Wednesday, November 26, 2014


sketches to communicate to a lighting designer and technical director how to make a tree grow for Nutcracker

Monday, November 24, 2014

 This sketch of an Armenian church in the Tarlabasi neighborhood of Istanbul is probably my favorite sketch of the year. It started raining while I was sketching, and the drops created a fantastic texture in the watercolor.
collapsing apartment building near the entrance to the Tarlabasi market. These are the very last of my sketches from Istanbul back in October. 

Sunday, November 23, 2014

The painting is 'On the Yacht "Namouna", Venice' 1890. By Julius L. Stewart. I just loved the angle, perspective and poses represented. I did this sketch in the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford back in September.

Thursday, November 20, 2014



More sketches for THE MISS FIRECRACKER CONTEST

Sunday, November 16, 2014


another sketch for my Nutcracker at Interlochen Center for the Arts. Act 2.


Friday, November 14, 2014


from the April 2014 archives. These are two preliminary sketches for The Beautiful Dark that went up in May and June of this year at The Barrow Group.

Thursday, November 13, 2014

Gary Decker's design for Dead Man Walking at the Power Center for the performing arts. Gary was a professor of mine at University of Michigan, and it's been great to catch up with him while I'm in town to tech Caroline, or Change.

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

This building is across from the police station in the Karikoy neighborhood in Istanbul. My brother lives nearby. After passing it for a couple days I noticed there was always a 1950s Chevy parked outside, so I had to draw it.

The Taxim to Tunel tram on Istiklal Caddesi in Istanbul.

Turkish Airlines plane at the gate. I keep finding more drawings from my trip to Istanbul in October.

Monday, November 10, 2014

the final sketch for my design of Caroline, or Change by Tony Kushner, music by Jeanine Tesori, directed by Mark Madama at University of Michigan. I fly to Detroit today for tech.

Sunday, November 9, 2014

last sketch from my October 2014 trip to Istanbul. This is the view from a coffee shop near Istanbul Modern in the Karikoy neighboorhood.

Saturday, November 8, 2014



Storyboarding storyboarding

Friday, November 7, 2014


Preliminary sketch for Act 1 of THE MISS FIRECRACKER CONTEST at Muhlenberg College. It's a rarely produced Beth Henley play set in late 1970s Mississippi. I did this sketch on the hilariously named Beiber Tourways which services Allentown PA. Sketching on public transit I both a necessity and good for my craft cause it keeps my drawings loose.
house in the Balat district in Istanbul

mosque and school in the Balat district of Istanbul

my copy or a charcoal sketch by Polish painter of orientalist themes, Jan Matejko

my notes from the Pera Museum, Istanbul, October 2014

Monday, November 3, 2014

Nevizade Caddesi in Istanbul. This is from my trip there last month. 

Sunday, November 2, 2014



trying to figure out how to turn five arches on wheels into a 'magical palace'. Ready, go! Obviously I haven't cracked it yet.
the view from Ara Cafe across the street from Galatasaray Lisesi

Saturday, November 1, 2014




views of the New Mosque. New for Istanbul is relative-- the mosque was completed in 1660-65

the view in a Bosphorus ferry from Kadıköy neighborhood in Asia to Eminonu in Europe