Bubbles!

So this also started life as a water color doodle, and then changed a lot to turn into this.

The Bold Fisherman

So this was a short comic I did based off of an old folksong. This is also the second comic I have ever done, and I definitely learned a lot making this.

A girl

In an effort to update this blog more, have another piece of work!

I kind of like this idea of working right over the top of my little water colors.

An update

And off I go to San Diego Comic Con. It'll be a blast, I'm sure!

In the mean while, remember the sketch a day I was doing? I cleaned one of them up!

Sometimes

I go to the smithsonian. I like taxidermed animals, they don't move about.







The Bongo gave me some real trouble since I decided to try a somewhat wonky perspective.

I figured I only really needed scientific names for the non-north american animals.

Clowns!

Sometimes I paint stuff for my brothers.

So blame them.

Ink sketch

Thought I would start keeping a ink only sketchbook (Like Jillian Tamaki mentioned in her blogpost!), and I'm ditching watercolor for now. Because watercolor and I do not get along.

The tiger (who looks.. um) is from a photo, no under line or rough drawing or anything like that.

Watercolor, attempt numero 3

I like watercolor with line work. Got it. Now to work with that a little bit more.

This is probably the smallest one yet, and not on any sort of watercolor paper. Thought I would try something else with watercolors.

I made a map!

My brother wanted a map of a land that he made up, so he drew something terrible in MS Paint, and I made him this.

I took a sheet of Canson's sketch/drawing paper, scattered instant coffee over it. Poured boiling water over it. Stuck it in the oven on a very low temperature because the color didn't seem to be soaking into the paper. Then I took it out, law it on a cookie cooling rack, and let it dry. Then I drew a grid over his MS Paint map, and a grid over the torn up and textured paper, and made him this. All the color was added in Photoshop.

Watercolor try 2!

Uhhh...

Yeah, I still don't like watercolor. Maybe I should stop trying to paint fruit?

The only thing I come remotely close to liking is the line work, if it can be called that. Maybe I should take my cue from that.

Watercolor try 1!

Uh... I haven't actually used water colors since sophomore year. I think. I don't honestly know. So, this was an experiment to try them out again, so it's suffering from: poor composition, and poorly handled water colors, poor lighting, all that jazz. I will endeavor to post a better watercolor experiment soon, because I would like to get a handle on this media.

Plein Air!

I have once again started Plein Air painting, which is the first time I've posted any on this blog. I forgot how much I missed it!

In fact, it had been so long since I last touched my oil paints, that I did not have a tube of white. Or a tube of Burnt Umber. Or a tube of ultramarine blue. So the first painting was done that first day I went out, as a very spur of the moment thing, tossing all of the little tubes of oil paint I had into my easle, whereupon I discovered my lack of these three important pigments. But since I was there, and it was a beautiful day, I thought I would give it a try anyways.

I went back yesterday and did the second piece, after having carefully gone back through my supply of paints to select my colors with more prejudice. Did I mention that I've never painted white water rapids before? (The previous day totally doesn't count) And I've never done rocks from anything more than a photograph? This painting challenged me. Which is a good thing. But man, it was hard.

Long time no post!

So I heard about the Waterhouse Exhibit in Montreal (ending this Sunday!) via James Gurney's blogpost where he was arrested (not really) at the Canadian border.

So I went over to the website, saw how awesome the show appeared, hoodwinked Marika McCoola* into taking me up there, and away we went!

First stop in Montreal: A crepe shop! There was a mushroom and bechemel sauce crepe and a banana and chocolate crepe. They were good.


Then: The big day. Waterhouse! It was pretty amazing. These two come from Ulysses and the Sirens and one of the Lady of Shalott Paintings.


How can I not have gone to see the Waterhouse exhibit and not drawn this one? I'm still working on resolving it, because by this time I was sick of shading everything so carefully. So I did something different. Marika has a pretty fantastic version over on her blog.



One of Waterhouse's earlier works, the Saint of Eulalie. She did something, so the Romans tortured her with hot pokers and sticks on fire. As she died, a white dove emerged from her mouth, and God sent down snow to put out the fire and sooth her burnt skin. Frankly, I would have preferred not dying, but being immortalized in a Waterhouse painting is pretty cool too.

I'll come back and clean up these sketches a little more (aka, getting rid of the black eraser crap), but I am tired, and this blog needed updating badly.

*And by hoodwink, what I really mean is I said something along the lines of "Hey, Marika, I'm going to Montreal! I'm stopping at your house on the way! Wanna join me in this venture?"