In the process of my endless rearrangement of my apartment, I managed to reveal a completely bare wall in my living room, one of the few in my home, and realized it called out for a big square painting. I mentioned this emptiness to my pal, Tommy Kane, and yesterday he appeared with one of his masterpieces, a lovely canvas of the Lone Ranger. Tom even hung it, as perfectly as only such a talented art director could do.
It was a beastly hot day, so, once the ladders and hammers were put away, we decided to visit the NY Sanitation Department’s maintenance garage on the banks of the Hudson River. We set up our folding armchairs in the shadow of some especially fragrant trucks and unwrapped ham and cheese croissants. After lunch, we broke out the drawing gear and spent an hour or two drawing the grimy complexity of rows of ailing trucks.
Tom is capable of spending weeks drawing a single scene so I tend to take my time too whenever I draw with him. As a result, these drawings tend to be very thick with lines, dark, layered, probably overworked. But there’s nothing like sitting with an old buddy in a garbage garage parking lot on a sweltering day, pen in one hand, book in the other, croissant crumbs in one’s whiskers, cawing seagulls overhead. Try it sometime.
Danny Gregory 
I LOVE IT!
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Ahh GOOD Times. Nothing like stoping to take the time and smell the????
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Very inspiring, Danny, I will try it – though we don’t really have seagulls here in land-locked Sheffield UK – so may not get the full “ambience”. Loved your drawing, those garbage trucks are quite elegant in their own way 🙂
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That is one great picture…and friend!
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Awesome drawing, awesome day, happy. 🙂
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So nice to have a sketching buddy, I wish I had one as patience as both of you to understand each other rhythm. Great sketch by the way.
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wonderful drawing, love the subject 🙂
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What a great way to spend the day in the sauna that is NYC this weekend.
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Excellent
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lol – love your description of your outing and what a great result.
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I love Tommy Kane’s gift to you…I know it’s the lone ranger but I thought that it’s still the three of you…together, you, Jack and Patty……perfect! What a great friend!
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Great way to spend the day! Though I’m not sure my nose could take the garbage garage on a sweltering day!
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I love the little blog you post! Very inspiring! You lucky to have such a friend! Drawing together with a pal is the best!
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Nice looking drawing of trucks. I’m getting back into drawing every day, and looking at your site is always encouraging.
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Sounds like a great day and your friend Mr. Kane was so generous.
I like the pages you created, particularly how you left that truck on the right side mostly in outline. I like that kind of economy.
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Been a while since I’ve cruised your blog, Danny. I just LOVE this post…those garbage trucks would be calling out to me like the Sirens in Homer’s “Odyssey”!
My mom and I are “sketch buddies” when I visit home back in Arkansas. I’ve got a few posts from a great auto salvage yard we go to together…”Rusty Acres”. You’d have a blast drawing there. Here’s a couple of link to those posts, if you are curious:
http://ludstuff.blogspot.com/search/label/El%20Dorado
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