Gabriel Liston

@lastwater

Drawer, painter, illustrator, whistler Images of water history and domestic life he/himmish lastwater.net Rep'd by Andrea Colvin Creative Agency banner: oil painting of pink sky over Umatilla lands

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Gabriel Liston@lastwater· 27d

One more page from after Saturday's match between England and Norway. I am fascinated by Tuchel.

An ink and watercolor sketchbook page. At top, against bright green, is a bald man with stern, exhausted eyes gesturing with his hands and saying, It's the quality of our games. It's nothing to do with mentality. Mentality is in quotes, and there's a couple misspellings to suggest a mild German accent. Below, against evening colors, a couple, hair tied back, one in long skirt, the other, bearded, in a pink shirt, kick a ball back and forth on the local pitch.

Gabriel Liston@lastwater· 28d

Okay, one more thing for #portfolioday which is that time, not long ago, when Justin Hocking and i made a FICTIONAL comic about an Oregon resort town that entirely washed into the sea: www.lastwater.net/the-town-tha...

Black pencil drawing of an old man and woman sitting high in some bleachers over an abandoned swimming staring out through the collapsed walls of the natatorium at a squall out on the Pacific Ocean.

Gabriel Liston@lastwater· 28d

When I'm not working in oil or watercolor, I also paint little blue book tiles (in acrylic, on actual books: Moby Books' illustrated classic editions)

Delft blue painting on sanded book cover of one child being held, horizontally by a man. Child reaches over to take something from another child who seems to be trying to decided whether or not they deserve it.

Delft blue painting on sanded book cover of a woman spinning a child with one hand like she is twirling a lasso or coiling a hose.

Delft blue painting on sanded book. A small child, her arm in a bandage, suspends a globe between her feet and is observed by a black bunny rabbit.

Delft blue painting on sanded book cover. One boy is standing in clown pants, another grabs him by the shirt sleeve and gestures at something very important just beyond our view.

Gabriel Liston@lastwater· 28d

Hello there #portfoliday! I am Gabriel Liston, an illustrator looking for cover work to distract me while I write my own stories. lastwater.net All my book stuff is represented by (the!) Andrea Colvin of ACCA! andreacolvincreative.com

oil painting of a glowing christmas tree in an empty, old hotel ballroom

Oil painting of standing rocks on the Oregon Coast silhouetted by moonlight. Painted title text says, Away Game.

Oil painting of a little free library almost entirely buried in snow, with a snow covered sagebrush fence line behind it. Painted title text says, Oasis.

Oil painting of the night sky and ridgeline. Iridescent clouds block the moon. Spruce trees silhouette the sky. Orange light streak in trees shows where a truck is headed down the road.

Gabriel Liston@lastwater· 29d

A small painting from the tail end of a wedding day, or, at least, from sketches of that day.

A 10 by 8 inch oil painting on paper. It shows three girls hanging out on a lawn next to a small pond. The middle girl holds a large plastic swan in her arms.

Gabriel Liston@lastwater· Jul 12

My highlight reel from the England v Norway match. Went up to Lombard House to watch because I'd never been, and I love and respect the owner's instagram feed, and they're dog-friendly. Sad we didn't stay to watch Argt v Swiss; there was a friendly Hollander w/ an Argt-chip on his shoulder.

A sketchbook page showing 15 inked little figures kicking a ball around, running into each other. One prominent figure, bald guy, is throwing a water bottle at the ground. Text below reads, 2:45 pm 11 July 2026. Lombard House. Bellingham scores against Norway. Norse manager is unhappy. One small figure shows another bald guy, Thomas Tuchel, wagging his index fingers wildly.

Gabriel Liston@lastwater· Jul 11

I love living on a North Portland street frequently used as a community outing thoroughfare. Even when i don't get a heads-up they're coming and gotta rush out when the dog barks and make ink notes on my hand and get all the details wrong.

Page of ink and color notes of people blasting by on roller skates and rollerblades, some waving rainbow flags, some sipping jamaica.

Gabriel Liston@lastwater· Jul 11

True

Ink and watercolor sketch of a golden doodle and a woman on an autumn walk, each looking back over their shoulder.

Gabriel Liston@lastwater· Jul 11

Perfect! I spent yesterday painting cobalt oxide onto a few bisque-ware mugs and sending them back with the potter for firing. Our first collab, test run. If they come out of the kiln nicely, we'll do more in the fall.

