will draw for cookies

chicken little

2011-06-27T21:37:00.000-04:00

Look at me, being a delinquent blogger again! I've had stuff to post, too, I'm just terrible about posting it. I suck. But a month or so ago, I did another set of illustrations for one of my regular clients - a children's theater. So here's one of five!

Sketches and color comp below - my color comps are really ugly, yikes. But I think the final piece came out pretty well.

sketches, round one

final sketch

color comp

cupcake dress

2011-04-01T20:00:00.003-04:00

Just a silly little girly drawing. This dress reminds me of a cupcake and I want to wear it. Also, I am totally obsessed with mint green and coral right now, alone and in combination. Such great colors.

boobs for beads

2011-03-11T20:02:00.004-05:00

I'm not dead! I know it's been forever (almost literally) since I updated; it's terrible. I started a new job at the end of last year and while I enjoy it, the adjustment period has left me a tad burned out. I think I'm coming out of the slump now though, and what's more appropriate for my triumphant return than boobs? Nothing, that's what. In honor of Mardi Gras, of course, because I do enjoy a holiday that combines cake, costume jewelry, and spontaneous nudity.

IF: sneaky

2010-11-25T12:04:00.005-05:00

Girl Detective returns! Sneaking around at night, searching for stolen jewels - which everyone knows you should hide on your freakishly large black cat for maximum protection.

I'm not super into this, although I can't really put my finger on why. But it's been forever since I did an IF piece, so I'm posting it anyway.

cheap trixie

2010-11-06T18:08:00.008-04:00

Ever since I watched Whip It (lo those many months ago), I've been wanting to draw some roller girls. So I did! One, anyway. I'm calling her Cheap Trixie, because it is adorable. She might get some friends eventually. Or maybe not. We'll see.

Anyway, I like how it came out. Close-up below, for a better view of her King Pug tattoo.

zombabe

2010-10-31T04:37:00.008-04:00

Happy Halloween! Eat some brains. Or some brain-shaped candy for the uncommitted.

P.S. I am super happy with how this came out and it was really fun to do. I've been working on the fairytale pin-ups but I think I might derail that for monster ladies instead. A vampire and a werewolf, at the very last.

hey there sailor

2010-09-19T22:32:00.006-04:00

A little nautical pin-up action. I think she's practicing for the next Fleet Week.

I love the whole nautical aesthetic, but since I hate the beach and get incredibly seasick on anything that isn't a floaty tube or a kayak, I can only express my appreciation by drawing lots of ladies in their seafaring finery. I know. It's a hard-knock life.

And we zoom-in, the better to see all the details no one ever sees on the final product.

sneak peek: snow white

2010-09-07T23:49:00.004-04:00

Over the last few days I've been working on my second fairy tale pin-up (and a commissioned piece, which I'm sure I'll post about later); she's not done, but in the interest of keeping things fresh around here I thought I'd throw up a screenshot. Snow White has never actually been a favorite fairy tale of mine, just story-wise, but I do love her whole aesthetic vibe - high contrast, lots of primary colors. She's been fun so far. Finished piece soon!

stop! puppy time

2010-09-03T20:32:00.006-04:00

A little snippet of the commission I just finished. How ridiculously adorable is this dog? She was a lot of fun to draw.

On a related note, I really want to do some pet portraits now. Have a dog/cat/bird/bunny/komodo dragon you'd like to see immortalized in cuteness? Hit a sister up!

the princess & the pea

2010-08-05T23:05:00.007-04:00

I'm thinking of doing a series of fairy tale-inspired pin-ups, which may or may not actually happen (I think about doing a lot of things but then get too busy/lazy/bored with them to follow through) - but even if it doesn't, there's at least one! This take on The Princess and The Pea started as a truly pathetic sketch, but in the end it turned out pretty much exactly how I imagined it. I had a field day with all the patterns in this, and they provide a lot of visual interest. I'm digging it.

the lovers

2010-08-02T17:06:00.004-04:00

Some time ago, John Struan from Super Punch invited a bunch of artists to create something based on/inspired by the work of author China Mieville. Since I am writing this post you've probably gathered that I was one of them. Truthfully I've never read anything by China Mieville, but a quick google search and some helpful descriptions and prompts from John made me want to participate anyway. I was especially taken by a blurb about The Lovers, a powerful couple with mirror-image scars. After I finished it I went back and re-read the description only to find that he was supposed to have a moustache. Oops. I guess he shaved?

That aside, I'm pretty happy with it. I've been having a lot of fun with patterns lately. I'll probably update this post later with some close-ups, because as always there's a lot of detail you can't really see in the full piece.

beached whale

2010-07-26T22:28:00.004-04:00

A little randomness inspired by something the lovely Marianne (of The Rotund) tweeted earlier. Because every whale needs a yellow polka-dot bikini.

skating party invitation

2010-07-06T21:36:00.005-04:00

Guys, remember skating parties? I haven't been to one since middle school, and in all fairness I recall kind of hating them because I couldn't (and still can't) skate very well, but... skating party! How fun!

Yeah, so maybe there's a whole nostalgic fondness thing going on there. But whatever the reason, when a lovely internet acquaintance emailed me a while ago about doing an invitation for her upcoming birthday skating party, I jumped at the chance. I immediately wanted to draw a girl skating with a robot (who is modeled after Mr. Butlertron from Clone High), which I totally got to do, and it was awesome. Robots! Roller skates! Pink hair! Knee socks! Cupcake tattoo!

Super fun from start to finish.

sookeh!

2010-06-27T13:50:00.002-04:00

I love True Blood. Love it. It's campy and ridiculous and sexy, and probably my favorite summer show after Mad Men. Sookie is not my favorite character - those would be Lafayette, Pam, and Eric, probably in that order - but our intrepid heroine in her Merlotte's uniform is what came to mind when I started drawing. So here she is.

clap if you believe in fatties!

