I should rename this blog, “Dinning With the Art Department.” I’m such a sucker for a good meal. Here is Shawn Barber and Chris, Uno, and Dan Dos Santos, and I at Agra -- my favorite hole in the wall Indian restaurant. Shawn is an amazing painter currently working on a series of portraits of contemporary artists and their tattoos. He is in town this week taking his California College of Art class to various publishers and artists' studios. Besides treating us to lunch, Shawn gave us a quick preview of his new art book due out this fall. (His current book, Tattooed Portraits, is available from 9mm Books.) After listening to how hard Shawn works it is clear how he has gotten as good as he is. Later in the afternoon we met up with the students at Tor and Dan and I gave a tag-team lecture and portfolio review.