Sketches from England

I figured I'd spend this week sharing a bit of the sketch book I kept while traveling. I'll post a little each day. Today's doodles are from the England portion of my vacation.

We spent a little time at London's National Gallery, and I managed to do a few quick sketches. Keep in mind, they're nothing much. We didn't spend a lot of time in the museum, so I had to work fast! A few of them are no more than gesture drawings. That said, here we go: This was a detail from the Degas painting "La Coiffure". (Click on the highlighted links to see the actual paintings I stood in front of.) Me trying to capture even a mere detail of a Caravaggio in 2 minutes is sort of a laugh-riot. This gesture drawing is kind of sad. Especially when you look at the original. Poor Saint John the Baptist. Oh well. I did what I could in the time allotted.

A quick gesture from a Honthorst painting of Saint Sebastian.

My husband - waiting for the bus. (o:
Tomorrow I'll post some of my sketches from The Netherlands and possibly Norway.

21 Day Challenge: Day 20

Oh Captain Ahab...don't get mad.

This Challenge is winding down! I only have one day left. I'm not sure if a mere 21 days has ingrained a habit in me or not. I guess we'll have to wait and see. I have an uneasy feeling that I could just as easily go back to not drawing every evening. The real challenge, I suppose, will be after this project is officially done. Then I'll have to keep up the daily sketching on my own with no days to count down and no goal. It does feel good to create something every night, though. Even if it's just something silly.

I'll try to post my last drawing tonight. I'm leaving for a long awaited (and much anticipated) 10 day vacation bright and early tomorrow morning. I need it. Try not to miss me too much! (o;

21 Day Challenge: Day 19

I picked up my husband's copy of Fahrenheit 451 this weekend. It was never assigned to me as required reading in either high school or college, but it interested me. I've already made it though a large portion of the book. I suppose I could've waited until my flight this week, and read it on the plane...but it's too late for that! The book is not that long, and I'm a voracious reader. I'm sure I'll be finished the whole thing by tonight.

One of the images they mention more than once is the badge the firemen have sewn onto their uniforms. It's an image of a fiery salamander. I figured I'd sketch it last night. I wanted to keep developing sketches until I can get it into a sort of cool graphic symbol, but after I drew the little guy above it was time for bed. Maybe that's a project for another time.

Lately, I've been in the mood to read books set in a dystopian future. The classics are always the best. 1984 and A Brave New World were both high school or college assignments, so I've read those. I also read A Handmaid's Tale (any woman's nightmare!!!) in college as well as A Clockwork Orange and several others. At the time, I was taking a class called "New Visions of the Apocalypse". It was very cool. Anyway, if you have other reading suggestions along these lines, I'm open!

21 Day Challenge: Day 18

This is pretty much how I was feeling last night. Three day weekend or not, I've been up way too early every day. Forget sleeping in...I have too much stuff to do!

Yesterday was spent running around doing errands. Once we got home, I spent the rest of the night doing laundry and trying to decide what to bring on our trip next week. I have a really bad habit of over-packing and I'm trying to avoid that this time (if at all possible).

Honestly, this vacation can't come soon enough!

Oh, here's a little extra doodle I drew last night too. I think this star is a bit dismayed that he's falling:

21 Day Challenge: Days 16 and 17

No, I haven't given up on this challenge. I've been keeping up with it! But, this weekend has been so insanely busy that I just didn't have time yesterday to scan in and post the sketch from day 16 for you guys. It's a little late, but here it is:
I hope that seahorse is traveling someplace to get that suitcase redrawn! And here's last night's sketch:

We were out last night celebrating the 4th with some good friends. By the time we got home, I was absolutely exhausted. I drew that chicken and the weird little cat/dog creature and promptly fell asleep on my sketchbook. (Don't worry, I don't think the chicken is in danger).

Hope you all had a Happy 4th of July!

21 Day Challenge: Day 13

It's the magical candy deer!

Yeah...I don't know what's wrong with me either. Lol. It sort of has a llama face but again, I sometimes need reference photos in front of me when I draw animals. I haven't been using them for this project and this drawing is a case in point.

In other news, I had my SCBWI meeting last night. As usual, it was good. We got to meet our newest member and everything. Hopefully I can get the blog links to our other members (besides me, Gina, and Vita, of course) so I can post them for you.

Other than that, I'm just gearing up for my upcoming vacation and counting down the days! Really, it can't come fast enough. Sigh.

21 Day Challenge: Day 12

I switched gears on this one. It's a sketch of one of Degas' ballerina drawings. I'm thinking maybe I should try my hand at drawing from master works for a while...I'm so rusty! Maybe not as a part of the 21 Day Challenge, just in general. Sorry there's no new characters today, but I'll probably get that started back up on those for the next one.

I've got an SCBWI meeting tonight, so I'll keep you posted with any new news. (o:

21 Day Challenge: Day 10

It's a bird, it's a plane...it's Super Frog! Able to leap from a lily pad in a single bound.

That's all I've got this morning, folks. I'm up waaaay to early on a Saturday. My only plans for the day are to finish my giant cup of coffee, and clean the house. Which, seeing as how the weather has been nothing but thunder storms lately, is probably just fine. Hope you're all having a more interesting weekend.

