Based in Los Angeles, Russell Crotty has been an abstract painter, installation artist and in the 1990s began to focus on drawing. His early drawings were based on the many ink sketches he makes in journals, especially of surfers, but then switched to a fascination with astronomy, which has resulted in his globe drawings. Of this activity, he says: "The process of drawing for myself and probably a lot of people seems more natural than painting, which is kind of forced by all the history and trends. . . I found that by simplifying the materials, it became much more interesting and subtle, not so bombastic as the abstract painting." (Sheets 100)

He records his night-sky observations in sketch books, and t...