Around 1989 in downtown Los Angeles, I was working as a cashier at a restaurant/pub called Gorky’s Russian Café and Brewery. The place didn’t attract many customers, so I had a lot of free time between clients. Armed with a pen and unlimited beer coasters, I began doodling on the back of the coasters.
I started the drawings with a single line that didn’t leave the page and a character appeared and ended with a heart, a common element in many of the Gorky drawings.
When the first one was finished, I was amazed at the result and how organically the drawing was formed. I had time and coasters, so I repeated and refined the process, with similar characters which later in 2022 was named a “Gorky” as it transitioned from pen/coaster media to electronic media and then to print.
