and salute with a leer and a wiggle of the eyebrows!

The last of the caricatures I drew last night after an intense 4 hour event. Surprised I got a likeness at all! 🙂 This is Alexandra who was placed to assist me during the event. Turns out she knows & lives near dear friends of mine, comic book artist, Don Perlin and his wife. More than twice as many came to the event as expected and had me in full speed mode.  The event was for an opening of a school in St. Johns County, Florida, at the Caddy Shack Restaurant there. Hundreds of children attended and I did my best to draw as many drawings as I could for them.