I have had an idea for a long time to create a scene with lots of flowers and green bits all messy and jumbled together. This is what I came up with on my first attempt. I think it's fairly fun. I like the abstract feeling of this picture. It's not exactly what I had in mind but that's ok.
Happy holidays to all of you! I hope this season rocks for one and all. Here is my fantastical christmas tree. I love all the glowing. Also, I was given a cd of christmas songs from a friend and it has the coolest song on it, "Oi to the world" by No Doubt. I thought it would be fun to have that here as well because it's awesome. Best to you all and happy new year.
I have a friend doesn't like to have his picture taken. So, when I looked through some photos the other day and found one of him, it was a rare treat. I think he has a really neat looking face and I've always wanted to draw him. He is an artist, lives by his own rules, works when he wants to, refuses to buy a house or a car - doesn't want the payments. He rides his bike everywhere, when he isn't riding the bus that is. He is determined to do his part to keep the world a bit cleaner, less polluted. He recycles much of the garbage we accumulate at work. He is 54 and gay and by his own words, a true one of a kind in that respect. He says that men who are gay and still alive at his age are a rare thing. He is rare, in many ways. He is good and loyal and kind, a good friend. I don't know if he'd like my picture. I don't know if I'll show him -- he thinks he looks funny, I think he looks neat.
I saw this little girl on the net somewhere, it may be Meg Ryan's daughter. I forget. I drag stuff off the web from time to time that I see and think I may want to draw later, this is one of these. It's a bit messy but I think that's fun.
....I've been gone from the real world for a week now due to traffic accidents, and surgery (unrelated incidents). Therefore, no blogging. No responses to your comments. I'm sorry. I'm not saying anything else about this. Let's now all knock on wood that neither you nor I nor anyone we know ever ever ever has that lousy of a week ever ever ever again....
I started working on this awhile ago. I wanted to create a really cute piece of character art. I thought the perfect thing would be Little Red Riding Hood because she could be SO cute and the forest she was wandering in could be SO scary and dark. I think the juxtaposition is fun.
Back when he was young and more impressionable, Santa had a secret. He was in love with a very lousy band. Lets all hope Santa has better taste now.
This drawing is a revisit to an old friend, a drawing a few of you might recognize from a post I put up last year at some point, revamped. I hope your holidays are snappy, full of egg nog, and that you have little lights to look at somewhere in your house.
To all AC/DC fans. Sorry, no offense, clearly I just don't get their music. Or something.
This is something that I've been kicking around for awhile now. I really liked this when I started it months ago and when I found it again, I really thought it had potential so, I finally finished it. I really like how text has become an important part of this image (nearly everything you see here in white is part of large letters I chopped up). I think it's really interesting to take letters and words make them communicate in a way that they don't normally do, make them completely a visual element (except for the "kiss" type on the right side of course). I love all the curls and splatters and the stark contrast of dark color in the background. I think all these chaotic elements come together to create a really cool setting for the small, simple scene that is on the right side of the picture, the little kiss between flowers.
Sometimes there are "little moments" in artwork that are really enjoyable. For example, I may be looking at a painting or drawing and hate the whole thing but one small section in the upper right corner. That small bit, may strike me as so beautiful that the whole painting is suddenly redeemed. (In fact, to be off track for a minute, isn't that life really? Small moments that make all the other ordinary or awful or difficult moments ok? Interesting.) Anyway, I was working on a project at work, creating images of sea turtles. I thought it'd be fun to fill the turtles shell with something interesting, a pattern or something. The image you see here is what I came up with. It didn't turn out to be right for the project but it was a "little moment" that I really enjoyed. So, once again, this blog came to the rescue of something that has no other place to be. Awesome! I think it's a sweet little image, it makes me think of trees when the weather is cold and snowy.