21 Day Challenge: Day 9

Ants can carry 10-20 times their body weight. They're strong! This one has an olde timey moustache. (o:

In other news, the awards ceremony went alright last night. The mayor was there, a state senator, and a couple local celebs (one newspaper cartoonist and one newspaper columnist). There were a couple short speeches, the awards were handed out (complete with embarrassing pictures taken with the mayor and our art), and then a raffle at the end. I got my award for 3rd place in the adult professional category (it was a cash prize--yeay!) and was happy to see fellow SCBWI member, Jane, receive the Governor's Choice Award. Then my parents treated me to dinner...which I followed with a vigorous work-out. (Hey, I'm on va-k in 2 weeks and want to fit into my cocktail dresses!). All in all, not a bad night. (o:

Hope you're having a happy Friday!

21 Day Challenge: Day 8

Ok, so I've always had a serious problem drawing monkeys without a reference photo or a live monkey in front of me. I don't know why, but my imagination just cannot concoct a decent monkey. But, Sarah requested a monkey sketch for today, and I am more than willing to oblige. This one is talking on a banana phone. That cracks me up. It doesn't take much sometimes, honestly.

In other news, my awards ceremony for the National Arts Program is today! I'll be collecting my 3rd place award in the professional "works on paper" category this afternoon. It's taking place at Manchester's City Hall at 4 p.m. if anyone is interested. My husband works late, so the only people showing up for me so far are my parents. The two people you can always count on to cheer for you are your folks. Haha! Aw.

21 Day Challenge: Day 7

Bend it like...Flipper?

This sketch was all thanks to my husband. I was sort of at a loss last night and asked him, "What should I draw?" He predictably named his favorite animal, the dolphin. (Then again, what should I expect from an Aquarius, really?) My next question was, "What should the dolphin be doing?" His answer was, "Um...playing soccer?" He's on a recreational soccer team, and had a pretty heavy game last night. He got banged up quite a bit, but he scored a goal, and his team won (for once). So, in honor of him, this is what you get for a Wednesday doodle. Who knows? I just might start taking requests! (o:

21 Day Challenge: Day 5

Trust me, this is what I'd much rather be doing today than heading off to work in these thunderstorms. I just want to lounge around my house drinking coffee and listening to NPR. (Minus the scarf, of course!) But a girl's got to make a living. Sigh.

In other news, legendary comedian George Carlin passed away this weekend at the age of 71.

He's one of my and my husband's favorite comedians, and we've attended several of his shows. In fact, the very first Christmas presents I bought for my husband the first year we were together were tickets to a George Carlin show. We've seen him several times since then. So, we're bummed today. RIP, George. Thanks for all the laughs.

21 Day Challenge: Day 4

Yesterday I was shuffling through my studio (which is a disaster area) and somehow managed to impale myself with my art supplies. I guess there was a nice sharp pencil somewhere on my floor that was just looking for the opportunity to drive itself through my sock and into the soft arch of my foot. I am now suffering from medium-deep puncture wound. I washed and scrubbed it out (ouch!) for 20 minutes, but that hole is really skinny and I'm positive there's some nice little graphite shading at the bottom of the wound. I think I just tattooed myself. At least the pencil tip didn't break off inside my foot, I guess.
)o:
This happened the same week that my husband suffered his own foot injury on his recreational soccer team. He and a teammate both jumped for the ball, and the teammate's cleat landed squarely on my husband's little toe...which now looks like a bright purple mini-sausage. It's nasty. So, this sketch is what you get today:

I liked using a bunny for a couple reasons. The first being the big feet, and the second because it reminded me of the Paris Metro Bunny:

Back when I was still in college, I spent a month in France taking two courses over RISD's wintersession. While sitting on the metro with my sketchbook in my lap, I noticed this infamous warning sign to keep your hands away from the doors as they're closing. The bunny was cute, yet at the same time - he's getting injured! It's kind of horrible. A combo of sweet and mean will apparently catch my attention. I entertained myself for the remainder of the stops by drawing him.

Anyway, the lesson of this weekend is that cleanliness is a virtue. There's a mess in my studio that needs to be tackled ASAP...otherwise it's going to come and get me! Now, where did I put those Band-aids?

21 Day Challenge: Day 3

I aaaalmost skipped this drawing exercise last night. Almost. My husband and I ordered a pizza and watched two movies in a row. This is after I'd worked all day then hit my aerobics class. Phew! That's a late night for me! I was really tired and just wanted to go to bed. Then, I felt bad. How can you form a habit if you're already ditching out on day 3??? So, I did this quick sloppy doodle of the newest addition to my studio:

It's a giant stuffed octopus I bought from Deelind on Etsy. I've had my eye on it since I joined the site. I finally caved in and bought it when she made a note that the fabric was discontinued, and she only had a limited amount left in stock. *Gasp!* She was nice enough to send him to me this week before she goes abroad for most of the summer. I think he looks right at home in my studio, wouldn't you say?

P.S. This is my 100th blog post! Woo-hoo!

