Update on my Parents - Refugees from Ukraine - November, 2025.

You can read a whole story about these series of portraits here: War in Ukraine: Guide Through Posts on this Blog.

We recently celebrated Mom's 85th birthday with ice cream and a lemon pie. Lots of phone calls from all over the world and some good presents made it a good day. I got Mom an illustrated book about trees, and she is reading one little chapter a day. Her potted plants are doing great, and I think we need more pots :)

In October we had a great time visiting the pumpkin patch, where Mom got to draw with me (something that I've been trying to introduce back into her life). I think the pomegranate tree was almost as big a hit as the variety of gourds and squashes with their varied colors and textures. 

Dad got an electric wheelchair now and can get to more places around the neighborhood, which has led to some discoveries and adventures - mostly of a good kind. He plays chess with the neighbors, and we are working on getting his cataracts removed so that he can go back to playing on the phone, too.

Both my parents are watching the news about the Atlas comet with a lot of interest, which helps with my attempts at limiting their exposure to the news. However, they are staying on top of everything that is happening in Ukraine and are in touch with many friends and family members both in Ukraine and around the world. 

Drawing at a Rally in Support For Ukraine

Another protest, another rally for Ukraine. Drawing in San Francisco on Sunday, while a very one-sided 28-point plan for peace is hanging in the air. So-called peace plan demands Ukraine give up territory (including not currently occupied), limits the size of its army, and agrees not to pursue russia for the war crimes. Nobody wants this war to end as the Ukrainians do. But this has to be a lasting solution made with Ukraine and not dictated by anyone! 

Visiting a Magical Forest

Every year, Suhita Shirodkar and I make a pilgrimage to the Santa Cruz Mountains to see our friends in a wonderful community surrounding Gay Kraeger. And to draw an astonishing view of glowing persimmon trees. This time, the period between our last visit and this one was so packed with events for everyone that we ended up coming two weeks in a row to cover all the stories, share new materials, plans, and projects! One day was gloriously sunny, and we had a chance to draw persimmon trees, and another was magnificently foggy - so we ended up trying all sorts of art toys in a cozy, warm studio with a cup of tea while fog slowly melted around redwoods, which we drew. Click on the images to see larger version!

A New Chisel Pen I Tried

I am a big fan of drawing tools - and some version of a chisel pen is almost always in my tool kit. (for example, my latest travel sketching kit had one, and I missed having another). So when I saw that a new type of chisel tip pen appeared on the market, I had to try it - especially since it came in 4 different widths and several colors!

This pen is made in the EU, and is called "Manuscript Callicreative Italic Markers" and the nibs are:

Fine Point (1.4 mm)

Medium Point (2.5 mm)

Broad Point (3.6 mm)

Extra Broad Point (4.8 mm)

Below is a page from my sketchbook where I wrote my impressions. I got only black color, but did not read the description well enough to see that it is not waterproof ink. Which is a lot of fun by itself - if you are planning for it! 

The range of widths is a welcome thing for me compared to chisel nibs from Faber-Castell. But because of the way the pen is built, I was having a hard time placing the nib intuitively - and had to look at the page more often. The barrel is a little too slippery for me - in a photo below you will see that I put some tape to remedy that. But the ink is flowing generously and is really lovely, solid black, and you can move it quite a bit - especially if the paper has good sizing. And if it does not have any - the pen is almost waterproof!

You know November is Here When...

In the San Francisco Bay Area, Fall is a slow-moving season, and everyone navigates it differently. For me, when I see some maple trees worth sketching (they come before the Chinese Pistaches that put fire in the neighborhood and before ginkos that make you wish for 100 different shades of yellow pencils), and when you draw your first persimmons of the season, the fall is really here!