In Loving Memory of my Mother

Eleanor Rendon Urias. That was my mother's given birth name. She was born in Los Angeles, California on December 23rd , 1928.

This year on September 24th on a Saturday evening she passed away surrounded by most of her children quietly and without pain.

She held on as long as she could with the hope of having more family get togethers , cooking , making sure that we all ate well and stayed a close family. However she could not fully recover from an operation to remove a stomach tumor and continued to grow weak. She did fight for a while and dodged some bullets as she has done all her life.

My mother although born in L.A. moved to Mexico as a child during the Great Depression like many Americans did at the time. She returned to America as a teenager. She worked on a farm , picked tomatoes in the fields , worked in fish canneries and along the way was able to raise 12 children.

Things for us were never easy and as I look back even depressing some times but some how she must have raised us right because we all turned out pretty well. None of us ended up in jail or on the streets . In the early days we grew up in the "ghetto" or as people say now "the Hood" surrounded by street gangs , race riots and more but we all were able to come out more influenced by our mother than the influence of the surrounding area. She raised a good group of kids.

If you ask anyone about my mom she was a survivor. But more than that she was a Mom. Not just to me and my brothers and sisters but to anyone who happened to come into our house. There are a number of people who have told me that she was like a second mother to them . So they had to behave around her because they couldn't get away with being a little brat. My brother Johnny's oldest friend Jesse said that he liked my mom because She told it like it is. She didn't mess around!

This past monday there was a Memorial vigil in National City ( an area of San Diego) very close to her last apartment. There were lot's of people there and tons of flowers. It was all so beautiful and the next morning there was a Catholic mass service for her before proceeding to the Holy Cross Cememtery. I keep telling people it was the most beautiful ceremony I think my mother could have had. Certainly the most beautiful one I've ever been to. I'm sure she loved it. I can hear her saying "Aye, Que bonita!"

Myself and all my brothers - Daniel, Richard, Johnny, Manuel , my mother's brother Gilbert, my nephews John Jr. and Abraham were all pallbearers. I think that was the most I've ever seen at one funeral. I'm sure we could have had more if we could fit around the casket.

As we opened the doors to the church and carried my mother through them a light rain began to fall. It hadn't rained for a long time and my sister Josephine was saying that it's said that rain falling at a funeral means the Angels crying .

I will always love my mother and I will always miss her.

- Larry

Left to right : Elizabeth , Eleanor, Richard, John( baby), Daniel and Larry

My Mother's plaque at Holy Cross Cemetery in San Diego, Ca. 

December 2011

Close up of of work out

Overdue sketches

Finally got around to drawing something . Things have been a little hectic but drawing is a way of relaxing.

I was drawing some other things in painter again but Photoshop still feels much smoother.

I just discovered that Painter 11 doesn't work in Mac OS Lion. You have to upgrade to Painter 12 - or go back to using Painter 10. Photoshop shows no problems though.

This drawing is just simple . No idea or concept to put forth. Just someone working out at the gym . Thats where I see most of my models. I haven't been sketching people in restaurants or cafes lately . I've tried but it just doesn't move me. Sometimes I don't mind drawing tourists in baseball caps and shorts but it's really nothing I want to view over again.

-Lar

Figure doodles

More stuff from the Molskine Sketch book .

Japanese Brush Pens

Here are some shots of the brush pens I've been using since the eary eighties.

Only found in the stationary department of Japanese book stores. They cost ¥315. - about $3.50- but maybe more in the U.S. - Import tax you know.

I actually have some more expensive ones but they're not practical for carrying around.

Brush Pen Devil

I've been distracted lately with things non art or work related. It's good to get back to sketcking, practicing drawing and thinking about art things.

Drawing on paper again . Using a Moleskine sketchbook. The book has a buff colored paper , is well contructed and easy to carry around. Started just sketching a head to get started using a 4b graphite pencil .

I wanted to practice inking again using real ink. However the paper in the Moleskine book is a little soft to it causes the ink to bleed a bit and is to soft for a crow quill or other steel drawing pen point.

I was drawing this late last night so I was too lazy to dig out the Windsor Newton series 7 sable brushes for inking so I resorted to my Japanese brush pens.

I've been using these since around 1980. I found them at Kinokunya book store in Little Tokyo in Los Angeles.

They were made for Japanese to write in Kana . They are cheap and disposable but have a superior soft rubber point. Better than the expensive ones you can buy in art supply stores. The ink is VERY black and the point just gets pointier as the pen begins to wear. They are made by Pilot and I've NEVER seen them in an art supply store. I bought a mess of them the last time I went to Japan. They get marked up a bit if you buy them in the USA .

AS you can see in the drawing the pen behaves like a real brush. It reacts to pressure and direction and you don't have to dip it in ink or wash it out every so often lie a real brush.

I would still use a real brush and ink if I were to do something more finished but you can not beat it for sketchbook work! I'll post a pic of the pens later!

This drawing is about 6 inches high. September 5th , 2011.

-Lar

Mecca Girl Revisited II

Just coming back to this one to see where it goes. This is just a little tighter so it's just a progress report .

I've been really busy with commercial work so sometimes that really wears me down but also it gets me to do things a little tighter . Right now I'm waiting to get the go ahead on a project that's going to take all my time for the next week . But I can't start until I get the right concept approved. The longer they take to approve the shorter time I'll have to work on it.

I'll post it after the end of the month because for now I'm under a confidentiallty agreement.

It ought to be fun .

Remember to click on the imaage to get a bigger version.

-Lar