This is my interpretation of a spy headquarters, located underneath a seemingly normal building. This is another Venus Colored pencils on Bristol 2 ply sketch pad. I think I was about 12 or 13 for this one.

I would always be exploring my neighborhood in the Bronx. You would walk down alleyways that link between buildings, and you would come out on the complete other side of the block. Sometimes more than two buildings intersected and you had multiple options of where to go.

I use to watch a lot of spy-type programs, from Get Smart, to Man from U.N.C.L.E, I loved James Bond and all that kind of stuff.

This is another cutaway, which I like to use to indicate all that is going on and how it’s connected. This is more of a maze than just traditional levels or floors.

Starting from the top, we have the building, which may be abandoned, seeing the broken window, though one window has a curtain, another a shade. We see a spy making his way down the secret entrance which is gained by going through a trash can. He’s got those cool Beatle boots that all the cool guys wore. We have a happy alley cat watching his descent. There’s a sewer opening to add some street detail, and a fire hydrant where the top hinges as the opening for a missile launching as we watch.

As we make our way down, we see a nice yellow cushion set up to soften the impact for people using the trash can entrance. To the left, through a very small door we find a lab. We see a scientist inside, with a monocle, slightly hunched (you would be too if you had to use that door every day). It has the normal chemical lab components. Beakers, bunsen burner, flasks, tubing, it’s well equipped.

We make our way to the right side via the stairs, we see a control room. There is a man at a console, who is responsible for launching the missile through the hydrant, and the yellow light on top of his console indicates a successful launch. We also see there’s a throw-switch and phone, he also has a foot pedal, perhaps to accelerate the missile.

We find on the wall a picture of the boss, who could be the scientist on the left, but the monocle is in a different eye, so we dismiss. There is also a mercator projection map, which is pretty good for that age. I’m sure I didn’t know what it was called but I know what it looked like. We will now use the red hatch door on the floor and head down one more level.

Again, our descent is softened by a nice yellow cushion. We make our way through another small door and head into the workshop. I remember enough of this drawing to know that this was me. I’m wearing flair pants and a silk scarf on a yellow shirt. I’m tinkering away on some project, with a time-bomb, and some other equipment.

On the wall we see various tools and a shelf with jars, an acetylene torch and some other goodies. Under that there are three different model guns mounted on the wall, I think the middle one is supposed to be a Luger. A file cabinet for secret plans, and a couple of containers of dangerous materials.

There is a lot going on with this drawing, most likely as there was a lot going on in my brain, as there always is, even to this day.