Vocal

Figure class with Chelsey Wood

This sketch is from a figure class I took with Chelsey Wood at the Essex Art Center this past Sunday. It was a great class, well-structured and pretty rigorous.

Duck

Goose Story

I sold a print of the "Goose" this weekend at Open Studios. The woman who bought it said it reminded her of the geese her father raised and then went on to tell me a great story about a flock of Canadian geese who once "visited" their domestic geese. When the flock had finished its visit, one Canadian goose stayed behind; she had "fallen in love" with one of the male domestic geese. "He was in love, too," the woman said, "and their chick was a little patchwork of Canadian and gray geese features: Canadian goose around the eyes and little patches of grey on its back."

Replacement sharpener blades!

Have found an answer to a longstanding, tangential question -- why can't I get replacement blades for pencil sharpeners instead of always buying a complete new sharpener? Finally came across replacement blades at Art Supply Wholesale in Beverly, MA.

Mary Reaves Uhles

Inspired by Mary Reaves Uhles' dynamic work -- the characters are fun, points of view are dramatic, page design looks effortlessly fantastic.
http://www.maryuhles.com/portfolios/childrens_illustrations

Surplus / Illustration Friday: Fluid

Here's my first attempt at doing a watercolor sketch instead of colored pencil. Needs brighter bolder colors, I think, some more punch, but it was great to try.

Skatey Smurf

Small, 5x7 quick painting from a box of "old things" my parents foisted on me recently.

Snail

Sketch for Book Project

This is a from a book project I am working on. My goal is to have 12 black and white sketches for each of the spreads done by the end of March. One a week.

Started a Sculpey Model

I am working on black and white sketches for a book project. Reading David Weisner's blog and illustrator Blythe Russo's blog, I thought I would try making a model of the beaver character the story is about (Clara) to help me draw her in different poses. I have started a sculpey model, and already used it as reference and found it helpful.  (see before/after sketches below)

Character sketch

This is a character sketch for a book project I'm working on.

Solar panels, rock and tree

Illustration Friday: Sight

Inspired by, or coinciding with, a quote from Miranda July's book: ""It’s always embarrassing to pin a tail onto thin air, nowhere near the donkey. It might be wrong, it sure looks like it is — but then again, maybe the donkey’s in the wrong place, or there are two donkeys, and the tail just got there first."

Heights

Occupy Boston

Last week, I was in Boston for the first day of Grand Jury duty.  I went to see the Occupy Boston group in Dewey Square in the pouring rain and was inspired to do this quick sketch on the train ride home.

Suzanne

Steady

Guerilla Art in the Ladies' Room

Inspired by Artist Keri Smith's book on Guerilla Art, I installed this little drawing in the ladies' room at work. Someone had removed a coat hook that was screwed into the top corner of the stall door, leaving 2 hole marks and an outline that looked strangely like E.T's head!

It was great fun hearing people's reactions, one person posted a photo of it on Facebook (see first pic below), another person added their own guerilla art to the scene the next day (see second pic below)! The most heard comment: "I was sitting on the toilet and I looked up and just laughed!" How often does someone say that in polite conversation?

Shark Bait