2010-06-10T14:37:00.004-04:00

I'm a big fan of Marianne Kirby and Lesley Kinzel, two delightful human beings who, in addition to each having awesome blogs of their own, have recently joined forces to produce a funny, insightful, and informative podcast called Two Whole Cakes. It's about, among other things, being a Fatty McFatterson (and how, contrary to popular believe, that's totally okay and does not make you a horrible human being), and in a recent episode Marianne made a joke about clapping if you believe in fatties, a la Tinkerbell. I knew I had to draw it, so I did, and this is the end result.

I sent this over to Marianne a couple of days ago and she liked it so much she posted it on her blog, which totally made my week. It also drove quite a bit of traffic this way, so hello to anyone who found their way here through The Rotund!

self-portrait party time, part 2

2010-06-06T13:12:00.004-04:00

Pretty self-explanatory. These are fun to do (since I am me, I find myself very easy to draw), and excellent little practice/warm up things. They get posted on flickr as well, but I like these two so I thought I'd share them here as well.

It's been 90+ here for the last week or so, and when it's that hot I am pretty much always wearing one of these two expressions. Sad or grossed out. I hate summer. Especially premature summer.

IF: slither

2010-05-31T22:49:00.005-04:00

What I came up with for this week's Illustration Friday theme - "slither." I've always liked sideshow stuff so there wasn't really much question about where to go with this one. (It was either this of the movie Slither, which gets points for starring Nathan Fillion but loses points for making me almost throw up just thinking about it.)

Rough sketchy goodness.

drawgasmic

2010-05-23T19:08:00.009-04:00

So I'm participating in Drawgasmic, which is this big group exhibition/book thing, and I had to create an 11x8.5'' piece to submit. For some reason that was a lot harder than it should've been, and I just got it finished, and since I obviously work digitally I had to get a print made, which I just ordered this morning, and now I'm just hoping like crazy it gets delivered in time (and doesn't look like crap, but that's a given) for me to pack it back up and overnight it to the Drawgasmic folks. Stress! Dear FedEx: Don't be a jerk.

But it's done, anyway, and I'm pretty happy with how it came out. This piece is like all of my favorite things to draw: big trees and cute redheads and books and pretty yellow skies. I'm still really pleased with how this "new" style is coming along, too.

There's not much to see here, but if you've ever wondered how stuff looks when I'm planning it out, this is pretty much it.

john smith

2010-05-18T20:46:00.003-04:00

Another from the recently batch for Swift Creek Mill Theatre, this one is for a production about John Smith. He was really fun to draw, because you all know I love me some explorer-men.

john smith

2010-05-18T20:46:00.001-04:00

Another from the recently batch for Swift Creek Mill Theatre, this one is for a production about John Smith. He was really fun to draw, because you all know I love me some explorer-men.

outfit drawings

2010-05-12T21:38:00.005-04:00

So there's a bazillion people who take pictures of what they wear and post them to flickr groups like wardrobe remix (in addition to lookbook and outfit blogs and on and on), and I always like looking through them, but being perpetually camera shy and not particularly photogenic, I choose not to participate. But! There is also a flickr group for drawings of what you wear, which I can 150% get behind.

So whenever I have occasion to wear something cute, I like to do a little drawing and post it to flickr. I've never posted them here, but lately they've been proving to be an excellent way to practice my new style, so I thought I'd share a couple.

Outfit of dinner with my parents. I would kill a man to get to a basket of those spring rolls.

Outfit of Dr. Sketchy's. Also the outfit of the way too windy day where I kept having to forcibly hold my dress down. Poor decisions.

IF: fearless

2010-05-09T14:29:00.007-04:00

I am a huge fan of Joss Whedon and all of his assorted works, but Buffy will always be #1 in my heart because it's the first thing I got into. When I was in high school one of my friends was like, "you have to watch this show, it's awesome" but the name turned me off. Buffy? Is she a pomeranian? Is she slaying the reanimated corpses of upper-crusty WASPs while vacationing on Martha's Vineyard? Pass. But thankfully he was persistent and forced me to sit down and watch the very first episode, "Welcome to the Hellmouth."

We watched the entire first season that day, and the next day I ran out and bought all the dvds that were available at the time. This was a pretty big deal since I made, like, $5.25 an hour working part-time at Party City, but it had to be done. I was officially obsessed. Fast forward to the present, almost 10 years later, and while Buffy has long since ended, my interest hasn't faded one bit. So! Long story not at all short, when this week's Illustration Friday topic, "fearless," arrived in my inbox, I knew what had to be done. For some strange reason I have never drawn Buffy, not really. Just like I am way into dinosaurs but have never drawn a dinosaur outside of a few off-hand sketches of sauropods in sports gear. But now, at least, that first oversight has been rectified.

Still really enjoying this new way of working. Previously I would get obsessed with the details - zooming in to 4000% (not four hundred, four THOUSAND) and making sure every piece of jewelry or decorative element was as fully developed as the main focal point of the image. It's maddening, unnecessary, and it just takes forever. By the time was halfway through an image, I'd be bored to death of looking at it. This way is far less detailed, but for some reason that doesn't bother me - I'm just as happy with the end result, and it takes about half as long, if not less, to get there. So that's been exciting.

