Woo hoo sketch dump!
In May I drew a belly dancer a day. Some are more finished than others, but here's a few of the better ones.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
May Sketches
Woo hoo sketch dump!
In May I drew a belly dancer a day. Some are more finished than others, but here's a few of the better ones.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Monday, June 09, 2008
Monday, May 19, 2008
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Funky Food
These were done for a job — a booklet of recipes for kids. They had to be done fast, and were meant to be very loose and colorful.
I did them in Illustrator with additional fiddling around in Photoshop.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Eye Candy From Strangers!
I don't know how, but I managed to get something in Volume 1 of Eye Candy from Strangers, so I'm kind of jumping for joy. :)
(I've vowed to submit better stuff for the next volume...I do feel like I've improved greatly since I did that little belly dance piece way back in early '07.)
Anyway, both of these fabulous books are produced by the amazing Alberto Ruiz--go check out his blog right now -- and his Brandstudio Press publishing company.
Alberto is a terrific artist and a real supporter of artists as well. I give him a lot of credit for inspiring me to get back to drawing and painting and starting my own blog a couple years back.
Both books are incredibly inspiring, not to mention beautifully printed and bound. Highly recommended! Go buy 'em!
(I've vowed to submit better stuff for the next volume...I do feel like I've improved greatly since I did that little belly dance piece way back in early '07.)
Anyway, both of these fabulous books are produced by the amazing Alberto Ruiz--go check out his blog right now -- and his Brandstudio Press publishing company.
Alberto is a terrific artist and a real supporter of artists as well. I give him a lot of credit for inspiring me to get back to drawing and painting and starting my own blog a couple years back.
Both books are incredibly inspiring, not to mention beautifully printed and bound. Highly recommended! Go buy 'em!
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
Monday, April 07, 2008
Sums it up nicely for me
First time I've ever even considered posting something un-art-related here. But I'm fed up, and this says it all.
Sunday, April 06, 2008
By: Connie Schultz - Plain Dealer Columnist (Cleveland, OH)
Someone tell me, please, how grown men in 2008 can believe it’s their right - their duty, even - to tell a woman when she should rein in her ambition and go home.
Male columnists, male politicians, male talking heads, male “surrogates” - all of them harrumphing that it’s time for Hillary Clinton to stop it, just stop it, with all this talk of being president.
Who cares if the race is close? So what if millions of Americans believe their yet-to-be-cast votes matter? Voters, schmoters. When was this ever about them?
Hillary Clinton, they insist, must quit.
Well, boys, you’d better sit down for this one: This is no longer the playground of your youth. The girls aren’t sitting in the stands keeping score and cheering whenever you’re at bat. In fact, the girls aren’t girls at all anymore. We’re all grown up, and we are so done with this notion that the trajectory of our lives must end at the border of your comfort zone.
Hillary Clinton marched across that border miles ago, and she is not about to surrender. Not now, anyway, and not ever because you said so. And if you’ve got anything besides hubris knocking around in those heads of yours, you will take note of the potential backfire in your volley.
“OK, now I’m mad,” a friend, Karen, told me last week. “Who do they think they are?”
She supports Barack Obama, but the thought of finger-wagging men telling a woman what to do really set her off. She might change her vote, and anyone reading some of the comments on newspapers’ Web sites and blogs knows she’s not alone.
I’m thinkin’ that’s not where you fellas were going with this one. But I also think I can help.
The problem here is that you don’t understand the tenacity of American women.
It’s not all your fault. Your history books were full of tales of manly men beating each other up and then taking the livestock and womenfolk as prizes. Frankly, you were misled.
You didn’t learn about how women risked their lives birthing babies in open fields and harboring escaped slaves on their flight to freedom. You probably didn’t spend much time on how Alice Paul and her fellow suffragettes were tortured in prison because they dared to picket for the right to vote. And chances are you’ve never cracked the spine of the book “Women’s Letters: America From the Revolutionary War to the Present” by Lisa Grunwald and Stephen J. Adler. If you had, you would have seen the letter Abigail Grant wrote to her husband, Aszariah, in 1776 after she found out he had been less than heroic in the battle at Bunker Hill.