So, what was Santa Claus like before he became the shopping guru that he is today? Before we all jumped on that bandwagon and turned something that should be nice and peaceful into a crowded shopping frenzy, something where if you don't give and receive bigger and better you begin to feel like you've failed Pop Culture 101. Did Santa start out just wanting to do something kind for someone? Maybe just something as simple as a note that said, "you are awesome!" and it snowballed? Christmas has gotten a little out of hand, at least I think it has. Thanksgiving night people were camped out at the Best Buy by my house, people trying to score a Wii on "Black Friday" before they were sold out. A man was trampled in a WalMart by his fellow shoppers, all looking for a deal. I think before things got crazy, Santa was a peaceful man with nice goal, to be kind and dole out a little appreciation and peace to the world. This is what I think Christmas should still be about. I think we should cut out the majority of shopping that goes on, instead, have a little cocoa, a little egg nog. Put some lights around a window and sit on the couch and look at them. Watch "A Christmas Story" and see little Ralphie and his brother's adventures one more time. Hug your families, put peace back into the mix. Slow down. Stop rushing all about. Be kind. Just enjoy the quiet peace of the season. I hope this is the sort of Christmas we all have this year.
My husband and I saw "Quantum of Solace" Saturday. We thought that what we should do is go out and walk around in the desert but we were too tired. "Quantum of Solace" turned out to be a movie that I really enjoyed. The opening credits were phenomenal, really interesting artwork. Go see the movie and you'll see what I'm talking about, I can't find anything to link to on the internet to show this. The point is, it made me wanted to draw something like the picture you see here, this isn't really like the artwork in "Quantum of Solace" opening credits but this is my reaction to it. The 2nd inspiration behind this drawing: last week at work, I learned how to make things really glow for a project at work, so, for the drawing you see here, I combined being inspired by the movie with last weeks adventures at work and this is what I ended up with. It reminds me of swimming in space, that sounds really relaxing~.
From time to time my husband and I discuss music, how tastes change as you grow up, how music that made you crazy with joy as a kid just doesn't do it for you as an adult, with the odd exception of course. REM used to be so interesting. Howard Jones, saw him twice in concert, now I could easily take his music or leave it; the Lightening Seeds, the B-52's, The Cure, The Police, even U2, to name a few. They're all still fine bands, I just don't still feel the adoration that I once did. It just seems that as you grow up your tastes, naturally and of course change. Then, just as I was getting out of my car to go back to work yesterday after lunch, a song came on the radio and I couldn't leave the car until it was finished. The song was "Pictures of You," the band -- The Cure. Isn't that just the case? Just as soon as you think one thing, something else comes along to make you rethink your original conclusions. So, here's to old bands who still make you smile, and the ever changing state of conclusions.
This image, for those of you not familiar with The Cure, is of lead singer for The Cure, Robert Smith. I have two cousins who met him in the 80's, he sounds like a really nice guy. Just thought I'd throw that in there, Robert Smith may wear lipstick and have really strange hair, but he sings a hell of a ballad and is a nice human being to boot, how cool.
It's my sister's 30th birthday today. She's been thinking about turning 30 for a long time now, worrying that she'd be old then, etc. I was the same way when I turned 30, as were many people I'm sure. This is my thought on the subject, she'll only be more awesome today than she was yesterday. Ami, you're the best sister a girl could have, I hope your birthday is amazing and that you have the best year yet. Love, K
From time to time our local Shopko sells Fox tv series on DVD for the awesome price of $20.00. My husband and I love Shopko and often wander about there looking for cheap books or dvds on sale. Last time this (the Fox dvd sale) happened we purchased seasons 2 and 3 of The X-Files and also a series we didn't know too much about called "Millennium." "Millennium" was created by the man behind The X-Files, Chris Carter; and since it was on sale for the above mentioned $20.00 and we love The X-Files, we took a chance. This turned out to be a GREAT decision. "Millenium" is really really amazing. CLICK THIS to read more about this totally cool, enthralling, and addictive series. Anyway, to the point of this drawing. The star of "Millennium" is Lance Henriksen. He is wonderfully wrinkly and I thought drawing all those wrinkles would be really fun, it was. The character Lance Henriksen plays on the show has special mental abilities. These abilities allow him to see into the minds of serial killers and see murders as they happened, just by being at the scene of a crime. So, I drew Lance with monsters nipping at him in this image. I love his large wrinkled sorrowful eyes and had fun trying to capture them in this image.