Another fast-and-loose digital sketch. I'm doing more of my sketching directly in the Illustrator file these days, and for whatever reason it's working for me. They're much less precise, but I think they retain a bit of energy that my traditional sketches often lack due to my tendency to overwork things to death.

quilters

2010-04-30T08:54:00.005-04:00

Another one of this year's illustration for Swift Creek Mill, for a production of Quilters. I am especially fond of the redhead. As usual.

johnny appleseed

2010-04-30T08:49:00.004-04:00

At the beginning of April I got an email from the fine folks at Swift Creek Mill Theater that it was time for this year's batch of illustrations for their children's series. I've been working with them for a few years now and it's always a really fun project. This is the first year I've done them digitally, and I'm pretty pleased with the final products.

This one is for a play about Johnny Appleseed, naturally.

And the sketch - nothing changed, I knew what this one was going to look like from the beginning.

archaeologist

2010-04-30T00:27:00.007-04:00

Fact: I used to want to be an archaeologist when I grew up. Well. To be honest I still want to be an archaeologist when I grow up, but I think that ship has pretty much sailed, so instead I just draw then sometimes. This is my first full-on illustration in the mostly line-less style I've been flirting with, and up until the very last minute I wasn't sure how I felt about it. I started messing with shifting the color a bit once I had it in Photoshop, which is something I rarely ever do - but in this case it took the image from "blah" to something I'm actually really pleased with.

This was how it looked pre-tinkering with color. Not terrible but pretty boring. I'm much, much happier with the final version. It's made me think a bit about the color palettes I choose and how I can adjust them to create more exciting images.

And here's the sketch. When I work digitally from start to finish, my sketches are almost comically simple.

dr. horrible rears his diabolical head once more

2010-04-27T23:23:00.004-04:00

So April is winding down and I haven't posted in way longer than I'd like, except the reason is that I've been busy busy busy with jobs so I can't really complain about the why. But! The bulk of my work is now done and out the proverbial door, so tonight I decided to finish up a little Dr. Horrible piece I started and then abandoned like two weeks ago. This pose is a total rehash of one of the watercolor ACEOs I did ages ago, but I didn't realize it until about halfway through. I guess I just really like drawing him with a bag of cumin-scented gold in his hand? Who knows.

Anyway. More posts to come - I have some client work to show and then the good Doctor's arch nemesis (Captain Hammer, of course) once I finish him. I might do Penny and Moist to round out the set, because background-less character pieces? So easy. So fast. One of my art goals for 2010 is to work on my background skills, and I am, but man, sometimes you just have to step away and draw a guy standing in a random circle of color. It just needs to be done.

princess zelda

2010-04-15T09:04:00.009-04:00

After doing Link, I had to do Zelda. She's by far the superior Princess in the Nintendo universe if you ask me. Princess Peach lets herself get carted from castle to castle while Mario runs around trying to save her, but Zelda will pull out a sword and take care of business herself. I mean, she was even a pirate once. With a peg leg and everything.

Still enjoying this simpler style quite a bit, although this one took a bit more time due to all her jewels and fanciness. It's also made me wonder if Link's eyes should be blue instead of brown? Are all the citizens of Hyrule blue-eyed blondes? There was that redhead at Lon Lon Ranch in Ocarina of Time but otherwise that place seems a bit lacking in diversity. Anyway, that's bugging me. I might have to go back and change it.

The sketch. Pretty basic.

IF: link(ed)

2010-04-12T10:08:00.003-04:00

The first thing that came to mind when I saw this week's Illustration Friday topic ("linked") was Link from The Legend of Zelda, because... nerd. I had Wind Waker in mind when I drew it, because while it's not my favorite of the games (Ocarina of Time takes that prize), the style was adorable and really appealed to me.

This line-less style is new to me - I've always been very pro-outline. I like the way they look and it pleases me to have everything contained. The downside is that the way I usually work takes FOREVER and can be a bit lacking in energy. For the last week or so, when I'm just doodling stuff for myself or to warm up, I've been working like this instead. It's fun. Faster. A lot less detailed, but I still kind of like it.

philadelphia weekly cover

2010-04-07T11:48:00.007-04:00

So last Friday I got an email from the awesome Art Director over at Philadelphia Weekly, asking if I wanted to do the cover illustration for this week's issue. Of course I did! (The story is about eating disorders in the Jewish community.) So over the weekend, this:

Became this:

Which became this:

Which is currently looking pretty awesome in PW boxes all over the city. So if you're local, grab a copy!

I couldn't quite decide on a color palette at first, so I did two - they went with the blue one, but I think the pink one is kind of fun too, in a Marie Antoinette kind of way.

IF: rescue

2010-04-01T00:02:00.011-04:00

My take on this week's Illustration Friday theme: "rescue." Because whenever I'm short on time or ideas, I know I can always churn out a half-decent naked lady. It's like a gift. A completely useless and occasionally inappropriate gift.

Anyway - I was going for a sort of vintage poster feeling. It's possible I went a little texture-happy, but I still mostly like how it came out.

And here's the sketch, which is... not good. She looks like a cross between a Carmen Sandiego strip-o-gram and a German Michael Jackson impersonator. But you know, sometimes that's how it starts.

dr. sketchy's march 2010

2010-03-13T22:22:00.009-05:00

This afternoon I went to the first Dr. Sketchy's session of the new year - the theme was a tribute to Vargas, and I was super excited because you all know how much I love me a good pin-up girl. (In case you don't: A LOT.) The models were two members of the Hellcat Burlesque Troupe - Candy Mayhem and D'Arcy D'Lux - and they were fantastic. I hope I'm awesome like them when I grow up.

One minute poses. We did ten, but because I can't draw anything in one minute I only have three I can post without embarrassing myself.

Two and five minute poses.

Ten minute poses. Technically the one on the right was a five minute pose but I went back and finished it during a break.

Two 20-minute poses.

girl detective sketches

2010-03-08T23:34:00.003-05:00

Man, last week was a bust for this blog - no new posts, no Illustration Friday (for the first time in 2010! For shame!), nothing. I'd like to blame my jam-packed social calendar, but truthfully I've just been having a couple of bad drawing days and feeling a little burned out.

