"Facebook Portraits" 3-189, Ivy H.

Today is Sunday, January 27th. The start of the 4th week of this project I have embarked upon. I did finish the third portrait in the third week. So I'm on schedule as far as I'm concerned.

For the third week, it was another ex-coworker, Ivy. This one was quite special to me because without her, I wouldn't be where I am today in my career. You see, I was the one that replaced her old position at CURE Magazine.

When I started my career as a graphic designer in 2006, my first job was laying out oncology journals for a company called Cancer Information Group which was a sister company to CURE Media Group, publisher of CURE Magazine. I had been working for CIG for about 11 months when Ivy decided to part ways with CURE to pursue another opportunity.

They wanted to look internally for a replacement, and I really didn't intend on working for CURE since I was pretty content with what I was doing. I was poked and prodded to apply for the position by other people in CURE, including Ivy. So I did, and I've been there since.

The random number that was given to me for the third week was 189, and I was pleasantly surprised to learn that it was Ivy. Ivy is happily married so I thought I would pic a photo with her and her husband. Luckily, according to Ivy, the one I chose is one of her favorites photos of them together. All the better. =)

I estimated that this one took around 13 hours. There were lots of details and adjustments involved in the production. Over all I'm pretty happy with the result.

18" x 24", graphite and charcoal on paper. Ivy H 3-189.

It's still not perfect, by any means. There's certain nuances that I see between the work and the photo. I don't use any grids or anything so it's something that I have to train myself to notice these things while the work is in progress. It would also probably help that I am finally getting an drafting table soon. I will finally have a place to work on portraits.

One final thought, I have been posting the progress of each portrait on Instagram, which feeds to my Twitter and Facebook. The response has been great, and I couldn't ask for more. Hashtags makes sense now =). Follow me on Instagram or Twitter, both @FlipFlash21.

On to the next.

GZ

"Facebook Portraits" 2-121, Taylor B.

Here is the second piece for Facebook Portraits. The random number that was given to me was #121, and according to my Facebook friends list, it was Taylor.

Now I consider myself a pretty confident person, but I sometimes I still get nervous doing certain things. One of those is drawing another artist. Since artists and creative types know what to look for when they are looking at something, I set a higher level of expectation from the work I present them.

Taylor is one of those. She's an art and design student. She's creative. And she also happens to be related to one of my mentors... my boss. Talk about pressure. =) So when I learned it was her, I admit, I kinda freaked out a bit, but I sucked it up and got started.

I thought her current profile photo was perfect. So I didn't have to look far into her albums to find one interesting enough. I turned it to black and white just to make it easier to see the shadows and light.

She's the one on the left.

I am trying to make a point to start on a portrait on a Monday. For this one, I couldn't wait. Ok. To be honest, I was bored. So I got started the Thursday after I finished the portrait of David D.

This one took me 12 hours total. I do get distracted, and since I don't have an actual place to be able to draw properly, I have to take many breaks because my right leg always falls asleep from sitting in an awkward position while drawing on my bed.

18" x 24", graphite and charcoal on paper. Taylor B 2-121.

It's not perfect by any means, but I'm working on getting better. I see some nuances on the portrait that I could have done better. Sometimes I see these things after I take my eyes off of it after a while.

I'm also working on getting faster. At the rate I'm going, the last portrait of the year might take 60 hours. lol

This was a lot of fun to draw. It's on its way to Taylor as I write this. Can't wait for her to post a photo with it. On to next week's portrait.

"Facebook Portraits" 1-441, David D.

A new year comes with a new set of challenges and resolutions. There's only one for me, and that is to get back to doing what I love the most. Drawing. Portraits, mainly.  There's just something about a person's face that's intriguing to me as an artist.

The irony here lies in the fact that I did most of my portrait drawings BEFORE I became an art major at UTA (The University of Texas at Arlington). Once I became focused on being a graphic designer, all my work became computer based. Being busy with school work, working to pay for school and playing guitar with my friends became more important than sitting alone and hammering out a piece.

This year, I'm making a point to draw more. Then I started thinking, "Why would I draw photos of famous people? They don't mean anything to me." So I posted this on my Facebook wall. Just to see how people would react to it.

"I need people to draw. So, from now on, instead of drawing actors/actresses, I will be picking a random friend, look through their photos and draw a photo I find interesting enough. I will post the finished piece, tag whoever it belongs to then send the original to that person. My goal is one piece a week. All I ask is in return is to have that person post their photo on Facebook holding their portrait and tag me on it."

