The niece’s toys line up for a class sketch.

I needed to bust out a quick sketch, so I came up with another exercise: Open up a movie, jump to a random frame with my eyes closed, then do a 5-minute gesture drawing of whatever I land on. I got lucky and ended up with this fun and challenging image of W.C. fields shooting billiards in “The Big Broadcast of 1938.”

Some quick gesture sketches I made while looking out the window of the Coffee Bean this morning. I was especially fascinated by the worker who made several trips with very long boxes perched on his shoulder, and the old guy with a cane who literally turned his left foot 90 degrees as he ambled forward.

So this fellow on Twitter asked if I do any work for hire; he wanted a cartoon avatar for his online persona. I offered to do it for free, not just because I’m a swell guy, but also because I’d prefer to practice without the obligation to get it “right” that comes with getting paid. Hopefully he likes it, but regardless, it was a fun exercise. I think what was especially tricky about this for me was that I don’t know him personally, and the two photos he provided offer very little insight to his personality.