Lucky 7s

One of the first large format pieces. A moment in time, this artwork. A special home in my heart. When I learnt I could sink more hours into a drawing and it could pay off, I could sell it and keep living as an artist. Although I could never call myself an artist at this point.  At this time, I was still using Copic markers as the base colour of my drawings, and I would then add pencil atop for more detail. My initiation to coloured pencils. My first pull of inspiration came from the streets of Manhattan and the streets of Two Bridges, which had these tickets scattered on the sidewalk. Colours and designs so bright and hopeful with the underlying, more sinister reality of gambling problems and hopes lost and discarded. A different side of New York from the St Regis Tiffanies silverware I have also drawn. The side I relate to more closely. The side of the $1 slice and bodega coffee cup. The iconography one learns of by living it. My New York from my studio apartment in Chinatown.

This piece is technically different from the work I produce today. Of course it is. I did it five years ago when my hair was short, my pockets empty, and my paper size dictated by whatever Blick sold to me—I couldn’t afford my own roll yet. My skill has improved, which can be seen from this piece, but it tells my story, I owe a lot to it and I love it.