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I JOINED THE INSTAGRAM BANDWAGON a few months ago, and so should you! I love it! Get a glimpse into my process and inspiration! Follow me @JohnMacConnell!

Drawing Chad & Will - 07/06/13

FOURTH OF JULY WEEKEND was a blast in the Pines! (I know, I'm a little late...) A highlight was definitely drawing with the Pines Nude Drawing group. It was glad to take some time away from all that strenuous partying and stressful days on the beach to relax with my pens and watercolors. :P

Chad and Will were great sports. We found a secluded house at the edge of the Pines with it's own private beach (newly cleared thanks to Hurricane Sandy). The boys did everything we asked--posing in the water, and we even got Will to climb a tree! I wish the session would have been longer. It was a great spot!

The Crying Show (Extreme Makeover: Home Edition)

CLEAR YOUR CALENDARS FOR THIS SUNDAY, JANUARY 31, 2010! This day, (8:00/7:00c) my episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition will be airing, on ABC! Set your DVRs, VCRs, Tivos, tripods with a camera, or whatever you have to to be sure not to miss it!

Back in November, I was contracted to create a mural for a young girl who's into theatre. It was a rigorous process to concept, draw, ink, color, and email (yes, email!) the final result to be install in just ONE week. All of it was worth it, though, because I hear the house turned out beautifully!

Working for Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (EMHE) was truly and exhilarating experience. The show really does take place over a week timeline (assembly in 72 hours), making the sketch-to-finish process a major challenge. Although the project was stressful at times, I'm excited to have had the opportunity to work with EMHE to give a family the home of their dreams and I can't wait to see the expressions on their faces.

In case you miss it (and you better not) or you just want to watch it over and over again (better idea!), you'll be able to find it for all your viewing pleasure on ABC's website.

Oh, and I almost forgot; the special guest hosts are pretty spectacular!

Extreme Muraling

There's a certain makeover show that happens to air on Sundays that I just did a mural of the Paris landscape for. The image covers three entire walls plus the ceiling!

It was an extremely difficult project because if the short time table I had to work with. I'm extremely happy with the result, though. Honestly, it just came out beautifully. This may be the fastest I've taken a project from start to finish and is certainly the largest files I've ever worked on. Did you know that Photoshop has a Large Document Format for files that exceed 2GB? I do now...

Not certain of the date/time of the airing of the episode, yet.

More to come!

Brooklyn, the Beautiful...

Oh Beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain, for purple mountains; majesty, above the fruited plain...

I've been working from home a lot lately and it gets pretty boring. Imagine not having to take the subway for work, to pack or go out for lunch, having any coworkers to gossip with or about and with everything you need in reach of your desk (including a bed...).

It's a bit lonely and I get stir crazy. So occasionally I'll take a break from work and make a point to get out of my apartment. I take a walk around the block, go for a run, do my laundry and sometimes just climb up to my roof.

Yesterday I took a trip to the roof and was greeted by this amazing sky. I'm actually working on a piece right now that is all about a beautiful sky so I was so happy to find such great reference right before me. Not wanting to risk missing the moment by running to grab my camera, I just took this shot with my camera phone. (God bless technology.)

It's a mix of the Brooklyn and Manhattan skyline with the Williamsburg Bridge right in the center. My favorite part by far though are those tremendous clouds.

Check back in a month or so to see the piece I'm working on...

San Francisco is where Young People go to Retire

My summer of fun just keeps on continuing. This time it brought me to (sometimes) sunny San Francisco, California! What a trip. I was in the city for about week and I think I saw everything worth seeing in that seven by seven mile city. I, literally, think I could lead city tours now.

We jaunted from the Cliff House on the beach of the Pacific, through Golden Gate Park, Richmond, Haight-Ashbury, the Castro, and the Mission District. We then went back up through Union Square, North Beach, Pier 39, Fisherman's Wharf and to the Golden Gate Bridge. We even took a day to leave the city and tour the Sonoma and Napa Valleys.

Also on the constant lookout for art, we made sure to stop into the de Young Museum, San Francisco MOMA, and a few galleries we happened upon along the way. Some highlights for me were the Picassos' and John Singer Sargents' and it was great to see some Wayne Thiebaud's in their native habitat.

I took a couple hundred photos while in the city, but unfortunately didn't get much time to draw. There was just so much to see and do! These are the few drawings that I was able to do on-site, though. They include a drawing from our day in the Mission District, our hostel room, and of the planes from the airport. Not the most exciting things I saw whilst traveling, with all the sea lions, landscapes and hoola-hoopers around, but it was these were the only times I wasn't on my feet running around or passed out from all the running around.

There were so many things I missed drawing, I'll just have to go back there soon and make up for it.

Italy & Greece

This is rounding out to be one of the most exciting summers of my life. I've finished Graduate School, living in New York City, surrounded by great friends, and traveling my little butt off.

About a week ago I returned from a trip to Italy and Greece. I had an absolutely amazing time. One of my really good friends is a high school Latin teacher and planned the trip for her students. I was lucky enough to be invited to be one of the chaperones for the trip because of my Art History background, travel savvy, and iron fist with children. (Or at least two of those three.) The trip started in Rome and ended in Athens. In the middle we visited Pompei, Mycenae, Olympia, Epidavros, and Delphi. So much to see in only 10 days!

The trip was a whirlwind tour, but was so much fun. I met so many people and had so much fun with the kids. Some of the highlights were the Acropolis, Pompei, and the Sistine Chapel. My only regret was that we didn't get to check out the Caravaggio exhibit while in Rome. I mean, seriously, how can you NOT look at Caravaggio while in Rome?? (We also missed the School of Athens :( )

Since I was in charge of protecting and herding 29 kids, needless to say, I didn't have much free time. I was able to get a few drawings done while there. Here we have the Parthenon, a statue of Antinious, and one of the many bus rides we endured. I did get a drawing of Pompei, but it has been mailed to my mother (I'm such a good son) before I got to scan it... I hope it makes it!

San Francisco is the next trip planned for this summer. Stay turned for more posts!

I Should Travel More!

Last weekend I took a trip down into Pennsylvania to visit the family. Time, on the way down, was spent preparing materials for my upcoming book show and my book Living Dying. (Stay tuned for it to go on sale!) The trip back was much more relaxed, and I was able to spend some time just drawing. I'm learning I really love to draw the tight interiors of buses, trains, and planes.

I Love Drawing

I have been working a lot lately and haven't be able to find much time to spend in my sketchbook. Here's a little something from the last few weeks. The first image was created during some down time at work, and the second was created as I waited for some friends uptown at 73rd St. and Amsterdam Ave.

Fountain

Yesterday I went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to check out the SUPERHEROES: Fashion and Fantasy exhibition with a friend. The show is a lot of fun and I highly recommend it.

Before the visit I ran 9 miles with my running club. My club meets in Central Park which is right next to the MET. Well, I was done with the run by noon and I wasn't meeting my friend until 2. I spent the two hours walking around the park and was able to sit down and get a nice (not quite finished) drawing done. All-in-all, it was a lovely afternoon.

Rooftop Sketch

Here is the second installation of my weekly entries. It was really difficult to not put a UFO or a monster ravaging the landscape in this one. Enjoy!