And the reaction I got was overwhelming. First, I needed to figure out how to randomize my selection process. I noticed that when you go to your Facebook profile, click on friends, your friends list shows up in no particular order. Seems random enough, but if I just chose a friend to draw, it still wouldn't be random because its my choice. So I went here:

http://www.random.org/

I typed in the set of numbers I wanted it to choose from. In this case, a number between 1 and 523 (the number of friends I have on Facebook). 441 is the result. I then went on my friends list and counted 441, and that led me to my first person to draw. David D.

The only choice I allow myself to have is the photo of theirs to draw. So I went on to his profile photos and chose this.

Interesting enough. Good expression.

2 nights and 11 hours later....

18" x 24", graphite and charcoal on paper. David D 1-441.

Not a bad start for not having drawn in 12 years, I think. Now on to the next. =)

Desperate Tarts (Bacon and Leek Savory Tart/Quiche)

Alright, haven't posted anything in while. Its raining, I'm bored and I had to cook for a potluck tonight. So here is my first stab at a cooking post. I figure people have been telling me for a while now that I should blog about the stuff I have been cooking. So why not, right?

Every month for the last year, some friends and I have gathered for a potluck. We usually have a theme such as Italian, Mexican, Greek, etc. This month's theme is Sexual Innuendo. Food that contain sexual connotations in the name or how they are presented. So I decided to go with tarts. By definition tarts are open pastry cases with a filling, OR a prostitute or a promiscuous woman. I thought its fitting.

So I did some research and found some savory tart recipes and came across a recipe for a Leek and Bacon tart. Mmmm.... bacon. It had me at bacon. I shall call it "Desperate Tart."  Why? Because every tart craves a little meat in them. Pun intended. =)

To start off, the ingredients...

Eggs, Heavy whipping cream, Leeks, Bacon, Thyme, Garlic, Salt and Pepper, Pie crust, Shredded Cheese

I usually look at a recipe figure out what's in them and then put it together in my own, but the recipe and instructions are posted at the end of this post.

Prepping the crust
The actual recipe calls for a homemade crust, but I do not own a food processor or time to make it from scratch. So I opted for a pre-made pie crust and prepped it as per the directions on the packaging.

Prepping the leeks
Leeks are cheap and good. I often make potato and leek soup. So I'm pretty handy at prepping leeks. I started off with four leeks.

Get rid of all the tough, dark green parts and the roots...

Then slice it lengthwise once, roll it 90 degrees and cut it lengthwise again so you get access to the middle which are full of sand and soil. This makes it easier to wash thoroughly.

Proceed to cutting up the leeks and transfer them to a bowl.

Herbs and spice
Thyme and garlic. The recipe doesn't actually doesn't call for garlic, but I had some handy. I love garlic so I figure I'd include them. Mince them and put aside.

On a side note, cooking for me is very therapeutic. So I had some music going. The Civil Wars. Check them out when you get the chance. You won't be disappointed. Also, I had an open bottle of Texas Hill Country wine laying around so I poured myself a glass.

Bacon
Time to get the bacon going. I used an entire package (1 pound) of bacon for this recipe. I needed to make 2 tarts to have enough for everyone. Slice them up and proceed to render them crispy.

Putting it all together
Set aside some bacon grease in the pan, which you will have plenty of. Thrown in the leeks, thyme and garlic. Season with some salt and pepper and sautee until the leeks are soft.

Since I had some wine around, I used a little to de-glaze the pan and get all the good bits on the bottom.

After the leeks are done, throw the leeks and bacon together in a bowl and add the shredded cheese. The recipe called for Gruyere cheese. I opted of a mix of parmesan, romano, asiago, and two other ones that I can't think of. It came in an 8oz package from the store. Gruyere would have been awesome, except I didn't really want to spend the money on it.

Mix it well and divide the mix into the pie shells.

The Custard
The last part of this dish is the custard mixture. Following the recipe, I started with 4 eggs and mixed it with a pint of heavy cream.

Whisk it all together, season with salt and pepper and divide it between the two pie shells. I ended up buying regular pie shells instead of the deep dish ones, so I had some left overs. If I had to do it again, I'd either buy the deep dish shells or cut the custard recipe by half.

