Here’s a drawing from the 2001 Loose Leaf Sketchbook. I had this sort of half size, three ring binder. It was leather, and I don’t know quite where I acquired it. I think that maybe, from Gotta Have it, that’s the most likely thing – that somebody brought it into Gotta Have it, and I liked it. So I got it, and put some paper in it, and punched the holes for the paper, and did these drawings.
Note for those who don’t know: Gotta Have it is a consignment vintage clothing store in Venice where I worked off and on for a lot of years in the 1990’s and early 2000’s.
I really liked working in that binder. The drawing itself is interesting. It shows me there, sort of running away, but looking back, and considering a previous relationship that I had had, and wrestling with whether or not I could see the beauty in that person. And of course, I could, but it took some effort in those days. This is, during the period of time when I would have been just beginning to work on the Saints series, and I think that it took me quite some time before I could really wrestle myself into making a saint image of her. But, of course, I eventually did.
As I’m running away, though, I’m depicting myself as sort of a saint, but about ready to hand off the halo to her, it’s an interesting drawing.
I notice that the shoes that I’m wearing in this drawing are this pair of gray leather, Mary Janes, that I also would have gotten from Gotta Have it. They were a large women’s size that fit me well enough. I wear about a nine and a half mens’ and I think that these were probably 11s or 11 and a half women’s. They fit so comfortably, and I wore them for the longest time, and I loved them. They were just feminine enough to sort of make a statement, which is the kind of thing that I would have enjoyed back then – back in the day, you know. The strap eventually broke on them, and so I stopped wearing them. If I’d had any sense, I would have taken them to a cobbler and gotten them fixed, but I didn’t have the sense or the money to do that back then.
So, that’s what this drawing is, and I kind of like it. It’s a good little drawing. I’m not sure where that sketchbook is, as with most of these things, but I’m sure it’s in a box somewhere, and I should unearth it and look through these drawings.
Update: I was right, I found the box – it wasn’t hard, it was right where I thought it would be – in a stack of boxes on a shelf in a closet. The box was clearly marked “sketchbooks” in sharpie along the side. A wealth of old sketchbooks was in it, among them was this one. I didn’t bother going through it, but someday I will. I pulled out some really old sketchbooks from the early 90’s (never scanned, and possibly never will be – we’ll see). I didn’t go through them today either, but I will.