Nicole Richie has a great look. She is a very small looking woman with gigantic eyes. As an artist, I can't help but want to draw her; she's just so interesting looking. So, I finally did, and boy was it fun. I thought her look would look interesting in my newest style of drawing, the lots of lines style.
The trick here is that most of the other drawings I've done in this style have a subject that is fairly wrinkly, Nicole isn't wrinkly. So, it was a matter of deciding which of her features really make her, well, her. Of course, I decided the thing to highlight, the feature that makes Nicole her are her eyes. So, I decided to really focus on lots of lines there, but not too many because too many would age her. Leave most of the rest of her face line free, smooth and plain. Then, go back into the rest of her, her hair and outfit, with lots of additional lines. That way, I could be true to the drawing style but keep Nicole young and fresh looking at the same time. I created the pattern here in Adobe Illustrator and imported it into my drawing in Adobe Photoshop. I think the mix is fun. I like how the colors of the pattern work with the colors of her skin and hair.
Nicole is someone that is often seen everywhere-- tv, internet, magazines; yet; she doesn't seem to suddenly sing and dance in the spotlight. She's often seen in huge sunglasses or with her head down and a small smile. That's why I chose to draw her to the far right of the drawing, hugging the wall, so to speak. The cool thing about this is that I figured out how to use many lines and messy elements to draw someone who is fairly smooth in appearance. Nice!
I just spent about 2.5 hours on a project at work. This is the response I got on what I had done up to that point:
1. The light is confusing. 2. What's on her face? 3. "Hummmmmm." 4. Try again but ....
I am very sad. I LIKED what I had come up with. C'est la vie. I feel guilty when I get paid and the company can't even use what I came up with while I was BEING paid. Grrr. So, I threw everything I had done away except for part of one piece that I liked. Then as I needed to clear my head for a minute, I messed with the one part I saved, added splotches and dragonflies and I call it "Rainy Day Windshield." This title feels a bit mean. I don't intend to inflict damage on dragonflies today or any day, this is just what this picture reminded me of when I was done. Enjoy.
Note: yes, I realize that when I worked on this picture I was indeed at work and therefore only adding to the --not being useful while getting paid -- thought I wrote earlier. Yes that makes me feel guilty and makes me a hypocrite. I know this, but I can only say, I try to be useful and do the right things. I try to make sense but really, I'm 36 years old and have yet to make sense even to myself. If any of you out there do make sense, and/or aren't hypocrites, I'd love to hear your story and kudos to you.
A couple of years ago I purchased 3 female guppies and 1 male guppy from the feeder tank at Petco. Life in my 10 gallon tank has to be better than being eaten, was my thought. After some time, they started having babies, I was so so excited. Time passed and at 20 guppies I decided the male and female guppies had had enough fun and I purchased a smaller tank. There were fewer male guppies, so, they got volunteered to make the sacrifice and live in the smaller tank. After a year or more I was down to 2 male guppies and 1 female, so, the lucky males got to live in the big tank and the lone female got to live with an algae eater in the small one, where she's lived for 7- 8 months.
For the last 5-6 days my little female guppy has been dying. She lays on the bottom of the tank by the heater until either the cat or I check on her, then, she makes a massive, difficult looking display of showing that she's still alive by wiggling as best she can. Two days ago she decided to eat, she used what had to be all her will and effort to thrust herself to the top of the tank, grab a mouthful and fall back to the floor. She did this over and over, it was an amazing thing to watch. It appeared to be sheer will to get enough strength to make it to the top for a bit of food. I've been so impressed with her, her obvious will to make an effort, to show that she's still alive. I've thought that maybe the nice thing to do would be to flush her but everytime I look at her she wiggles so hard, I can't do it. So, this is for my friend the guppy. She was born in my tank and soon she will die there too, I'll miss her and her efforts, who knew a tiny plain looking fish could be such a great inspiration.