“Loving Husband,” her note began. “I hear by Capt Wm Riley news that makes me very Sorry for he Says you proved a Grand Coward when the fight was at Bunkers hill & in your Surprise he reports that you threw away your Cartridges So as to escape going into the Battle. . . . [I]f you are afraid pray own the truth & come home & take care of our Children & I will be Glad to Come & take your place, & never will be Called a Coward, neither will I throw away one Cartridge but exert myself bravely in so good a Cause.”
See, that’s the thing. You’ve got to remember that there’s a bit of Abigail Grant in a whole lot of us women. Granted, we hide it well. Most women are all fervor and no fanfare, running everything from companies and campaigns to families and food drives without so much as a plaque with their names on it at the end of it all.
We’re full of fight, too, which is the only way we got the vote, the pill and the right to own property, as opposed to being property. We don’t beat our breasts and brag about this, though, which appears to be part of the problem. Some men apparently still confuse humility with acquiescence, and then they think we need their permission to make a difference.
One mile at a time, Hillary Clinton is clearing a new road, taking hits for the rest of us along the way.
“It feels so personal,” another friend, Mary, told me. “Whenever I hear men bash Hillary, it feels like they’re attacking me.”
See, guys, that’s not good.
Remember: Abigail Grant lives.
Sunday, April 06, 2008
By: Connie Schultz - Plain Dealer Columnist (Cleveland, OH)
Someone tell me, please, how grown men in 2008 can believe it’s their right - their duty, even - to tell a woman when she should rein in her ambition and go home.
Male columnists, male politicians, male talking heads, male “surrogates” - all of them harrumphing that it’s time for Hillary Clinton to stop it, just stop it, with all this talk of being president.
Who cares if the race is close? So what if millions of Americans believe their yet-to-be-cast votes matter? Voters, schmoters. When was this ever about them?
Hillary Clinton, they insist, must quit.
Well, boys, you’d better sit down for this one: This is no longer the playground of your youth. The girls aren’t sitting in the stands keeping score and cheering whenever you’re at bat. In fact, the girls aren’t girls at all anymore. We’re all grown up, and we are so done with this notion that the trajectory of our lives must end at the border of your comfort zone.
Hillary Clinton marched across that border miles ago, and she is not about to surrender. Not now, anyway, and not ever because you said so. And if you’ve got anything besides hubris knocking around in those heads of yours, you will take note of the potential backfire in your volley.
“OK, now I’m mad,” a friend, Karen, told me last week. “Who do they think they are?”
She supports Barack Obama, but the thought of finger-wagging men telling a woman what to do really set her off. She might change her vote, and anyone reading some of the comments on newspapers’ Web sites and blogs knows she’s not alone.
I’m thinkin’ that’s not where you fellas were going with this one. But I also think I can help.
The problem here is that you don’t understand the tenacity of American women.
It’s not all your fault. Your history books were full of tales of manly men beating each other up and then taking the livestock and womenfolk as prizes. Frankly, you were misled.
You didn’t learn about how women risked their lives birthing babies in open fields and harboring escaped slaves on their flight to freedom. You probably didn’t spend much time on how Alice Paul and her fellow suffragettes were tortured in prison because they dared to picket for the right to vote. And chances are you’ve never cracked the spine of the book “Women’s Letters: America From the Revolutionary War to the Present” by Lisa Grunwald and Stephen J. Adler. If you had, you would have seen the letter Abigail Grant wrote to her husband, Aszariah, in 1776 after she found out he had been less than heroic in the battle at Bunker Hill.
“Loving Husband,” her note began. “I hear by Capt Wm Riley news that makes me very Sorry for he Says you proved a Grand Coward when the fight was at Bunkers hill & in your Surprise he reports that you threw away your Cartridges So as to escape going into the Battle. . . . [I]f you are afraid pray own the truth & come home & take care of our Children & I will be Glad to Come & take your place, & never will be Called a Coward, neither will I throw away one Cartridge but exert myself bravely in so good a Cause.”
See, that’s the thing. You’ve got to remember that there’s a bit of Abigail Grant in a whole lot of us women. Granted, we hide it well. Most women are all fervor and no fanfare, running everything from companies and campaigns to families and food drives without so much as a plaque with their names on it at the end of it all.
We’re full of fight, too, which is the only way we got the vote, the pill and the right to own property, as opposed to being property. We don’t beat our breasts and brag about this, though, which appears to be part of the problem. Some men apparently still confuse humility with acquiescence, and then they think we need their permission to make a difference.
