Illo Friday "Help"

I was sketching/doodling on the train home last night. This guy certainly looks like he could use some help:



Here's the rest of the page:

Mom's Surprise Party, Part Deux

Uncle Ray sent me his photos, and here they are:




















The unintentional blur created a nice effect here (in my humble opinion).

Mom's Surprise Party

A few pictures from Saturday's party. Sorry for the poor picture quality. I'll post more/better pictures when people start emailing me theirs (if they don't mind having them posted).

She was completely surprised. Thanks again to everyone who was there to help celebrate her birthday.

Comments

Sorry about this, but I've had to change my comments settings due to an increase in spam. You now have to be a registered user in order to leave a comment. Registration is free. Sorry for the hassle.

Christmas Cardinal

Every year I send a Christmas letter along with my card. This is the second year I've done original art for the background. The cardinal was done from a photo reference, and the wreath, ribbon and ornament came from my noodle. I'm not entirely happy with the ribbon because it doesn't have the satiny look I was imagining, but I'm quite pleased with the rest.

Created in my large sketchbook using pan watercolors, watercolor pencils, and micron pens. Started with a preliminary pencil sketch of all the elements except the ornament and worked it up from there. The ornament was added as an afterthought to bring in the green.

Click on the image above to see a larger version.

If I Were a Tarot, I'd Be...

You are The Wheel of Fortune

Good fortune and happiness but sometimes a species of
intoxication with success

The Wheel of Fortune is all about big things, luck, change, fortune. Almost always good fortune. You are lucky in all things that you do and happy with the things that come to you. Be careful that success does not go to your head however. Sometimes luck can change.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

Oh, and By the Way...

A Taste of Fall

...or Doodling in Watercolor.

Da Vinci's Sketches Brought to Life

I've run across this link a few times now (the most recent on moleskinerie.com), and every time it amazes me. The Victoria & Albert Museum has an exhibit featuring Da Vinci's sketches set in motion. Enjoy.

"Unstrung"

This has been a work in progress over some time. It was inspired by a description of the lute I read in the front matter that accompanied Sting's Songs From the Labyrinth CD.

It started life as a pencil sketch and then sat for a long time as I contemplated it. I bought a set of microns but worked in a few more details in pencil before I could commit to ink.

The "inlaid" lute's decorative banding is based on the inlaid decoration on a small box from my box collection.

I finally set to the small details with the microns, and finally worked out the final plan for the watercolor. I used Derwent watercolor pencils for the large and small lute, but used pan watercolor for the background wash.

My apologies for the paper shadows. I'm working in a sketchbook, and the paper isn't watercolor paper.

Saturday at Starbucks

Cat Dream

The goal when I started this was to fill up the page. Didn't matter when went on the page. Gimli was asleep nearby, so he went on the page too. I could argue that this is exactly what he was dreaming. Go ahead and try to prove me wrong....

Ghostkin (and Illo Friday "Ghost")

Well, I said I wanted to do it, and so I did...



Watercolor in sketchbook with Micron .20 detail.

Halloween

Eventually, I hope to post a little something of my own for the season. In the meantime, enjoy the work of some fantastic illustrators and artists:

Guy Francis
Kevin Cornell
Matt Sutter
Michael Fleming

Bonus late entrants:
BlueSky Studios Challenge

Misc Moleskine Stuff

And possibly Illo Friday's "Smitten"?

Illo Friday "Trouble"

Mmmm... books... mmmmm...

Overcoming the Untouched Notebook

Akin to overcoming the blank page, overcoming the untouched notebook happens every time I have to...well...overcome the untouched notebook. It's the fear that the very first pen/pencil/brush stroke is going to be terrible and thusly "ruin" the rest of the book. Maybe it is a bit silly, but there you have it.

I cop out every time and cannibalize a Smithsonian magazine for the artwork of whichever artist they are featuring. The Moleskine I finished a couple of weeks ago featured Andrew Wyeth's work.


You can see the Smithsonian's June 2006 article about Andrew Wyeth here: Wyeth's World.

My current journal features Sir Alfred Munnings.


I make a practice of including more of the art and additional notes about the artist on the first few interior pages. This breaks the ice. The sketch on the opposite page was done in Door County, Wisconsin. Lookin' out the window, waiting to go to breakfast.


You can see the Smithsonian's October 2006 article about Sir Alfred Munnings here: The Painter Who Hated Picasso.

Random Stuff

Left page was done on a slow Friday at work. I was inspired to draw in the increasingly popular grid format. I was inspired, that is, until I reached the last box. Something about office supplies is just not exciting enough to keep me focussed. There's a hint of a keyboard, but the thought of it...ugh.

Right page was done on the train that evening. I was listening to KT Tunstall's Another Place to Fall off her Eye to the Telescope CD.

Flowers

The weekend before last I took a long walk uptown. On my way home, I stopped along the creek and drew a flower in my Moleskine. The following week, I dug out an old sketchbook and redid the drawing larger and with a bit more "remembered detail." Overall I'm happy with the results, but the enlargement is lacking some depth—must be faulty memory.

Illo Friday "Quiet"

A pencil sketch from my Moleskine tweaked and colored in Photoshop. The original with all of the false starts is below. Don't ask me what that creature on the right is supposed to be. Looks a little like the love child of a ferret and a raccoon.

This little mouse is not cut out for the job of "church mouse".

Flickr Photoset

Pictures from my September trip to the east coast are now available for viewing on the Flickr site:

East Coast Trip

For those of you who entertained us, thanks so very much. Additional family photos will be on their way to you--I chose not to post them here.

Here's a taste:

Illo Friday "Phobia"

I can't stand crowds.