This morning as I pulled into a parking space at work I became keenly aware of the sun all around. It felt wonderful on my face and made the world look sparkly and bright. Deciding that some things can wait, I sat still and enjoyed the affect the sun was having on the world around me. It's been dark and snowy at times this week and because of that, the sun seemed especially marvelous to my eyes and mind. I thought to myself how I'd love to draw the sun, but how do you paint the sun? Mulling this over brought me to the conclusion that this would not really be difficult at all, all that would be required would be lots of sun colors swirling together. Colors so bright you can feel them on your eyelids when you close your eyes. Thinking about the sun brought to mind the poem "Fire and Ice" by Robert Frost. It's always been one of my favorites by Frost.
Some say the world will end in fire; Some say in ice. From what I've tasted of desire I hold with those who favor fire. But if it had to perish twice, I think I know enough of hate To know that for destruction ice Is also great And would suffice.
I know which I'd choose, how about you?
This one is for my friend the sun.
NOTE: A good friend left the most wonderful story about a sun here in the comments, if you have a minute I'd highly recommend reading it! Thanks to her for that!
Michael Crichton died November 4th of cancer. I just learn about this today, so, I'm a bit behind. I'm really sad about this; so, I did what I always seem to do in reaction to things, I drew a picture. My first memory of Mr. Crichton is "Jurassic Park," which will let you in on how late to the game I was when it came to his work, but as they say, better late than never. This is also the reason for picking a dinosaur for the subject of my post. My thoughts are with his family today. If you'd like to read more about him, click here.
Bob Newhart performed a comedic sketch that was hysterical. In the sketch Bob played a therapist who gives some GREAT advice to his patients. My husband and I love to tease each other and other people when they get too worried, upset, etc. with the advice shared by Bob in this sketch. I found it today and had to put it up here. More artwork coming soon.
Just a little drawing of the desert in Utah based on a drive my husband and I took recently near Skull Valley. If you've spent time in the desert you know how desolate it is, and how intriguing and beautiful. Lots and lots of space can be very pretty. My favorite part of this drawing is the mountains, how they look far away and simplified down to shapes and varying colors of purple/blue, they look soft and pretty to me. It's a wonderful feeling to be out there in the quiet, to hear yourself think, to breathe slowly.
As I don't plan on working tomorrow or doing anything but go Halloween crazy with my husband, I wanted to take the opportunity today to wish you all a HAPPY HALLOWEEN! I hope this halloween is the coolest, craziest, most outrageous and fun Halloween you've ever had. And may the creepy crawly sensation you feel on the back of your neck tomorrow night really be JUST the wind! HAAHAHAAAAABOOOOOO!
PS. If you're looking for something awesome to watch tomorrow night, my husband has put up a handy dandy movie review/list of the movies we've watched so far this Halloween season. They're mighty fine flicks! CLICK THIS to see the list.
Because my last post was not artwork related, I wanted to put up one that is -- since that's what this blog is supposed to be about. I worked on the drawing you see here for a couple of days; then, yesterday I duplicated it and made the subject's face more Halloween feeling. I like the dark coloring of these. I like the patterning and little bits of surprise scattered throughout, like the skulls and flowery wing type shapes. Halloween is so great because as an artist I have an excuse to draw things that are dark, strange, or wierd; and no one thinks twice about it, gets scared, or worries about the state of my mind. Nice!
Halloween is the coolest, hands down, most excellent holiday in my book. So, I thought I'd do something different and put up a post of my favorite halloween movie and book. The movie is "Constantine" and the novel is "The Stand" by Stephen King. I found a quote by Stephen King "The Stand":
"I love to burn things up," King says. "It's the werewolf in me, I guess.... The Stand was particularly fulfilling, because there I got a chance to scrub the whole human race, and man, it was fun! ... Much of the compulsive, driven feeling I had while I worked on The Stand came from the vicarious thrill of imagining an entire entrenched social order destroyed in one stroke."
