John Alden Photography

  May 24, 2924 The Young Warriors - Join us for the one and only and evermore, this century, premier?   In 1986, the film The Young Warriors (aka- The Graduates of Malibu High) was in limited release to 10s of theaters. It payed once in a now-defunct theater in Clovis one night.  Why would you want to see this? Well, I, John Alden, was a co-star in the film. I play a shy mexican boy,Jorge, my ass (albeit a younger, 26 year old version of my ass) and I am brutally murdered.  I have been asked repeatedly over the years to show it. So be it! Saturday, May 11, 2024 will be the ONLY! chance to see this ill-breed, foot-licking, hedge-pig of a film  I understand if that’s the day to get the dogs toenails clipped and you can’t make it, but tere will ot be a next time. After this canker-blossom of a movie,will dive headfirst into the archives, and wither to dust, never to be seen again. There is a lot of stories of the behind the scenes making this film, in th...

Pen & Ink Posts - Instagram/Facebook 05/06/24 It’s been awhile since I last posted. I changed direction for a moment, and am working with a dip pen. It is a challenge. I have been messing with pen and ink for sometime now. I am digging headfirst into some direction and instruction and I feel confident that I’ll get better every day. This fdrawing    is a “ground zero” sketch, in other words, I did it without much instruction at all.. This pidgeon was outside the backddor of our shop and I grabbed a shot of him. I say ground zero, beciase this is what I’ll base forward work on. After some study, I’ll come back and try this one again and we can all see if I ave changed or not. Until then, this is “Pidgeon”. July 24 2024 Gibson Girl 3 I looked for a name for this portrait, but like so many of Gibson’s girls he did over the years, (Gibson drew from the late 19th century into the early part of the 20th century, drawing for Life magazine, where he would later serve as Life’s edi...

  Debi, Karter and Bobby Santa Rosa Show 072724 Debi and I journeyed north this last weekend, Sonoma and Santa Rosa (specifically). I was dropped off to hang with my friends, Mary and Ray in Sonoma while Debi traveled 30 minutes north to work with her daughter, Kater and Bob Edmonston on their show. It was time to rehearse the Carole King and James Taylor Tribute that they performed Saturday evening in Bob’s incredible backyard venue, complete with a view of the surrounding hills.  …back in Sonoma, I took that time to catch up and do a little photography of Mary’s flower garden. An impressive work, this garden has a 50’ diameter, designed with three concentric circles, all filled with blooming flowers. Packed in the circular rows were; zinnias, cupcake flowers, cosmos, dramatic varieties of sunflowers of red, yellow and black,    and more than I can’t recall right now.  Saturday I was back to Santa Rosa and an incredible show. The trio started the show with “It’...

 6 M ikes walked into a bar.  The bartender looked up and said. Welcome to the the “ Mike-bro brewery”.

One might think I’d be farther along in my study of pen and ink drawing and one would be right.  Well, this summer has been filled with…. A lot. The space I typically use for working,is a small kitchen nook that my wife would like to reclaim. Granted, I am a bit messy when it comes to making art, and she would prefer, I’m sure, to have the space for morning coffee back to a calm and peaceful environment, so I decided to move out. My garage is empty and is now being repurposed into a studio that will accommodate all of my urges to create.  This piece is another Charles Dana Gibson “Girl”. His line work is fast and in some cases, sketch like. My objective is to feel comfortable with the style and mimic it as best I can.  I started this drawing out by practicing and using the dip pen. It’s not as easy to manipulate as one might think. I need further study.  I purchased the Leonardt #30, a large, moderate flex nib, and is capable of producing good fine lines, but not muc...

  (Written during Covid. I was taking a class at Fresno City College, all done over zoom class, and learned this technique, indirect painting). I’ll never be hired as a forger but I at least i might be considered. Thought I’d share a painting I that I am calling done, for now anyhow. This is my interpretation of a painting by, Danish painter, Jan Van Eyck. The original was painted in 1435 using a process known as, “indirect painting” that I also used to recreate this one, just like he did.  Indirect painting  has been in use for many centurys. It is a long process of layering paint.  Many consider this to be Van Eyck’s self portrait. None of the work is signed.  Back then, it was considered blasphemous to sign your work.  Historians find it hard to determine authorship, but there are many clues left behind. that suggest it is him. It’s gotta be. Als Ich Kan

  Last Friday my frozen food wasn’t. It surprised me.  The Sears Kenmore Elite (aka LG)refrigerator we purchased 8 or 9 years ago gave up the ghost. I tried to revive it, I checked all the relevant online sites and found one, “10 things you can do to fix your LG fridge.  I was hopeful. The interior of the box was approaching a balmy 57°.  I followed the online directions starting first with cleaning the buildup of dust from around the coils. The fan had also stopped and I shop-vac sucked any and everything that was loose around it.  The fan started to spin. I had fixed it. I let it run another 15 minutes. The temp inside had dropped 2°. It was gonna work. I fixed it. But it didn’t. I hadn’t. Ward, the considerate and knowledgeable service technician showed around 3:30, and he ran a battery of test. “No”, he said. “It was not cooling. In fact, it’ll cost about $1350 to repair”. No guarantees either. An hour later Debi and I walked into Home Depot, found the fridg...