The Martian Calla

NASA's projects never fail to fascinate me. I'd hazard a guess I'm not the only one who was sad to see the era of the Shuttle come to a close. But now we have the Curiosity! Sweet! The pictures sent back by Curiosity are wonderful, and for some reason I keep going back to take another peek and the panoramic shot of Mount Sharp.

I was in the garden (again) taking a close up look at some of the blooms around the yard, and the seed pods from the fading bloom of the calla plant looked like they would be right at home in the foreground of that picture.

It wouldn't do too bad in the possible 70 degrees (F) at noon in summer, but the -225 degrees (F) might be a small issue. Pesky reality...keeps getting in the way.

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Christmas Crane for Mom

Mom requested some bird art as a Christmas gift this year. Several years ago, I had done some pen and ink birds (a series of 6 or 7), and I have a few large prints of them on my office wall. She wasn't specific about which bird, so I did my favorite of the series. As you can see from the photos, the original photo appeared in a magazine ad.

After completing the contour sketch I started to sweat my pen technique (or relative lack thereof), so a scribbled up a rough in my sketchbook. I used a bit of pencil for the shading and decided to run with that on the final art as well—I LOVE my blending tool.

Why a box? Because in my head there was going to be a wonderful watercolor there with a lighting effect that bathed the bird in soft color. Didn't exactly turn out like what I had pictured in my head.

The rose was always part of the plan, but it blocked what I'd planned to be a burnished sunset. It looked a little anemic as just a yellow rose. Considering the final outcome, I should have stopped here...sigh.

Yeah, that's right...blue. It's very blue, isn't it? Really blue, and overpowering the rose. So then the rose needed more color, and then the blue was wimpy. Watercolor out of control.

Finally I put down the paintbrush and stepped away from the paper. Overall, I'm very pleased with the bird. In comparison to the original pen and ink from about 4 years ago, my technique has developed nicely.

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Sketchcrawl 29 Results Part II

Done fidgeting with these...





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Created a Little Over the Weekend

It's been a while...again. Honestly, my interests are many and varied, and they sometimes take me far away from a computer. This is a good thing because during the summer my work chains me to my computer for many long hours, so time away from it is welcome.

I was gardening on Saturday and the resulting sore muscles kept me off my bicycle, so I ended up going for a couple of strolls and doing a bit of drawing.

While thumbing through the latest issue of Midwest Living (Sep./Oct. 2010) I came across a photo of a moose by Jason Lindsey. Seemed like a good model, so I scribbled out this Micron sketch in my Moleskine:



Then I felt like adding color, but not in the Moleskine. Started as a pencil sketch, painted a yellow wash, panted in rough background (which according to my scanner stayed very rough...picks up lots of details and adds shadows wherever the page bends...sigh), penned in the details and did a couple more layers of paint here there and where-have-you:



Sunday afternoon, after mowing the lawn, I took a glass of iced tea into the backyard and sketched some greenery from real life. Green things make good models too since they don't fidget much.



I was captivated by the bulbous joint of that weed's roots. Took a photo of the plant with the drawing, and I'll post it later. The pod on the right came off of some plants growing along the north side of my house. My uncle wants some of them (he's much better with plant names than I am or I'd tell you just what they are). I've got extras coming up all over, so I threw a few in pots on Saturday. I was giving them a drink and noticed these pods hanging off of the plant. The pod is about an inch in length, and when I opened it, there were about 20 black seeds inside with some white grains too.

Regarding other garden matters, did you know:



Well, have a great day, and thanks for stopping by!

What a Mess!

Let this be a lesson to you, girls and boys, watercolors, pencil, and wine do not mix well. In truth, I started with the watercolors instead of a sketch, and it went horribly wrong. The pencil was introduced to mend the damage, but it was too late. So why am I posting it, you wonder? Because it's all a part of the process... aaaaaaand, I'm going to attempt to post something every day in 2010.

BBC News was reporting the theft of Degas' "Les Choristes" New Year's Eve night, and since I was not looking forward to doing yet another sketch of a champagne glass to mark the new year, I opted for current events. My eighth grade social studies teacher might be proud...or not.

On a side note, or as an addendum to an earlier post, or as a bit of follow-up, or whatever, my first round of Christmas cards came back to me marked "No Such Recipient". Bummer. And the bigger bummer... this only happened after I'd sent another batch. I expect the return of the second batch any day now. D'oh!

Back on the topic of things I'd like to achieve/return to/experience/resolve: I'm determined to get back into cycling this year. Yep, that's all I've got. Hey something is better than nothing, right? Have you made any resolutions for 2010? Leave a comment... I'm looking for good ideas!

Anyhoo, I hope your 2010 is off to a good start!

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MolyX-42...