Photo of a bisque-fired tumbler. It has a raw white glaze, and a simple, gray brush painting of two boots kicking each other.

Gabriel Liston@lastwater· Jul 8

Scene from the field a couple days ago:

Ink cartoon of a football goal with a small boy hanging off the cross bar. Help! he says. A man in a cap standing next to him says You gonna have to help yourself bro. Another man, in a backwards cap, helpfully throws a ball at the kid.

Gabriel Liston@lastwater· Jul 7

My newly re-opened neighborhood library apparently supports this decision (as do I).

Snapshot of the Keezy Young graphic novel, Hello, Sunshine, propped up, facing out, on a library shelf.

Gabriel Liston@lastwater· Jul 7

Johnny B at the bbq. I really, really needed to see this one in paint; not entirely sure why. Here it is anyway.

Colorful 8 by 10 oil painting of a middle age whit guy, bald, with a pointy goatee, wearing a navy blue sleeveless tee, standing over a picnic table, maybe doing air guitar or something, and ginning ferociously. Glowing eyes. A plume of bright smoke billows behind him.

Detail of the guy's face from the first pic. You can see his teeth. You can also see the texture of the linen.

Gabriel Liston@lastwater· Jul 6

Community life drawing (clothed, props, short-ish poses) happens tonight at Daydreamer Pub, N Fessenden, St Johns, PDX. 6-9pm. 15$ for the model, + please order a drink or snax (so they keep us). US/BLGM game likely on (muted).

Color pencil portrait sketch on blue paper of a young woman, head tilted.

Gabriel Liston@lastwater· Jul 6

I'm back at the oil paints. Small stuff. Quantity over quality. Feels good. So many notebook sketches to turn into paintings, plus book projects to make real. No one really knows how it's all gonna turn out.

detail of an oil painting showing a middle age white guy with a pointy silver goatee grinning fearsomely in the afternoon light

Gabriel Liston@lastwater· Jul 3

Resting after along drive home from Colorado. Kid has decided to read Rebecca West's 1941, The Black Lamb and Gray Falcon, A Journey through Yugoslavia, at me. Which is apropo because 1/

Red and blue pencil sketch of a four-story sandstone bathouse above a large swimming pool, drawn from water-level. Several move through the 5 foot depth or walk aling the side. A father and son are noted in more detail above the building.

Gabriel Liston@lastwater· Jun 24

The barking registers because late on a weeknight you're gonna get one vehicle every two hours, maybe.

Small oil painting of slightly luminescent clouds with a moon behind them over a silhouetted ridge and spruce tree. A slash of headlight orange along the ridge shows where a truck is heading down the road.

Gabriel Liston@lastwater· Jun 19

Wait, what's this? We HAD electric rail from Portland to Eugene, WITH a branch to Corvallis?! Oh, Oregon.

Older, circa 1920, map detail showing mid-Willamette Valley. A line with black dots denotes electric rail lines. This line reaches Albany, then splits. One branch goes to Corvallis then south on the Long Tom. The other continues aling the Willsmette. Both converge again at Eugene.

Gabriel Liston@lastwater· Jun 17

This afternoon, the young Resistance was practicing their martial arts on the New Columbia splash pad.

Rough ink sketch of a young girl, backlit, standing on a splash pad between verticle jets of water. Her feet are planted, and she has blasted her right palm through the tower of waterw in front of her.

Gabriel Liston@lastwater· Jun 15

In which I also admit that i never even considered an alternate Star Wars/ESB universe where Luke joins up with Palpatine.

Charcoal drawing of a young white person with large light bangs, looking a little haunted around the eyes, warming a black hood and dress, seated in an armchair as if it were a throne.

Gabriel Liston@lastwater· Jun 15

Heads-up! Too hot for a Monday life drawing session at Daydreamer, St Johns, PDX this week. Here's the artist, @greylien828.bsky.social modeling for our session last week with one of my favorite old telephones.

Charcoal drawing of a young white person with buzzed sides, big long bangs, wearing black, draping dress with exterior corset, head turned to right, holding a large old phone on their lap, receiver facing up.

Gabriel Liston@lastwater· Jun 15

Devils! You devils! Not one of you told me about Eleanor Farjeon and her story Elsie Piddocks Skips in Her Sleep!