Forgot to take a photo of this step with my camera, but I did post this photo on Instagram...

Place them in a 400 degree oven on a baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes. Once done, set aside to cool. Cut em up and enjoy!!

Looking forward to tonight. =)

The Recipe
Crust
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 sticks cold unsalted butter, cubed
1 large egg yolk
1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons ice water

Filling
1 pound thickly sliced bacon, cut into 1/2-inch dice
3 large leeks, white and tender green parts only, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon chopped thyme leaves
Salt and freshly ground white pepper
8 ounces cave-aged Gruyère cheese, shredded
4 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
2 1/2 cups heavy cream or half-and-half

    1.    In a food processor, pulse the 2 1/2 cups of flour with the salt. Add the butter and pulse until it is the size of small peas. Add the egg yolk and ice water and pulse until the pastry is moistened. Turn the pastry out onto a floured work surface and knead 2 or 3 times, just until smooth. Pat the pastry into 2 disks, wrap in plastic and refrigerate until firm, about 20 minutes.

    2.    Preheat the oven to 375°. On a floured surface, roll 1 disk of the pastry to a 12-inch round. Ease the pastry into a 10-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom without stretching. Trim the excess and use it to patch any holes. Refrigerate the tart shell for 10 minutes. Repeat with the remaining pastry.

    3.    Line the tart shells with foil and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake the tart shells for 30 minutes, just until dry. Remove the foil and pie weights and bake the crusts for about 15 minutes longer, until they are dry and golden. Transfer the tart pans to 2 sturdy baking sheets.

    4.    In a large skillet, cook the bacon over moderately high heat, stirring, until browned and crisp, about 7 minutes. Drain the bacon, leaving 1 tablespoon of the fat in the pan. Add the leeks and thyme to the skillet, season with salt and white pepper and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until the leeks are softened but not browned, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and let cool. Stir in the bacon and cheese.

    5.    Divide the bacon-and-leek filling between the tart shells. In a bowl, whisk the eggs with the egg yolks and heavy cream. Season lightly with salt and white pepper. Pour the custard into the tart shells and bake for about 30 minutes, rotating the sheet halfway through for even baking, until puffed and lightly browned. Transfer the quiches to a rack and let cool for 15 minutes. Remove the rings, cut the quiches into wedges and serve.
Make Ahead The quiches can be covered and refrigerated overnight. Reheat the quiches gently before serving.

GZ

Glitches and smiles

Well, there she is in her current state. I got most of the body work done on the tank and sprayed her with gray primer. After putting the bike together, the last step to get her running was to reattach all the wiring and lights.

I thought it was going to be simple, but after attaching all the components, I turned the key, and nothing. It took two days to figure out that it was just a dirty fuse box. So after some thorough cleaning and new fuses, she was up and running.

Here's a shot of the hole under the seat where the battery and air box used to be. All the components such as the regulator rectifier, fuse box and CDI controller are tucked under the seat.

After running her for a few minutes, it was time for a test ride.... a short one. She died a few times. The carbs still need to be tuned and the engine tuned up. But at last, I got to ride her up to Starbucks.

The next day, I went back and picked her up from Steve's shop, went to Starbucks and went for a ride around town with my friend Raymon. And after much deliberation, I decided to take her home to Dallas. I was kind of hesitant at first because I have never really ridden on the interstate before, but I sucked it up ad made it home safe in one piece... well at least I thought. Somewhere between my home town and Dallas, my license plate fell off.

I guess there could have been worse things that could have happened. I got a new plate the next day. Here she is at home. I hooked up the battery tender to her and got her juiced up. She was having trouble starting, Short trips and and the lack of the battery being on a charger for months finally got to her.

Now its time to get her running smoothly. A tune up, some fresh oil, re-jet and synch the carb and she should be good to go.

There are a few other things I need to address. One of which is the issue with the breather hose. After removing the air box, the excess fumes from the engine has no where to go to get reintroduced to the carbs to get burnt off. Pods are great looking and it makes sense for adding power, but it doesn't have the efficiency of the old design. So I will have to think of a way to do that to have the engine run more efficiently. That and I am suffocating from all the fumes billowing out from underneath my seat.

The last thing is that, last night, this kid showed up at Starbucks with his 1980 Suzuki GS550. Here it is below. Such a cool retro bike. Its essentially like my bike but smaller. It was cool to see what my bike used to look like. Can't wait to have my sit next to this one and see the changes side by side.