How cool is that?! This book is a long one but really really worth the effort. To get lost in this one is a treat, it's one that as soon as I get to the last page, I think long and hard about just turning back to page one and giving it another go. And to be truthful, some days the mini series based on this book knocks "Constantine" back to second place. It's amazingly fun.
"Constantine" appeals to me because I'm fascinated by hell. I admit it. The idea proposed by the often great writer Edward Lee (he wrote two books on this theme that I adore called "City Infernal" and "Infernal Angel" of hell being a large thriving city is really interesting to me and Constantine portrays hell similarly. Exploring old places fascinates me no end and I think this is partly why I find this idea so intriguing. So, here's the trailer, I hope you enjoy. And once again, Happy October, Halloween and Haunting.
Since it is Halloween, a season of chills and thrills, I thought I'd draw Alfred Hitchcock. Hitchcock is awesome at telling a scary story. For many, many years now his stories have thrilling and chilling millions of people on the big screen, so I thought he'd be fitting for a halloween picture. Halloween isn't like many other holidays. There's really nothing you have to buy or do, it's just pure fun, watching scary movies, putting up little silly decorations; it's equally fun for kids and adults alike. Which is why I think so many of us like it so darn much. So, Happy Halloween to all of you, I hope you're having a great time so far this October!
Of the people I think is amazingly pretty is the actress Rachel Weisz; so, I thought I'd draw her. I don't know if this looks like her in the end but I had a grand time drawing this. It took longer than normal to finish this but was it a joy to draw. It was one of those drawings that you fall in love with as you draw it. I just kept thinking, oh, this is so pretty. Sometimes I begin to feel like I'm just a spectator when I'm drawing something, this was the case at times here. I like the way her eyes shine. I like the subtle colors mixed with flashes of green and pink. I like the sweeping feeling of the black cape. I love drawing when I really like the picture, when it goes well, smoothly. It's so exhilarating when that's the case.
This was drawn for a friend of her boys and father-in-law walking in the woods. She took the picture this is based on and I really loved it, so, as is par the course for me, I wanted to draw it. That's funny when I think about it, any picture I really like I want to draw it. I thought this style, lines and washes of color was fitting to the scene. Nature makes me feel alive and reminds me of all that is good about being alive; so, a labored process just didn't seem the way to approach drawing this sort of an image.
Cristina, you're awesome! Thanks for letting me draw your picture.
It's finished. Due to continuing feelings of sickness, I find I need something to keep my mind occupied; hence, the completion of my drawing of Michelle. She is so awesome and emailed to say that she didn't mind at all my putting this up here, thanks Michelle! I'm glad you like it too! Funny, I like this drawing but liked the previous one as well. I am glad that I continued to work on this drawing, that I didn't leave it undone. I think the final product was worth the effort and was fun to draw/paint. It was so nice smooshing around paint this morning on my computer. I like the smears of paint and the dark places throughout add a continuity that I like as well. I love studying my pictures when I finish with them because I always find spots, surprises, and painted bits that I didn't intend and that's really fun to me.
Note: Michelle is an awesome artist. To see her work CLICK THIS.
This is a drawing that is about 2/3rds the way finished, I think anyway. I thought it might be fun to show something unfinished and then later the final product. This picture is friend of mine, who hopefully doesn't mind this. I really like how this looks so far. I really enjoy how there are lots of details in some places mixed with big splotches of color in others. And once again, it's largly pink and that is always awesome in my book. I may make the outfit smooth black, that might be fun. I'll add more detail to certain areas, such as the hands; but, I don't want to put in so many details that focus is moved away from the face. And who knows, maybe next time I get back to this, I may decide it's perfect the way it is. We'll have to see.
I was having a difficult time getting through the work day yesterday, as I was feeling really rotten. So, I stopped to look at the internet for a minute in an effort to refresh myself. I saw a picture of a woman with big sunglasses and a long scarf and thought it looked like it'd make a great sketch. Here it is! It really helped me feel better, for a minute anyway. Yes. I like the way the quick lines make the picture seem alive.
