Drive-by posting!

Look what I just finished!!

Creative productivity

So I haven't actually completed my next alphabet drawing yet (although it is in the works), but during my last doodlefest I opened my mind even further. This next little guy is in a style that I've always wanted to do, but never really tried or had particular inspiration. It's minimalistic, but it says a lot...several different things, in my opinion. So here's that:

And next we have a drawing that's a bit of an inside joke - when Devin and I were watching Animal Planet with some friends last week, we learned that animals like wallabys and kangaroos are called MACROPODS because of their foot size. So then I thought up this guy:

Devin lol'd when I showed him. Mission accomplished!

And finally, we have a screen shot from the laptop skin project (I've actually added the explosion since I took this, but I want the next posting to be the COMPLETED one). Added the birds, planes, clouds, and texture on Arthur the whale. I think he's coming along swimmingly (hehe!).

In other news, I'm heading back down to Indiana to shoot a wedding for a friend from high school this weekend. Get ready for some more photo postage!

A work in progress

Here I am in my bloggy again! Here's a little update on my pen n crayon series, letter C:

Didn't quite turn out like I had hoped, but oh well. The purpose of this little project is just to get me to step out of my comfort zone a little bit, and to let go of any preconceived notion of reality. Am I doing that? Yes.

The focus of the week has turned to the laptop skin I'm designing for Devin. His parents gave him a groupon for one for his birthday, and it expires at the end of the month. So I need to get this done! It's mostly born from his ideas, with some of my own tweakings...what I'm doing is drawing the "bones" on paper, then transferring these drawings to Photoshop for color, shading, and texture. The scene that we've come up with is a blue whale, falling out of the sky, with lava shooting from his blowhole, eating birds and planes. Yep, pretty crazy! So here's what the whale (we've named him Arthur) looks like right now:

Creating the lava will be interesting. His skin also needs to look rougher. But between drawing time and Photoshop play time, this took about 45 minutes to complete. 

Yesterday I drew most of the other elements. Here we have the birds:

Naturally the scene will have more than 5 birds...I will just take these basic positions and repeat them in different locations and sizes.

And here we have 3 biplanes, whose pilots are presumably freaking out:

This last guy will be trying his damnedest to escape Arthur's mouth! Will he succeed?? Nobody knows...

So my hope with this is to keep cooking up silly ideas with Devin, and making them into something marketable and purchaseable...laptop skins, iPhone skins, desktop backgrounds, etc. My Zenfolio site actually allows me to sell "digital products" like this, so it could end up being a decent side project. I'm also hoping to start submitting t-shirt designs to Threadless. Here's hoping I can corner the digital market!

TTFN, readers. I'm off to spend the next half hour putting these planes into the file with Arthur...hopefully he'll resist the urge to eat them...

Keepin' it simple

How about this: a post with some of my other artistic endeavours! I don't have many of them, but my intent is to change that. First, I'd like to share the coolthing I made for Devin for our 1 yearversary back in May - an 8x8 inch canvas.

It's made from ticket stubs, etc that I collected during our first year. There's a Chicago train ticket, two movie tickets (our first and only movie in the theater, "Black Swan," on Valentine's Day), an airport parking receipt, two art exhibits from the IMA (where I was an intern), and the ticket to his brother's Independence Bowl game. The center is a coaster from a cafe we visited, also from Valentine's Day. I plan on making one of these for each year. Eventually we'll have an amazing, colorful full-wall scrapbook of sorts. I wonder what I'll get to put on the next one! ;-)

Next up is my new series of sorts, inspired by all the awesome stuff I see on Doodlers Anonymous. Here at Interlochen, I work three days each week in the box office, and when I'm not selling tickets, well...I have opted to spend my time making alphabet doodles! Black pen and crayons only (no pre-drawing!). One letter per day. No visual references whatsoever. ANYTHING GOES.

So here we have the first day, letter A:

And from today (technically yesterday), we have letter B:

AH THESE ARE SO MUCH FUN. I'm fairly obsessed with the incorporation of text/words/literature into works of art. For now, this is my chosen means of doing so. Keeps my mind active, and will more than likely turn into bigger and better things! ...also gives me something that I HAVE to post on a regular basis. ;-)

Until next time, dear readers...

I do what I can

Oh, hello there! I hope everyone had a safe and happy Independence Day. I wonder what our forefathers would think of our country now...hmm. A discussion that has no place on this blog ;-) Anyways, what with working and also having my fiance around, I'm not blogging as much as I meant to...but that means I'm trying to pile more creative goodness into what I can write! I had the day off yesterday, so I started the drawing what will become an etching on my dad's (parents') headstone. Hummingbirds and irises, two of my dad's favorite things. I'm incredibly thankful that Caldwell Monument is lending me their own etching tools to complete this project! So here's what I've got so far: 

The drawing process really won't take very long...but etching will probably take several long days of hard work. I don't mind...I love a challenge, as well as learning a new medium! Who knows, maybe I'll end up supporting myself with this one day...

Also, earlier today I was introduced to the photography of Christopher Jonassen, particularly his "Devour" series: photos of the bottoms of frying pans, made to look like planets. Pretty cool! His other work, portraiture in particular, is creative and gorgeous. 

Yesterday, through the previously mentioned site Doodlers Anonymous, I found the site Envelop, where you can purchase (and design/sell!) unique home decor items. Lots of pillow covers, plus tote bags, aprons, oven mits...some of it is downright incredible. It's definitely something I'll be looking into doing once I settle into married life (!). I would encourage everyone to purchase home decor through this site...we need more support of individuals and small businesses. Honestly, Devin and I are working on making a registry through Target, just so people know what gifts to give, but if it were up to us we'd just head to the local Goodwill/farmer's market/craft store. I could go on a big soapbox rant about this, but I'm feeling a bit too mellow for that at the moment ;-). Maybe later...Bottom line: SUPPORT LOCAL. JUST DO IT.

As always, thanks for reading!