....Kathleen's "Improbable Games" moly

A Short Comment

Sorry for the long break...lots o' work to do.





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No Comment

Finished!

The final results for Yoda's Witch moleskine for Moleskine Exchange 42. I'm pretty happy with the way this turned out. Could be a little darker overall, but futz with a thing too long and it turns to mud.

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Moly-42: Yoda's Witch Moleskine

So I had a mild bummer of a day yesterday—feelin' a little rejected and dejected. Shook it off this morning by creating a monster banner for a show display this morning, and working on Lady Orlando's moleskine for the MolyX-42. I've had a heck of a time coming up with the art for this witch themed book. Many, many sketches were completed, and nothing was clicking. I'm not sure that this one clicks just yet either.

The elements are pretty decent. However, I'm playing with the colors—trying to get the right atmosphere. It's close but not quite there...hmmm. I'm at the point with my preliminary sketch where I'll probably start fidgeting the thing right into the toilet, but perhaps not.

By the time I get around to committing this to Yoda's Moly, I should have worked out the worst of the kinks.

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MolyX-42 Entry in Amy's "Red" Moly

This is a cross post from MolyX-42. To read more, go to http://moleskinex42.blogspot.com/2008/10/amys-moly-is-moving-on.html

Big Things Afoot

Big things like the Democratic National Convention are afoot. Now, I know this isn't a political blog, but I can't help but say, "Wow." There you have it—my one word commentary. There wasn't a dry eye or a slow pulse in the place. Good stuff.

Now let us turn our attention to something a bit more mundane, but still a little exciting. A while ago I'd signed up with a group inside the Everyday Matters group to exchange ATCs (Artist's Trading Cards). These are 2.5 x 3.5" pieces of art that get swapped amongst the group members. I did a swap like this once before, and it turned out to be a one-for-one swap—probably a good thing for my first time out of the gates.

This time I was looking for a bit more of a challenge, and I was also looking to reap the reward of a flood of return ATCs—there are some very talented people in this group. Last week I mailed off my ATCs, and I'm anxiously awaiting the return mix of original, wonderful art. In the meantime, I've decided to let the cat out of the bag, and give everyone a sneak preview.

I made a record of sorts of the creation of my ATCs, so here they are. First came the pencil drawings, and a bit of pen work... In fact, first came some agonized planning, trying to decide what to do. There were nine people in my group (including myself), and I didn't want to do nine of the very same thing. Of course, no two would ever be the same anyway, but you know what I mean.

The planning looked like this...



The purple background made the whole thing fade into a grape lump. I'd mentally pictured something in gradients of color, but the subtlety of my mind is far, far ahead of the subtlety of my hand.

The pencil and stenciling came next...



The project ended up with far more than the requisite nine, but I've already given one to someone outside the group who is an avid postcard collector, and is also interested in ATCs (as of the moment she received her first, or so she said).

Then there were flowers and plants to add...





Next, I mixed up the background color (somewhat consistently).





Finally, I really set to painting, but I'd started a bit late, and not all the cards were finished before the chosen eight had to go out the door.

Most of these I kept...


And these I sent... Well, at the last moment I swapped the other finished maple for a crocus to give a bit more of a selection.










Always remember that...


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Rainy Days and Mondays...

The lady is not based on any model. It was a doodle I did last night. She looks terrible, but she's got some awesome retro threads.



Now for this plug I did use a model. She was very difficult to work with—kept demanding smoke breaks and different lighting. Sheesh...models.



Salt and pepper shakers. I don't actually own a set. I have one of those all-in-one pepper mill/salt shakers. I've had it since college, but a long relationship does not make for loyalty in this instance. I do remember a set of shakers that had the holes arranged in a "P" and an "S", and I loved the efficiency of this—no more test shakes.



Really like how these turned out, but I must confess—I cheated. I traced the actual article and just drew in the details. My first drawing was SOOOOOO bad. I really can't stand to think of it—the pain is still too fresh.



Now this is soap. Soap in my bathroom. Soap in my bathroom viewed from the commode. Special, no?

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EDM 26 & 162

I really wanted to draw the new rug I ordered for my dining room, so I had to scour the list of EDMs to come up with a "draw anything you want", because you know, I need permission to draw things. Wait, that's not right. I'll have to think about that some more, and get back to you. It's all the fault of the paint that the rug looks so orange. Really, it is.



The not-so-breakfast-of-champions.

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Current Events and Everyday Matters

This trophy was awarded to me for showing up to a particular annual event five years in a row. It won't ever have its own shelf, but it tickles me every time I see it.

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Illustration Friday: Leap

The Ridiculous

I'd like to think this wouldn't be the first thing to run through my mind under similar circumstances, but one never knows.

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