Photo of a vintage English paperback, A Puffin Book. It has a pale blue and red cover drawn by Edward Ardizzone of children outside a cottage pointing at a small girl jumping rope. The title reads Eleanor Farjeon's Book, Stories, Verses, Plays

Gabriel Liston@lastwater· Jun 9

Here's us heading out to look for the tanager. I drew these panels last year for the initial release.

Ink and watercolor drawing of two young boys in a rustic kitchen, t-shirt boy on bench says, Where did you see it? Flannel boy leaning on table with soda says, Almost to the North Meadow.

Ink and watercolor drawing of two young boys in cabin interior. Trapper Keeper, Lucky Charms, and generic root beer left on table. T-shirt boy waves book from open sliding glass door. Flannel boy, with binoculars, pulls pouch out of closet, says, Wait, survival kit

Ink and watercolor drawing of two young boys waking under some aspen trees in a narrow valley. Behind them is a silver-roofed A-frame. There is black dog, a black cat, and a flicker in a tree. The t-shirt boy leads. The flannel boy says to the dog, Stay, Marnie, stay

Ink and watercolor drawing of two young boys in an aspen forest. The t-shirt boy looks back from down the trail at the flannel boy who is stepping over a log and saying, Slow up, the tanager was also just before the meadow!

Gabriel Liston@lastwater· Jun 9

Good morning! The paperback of my bff, Justin Hocking's memoir, A Field Guide to the Subterranean, drops today. (Is this still fan art if you're painting passages from your own life as recalled by someone else?) @justinhocking.bsky.social #BookSky #BirdSky

Ink and watercolor illustration of a yellow, scarlet, and black bird high in a pine upslope from two boys in tall grass with a pair of binoculars. Slope is scattered with young aspen trees.

Detail the two boys. White kids, about eleven years old, one working on a mullet, the other with a bowl cut. Bowl cut sits on a log and passes binoculars to mullet. They're looking in direction of tanager but maybe don't have a fix yet.

Photograph of a book cover. Image is from the interior of a cave looking out. Title is A Field Guide to the Subterranean, a memoir, reclaiming the deep earth and our deepest selves, Justin Hocking.

Gabriel Liston@lastwater· Jun 5

Circa 2007, Reina Telgemeier produced a lovely zine to promote her webcomic series, Smile...

Photo of Raina Telgemeier's zine, Smile.

Gabriel Liston@lastwater· Jun 5

Artist! Quote with your fanart!

Ink and watercolor drawing of the Captain from the Pillow Talk episode of Ghosts UK. A man in a British officers uniform is propped on one arm on a bed staring intently, sadly, at a pillow.

Gabriel Liston@lastwater· Jun 5

Now that you mention it:

Wikipedia screen capture detail:

"Grizzly" Adams, with his grizzly bear, Benjamin Franklin, from the 1860 Hutchings' Illustrated California
Magazine
Born
John Adams
October 22, 1812
Medway, Massachusetts,
US
Died
October 25, 1860
(aged 48)
Neponset, Boston, formerly Suffolk County, Massachusetts,
US

Gabriel Liston@lastwater· Jun 4

Oh #KidLitPostcardDay, as a kid I was full of worry, and carried more than binocs, canteen, and a sketchbook. Still am, still do. Available for pictures. Portfolio: lastwater.net Rep'd by Andrea Colvin Creative Agency #kidlit #kidlitart #illustration

Ink and watercolor illustration of the interior of a slightly rustic home; exposed beams, woodstove. On the table is a cereal box and an open can of generic root beer. One boy stands by the sliding glass door waving a book. The other, binoculars over shoulder, reaches high in the closet for a blue pouch, saying, Wait, survival kit.

Gabriel Liston@lastwater· Jun 3

He is still having feelings and will not be making eye contact with me right now thank you

Gabriel Liston@lastwater· Jun 2

Three hours later, the dog is now clean and (mostly) dry.

Photo of the top of a driveway, up against the tomato plants and potato cages. A tall dog-wash stand is completely draped in five wet towels. A yellow cattle dryer and hoses lay on the other side with big jugs of dog shampoo and conditioner. No dog is shown.

Gabriel Liston@lastwater· Jun 2

I involuntarily screamed, LOUD, in Pioneer Square when I read the (very exhausted) canvasser's ballot. I felt awful for the canvasser, but, dang, maybe they coulda warned me first?