There is a little animal in Utah commonly called a "potgut." Recently I learned that these little creatures are really prairie dogs and that they are on the endangered species list. Geez. Right now there is a group of prairie dogs in the four corners area that is being decimated by the bubonic plague which is horrible; this case aside, there are people that think killing these little creatures is ok, they are after all, just potguts, they don't matter. They do. Whether you are religious or not, vegetarian or not, a hunter or not, this is something that I think should bother us all. Killing for killings sake. Human beings by far have the biggest impact on Earth and we have a responsibility to protect small creatures going about their business not bothering anyone, small creatures that are incapable of defending themselves against us. They have enough danger in just existing without us adding to the problem. Come on, this is easy, give every animal, creature, being, plant, etc. the respect it deserves. Life matters. Respecting life matters.
I saw an image that was really interesting today. I used it as inspiration for this drawing. This was fairly fun to draw and helped me stop thinking about a frustrating client at work. Nice!
A little update. A month or so I put up a post regarding some artwork that I donated to Children International to be part of a silent auction for an event they were having on September 26th. Well, that was last Friday and I've been having a very difficult time being patient, I wanted to email my contact there the 27th to see if my artwork sold, if it did - for how much, how the event did in general. Well, I finally got word. The event was a success! They were able to raise a little over $100,000.00. The raised about $6000.00 in the silent auction, which is where my artwork fit in. I'm so exited that I was able to be a part of this, that my donations sold! I was forwarded a link about the event. If you're interested click HERE.
As for this blog, I've been crazy busy lately but hope to have a drawing to put up soon!
Just trying something new. The idea I wanted to try here is this: to have one bright background color, transparencies in the subject, limit color other than the background color. These things are a process and I'm on the quest to discover a style that communicates universally. Then again, is that what an artist is about? Depends on who you ask. Some artists want to create something that means something to them only, others want to communicate on a more universal scale. Always a big debate, goes back to the age old question really, what is art? Who knows. Maybe what art is and what the artist's job is changes minute by minute, or from person to person. Anyway, the quest goes on.
I wanted to draw someone using the world as a yo-yo. It's just an image I've been playing with in my mind. Maybe it's the Presidential election coming up, environmental issues, or maybe it's just a nod to optimism. I'm not sure. I also wanted to use some of the elements that I used in a drawing a few weeks ago, for it to have a similar feel. Here is what I came up with.
On another note, Happy Fall to everyone, may it be a peaceful & wonderful season for all of us.
The other day there was a painting by a contemporary artist in the paper of a "pinup girl" in front of a landscape. I didn't care for it. It was a nod to pulp art of the 40's, 50's, 60's, I'm guessing anyway. The girl in the painting lacked the subtle sexiness and grace of the original pinup girls; she looked really hard, a rear-end-in-your-face sort of sexy. I've been thinking about these women since, the women on the covers of old novels scattered around my house, the way they were painted so subtly; the talented artists that painted them. This type of artwork is so interesting to me because the artists who painted these covers were amazing. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. Anyway, food for thought, ramblings, and the reason for this drawing. I just wanted to draw something pretty; something soft, but stark, with deep pockets color.
It was rainy again. Rainy and feeling like escaping from work today. That's what led to this one. The rainbow is a nod to optimism. Half of me wanted to leave this feeling a bit morose and melancholy but you see what side won. Kudos to that side I suppose. I really want to go to this lake, canoe around the edges, see what I'd find, I can almost taste it.
It's rainy today. Cool, dark, rolling clouds fill the sky. Over the mountains there are soft cloud areas where rain is falling. It's the sort of day that I love even when it makes me a bit pensive. I love rainy days, especially during the summer, it's wonderful to feel cool after months of hot weather. Even sitting here at my desk, I can imagine being outside, the cool rain coming down, making me damp and restoring my mind. The coolness and change of color all around is so refreshing. I want to hole up somewhere and watch the show, roll over and read, then watch some more.
