The Skill of Walking

There's always been something interesting and magical about the ability to walk. I've always been fascinated by the amount of coordination it takes for bipedal locomotion; the brain has to be able to juggle all of the sights, muscles, balance, and then somehow coordinate all of the muscles necessary to put one foot in front of the other. It's something many of us take for granted.

And for those people who want to make it happen in a mechanical way? More power to them with trying to process all of that information. It must be daunting.

New Year, NPR & caricatures

It's a new year and while on the holiday break, I'm one to tune into listening to National Public Radio (NPR) for my entertainment from time-to-time. One of my favorite shows to listen to is Terry Gross' Fresh Air program as she interviews all sorts of people. She gets diplomats, sports figures, writers, artists, entertainers, and every other walk of life.

And seeing as how in radio, they tend to do a lot of year-end Best Of shows, she had an interview with comedian Jeff Ross which I thought was very insightful. On stage he comes across as a bit of a slob with a barbed sense of humor but on this interview, Terry Gross really got him to talk about his childhood, his influences and his profession.

Every once in awhile I'll get asked to do a caricature and while I was listening, I couldn't help but look up what Jeff Ross looked like and draw him. I was probably too kind and cleaned him up far too much but it was still a fun exercise in line. Doing caricatures can be a mean business as you're supposed to pull out all of the quirks, facial distortions and exaggerate them. Here i decided to clean him up a bit and just have fun with it.