One mile at a time, Hillary Clinton is clearing a new road, taking hits for the rest of us along the way.
“It feels so personal,” another friend, Mary, told me. “Whenever I hear men bash Hillary, it feels like they’re attacking me.”
See, guys, that’s not good.
Remember: Abigail Grant lives.
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
Illustration Friday: Homage
My homage to Enrique Romero, who drew the Modesty Blaise strips for many years.
I admired his wonderfully bold brush strokes and exotic depiction of Modesty, even as I took issue with some of his odd proportions and his frequent drawing of her face as slightly cross-eyed.
Check out Romero's Modesty, if you like, here.
Anyway, I actually learned a lot from doing this. Really examining every brush stroke and squiggle in several of his works was useful--so different from the way I typically draw faces. I feel like I've added more tips 'n' tricks to my visual library.
Pencil; Pitt artist pen.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Bride in Color
Trying to learn Illustrator so I used one of the Bride pencil sketches for some vector practice.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Saturday, February 09, 2008
Many Happy Returns To . . .
ME...because today is my birthday, and what better place to announce the anniversary of the day of your own birth than your own blog?
And as if to commemorate the day, I got an award! w00t! Well, okay, I got it yesterday, but close enough!
The talented Brian Gubicza bestowed it upon me (thanks again!) So now I get to pick 5 bloggers who *make my day*, if I'm understanding how this works.
It's a challenge; I have over 250 blogs in Google Reader that I attempt to read on a regular basis. But if I have to pick only five, these are the ones who deserve awards, in my opinion (and Brian's blog would be on there if he hadn't already gotten the award! So in a way, I get to pick six!)
Process Junkie :::: Alberto is a fabulous artist, and a real friend and supporter of artists as well
Daryl Walker :::: Wonderful style, incredibly prolific, and a sweet person to boot
Chris Wahl Art :::: Totally inspiring, beautiful illustration work
Urban Barbarian :::: Dan's stuff makes me want to cry--so wonderful
Mel Made the Blog :::: Mel keeps on producing the most animated, lively, terrific art
So, congrats to all five of you and thanks for continuing to keep me inspired.
And as if to commemorate the day, I got an award! w00t! Well, okay, I got it yesterday, but close enough!
The talented Brian Gubicza bestowed it upon me (thanks again!) So now I get to pick 5 bloggers who *make my day*, if I'm understanding how this works.
It's a challenge; I have over 250 blogs in Google Reader that I attempt to read on a regular basis. But if I have to pick only five, these are the ones who deserve awards, in my opinion (and Brian's blog would be on there if he hadn't already gotten the award! So in a way, I get to pick six!)
Process Junkie :::: Alberto is a fabulous artist, and a real friend and supporter of artists as well
Daryl Walker :::: Wonderful style, incredibly prolific, and a sweet person to boot
Chris Wahl Art :::: Totally inspiring, beautiful illustration work
Urban Barbarian :::: Dan's stuff makes me want to cry--so wonderful
Mel Made the Blog :::: Mel keeps on producing the most animated, lively, terrific art
So, congrats to all five of you and thanks for continuing to keep me inspired.
Sunday, February 03, 2008
Blog Birthday #2
So—two years of blogging as of today! While I am spending more time on my deviantArt account these days than I am here, I'm hoping to get back to posting more often on the old blog in '08. Interestingly, my site stats tell me that most people who come here are no longer my fellow bloggers, but are finding me because of google searches that tend to include the words 'fat,' 'nude' and 'pencil.' Hmmm. And they don't leave any comments, damn them.
Well, maybe more posts, better art, and leaving more comments on other blogs will change all that! Or not. But as I have to regularly remind myself, it's not about the comments or pageviews, it's about continuing to improve my drawing/painting/arting skills, right? Right.
Well, maybe more posts, better art, and leaving more comments on other blogs will change all that! Or not. But as I have to regularly remind myself, it's not about the comments or pageviews, it's about continuing to improve my drawing/painting/arting skills, right? Right.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Cardboard Man
Idle fun on a piece of cardboard while putting off doing something I was supposed to be doing. Probably greatly inspired by the wonderful Dan Panosian's drawings on cardboard.
I screwed up the bottom part with too much whiteout so I peeled it off, heh.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Monday, January 21, 2008
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Friday, January 04, 2008
Scribbly Things
Haughty office manager; pretty witch with a deformed foot; psychedelic skinny party girl.