Why is this tree pink? Why are the leaves white? Why? What a lovely question to ask. Just in general of everything. Why is the sky blue, (ok, we know this but still.) Why is that car mustard yellow? Why does that person confuse me? Why do I think one thing; why do you think that other thing? What's bologna made of, is it really pig lips? And what about glue, and jello? Oh. Don't even want to go there. Why aren't sandwiches and healthcare free? Why can't we learn to speak cat? Why care how elephants communicate (just found this out, they communicate ultrasonically.) Why read? Endless, and on, and on. In answer to this picture and the eternal "why," why NOT.
This isn't something I do often, put things up other than drawings. This is my sketchbook of sorts. But, from time to time I have to put up videos, such as I HAD to put up Family Guy the other day. This is another. Watch it, it's WONDERFUL.
This is what I was in the mood to draw this morning. A really sketchy drawing, lots and lots of little thin lines, washes of textured color, mostly black. And the result- fun, fast movement. I like the line quality, it's delicate and without being wimpy. Thin lines that make powerful statements, I like the sound of that, makes me want to draw more like this one, many many more. Simplicity is such a breath of fresh air sometimes. Then again, maybe I'm just excited that it feels like Fall outside today, could be.
4 years ago I really wanted a cat and my husband said that was fine by him (he's great). I went to the Humane Society to look for one and after wandering around holding numerous cats I spied a little calico cat I thought was really cute and went to his cage to pet him. As I did, another anxious, tiny, black cat did his best to escape from the cage he was sharing with the calico. This little black cat, named "Little Man" according to the paper taped to his cage had desperate eyes and only one thing on his mind, to get out of that cage. I played with the little calico for a minute but my heart went out to the desperate "Little Man," and got him out of his cage to hold. Little Man climbed all over my shoulder, he had such a great personality that I liked him right away. When I tried to put him back in his cage, he spread his arms as wide as he could in attempt to not fit back inside. My lunch hour was up and I went back to work but I couldn't get Little Man out of my head. His funny little face and desperation wouldn't leave me, I knew I needed him. So, after work, I drove back to the Humane Society and about a half an hour later, I was driving home with my sweet little cat. My husband quickly fell in love with Little Man too. We followed him around the house that first night trying out names, we felt Little Man was a nickname, not a Name name. My husband eventually tried out Pete, and that felt just right. Our sweet Pete has been our friend and family member for 4 years today and this picture is in honor of him. Thanks to Pete for being so determined the day I met him, for being such an awesome monster and friend.
This picture is of Pete enjoying one of his favorite things, trying to catch the moths and flies that occasionally find their way to the light in our living room.
Recently I saw some interesting illustrations of fashion models. I thought about these images over the last few days and came up with my own idea for a fashion type illustration. Here it is. Creating this was fun. I had an idea/image in my head for my illustration but getting it to the final product you see here took some time, some exploring and some trial and error. I like the dark gold of the background. At first I choose hot pink but felt that something more subtle would make the drawing more sophisticated and interesting, less trendy. Also, hot pink seemed to dominate the picture and as pink isn't the subject here, it had to go.
I am obsessed with this idea, the idea of creating a really cool noir type book cover image. After researching pulp/noir book covers some more, I realized something that I already knew really. The girls are just plain sexier on these book covers that the girl on mine. So, I tried again. I like this one, and I'm hoping no one is offended by my picture here. My mom for one doesn't particularly love pulp book covers. But, it's not like she's naked or anything, right?
I am donating these framed pieces of artwork to Children International for a fundraiser they are having on September 26th, I am really excited. As part of the event on Sept. 26th they will be having a silent auction and that is where these pictures fit into this fundraiser. Here's to hoping that my pictures sell well and make a big difference in a child's life somewhere in the world. For more information on what Children International does you can CLICK HERE.
Another attempt to create something that feels "noir." I started this picture yesterday and was so excited to work on it again today. This is really different from traditional noir/pulp book covers, it's much more grainy and much more, messy I guess is the word. I love to create drawings with lots of drips and bursts and blurred places for projects at work and I think that made it's way into this picture. The best thing about this drawing is that for a long time I've wanted to draw something like I see on covers of old pulp novels. I don't draw or paint like these guys did/do; I think that's why I haven't attempted this before but it was really fun to do and I'm glad I finally gave it a go. I hope that if John D. MacDonald were alive, he'd not mind that I followed his lead in thinking up a title for my pretend book cover.
