Tag: Music

Yo-Yo Ma and Me

Recently, I was given the privilege to be onstage and draw and improvise with master cellist Yo-Yo Ma. It was an incredible honor.

I drew, he played. I watched him, and the audience; he watched me and my drawing as it appeared onscreen. It was a multiple collaboration. I responded to what he was playing, he responded to what I was drawing. In between the playing and drawing, we discussed many things, moderated by Stage Director Guy Ben-Aharon.

Some drawings were of the audience, some of Yo-Yo, and one was pure imagination in response to his playing.

Two arts interacting.

A beautiful stage. Our conversations were moderated by Director Guy Ben-Aharon, on the right
Me “directing” Yo-Yo

 

I drew the audience as we began. Everyone takes a marble and puts it in a jar as it is passed around. Even Yo-Yo and I did the same.
Yo-Yo turned to face me and played one of my favorite songs, the Bach Cello Suite No. 1 . He played directly to me as I drew him.

 

This was pure imagination, a drawing in response to “angry” music.
A drawing of Yo-Yo playing an “angry” composition

 

The final collaboration was about hope. Yo-Yo played a medley of songs of hope, I drew the audience. Why the audience? Because it was a diverse gathering, with people of all ages, races, colors and different communities. The Jar, where this was held, strives to bring together such gatherings through an intentional Convener Model. It’s a wonderful non-profit that you can read about, here. It was founded by stage director, Guy Ben-Aharon, who also beautifully moderated the evening.

The evening really felt like a community.

I learned so much. We talked and created about passion, fear, hate, anger, hope, laughter, joy. Art is about connection. The two of us connected as we created, but we also connected with those observing.

Art is interactive.

I hope we touched others. Through our expression, I believe we were able to provide a bridge between us all in our shared humanity.


After the event, we did a shoot in front of a large drawing I did earlier. These photos were taken by the amazing photographer and my friend, Eric Korenman

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With Guy Ben-Aharon

 

We had so many great converstations throughout the night.
by Eric Korenman

 

 

Additional photos by Anna Olivella.

 

Drawing the 2019 Grammys: The Women Were Inspiring

I love drawing awards shows, and have done the Oscars, Grammys, Emmys, Tonys and BET Awards over the years.  Recently, I had a great time drawing the 2019 Grammys for CBS News, and you can see all the drawings and my commentary on Medium. They featured me on their home page! It was a particuarly good show, as women were featured in a major way, and many won big awards.

https://medium.com/s/story/drawing-the-2019-grammys-e36d94672e11

The 2017 Grammys: A Visual (and Musical) Treat

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It was a thrill to go to the Grammys this year with CBS News as their resident cartoonist. I was on the red carpet with the team, and drew people who stopped to talk to the CBS correspondent Vlad Duthiers.  The outfits were great, I couldn’t catch them all by any measure. The men in particular were using the opportunity to go wild with their outfits.  No chance to draw Adele or Beyonce, for while they “did” the red carpet, they whisked by so fast, I couldn’t even get a photo!  Grammys 2017 - 7
After the red carpet, we went to the Media room, where we watched the proceedings on large monitors with tons of other journalists hunched over computers. They gave us boxed dinners of sandwiches and cookies, and coffee of course. As for the show itself, the highlight for me was the Prince tributes and the Carpool Karaoke in a fake car with numerous celebs and James Corden (whom I find adorable).
Below are the drawings I did before and during it all and some are also in a slide show on CBSNews.com

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