I’m usually quite shy about showing the process of a drawing, but I’m working to change that.

This past weekend I attended Death Salon: Getty Villa. I’m a tremendous fan of Death Salon, and I had never been to the Getty Villa before, so it was quite the experience. This was my third Death Salon, and it definitely surpassed expectations. As happened during Death Salon: San Francisco, I found myself keen on drawing by the latter part of the day. 

Some folks might construe drawing during lectures as disrespectful to the speaker, and I can certainly understand how that might be perceived. For me, however, drawing during lectures serves multiple functions. Primarily, it keeps my hands busy, which keeps my mind from wandering until I doze off (which is easy for to do in a darkened, chilly lecture hall). I find I’m also likely to retain more, since I have an image associated with the topic being discussed. I’m not entirely sure how that works out, but I recall my college days of art history lectures and using notebook doodles to recall topics discussed in class: “Let’s see, early Roman art… I was sketching that laughing dragon…next to the notes about frescoes…oh yeah!”

Anyway, I couldn’t help but purchase an absolutely gorgeous blank book in the Villa’s gift shop, so it was only fitting that I start a sketch in it to commemorate the event. I call the result “Guardian of Memory.” I could expound on what Death Salon means to me, personally, but that’s a more complicated post for another day. For now, here’s the fruit of DS:GV’s inspiration:

How he looked at the end of the last program of the day.

Partway through inking on my lunch break a couple of days later.

The finished image.