PATRICK ROSAL

I am so happy to live with one of Patrick Rosal's B-Boy (breakdancing) sketches!

I wrote and interviewed him about his B-Boy sketches in "Sketching the Energy of Breakdancers" featured in Our Own Voice. THAT ESSAY still captures what I wish to say about this vibrant drawing. But you can see Patrick's updated bio at his website. Speaking of visual effects, if you click on his website, you'll see the only Fil-Am poet I've ever seen wearing a Barong Tagalog in his author photo. Good for him!

I photograph his framed sketch, not at its usual place in the gallery hanging on a wall but, on the floor  (that’s the gallery’ beige rug) for obvious reasons...

Here's an excerpt from out lovely engagement together that I hope tempts you to go HERE and read the whole thing:

One thing about doing these drawings is that it trains my eye differently than poetry. I do a little photography. I’m partial to portraits in sort of documentary style. And when I draw or shoot, there’s something different about the attention to my environment. Maybe because the process seems to skip language most of the time. I wonder if it goes from the eye to the heart–or the other muscles. Anyway, your question makes me want to pay attention to color now and think about how these sketches might use that. I did try different color markers but the black on white is stark. It also just reminds me of scribbling on walls and jeans and sneakers. It’s among the simplest in materials—ink and paper. Bad “For Sale” signs use the same media. I like that these dancers are cousins to those signs. I like the idea of these extraordinary movements of the body being depicted with really simple materials.