But I did want to post something, so here's a page from my sketchbook - I was just playing around with Girl Detective. Her face eludes me a little bit, I never got it quite right here. It's downright jacked up in the one where she's sitting on the pile of books, so just do me a favor and admire all the lovely old tomes instead.

birds have the best gossip

2010-02-26T13:43:00.006-05:00

I posted the sketch for this last summer and just got around to finishing it this week. Talk about a delay. But I'm glad I did, because I still like her quite a lot. She looks slightly less manic since I did away with her crazy eyes, but I'm still pretty convinced that these two are trading salacious palace gossip. And then later the bird will gather a few friends and they'll braid her hair and watch Ever After. She also reminds me a little bit of Maiden FairHair (whose name made no sense because she was a brunette, but whatever) from Lady Lovely Locks, which I swear was a real cartoon even though no one but me seems to remember it.

Clearly my love affair with yellow is still going strong. I think we might make it official soon. I'm always hesitant to name a favorite color because there are so many and they're all so awesome, but I think this time it might last. Yellow could be The One.

The sketch again, because I'm not going to make anyone go back eight months into the archive to see it.

self-portrait party time

2010-02-23T22:21:00.008-05:00

Just a little illustration to use in the bio section of my website. This is pretty much what I look like, if I ran myself through a super cute-ifying machine. Also, that is my very favorite necklace - a replica WWII hot air balloon pilot's medal. I loves it. My preciousss.

The sketch. I kind of like it better than the finished product.

IF: propagate

2010-02-21T16:44:00.003-05:00

So the first thing I thought of when I heard this week's Illustration Friday topic ("propagate") was "be fruitful and multiply." So that's what I did.

Personally I prefer this interpretation of the phrase.

IF: adrift

2010-02-18T08:26:00.008-05:00

My take on this week's Illustration Friday topic: "adrift." Have you ever looked at something and objectively thought it's perfectly fine, but you still don't like it? Yeah, that's this. I'm not crazy about it but I can't figure out why. I do like the raft, though. I think it looks very buoyant and rafty.

Sketch process. I always like the tiny, tiny initial thumbnails best.

miss valentine (gold)

2010-02-14T11:20:00.007-05:00

The third and final of the Valentine pin-ups. Also my personal favorite. I really can't get enough yellow lately.

Happy valentine's day guys! Eat some candy.

(The first is here, the second here.)

miss valentine (mauve)

2010-02-13T00:54:00.005-05:00

The second in the Valentine trio. She's my least favorite of the bunch for several reasons, which is why I'm sticking her in the middle child slot. I'm glad I got to work the back-seam stocking in though.

The first Valentine is here.

IF: muddy

2010-02-11T16:41:00.004-05:00

I wasn't sure I was going to get something done for Illustration Friday this week, but then Philly got another massive snow storm (something like 73 inches of snow so far this winter, more than half of that in the last 5 days - it's completely ridiculous) and I had yesterday and today off work by virtue of just not being able to get there, so... I had some extra free time on my hands. I'm actually really happy with how it came out, so even though I'd rather let piranhas perform lasik surgery on me than deal with one more flake of snow, I'm glad I had the time to get it done.

For the record, rain > snow. Always. I'm so ready for spring.

I sometimes use those little dot eyes when I sketch kids, but more often than not when it comes to time do the final illustration I find them very creepy. Like the button eyes in Coraline.

miss valentine (pink)

2010-02-09T19:38:00.004-05:00

The first in a series of three pin-ups in honor of cupid's birthday. I'm not a big fan of the holiday, personally, but I am a fan of any occasion that gives me an excuse to draw pudgy little sexpots in fancy underwear. Seriously, who needs roses? They smell like death anyway.

And here's the sketch. Absolutely nothing changed, but I figured I'd post it anyway.

little yellow coat

2010-02-06T15:17:00.006-05:00

I've been working on this for so long that I'm kind of sick of looking at it, but it's finally done, thanks to another giant snowstorm covering Philadelphia in 2+ feet of snow and effectively canceling all my other Saturday plans.

The only thing I don't like about working in Illustrator is that the end result can look kind of sterile, so I decided to play around with adding texture to this when I took it into Photoshop at the end - I think I like it. I'll definitely be experimenting with that some more. Overall I'm pretty happy with how it came out, even though I keep going back and forth about whether it's too dark... it's a night scene so most likely not, I'm just so used to everything being light and bright.

Anyway - here are the sketch and thumbnail I was working from. I don't think I've ever actually planned a background out beyond thumbnailing.

in-progress screenshots

2010-02-02T12:02:00.009-05:00

I don't have any finished pieces to post at the moment, but I always like getting a look at how other people work so I thought I'd throw up some screenshots of what I currently have in progress. There are one or two others but at this point they're just sketches set up on an artboard in Illustrator, which is sort of pointless to look at.

I want to replace the picture I have in the bio section of my website with an illustration, so this is the first try. Generally everything I post starts out like this, digitally "inked" over a sketch. It's kind of a mess, with all the extra and overlapping lines, but you can see where things are headed anyway.

And then this is what stuff looks like when it's about half finished. Lots of separate layers and little color swatches everywhere. All the base colors are laid in, all the black lines have been appropriately re-colored or removed (except for the buttons on her coat, now that I'm looking at it), and certain bits of the background - in this case the moon, clouds, smoke, and part of the house - are starting to get finished up. I save finishing the character(s) for last because that's where I have the most fun.

Obviously this one is a take on Little Red Riding Hood, but as I've stated before I'm way into yellow at the moment - it's become one of my favorite colors - so I went with that instead. Also, no hood. The placement of the trees is rough at the moment but overall I'm happy with how it's progressing.

IF: focus

2010-01-31T18:10:00.003-05:00

My submission for this week's Illustration Friday topic: "focus." This little dude and I have two things in common: we both like rocket ships and need new glasses. Well, he already got his so I guess it's just the rocket ships now.

And here's the sketch.

IF: clumsy

2010-01-28T23:38:00.004-05:00

Things I cannot do: rollerskate, wait tables without spilling things on people.

(Cutting it super close to the wire with this week's Illustration Friday submission.)

owl girl

2010-01-27T20:17:00.011-05:00

Just a little girl in an owl suit. I think she needs a little boy in a bear suit to keep her company. I'm way into yellow and orange right now, the color palette on this one pleases me.

Normally I just upload things to blogger, but when I uploaded this one it was so washed out it hurt me at a soul level, so I just used the one I'll be putting up on my website later. What's up with blogger doing that, anyway? Super lame.

Here's the sketch for this one. It's about 2 years old, I think, I did it sometime around graduation in 2008 and always thought "hmm, I should do something with that." So I did something with that.

untitled (girl with laptop)

2010-01-24T10:12:00.009-05:00

I draw a lot of redheads. Can you tell I not-so-secretly yearn to be ginger?

I found the sketch for this stuck in an old sketchbook; I did it sometime early last year, on the back of a guest check at the cafe where I was working. I don't know why I never did anything with it at the time, but I'm glad I found it because I'm really happy with the finished piece. I think it might go on my new promo mailers, actually - it's cute, inoffensive, and a good representation of my style and general aesthetic. At first I was considering Cro Maggie but I'm thinking bare boobs might be something to shy away from in that context.

Here's the sketch I was working with - lots of things changed for the better, most notably the hair and the serious crazy eyes. I don't know why I had such a love affair with those manic pill-popper eyes, I really don't.

IF: wilderness

2010-01-20T23:35:00.004-05:00

My take on this week's Illustration Friday theme: "wilderness." Why is she naked, you ask? My answer is two-fold. 1) Why not? 2) I tried to dress her but clothes looked stupid in this context. What does one wear to ride a bear through the woods in the middle of winter? Something, I'm sure, but for the life of me I couldn't tell you what. If anyone has a bear I can ride through the woods I'd be happy to do the research required to answer this pressing question. Until then: naked.

I've been wanting to learn to screenprint for years, and I sort of had that in mind when I colored this... I think it would make a pretty awesome poster should I ever actually get around to that. Which I will. Sometime this year, preferably.

I always think it's fun to see the sketches and process behind a finished piece. In this case the drawing I took into Illustrator was a featureless thumbnail in the very corner of my sketchbook, doodled while in the middle of working on another idea for this same topic. That thing up there? Pretty much actual size. Maybe a little bigger. Generally I do more finished drawings before I start on something, but the tiny-ness of this amused me so I thought I'd share.

girl detective no.2

2010-01-19T09:13:00.003-05:00

Back in October I posted girl detective no.1 and mentioned you'd probably see more of her, as I'm rather fond of the character. Well, many months later here she is again. I still don't have a name for her, though. Considering that I have several other sketches of her lying around waiting to be finished, I really need to look into fixing that.

IF: confined

2010-01-13T21:13:00.004-05:00

Most of the time I really enjoy public transportation - it's great for people-watching - but I have some personal space issues that make it a bit fraught with anxiety sometimes. I remember taking the el on the day of one of the world series games in 2008, and the train was so packed that the conductor got on the loudspeaker and told people to start sitting on each other's laps. I don't like strangers touching me, as a rule; I especially don't like strangers sitting on my lap. Maintain minimum safe distance, please.

For this week's Illustration Friday topic: "confined." Just a line drawing this time, due to assorted obligations and laziness.

odds and ends

2010-01-10T14:18:00.006-05:00

Messing around in Photoshop. For some reason I never color anything this way even though it's like 47 thousand times faster than how I do it in Illustrator.

Boys of the random variety.

Sketches leading up to the pioneer piece I did for a previous Illustration Friday. It was based on the one in the top left, but obviously that hideously deformed hand got fixed in the final version.

regeneration

2010-01-03T18:15:00.008-05:00

As I'm sure you're all aware, I am an enormous nerd. I also watch way too much tv. On January 1st, the conclusion to the Doctor Who two-part special "The End of Time" aired, bringing to a close David Tennant's fantastic run as the Tenth Doctor (and Russell T. Davies' time as show-runner, but I'm actually pretty happy about that part). It was very sad and he will be missed. I may have teared up a little bit. Okay, a lot.

So it was fresh from watching David Tennant regenerate into Matt Smith that I saw this week's Illustration Friday theme was "renewal," and my brain started screaming "YOU HAVE TO DRAW TEN DO IT DO IT DO IT NOW" and wouldn't be quiet no matter how much aspirin I shoved down my gullet. So I did. Godspeed, Tenth Doctor. You may have been rude and not ginger, but no on could rock a pinstripe suit as well as you. Allons-y!

(Blogger really desaturated this when I uploaded it. It does that a lot but usually it's not so noticeable. Grr.)

pioneer

2009-12-31T20:08:00.005-05:00

Last piece of the year, done for this week's Illustration Friday theme: pioneer. The first thing I thought of was an Indiana Jones-ish explorer guy, so I ran with it. The more I play around with this coloring style the more I like it, and you'll notice this contains both a GUY and a BACKGROUND, two things that I rarely, if ever, draw - and not a scantily-clad girl in sight. I mentioned in a previous post that I'm trying to work on backgrounds - well, the same goes for menfolk, because what with them making up roughly half the population it's really impractical to pretend they don't exist.

In this case I'm quite pleased with how both came out. I feel like this piece and the cavegirl I posted previously sort of represent the direction I want my work to go in - they've both had a level of polish that I often feel my stuff is lacking, if only due to my own laziness - and I'm excited to keep going with it.

Since faux-Indy is blocking out most of the background in the finished piece, I thought I'd post it on its own. Considering that the only planning I did for this was a rough thumbnail (literally the size of my thumbnail, too), I think it's serviceable. Apparently I really like drawing rocks and cliffs and stuff. Who knew.

And with that it's almost time to close out 2009. Happy new year, everyone!

hook hand

2009-12-30T00:05:00.007-05:00

It slices, dices, and juliennes. Pirates are busy, multi-tasking is key.

Original is 2.5'' x 3.5''.

undo it

2009-12-26T11:02:00.005-05:00

I did this for last week's Illustration Friday theme (undone), but as seems to be standard I was a little late finishing it so I didn't get to submit it. It is, of course, an homage to one of my favorite shows of all time - Buffy the Vampire Slayer - the thanksgiving episode, Pangs, to be specific. That episode isn't one of the best of the series or anything, but there's a moment with Spike and a bear that makes me laugh every time I watch it.

There are a few things I'd tweak on this still (like, you know, how it doesn't actually look that much like Spike), but all the hatching resulted in the most unwieldy Illustrator file I've ever encountered, so... it'll do.

cro maggie

2009-12-20T17:24:00.003-05:00

A slight departure from my usual style, not so much in the drawing itself but in the execution. I started this out with the usual black lines, but after I laid in some of the color it just looked too harsh. I've never really played with colored lines before, but I like it. It wouldn't fit with everything I do since a lot of it has a black/white/accent color sort of palette, but in this case I think it works. Backgrounds have long been a point of weakness for me - I'd much rather just concentrate on the characters - but in an effort to strengthen my skill set (and my portfolio) I'm trying to work them in more often. Overall I'm very pleased with how this came out.

As for the title, well, it's a terrible, terrible pun and I should be ashamed of myself, but I'm not. I like her. She's kind of cranky and fully prepared to beat you to death with your own thigh bone. Unfortunately her awful posture is a case of "drawing what you know." I will almost certainly be 4'8'' and a hunchback by the age of 40. Bet on it.

rose

2009-12-18T00:52:00.003-05:00

Original is 2.5''x3.5''. Tiny paintings are my favorite.

entanglement

2009-12-14T23:18:00.004-05:00

I started this for one of the previous Illustration Friday themes, but didn't finish it in time. Woe. Now it's just blog fodder.

first snow

2009-12-12T20:57:00.005-05:00

It snowed for the first time a few days ago. I love winter.

crunchy

2009-12-10T23:03:00.003-05:00

For this week's Illustration Friday theme. Lollipops were the scourge of my childhood, because I can't NOT bite them even though it caused me a lot of sorrow and lost fillings.

mad men: betty

2009-11-17T01:38:00.002-05:00

And here we have Betty, the privileged former model-turned-stifled suburban housewife. I'm not altogether happy with this piece, but I'm also tired of working on it; the (spoiler alert) former Mrs. Draper is not one of my favorite characters, so I suppose it's only fitting that she was the least pleasant to draw.

basset hound eyes

2009-11-14T23:14:00.005-05:00

I'm working on the third in the Mad Men series - Betty - but she's giving me a bit of trouble, so in the meantime here's a sort of sad, wistful little woman I doodled over a cup of tea this afternoon.

mad men: peggy

2009-11-08T11:49:00.004-05:00

Peggy Olson, scrappy secretary-turned-copywriter with questionable taste in both men and hairstyles. At least she's not wearing those weird little neckerchief things anymore.

mad men: joan

2009-11-03T00:25:00.004-05:00

I'm a huge fan of Mad Men; I think it's one of the most riveting shows on television. So of course at some point it had to work its way into my sketchbook. Chistina Hendricks' Joan is gorgeous and feisty and hands down my favorite female character. The other leading ladies are in the works, but it seemed only fitting to start with Miss Holloway (I refuse to use her husband's last name on account of him being a whiny, raping man-child).

girl detective no.1

2009-10-31T01:35:00.004-04:00

First things first: I am a terrible blogger. Fact. Sorry about that.

This is the first thing I've worked on in a while, but look! It's a finished piece and everything. I'm way into yellow right now, and weird riding pants, apparently. This little lady sleuth doesn't have a name yet, but I'm pretty fond of her so I guess I should figure one out. In my head I've just been calling her "girl detective," which reminds me of old pulp comics and hardcover Nancy Drew books and makes me want to write a slightly spoof-y 1950's mystery story for her to star in. There would be stolen family heirlooms and secret passages behind bookshelves and most definitely a creepy groundskeeper who is revealed to be a red herring in the 11th hour.

Anyway, I like her. I'd place bets on seeing more of her in the future. (Notice I didn't say "soon." I don't want to get crazy here.)

aviatrix

2009-09-10T00:31:00.002-04:00

Has it for real been over a month since my last post? Wow. That's shame, that feeling there. Sorry kids. Obviously I've been in a bit of a creative slump lately. But tonight I felt like drawing, and this is the end result.

You may or may not be aware, if you know me in person or otherwise, that I am slightly completely enamoured (I know that's the British spelling, but it just looks wrong without the u) with all things flight-related. So while I suppose she could be an adventurer of any sort, to me she is unequivocally a lady pilot. I'm pretty fond of her, actually. And her sweet costume, which I would totally wear on a daily basis. You will probably see more of her in the future, if I ever draw anything ever again before I die. So there's like a 70/30 chance.

allyson's wonderland

2009-08-02T11:37:00.006-04:00

I finished this piece a little while ago for Allyson Magda of Allyson Magda Photography. She wanted an Alice in Wonderland-ish illustration with her adorable Jack Russell Terrier, Gunny, as the White Rabbit.

I haven't done a serious digital piece in a while, and I was reminded of why I have a love/hate relationship with Illustrator. One on hand, I do like the end result, and I like that it lets me experiment and change things without scrapping the entire piece. But the downside is that it completely puts me in ocd zoom mode, where I work at 1200% of the actual size (which is usually 25-50% bigger than the final print size to begin with) and get hung up on miniscule details that no one would ever notice. For this reason it takes me at least twice as long to complete digital pieces. I should really work on that.

But! I'm pretty happy with how it came out, in the end.

my wonder woman looks so sad.

2009-07-27T21:14:00.004-04:00

Doesn't she? I have minor plans for her. I find her sadness very appealing for some reason.

dr. sketchy's july session

2009-07-17T23:24:00.007-04:00

This month's Dr. Sketchy's theme was Super Heroes vs Super Villains. The models were fantastic and a song from Dr. Horrible was on the mix for the night (Freeze Ray!). Pretty much 3 hours of awesome. I'm fairly happy with the stuff I got out of it, especially the shorter poses - they're not my strong suit, but I think they came out pretty well this time around.

2 minute poses.

5 minute poses.

20 minute pose.

40 minute pose that I only spent 30 minutes on.

more swift creek mill illustrations

2009-07-13T01:01:00.002-04:00

The other four from this year's set: Animal Farm, Just Gotta Sing, The Little Red Hen, and Santa's Candy Cane Christmas. Great fun to work on, as always!

magicadabra!

2009-06-29T21:33:00.002-04:00

I just finished this year's batch of children's theater illustrations. I'm going to break my own rule and post my favorite one first. (Usually I'm a "save the best for last" kind of girl.)

Original is just over 6''x6'', ink and watercolor on hot press.

random toplessness.

2009-06-16T00:17:00.002-04:00

A tiny sketch from a few days ago. Nothing exciting.

more swift creek mill drawings

2009-06-14T20:12:00.002-04:00

The other 4 - didn't feel like uploading them all separately. Painting will ensue this week.

My favorite part of all of these is the little elf in the Christmas one.

magicadabra (sketch)

2009-06-14T00:41:00.003-04:00

A drawing from this year's batch of pieces for Swift Creek Mill. I enjoy the bunnies' bewildered expressions.

Finished painting to come in the near future.

omg rly?

2009-06-10T08:27:00.004-04:00

I feel like friend bird is telling her all the best gossip. He can never keep his beak shut about anything, I swear.

Also, I am clearly still fascinated by fascinators.

the seer

2009-06-08T00:20:00.004-04:00

I have about 15 different iterations of this spread across various sketchbooks. Dark-haired girls holding their severed body parts and sewing up the wounds. It'll turn into something one of these days.

dr. sketchy's april session

2009-04-19T20:54:00.004-04:00

Two sketches from Friday's Dr. Sketchy's. The theme was "Totally 80's," and it was totally like drawing Like A Virgin-era Madonna. Good music and great models. As you could probably tell, this one was my favorite. I do love me some pigtails.

I need to draw something and actually finish it. It's getting ridiculous actually. I went to the bookstore in search of inspiration today, to no avail. I want to do a series of some kind. I need focus. Suggestions are welcome.

I heard the Grease soundtrack at work today...

2009-04-03T22:56:00.001-04:00

And it put me in a bit of a 50's mood.

more tea? (sketch)

2009-03-30T23:18:00.005-04:00

A saucy little minx inspired, oddly enough, by Mr. Butlerton - of the late, great Clone High - who frequently inquires, "more tea, Wesley?" (He calls everyone Wesley. Why? Because he is awesome.) Mr. Butlertron is a cardigan-wearing robot, but that's not so much my thing... so lingerie and thigh highs it is.

I'm going to take this to a finish soon, I think. I rather like the sketch.

Oh, and it's pink just because.

secret cup hug

2009-03-27T16:09:00.002-04:00

I found this one stuffed into my sketchbook. It's from forever ago. And by "forever ago," I mean the same time as the others. So like a month or two. I'm pretty sure I tucked it away because it's not exactly safe for work. Not unless you work someplace more boob-friendly than I do, anyway. But still. It's my favorite, for obvious reasons. It is, after all, pretty much What I Do.

In other news, I just finished the job that's been consuming my life for the last few months. This means, in theory, that I will have time to draw new things. I'm going to do my best to make that happen. I also see this blog and my website being revamped in the (hopefully near) future. It's about damn time, really.

dr. sketchy's march session

2009-03-21T04:01:00.006-04:00

So this month I finally made it to the Dr. Sketchy's session at the Fleisher Art Memorial. It was fun! A nice little chunk of time in which I HAD to draw. The verdict? My mad skillz are a little rusty. I was never particularly good at drawing from a live model - I'm not loose enough (short poses make me twitchy), and I have a hard time finding a balance between the stylized manner in which I usually draw and what I'm actually seeing in front of me. So I don't feel like I got anything particularly noteworthy out of the session, in terms of individual pieces, but it was good practice nonetheless. And the models and costumes were fantastic. I'll definitely try to make it next month.

Anyway. Out of the lot, these three are the only ones I really feel like showing the world. I'm not overly fond of the second one, but I feel like the first and third turned out okay for quick drawings.

pinup thing.

2009-02-21T00:17:00.003-05:00

This has been in my sketchbook for a while, I just forgot about it. Probably because it's not very interesting. Half-naked girl, tights, lather, rinse, repeat. I want to throw some color on it at some point, but for right now... this will have to do.