I have been doing some research for a 2nd attempt at the drawing I talked about in my last post. In doing so, I found an image that I liked and got an idea from it for this drawing.
There are tons of old noir/men's adventure paperback novels published from say 1960-1985 floating around my house and the cover art is really amazing. Robert McGinnis painted the artwork that graces many of these covers and he is definitely my favorite (CLICK HERE to see some of his artwork). He continues to create artwork in this style for a line of novels being published today through HARD CASE CRIME book publishers. The picture here in no way equals this great artwork but for some reason it reminds me just a little of some of the wonderful artwork on the covers of these novels. If I somehow end up being able to paint half as well as McGinnis, I'll be a happy artist indeed.
The other day I was at a stoplight when I noticed a woman in the car behind me. She had a round face, round cheeks, very very smooth porcelain looking skin and a tight ponytail (which really accentuated her smooth, makeup free face). She looked either completely bored or lost in thought. She caught my attention because she reminded me of someone that the "old masters" of past art periods would have loved to use as a subject in their paintings. Especially in art periods such as the Renaissance and Baroque, artists like Jan Vermeer, Raphael, Titan, and Leonardo da Vinci, to name a few, loved to paint people with full, round, smooth faces, at least some of the time. Because I have taken so many art history classes, been so influenced by these artists of the past, people such as this woman behind me at a traffic light really catch my attention, I really want to draw them. Because I thought following her and begging to take her picture for referrence would be weird, I just tried to keep her image in my head and then used my own face as referrence for this picture. I wanted to create a picture with lots of white and smooth places, for the eyes to really be accentuated, to be the focal point. I'm not sure if I succeeded completely here, but it was a fun experiement and a good one too because I am really excited to try again.
Sometimes there are "little moments" in artwork that are really enjoyable. For example, I may be looking at a painting or drawing and hate the whole thing but one small section in the upper right corner. That small bit, may strike me as so beautiful that the whole painting is suddenly redeemed. (In fact, to be off track for a minute, isn't that life really? Small moments that make all the other ordinary or awful or difficult moments ok? Interesting.) Anyway, I was working on a project at work, creating images of sea turtles. I thought it'd be fun to fill the turtles shell with something interesting, a pattern or something. The image you see here is what I came up with. It didn't turn out to be right for the project but it was a "little moment" that I really enjoyed. So, once again, this blog came to the rescue of something that has no other place to be. Awesome! I think it's a sweet little image, it makes me think of trees when the weather is cold and snowy.
Because my last post was not artwork related, I wanted to put up one that is -- since that's what this blog is supposed to be about. I worked on the drawing you see here for a couple of days; then, yesterday I duplicated it and made the subject's face more Halloween feeling. I like the dark coloring of these. I like the patterning and little bits of surprise scattered throughout, like the skulls and flowery wing type shapes. Halloween is so great because as an artist I have an excuse to draw things that are dark, strange, or wierd; and no one thinks twice about it, gets scared, or worries about the state of my mind. Nice!
It's finished. Due to continuing feelings of sickness, I find I need something to keep my mind occupied; hence, the completion of my drawing of Michelle. She is so awesome and emailed to say that she didn't mind at all my putting this up here, thanks Michelle! I'm glad you like it too! Funny, I like this drawing but liked the previous one as well. I am glad that I continued to work on this drawing, that I didn't leave it undone. I think the final product was worth the effort and was fun to draw/paint. It was so nice smooshing around paint this morning on my computer. I like the smears of paint and the dark places throughout add a continuity that I like as well. I love studying my pictures when I finish with them because I always find spots, surprises, and painted bits that I didn't intend and that's really fun to me.
I have been doing some research for a 2nd attempt at the drawing I talked about in my last post. In doing so, I found an image that I liked and got an idea from it for this drawing. 
