rawr!

James ran across this picture on his google reader while I was looking for something to draw in my sketchbook. The result may be my favorite thing in the book so far:

I should probably give him a speech bubble, huh? Also, I've also been going to life drawing sessions at PNCA. And I did some smaller colored pencil pieces (20 or 25 minutes each) that actually fit on my scanner:

social networking drag-down

So I'm taking a weekend illustration class with Ryan Bubnis (check out his site, his stuff is neat!). The first assignment was to illustrate this NPR broadcast about social networking sites and how dependent on them people have become. Mine pretty much wound up summing up my feelings on Facebook.

7x5, brush and ink and microns on bristol.

another sketchbook page

micron pen

life drawing & self-portrait

This is the first self portrait I ever attempted a) of this size (it's on 18''x24'' newsprint) and b) in charcoal. I've been slowly getting used to charcoal again, having not touched it since when I was getting my BA.

And although the quality of the photos is dismal, I uploaded a handful of pieces of life drawings from October and November to my flickr here.

hot girl, weird dress

gouache, ink, and colored pencil

doodle amnesty

I've been hoarding my drawings all October. So here is an assortment of original character doodles I finally got around to compiling and posting. Group picture in color, sheet for younger characters, a haircut, you better believe those are Minnie Mouse ears and a page of comic about a dirty limerick.

leek spinnin'

One of my friends is putting together a group-effort animation based on Loituma/Leekspin which, um...I don't really understand, but it looked like fun so I made one. This is first time I can remember doing a hand drawn animation like this.

My character ends the video by dropping it :D

sketchbook project a-go-go

I signed up for the Art House Co-op's Sketchbook Project almost two months ago, but didn't get a chance to work on my book until now. My theme, as the above photo suggests is "It will be fun, I swear!"

And that anagrams to "Abuse, write, fill, win." Which I've decided must be my real theme.

If I'm not mistaken, the Moleskine cahiers they're using have 60-something pages and I'm only 5 in so far. But I have until January 15th to complete it, which I fully plan on doing. I love the idea of the project after all. And I already gave them $25 dollars.

another bunny

strange kid

self portrait

Based on a camera phone pic from last year. Gouache and colored pencil, two hours. Hitch-hiker thumb!

stuff I've been doin'

Hey, guys! This is what my desk looks like when I'm painting! It looks like one of those I Spy pictures because I'm pretty messy. Things to note:

• That's a gouache painting of Eira and James that won't fit on my scanner.
• My palette is an IKEA dinner plate, purchased at Goodwill for 99 cents.
• I haven't bought a new desk calendar since last year. Still living in November 2009!
• Can you spot a piece of the photo scrap leftover from this painting?
• Yes, the lighting in my work space really is that bad :(

Also, I was getting annoyed at the blank wall behind the bed, so I made a clothespin hanger-thing from which I hung some CD inserts. I also spray-painted the clothespins blue, though it's hard to tell from my bad photo. Is the lighting this bad everywhere in the apartment? Answer: Probably.

status: still busy painting!

Here's a painting project I'm actually quite font of. The idea was to take sections of two photographs and combine them into an imaginary landscape. I used a beach scene with a swing set and a night-time photograph of a city sidewalk. And here's the result:


See the swing-set? Also, in case it's hard to tell, the smoke on the far right is actually mountains. And yeah, this is probably the first landscape I've ever finished??

still life/playing with gouache

I think the reason I've been drawing less is that most of my energy's been going into projects for my water media class. Trying to paint more representationally (without my familiar black ink lines) doesn't come easily to me at all!

cute commission

Gandolforf (@livejournal) wanted a picture of one of her characters with his pet piglet. I liked the idea from the start and we both liked the finished project too.

poor kitty

Orpheus was not a fan of the cone he had to wear after his kitty surgery.

character talk

I've been doing some individual commissions lately and, thus, drawing other people's characters. It's funny because it's been quite a while since I've done that—it always makes me a combination of nervous/excited. I love the idea of bringing other writer's creations to life, but I get nervous about getting it right. It's challenging to create a character design that's really what the writer envisioned. That said, I've found working with other creative types has been quite inspiring , and has given me the itch to make more of my own stuff and draw more of my own characters.

The above is a peek at a WIP featuring a couple of them :)

night-wandering

Inspired by today's "word of the day" from dictionary.com.

noctivagant
\noc-tiv-A-gant\ , adjective;

1.Pertaining to going about in the night; night-wandering.

Bunny on the Trail

Shayna asked me to illustrate a banner for the new summer writing challenge at Runaway Tales. The theme of the community is (plot) bunnies and she suggested something that would combine writing with a summery activity.

The Illustration Friday word is "trail" this week, which gave me the idea for the top portion of this image—thematically appropriate, as the point of the summer challenge is to encourage community members to write longer pieces. Drawing animals isn't my usual thing, but it wound up being a fun image.

drawing day 2010

I didn't realize it was drawing day until I checked my phone this morning and saw it on twitter. Thanks, twitter!

This is my first drawing of the day, drawn at a coffee shop before breakfast but after a few sips of tea. Planning on doing a bunch more to upload to Flickr. This is also making me think I should break down and create a deviantart account or at least one on amateur illustrator, which looks maybe more my speed.

If you're reading this, go draw something! Stick figures count too.

let's get this party started

With a pencil doodle.



She's got a sword cause she's about to fight some zombies. Obviously.