Recent sketches

Lately all I want to do is draw from life. I have done a lot, but no time to scan everything. Oddly enough these are some of the first sketches I have done in graphite in years. I almost never draw in pencil but lately it just feels right.

Wrinkles....

Maybe I went overboard?...For Illustration Friday.

Drawing, drawing, drawing...

Been busy drawing, a lot like this guy. Very swamped at the moment getting all my things done before I leave for Florence again. Thanks to all who keep checking in!

Sunday Paper

Happy Easter Everyone!

Coffee in a cardboard cup

I recently purchased a cintiq and am loving it. However it is very easy to fall into the digital hole that so very few ever come out of. I am dedicated to my craft and feel the need for tactile creation so I have been doing some inkings at the end of each day using drawings from my sketchbooks.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy VD everyone! Well...not that kind of VD!

Here is the image I made for Jared's Valentine.

WINNER!

Well, one of the winners anyway.

My Frankenstein Eustace Tilley was selected as one of the 20 winners of The New Yorker contest. The image will appear on The New Yorker website for a year and (supposedly) will be printed in their 83rd anniversary issue. From what I understand they will not be able to print them all. Either way I was glad I did it and it was a lot of fun whether I was a winner or not. I am grateful to have been selected.

Here is the link to view the 20 Winners selected. Mine is the fourth one in the slideshow.

The New Yorker's Eustace Tilley Contest

The New Yorker is hosting a contest on a new interpretation of their favorite cover boy, Eustace Tilley (on top). I would have liked to do more, but these were all time would allow. Here is the link for all of you who want to view the entries. Some of them are not showing up unless you are signed in. No one knows why it isn't working properly.

Land HO!

Jared and I just returned from a two week cruise to the Caribbean. Needless to say it was chock full of specimens begging to put down on paper. Oddly enough after looking at the drawings of all the people sleeping in deck chairs they resemble bodies in a funeral home.

The Little Match Girl 2

Here are some more images I created for The Little Match Girl theme.

There is the original sketch I did where she was kneeling in the snow as well as two very rough images of her dead. I wanted her to have died with a smile on her face looking peaceful and happy like a beautiful little girl who just fell asleep.

Lastly is a more refined version of the image I had painted last time. I have to get back to some other work so I have to leave the color image where it is for now. Who knows if I will go back to it when I have more time? I think I worked her enough but I would like to finish the box and the matches.

The Little Match Girl

This month's Gum or Mints assignment was the Little Match Girl.

I have always liked this story although it is grim. The concept of her getting lost in the hallucination is what attracted me first with this assignment and subsequently the light from the matches which help to take her there. I felt the need to work in color for this to feel the light best and did a watercolor rough of the first image I drew out. I really was going for an awestruck expression as well. I wanted her to look completely happy and not to care about all that was bad in her life. I have done some changes to the drawing and will probably give it another try in watercolor. I have also done some of her dead the next morning that I have to scan and will post them once I do.

The Zoo

Illustration Friday this week tackles The Zoo.

I have drawn out a menagerie of the animals I would have in MY Zoo. Oh sure....anyone can have a Lion or an Elephant, but how many have a Short Snouted Shuffalo? Hmmmmm?




I rarely show my roughs and I have no idea why. Looking at them they have a certain charm and seeing the way the Shuffalo turned out it is easy to imagine how the others will look. John Quinn recently said in a comment to someone else that seeing the development is interesting and exciting so.......I hope these have some excitement or interest!

Two of them don't have names yet but certainly have a story. This has been a fun topic.

Very Superstitious......

The topic of Illustration Friday this week is Superstition.

In some cultures a lone magpie is a sign of bad luck. In others a bird inside a house is bad luck. I just combined the two for a double whammy!

Nina Simone

American singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger and civil rights activist, not to mention genius. Although she disliked being categorized, Simone is generally classified as a jazz musician and was known as the High Priestess of Soul.

She sang fierce renditions of " I Put a Spell on You", "My Baby Just Cares for Me" and "Feeling Good" with just as much emotion and gusto as when she approached the subject of Civil Rights. Hundreds of recordings exist but her live recordings are legendary.

Often known for being difficult (a charge she took umbrage with) she once shot and wounded her neighbour's son with a pneumatic pistol after his laughing disturbed her concentration.

No one sang the way this woman did.

Does Anyone Still Wear a Hat?

For Illustration Friday.

Charlie in his Bowler...

Lady Sings "The Blues"

This one was obvious for me when I read the topic on Illustration Friday.

Waitress

The theme for September's Gum or Mints was waitress. Please check out the other entries of some of the most talented people I know.

"This is Julia Child, Bon Appétit!"

The wonderful and enormous (she was 6' 2"!) Julia Child.

Jared and I have been watching " The French Chef" on DVD and marveling at the things that Julia was teaching America in the early 60's. It is fascinating to think how little America knew about certain dishes we take completely for granted. Her book "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" is still a steady seller after all of these years.

There would be no Food Network without Julia and she helped to establish a need for stores like Williams Sonoma and Sur La Table. She taught us how to make a Salad Nicoise and the right way to cut a potato all the while in her sing song warble that we have all tried to imitate. If you get a chance to watch the old episodes they are a real treat!

Just a pig on a unicycle.....

Girlfriends got some pipes!

Done quickly in my sketchbook.