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Bandanna Anna
Another entry for MJRanum's contest. Pencil drawing/Freehand 'inking'/Photoshop color.
(Please click image for larger version)
Friday, December 07, 2007
Slave Girl Eirene
Pencil, watercolor...using reference from MJRanum's incredible stock gallery on deviantArt, and for a contest he's running.
(Please click image for larger version...assuming blogger has fixed that problem it was having...)
Thursday, December 06, 2007
Sunday, December 02, 2007
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Untitled
Inspired by a great pose in Jessica's wonderful stock gallery on deviantART. She's much, much prettier than this scary gal.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Illustration Friday: Wedding
Haha, last minute stylization of one of our wedding photos so I could finally get something in for Illustration Friday... it's been so long...
Photoshop selection tool using a quick scribble as a template. Fun!
(Please click it for a larger one! Go on!)
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
Ink Blots
I love the blog Stefan G. Bucher's Daily Monster where the talented Stefan posts his Weekly Monster clips--always entertaining!--as well as inkblots that he invites anyone to download and use to create something. These are two pieces I submitted. They're a lot of fun to do; just print the ink blots out and start playing around with them until something starts to appear...the perfect thing for when you're too busy with work to spend much time doing art-type stuff...
(Please click image for larger version.)
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Watercolor Dress
Friday, August 03, 2007
300
My take on King Leonidas from the fabulous movie 300, for a thread on the Drawing Board forums.
(Please click image for larger version!)
Thursday, August 02, 2007
Back from SDCC
...and days later I'm still recovering. Came home loaded down with dozens of sketchbooks, art books, original art and loads of inspiration; photos and great memories of the workshops, presentations, chats with artists... I'm already planning the trip out there in '08. :) It will take me the entire year to save up again--I just about broke the bank this time around, lol. Ah well--it was well worth it.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Nude Studies
Just some figure drawing practice in Photoshop using stock from http://adharabatul.deviantart.com/.
That's all I've had time for since I'm off to San Diego tomorrow. Bye bye all! :)
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Lilies
Just playing around with an image of a lily printed on fabric, from the gallery of gild-a-stock.
Top left is a rough pencil drawing; top right has color added in Photoshop; lower left is watercolor; lower right is vector.
(Please click image for larger version.)
Just playing around with an image of a lily printed on fabric, from the gallery of gild-a-stock.
Top left is a rough pencil drawing; top right has color added in Photoshop; lower left is watercolor; lower right is vector.
(Please click image for larger version.)
Thursday, July 12, 2007
San Diego Comic-Con
In less than two weeks I'm flying off to Comic-Con International in San Diego — my first time at this enormous and intimidating convention. I've been to a number of smaller cons, like the Mid-Ohio Con and Motor City Comic Con, but this one will dwarf the rest, I'm sure. :)
I'm hoping to collect lots of artists' sketchbooks, meet several people I know through blogs and dA galleries, get inspired and in general have a great time (not to mention a great time AWAY FROM WORK.)
If you've been to SDCC and you'd like to leave a comment with any tips, warnings, great places to eat, things to avoid, whatever — please do. ;) I'd really really really appreciate it!
In less than two weeks I'm flying off to Comic-Con International in San Diego — my first time at this enormous and intimidating convention. I've been to a number of smaller cons, like the Mid-Ohio Con and Motor City Comic Con, but this one will dwarf the rest, I'm sure. :)
I'm hoping to collect lots of artists' sketchbooks, meet several people I know through blogs and dA galleries, get inspired and in general have a great time (not to mention a great time AWAY FROM WORK.)
If you've been to SDCC and you'd like to leave a comment with any tips, warnings, great places to eat, things to avoid, whatever — please do. ;) I'd really really really appreciate it!
Sunday, July 01, 2007
Pinup Pirate
At the very last minute I decided to enter a contest on deviantArt. Nothing like some practice working as fast as possible...the contest has been running for several months but I waited until 2 hours before the deadline.
Inspired by photo stock in Ida Mary Walker's dA gallery.
(Please click image for larger version.)
At the very last minute I decided to enter a contest on deviantArt. Nothing like some practice working as fast as possible...the contest has been running for several months but I waited until 2 hours before the deadline.
Inspired by photo stock in Ida Mary Walker's dA gallery.
(Please click image for larger version.)
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
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