Needless to say that I have been all smiles the last few days. Finally being able to ride my bike after months of waiting. Now I can ride her and work on her at the same time. I'm hoping to get her all cleaned up by next spring. Painted and running smooth would e great. I'll make sure to post videos and more photos of me riding.

Until next time.

GZ

'Bout darn time...

Okay, so, where did I leave off?? Oh right, the bike was running, and I have been slacking with keeping up with this blog. Well, its been an incredibly busy few months and the juggling time between work, family, friends and leisure time has been really tough.


The only relaxing time I really have is working on motorcycle—even though its hard work. I was taking classes at Cedar Valley College to get my motorcycle repair technician certification, but for now that's on hold. First of all, I liked the classes, but the summer class I took kind of turned me off a little bit. I really wasn't getting the instruction I was expecting. I just felt like I was wasting money and I figured I might as well quit for now and focus on finishing the bike.

So, here's my progress thus far. I got the motorcycle running. I got the air cleaner installed and the intake boots replaced. since the rubber was all cracked and just a complete mess.

 I got all the wiring put back together, which I'm going to have to redo, but I'll explain that in a little bit.

 
One of the challenges of getting it started was getting fuel into the carburetor, and for that I needed a new petcock, or fuel valve, for you dirty minded people (Mina). =)

After I got the bike running, I started taking it on test rides just up and down the street just to see if the motor was strong and the transmission was alright. I learned a few things that I had to do to the bike. One was to synch the carbs so that each cylinder is getting the same amount of air/fuel mixture. The other was that the clutch had to be fixed, it felt soft and it felt like it was dragging.

I apologize for not taking photos for the other steps but it got a bit dirty. I changed the oil and oil filter, finally. I also ordered new clutch springs and plates to replace the old ones. I hit a couple of snags with the gear shift lever by messing it up cuz I was impatient. I got it fixed though. I won't elaborate since it was a stupid mistake.

After replacing the clutch plate and springs, the bike felt it got new life. She was beginning to run strong. She wasn't dragging and the clutch felt nice.

I was so excited to get the bike rolling and I was only a few steps away from actually riding her. Also, I got the title and registration in my name, finally. Again, so excited....

But then one day after work, I came home and found my bike in a puddle of gasoline....

The tank, has leaked and the sealer didn't do the job it was supposed to. There were too many pin holes in the tank to patch up. My heart sank, and I didn't know what to do.

I shopped around for a new tank, there were none. Used tanks on eBay, those were unreliable since most of them were taken off old tanks, and I didn't want a repeat of my old problem. A custom tank, they want at least a grand for them on other websites. And I certainly didn't want to pay for another sealant to only have it not work.

Enter, Steve. You know.. the guy that helped me with my seat pan?

Well, Steve knows a lot about metal since he's been working on them for all most his life. I called him up and told him my dilemma and asked for his opinion. His solution, build a new tank. So I got my good friend Ray to take Steve's trailer and bring my bike down to his shop so he could take a look at it, and we got to working. Well... Steve got to working, and I started working on Saturdays.

Here's a few shots of the beginnings of the new tank that Steve sent me while I was at work...

 

And since Steve was building a new tank for me, it would only make sense to work on the tail section too. New tank, old tail section—that really doesn't make any sense.

I wanted to relocate the battery to the tail section so Steve and I worked out a plan and I hacked away at the frame. Taking out anything that we weren't going to use anymore.

Tabs for the old seat pan... gone.

Tabs for side covers... gone...

...and gone.

That brace behind there...

...gone, replaced and reshaped.

Plastic fender... yeah that had to go too...

Did I mention I got to do some welding?? Thanks Steve!! =)

Tail light, mounted.

This is what we worked on today. The housing for the battery in the tail section of the bike. I wanted it to make sense with the new tank, and I think we were pretty successful with it.

Here's how she looks now. The tank is all finished up. All she needs is some body work and a fresh coat of paint. Here's one from behind.

A side view, above, and a three quarter view, below.

Still got lots to do. The wiring has to be redone now. I have no other choice, and there's no turning back.

Check out Steve's website at http://lonestarwelding.com/Home_Page.php. If you live in Dallas, and you need some welding done, contact him. Or contact me and I can get you in touch with him. He's a magician. I swear.

Well, more to come. Until then.

GZ