21 Day Challenge: Day 2

I did this quick little sketch last night. I was trying to capture a little gesture from memory that my hedgehog makes when he's running about sniffing things. I used a teeny bit of color in this one. A while back, a friend of mine gave me a set of what looks like crayons or oil pastels. It comes with this paintbrush looking thing that has a hollow interior so you can fill it up with water. Once you "color" with the crayon/pastels, you can run the brush over your marks to wet it and it turns into a sort of watercolor. Pretty cool.

Before I forget, I wanted to update all of you on the Case of The Missing Class Work. My teacher from this past semester wrote me back regarding the failure to find any of my projects in the Continuing Ed office (which is where he promised they would be a week or two after the semester ended) when I went to Boston this weekend. Apparently he's off on a trip somewhere, and hasn't even dropped them off yet. It's a little frustrating that I didn't know that before I took a day off of work to pick everything up. But thanks to our trip to Blue Ginger, the day was not a complete wash. I'm just glad that my 15 weeks of work isn't lost in some sort of office abyss.

Happy Friday!

The Quest

When most people go shopping, they see something they like, decide they want it, then buy it. This is the normal pattern of things. I, unfortunately, don't shop like a normal person. I get an idea in my head of a very specific item I want and then start hunting for it. I'm really picky, and won't spend money until the item for sale matches the item in my head. Sometimes this takes weeks. I will recruit friends to keep an eye out if I have to. I call these searches my "Quests". Past Quests have included "The Quest For The Perfect Flat Open-Toe Wedding Shoe", "The Quest for The Perfect B&W Polka dot Retro Dress", and "The Quest for a Semi-Metallic Not-Sparkly Sort of Neutral Eye Shadow". It may have taken ages, but I eventually found each one of these things.

That said, I have a new Quest. And I'm recruiting you guys to help me. This most recent Quest has been spurred on by the fact I'll be doing some overseas traveling this summer, and want to bring a sketchbook along. Of course, I don't want just any sketchbook. That would be too easy.

A couple years ago, I bought a present for a friend that was some sort of leather-bound sketchbook. When you opened the flap, there were slots inside the cover for a set of colored pencils. I've decided that I need a not-too-small not-too-big sketchbook with some sort of pocket or slots for art supplies. Of course, I can no longer find aforementioned sketchbook at the place I bought it. So, I need to find a different one. A collection of pencils, an eraser, and a pencil sharpener would probably be what I'm toting around. In the past, I've carried an easily portable sketchbook and an entire pencil case. That's sort of cumbersome, especially if you're trying to draw on the move. I really don't want to have to dig all of that out of my bag while standing in front of something sketch-worthy. I want to be able to pull the pencil right out of a slot in the actual sketchbook. It has to be big enough for significant drawing, but small enough for me to comfortably carry around several countries.

I started looking online yesterday. I found a bunch of sketch folios. These seem like a good idea if a) I wanted to carry a whole other bag around or b) I just needed to go sit in a field and draw, but didn't plan on moving for most of the day. It's a little bit too big. I also found a "compact portable" sketch folio, but that was too small. (Do I sound like the Goldilocks of Art Supplies yet?) I sort of like this sketchbook cover. I like that it's refillable. However, it's too expensive and I would like a little more organization that just a big pouch on the front.
Then...while browsing on Etsy and I came across a masterpiece:

It's (very fittingly) called The Artist Dream Sketchbook and is made by jennysbooks. Let me just post part of jennysbook's own description of this gorgeousness so you can know why I'm drooling. She says,

"This is a very hefty sketchbook. . . about 10" x 8.25" x 2.75"
My husband (also an artist) designed this style for himself and he loves it.
Your book will be custom made for you - I have included pictures of five different such sketchbooks that we have made."

"Your choice of motifs will be burned into the solid wood front cover by hand. The back cover is actually a box with a barrel-hinged lid that holds all your artist pencils, pens and even eraser. Both covers are dyed and sealed with a tung oil finish. The extra thick back cover makes a superbly stable surface to draw on. The book body includes approximately 360 pages of quality drawing paper plus a sheet of tracing paper between most pages. It is bound extra carefully and strong for lots of use. The spine is Kangaroo or goat leather and is topped off with furniture nails."

I want it!!! Except, it's also $350. And rightly so -- that sketchbook is a work of art in itself. If I owned it, I would never draw in it. Ever. My thumbnail sketches are completely intelligible to any eye but mine. I wouldn't want to put my scribbles in that book. That book deserves Da Vinci-level drawings. However, not drawing in a sketchbook sort of defeats its purpose. But jennybooks, just so you know, if given $350 of Etsy Bucks, that sketchbook would be mine!
In the real world I could never afford it, so alas - my affair with this sketchbook shall remain in only in my mind. Sigh.

Anyway, back to The Quest. I do realize I could hire someone on Etsy Alchemy to do this for me. However, that defeats the point of a quest. You'd be missing the point...I'm sure this item already exists somewhere in the real world. (Plus, hiring someone to make something from scratch for you can get pricey.) If you guys can direct me to the not-too-small not-too-big organized-with-pockets-or-slots-for-art-supplies sketchbook of my dreams (that I could afford and order online), I'd be forever grateful. (o: