Monday, January 26, 2009

Sketch


I'm working hard on my next Hawaiian goddess, but she isn't quite ready yet. I hit a bit of a wall with her this evening, so I took a break and did this quick sketch. Loosely based on Liv Tyler. Loosely:)

I promise to have more exciting posts this week, and Wondercon is coming up! Yay!

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Love.



A little something I worked on this week for a wedding save-the-date. I have been super busy, and thus slacked on getting my first post out. But no worries, I'll get the second one in later today. Happy weekend:)

Monday, January 19, 2009

New Sketchbook + Studies

Well, this sketchbook isn't all THAT new.


I've had this Fabriano for at least the last six months, but I haven't paid much attention to it. I still have a few pages left to fill in my Fabriano from last year and have been slacking on my figure drawing attendance which is the bulk of what I put in these babies. But today my new one got a shiny new cover/binding! Hooray! Fabrianos typically have pretty flimsy covers, so I took some scrap board and fabric and gave it a little extra protection and style.


And in honor of the new look of the outside of the book, I thought I should probably display a bit of the inside. Here is a little watercolor of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Having the opportunity to paint this remarkable place was really a dream come true.

And here is a teeny-tiny color study I did this evening for my next Hawaiian goddess painting. I would have liked to spend a bit more time on her this weekend, but I have been busy with a few other projects. More on her to come, but until then, have a happy week!

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Dance!





The first mermaids of the New Year. Actually, I think I started sketching her way back in August, but I haven't had a chance to finish painting her until today. I would love to do two more in this series of flamenco-ish sirens, so stay tuned for that. These three, along with my other original mermaid paintings will be coming with me to Wondercon in February if anyone is interested. The goal is to have at least 20-25 of these small originals with me at Wondercon, wo we will see how that goes.

And what the heck, I'll post 'em to IF this week. These watercolors are pretty tiny (about 5x6 inches), so I'd say she is quite contained. Contained, perhaps, but not tame. This one has got some fire in her for sure.

Monday, January 12, 2009

Sketchcrawl #21!



Dave and I joined a small group in Golden Gate Park yesterday for Sketchcrawl #21 and we had such a great time. I'm almost embarrassed to admit it, but it really was the first time in over two years of living in the Bay Area that I have been able to spend any time in the Haight/Golden Gate Park at all. Such an great area! We spent a good amount of time sketching at "Hippie Hill" before meeting all of the other crawlers at the De Young Museum, and boy were there some fantastic characters to be seen there. Alex (hackey-sacking above and below) was one of us, but everyone else was spotted either on Hippie Hill or the immediately surrounding area and hastily scribbled in my sketchbook:

the original sketchbook drawing of Alex
Hardcore biker dude.
Hippie girl with awesome hair
.
Hula hooping chick who was not pleased when she caught me drawing her.
I loooved her cut-out shirt.

Well, I just made it for my first week of "two posts a week", and I'm a bit worn out. Tune sometime in the next seven days for two more exciting posts! Until then, have a great week everybody!

Thursday, January 08, 2009

Hello 2009!



After slacking off during the last few weeks of '08, I am now back to the old grindstone. I apologize for my absence!
For the first post of 2009, here is my entry for this week's IF topic - "Resolve". I have a feeling that 2009 is going to be great, and I have lots of resolutions all ready to go, but the main one that pertains to this blog is that I just really want to be drawing and posting more. Lets say twice a week? Sound good? Okay, so this is #1. I've been working on a Can-can dancer at work, and now I just can't get them out of my head. It didn't help that I came home tonight and watched Moulin Rouge (twice) while working on this. Oh, what I would give to be in the chorus/dance team for just one of those numbers. If I had my pick, it would be "El Tango de Roxanne", but really anything would do.
Speaking of Moulin Rouge - did I mention that I was actually there? That I actually visited the Moulin Rouge in Paris? I did! As this new year starts to ramp up, I have to tip my hat to 2008. When all is said and done, I can't complain. I got to visit Las Vegas, London, Oxford, and Paris. I drove down to San Diego and had a blast at my first Comic Con. I spent two weeks at home on the lake. Dave and I adopted the most awesomest cat ever. I was able to be there for my good friends' autumn wedding and was also able to welcome a new commando into the world (yeah, Baby Joe!). I hosted my first convention table at APE and started and Etsy shop! I even embarrassed the heck out of myself at a pole dancing class. Geeze, no wonder I was tired.
There will surely be a lot happening in 2009 as well, and the first thing on my horizon is Wondercon! Yep, Bill and I will be hosting a table in the Small Press area. More details to follow, but I am extremely excited! Have a great week everybody!