"look how awesome my hair thing is."

2009-02-03T00:09:00.003-05:00

Clearly she is considering that very fact.

Just random cuteness. I'll probably slap some paint on it later.

P.S. I want that outfit.

creepy ladies hugging your cup.

2009-02-02T00:45:00.004-05:00

What's this? A post?! Could it BE? I know, shock and awe, right? Anyone who judges my existence based solely on this blog has most likely assumed my untimely demise, but no! I'm still alive and relatively well. Just not, you know, drawing much or posting at all.

But lo! Here is something. Two somethings! And it's something new, even - not just the dregs of my "sketches" folder. Of course, this something new consists of embellished ballpoint pen doodles that I did on cardboard cup hugs while trying to amuse myself at work... but hey.

I kind of want to make a bunch of these and just slip them onto my favorite customers' coffees. For fun. Except that they're very shoddily made and split apart quite frequently. Plus the smudginess. And the creep factor. But otherwise, it could be fun.

Anyway, I promise to post again in the near future. And I actually have something on deck, so that's not even a hollow promise, either.

again with birds on your head.

2008-12-17T18:20:00.004-05:00

So it's been over a month since I last posted, and that's pretty awful... sadly I'm still not drawing much/at all. Not sure what's up with that. But I've been having blog-neglect-guilt lately, so I dug through the abundance of half-finished/forgotten stuff in my "art" folder and found this. I haven't the faintest clue what the point is supposed to be, but it's better than nothing, right?

Yeah, let's go with that.

empty.

2008-11-14T02:20:00.002-05:00

It's been way too long since I last posted. I haven't been drawing much. Or at all. Mostly because I feel like this.

sugar

2008-10-11T02:57:00.006-04:00

Last week's Illustration Friday was "sugar," and I was all, "Awesome! I'm totally going to do that!" And then it sat, half-done, until the new theme went up today. I always miss the boat with these things. But tonight I felt compelled to finish it, instead of sleeping or cleaning my room or answering the fifty gazillion emails that have been mocking me for the last week and a half.

And lo, there was a post.

(This was more than a little inspired by Melisser, who runs Sugar Beat Sweets. She's good people, with great hair.)

this is my considering face.

2008-10-06T02:37:00.003-04:00

I feel like it's been forever since I last posted, when in reality it's only been... 10 days, which is still kind of a long time. I haven't been drawing that much lately. And I haven't done anything digitally in ages. I have, however, spent an unnecessarily long time considering the possibility of a haircut. Et voilà.

Lessons learned: halftones are fun, frivolous decisions are hard, and I'm still way cuter as a cartoon.

me, more or less.

2008-09-26T01:13:00.004-04:00

I wear this outfit a lot once it gets cool enough to break out the boots. Which it did on Monday, so I drew this in celebration while rocking said boots in the park.

sideboob hour.

2008-09-24T00:49:00.004-04:00

Aaand we're back to the sexpots.

You know... for being a straight girl, there are an awful lot of naked ladies in my sketchbook. I never draw scantily-clad menfolk. And yet. Girls are just so much more fun. I'm reminded of Cassandra/Rose in Doctor Who: "It's like living inside a bouncy castle!"

Indeed it is, Cassandra/Rose. Indeed it is.

random cuteness.

2008-09-20T02:03:00.004-04:00

A little g-rated content for a change. But some things remain the same.

monkey slippers.

2008-09-17T00:33:00.002-04:00

In case you haven't noticed the tremendously obvious theme that's been running through my posts lately, I have a bit of a thing for striped tights. You think? Yeah, maybe. I don't know why. I've never actually owned any. They just appeal to me aesthetically, or something vaguely pretentious sounding like that.

One of these days I'll make something with some meaning behind it. Or maybe not. Who knows.

billy buddy

2008-09-14T02:55:00.003-04:00

The sweet, lovesick nerd boy behind the goggles and lab coat. Sigh.

Okay, seriously, this is the last of the Dr. Horrible stuff that is currently in my sketchbook/on my painting boards. So I'll post other things for a while. You know. Just to shake things up a bit.

alice in wonderland

2008-09-09T14:32:00.002-04:00

Alice in Wonderland, done for my best friend's birthday. There are gold accents in the glass vial and on the books, but of course that doesn't translate to on-screen viewing.

2x the horribleness

2008-09-08T00:46:00.002-04:00

Penny loves her froyo more than either guy.

(I really need to do a Captain Hammer one of these days.)

horrible thoughts.

2008-09-05T18:57:00.001-04:00

Yet more Dr. Horrible. I can't help it! He's just too fun to draw. This might be my favorite one yet.

contemplation with bunny slippers.

2008-09-04T03:26:00.002-04:00

Possibly my favorite thing in my sketchbook at the moment. I love her.

P.S. I totally have those slippers.

eek!

2008-09-02T01:59:00.001-04:00

I do not care for spiders.

hello little bird.

2008-08-30T02:11:00.002-04:00

routine

2008-08-28T23:15:00.006-04:00

This week's Illustration Friday word is "routine," and the first thing I thought of was... cheerleading. Yep. Would you believe I used to be a cheerleader? It's a fact. This was pretty much the uniform, even. CV was my high school and red and white were our colors. Go eagles?

I got a new sketchbook last week - one with brown kraft paper. I've been wanting one forever, and I finally found a nice one by Cachet (I think). The paper is smooth and great to draw on, and erases like a dream. I'm having a ridiculously fun time using colored pencils on it, so except a lot more of this stuff in the near future.

aceo: blank stare

2008-08-27T03:16:00.003-04:00

Post-"famously successful heist." Poor doctor just can't get a break.