End of the week Summary

I finished almost everything I needed to finish this week!!! However, my dad's birthday present is still unfinished and now his birthday is in about 14 days (depending on how you count the days on a calendar).
I have coming up in the next few weeks-
-The unveiling of my secret work of art- which some of you already know about because I can't keep my mouth shut. I'm open to constructive critizism on it because it will be a series, and I need to know how to improve for the future. But that's for next week.
- My dad's birthday present, because this has been on the list since October- Really now?
- 4 drawings of a cute baby
- 4-8 drawings on a very large scale that may or may not go up for sale on my website, depending on how well they turn out.
- 1 mini-munny dubed "Soy Milk"- he's nearly complete.

Oh my, I hope everyone has had a great week and has done greatness thru-out the week. Have a great weekend!

"Ford"

Title: "Ford"
Date Began: 01/26/2009
Date Completed: 01/27/2009
Media: mostly 4B pencil, with a little help from a 2B and a 6B for those really dark areas
Size: 8 1/2" x 11" (and this really did take 2 whole days to complete)
Description: On New Years Day this year, Gonzo and I went to a car show in Dallas. And I saw an old Ford, very shiny, very much in the Periwinkle color family- so of course I loved it. It's either a '32 or a '34- I really don't know (I'm bad with the years). I made Gonzo take this picture and I really think he could have cared less about the car because there was 90-bazillion other interesting, less shiny cars around. Anyway, I know I commented in one of my previous posts that it only took a few hours to crank out an 8 1/2" x 11" drawing- but seriously- this was detail heavy, so it really did take almost 16 hours to do. I should really retract my previous comment and say that people portraits take a few hours (the more people in the picture the longer it takes), and that cars...they take days to do. Landscapes...yeah, they take about a week. But that's neither here nor there.

We got off work early today because of icy weather, however it's not icy just yet. I love Texas and the overreactions due to lack of salt trucks...

200th Post!

Mad case of crazy shenanegans going on today, so I don't have anything of importance to share. But I did think that some people might like to know how I made the shirts from this post.
On the black shirt I mostly used Pentel Arts Fabric Fun Pastel Dye Sticks. They were the only thing that would show up on the black.
On the Munny shirt, I used the Dye Sticks, and I also used some Crayola Fabric Markers, as well as Fabric Mate markers. Personally I loved the Pentel Pastel Dye sticks the best, followed by the Crayola Fabric markers. The Fabric Mate would get a fuzzy build up on the tip if you tried going over the same spot several times.

But yeah. I've got some things of importance going on that I need to finish before I post too much more.

Woo hoo for the 200th Post! Yowza!

"Val 1" and "Val 2"

Title: Val

Date Began: 01/22/09

Date Completed: 01/22/09

Media: 2B and 4B pencils on white ink jet printer paper

Size: 8 1/2" x 11"

Description: A drawing that I owe my friend Jessica. This is her horse Valuca (I think that's how you spell it). I used to go to her house in high school and try to make Val look pretty by brushing her and helping Jess walk her. Yeah, I totally wanted a horse...past tense. I don't think I could handle it.

I drew her other horse, Prinz here. Because it's taken me so long to find a good picture of Val to draw, I actually ended up drawing two for Jess. All in one day (Yes, I actually got 2 of the 3 drawings finished yesterday!!! All with a sore finger!)

Title: Val

Date Began: 01/22/09

Date Completed: 01/22/09

Media: 2B, 4B, 6B pencils on white ink jet printer paper

Size: 8 1/2" x 11"

Description: See above.

Let's see, I have one picture on me today that I can start on, and probably finish.

I know people must think that I'm rediculous, since on my website it says "2 week turn around time", yet I'm drawing 2 pictures in one day. Honestly, the 8 1/2" x 11" pictures only take me a few hours to do, depending on he complexity of the photo I'm drawing from. But I feel the need to say "2 weeks" because if the person I'm drawing for doesn't like what I've drawn and wants a re-do or adjustments, I have time to finish the drawing and still ship it out. I would much rather be quoted a longer period of time and get the drawing sooner, than be quoted a few days and it takes longer. Maybe that's just me?

Anyway- I've got some pretty large scale drawings that I want to start on in the coming weeks, to either sell as they are, or maybe I'll like them so much I'll matte them and frame them to keep. We'll see.

I have one munny that I have to finish, that was started back in November. I've been neglecting him, because I'm not 100% sure I want to give him up. He's really cute.

Other than that, I don't have a whole lot to finish up this week. I'll keep doing drawings to expand the portfolio and what-not.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Not pleased

I am at work today, trudging thru whatever issues I'm having from my mexican food adventure (it's a chain restaurant...fairly fancy, so the fact that I'm ill irritates me).
But that's not why I'm not pleased.
I looked at the drawing that I posted yesterday (via the blog), and well...there's something off with the mom's face. I'm pretty sure it's the chin. This is why I shouldn't draw with a wounded finger.
I'll attempt to re-work the drawing next week. I've got 3 other drawings to work on today (ha! Let's see if I can get 3 drawings done in one day, shall we? I don't have a book to read, so I'll have time to draw to my hearts content...but my finger is still- what's the word I need here???- injured, maybe it's not the best time to try to accomplish this, but I'm going for it anyway.

"Zeke and his mom"

Title: "Zeke and his Mom"
Date Began: 01/19/2009
Date Completed: 01/20/2009
Media: 2B and 4B pencil on White ink jet printer paper
Size: 8 1/2" x 11"
Description: Another cute drawing for my buddy Drew. I finished it yesterday while at work, I know I said that I had a finger issue, and I still do, but I was beyond bored and needed something to do, so I dove in and finished it. My finger is still slightly swollen, and there's still a fever around the nail, but at least it's not as bad as it was yesterday.
If I had been at work today I would have posted this earlier, but due to eating some horrible mexican food last night I was "recovering" all day today, out sick from work. I'm still not feeling 100%, but I couldn't not post a new finished drawing.

Tragic event

It's -a - gunna- be- awhile before I post a drawing...
Yesterday, because this is what I do at work, I was reading. And while I was reading, I may or may not have subconsciously bit off a hang nail. And because I may or may not have done this subconsciously- I didn't remember doing it at all.
So when I got home last night and decided to start re-organizing my closet, my finger then became infected from whatever particles are in my closet...so much so, that around 4am this morning I woke up with an index finger the size of a balloon. A red balloon at that. The pain was intense people.
I know, it's just a finger. But it just so happens to be on my drawing hand. And with out the proper guidance from my index finger, bad things can happen to drawings.
I'd post a picture of the "issue", but to be quite honest- it's too early in the morning to reveal the grossness. And well...it's bandaged, so you can't really see it.
This totally blows the "getting at least 2 drawings done this week" thing out of the water. I usually heal quick though...so hopefully...I'll heal quick. :)
Of course there's other WAY more important stuff going on in the USA today, so my infected finger on my drawing hand will not make your local news tonight. Hence the blog post.

shirts and incompletes

My friend Alec gave me his blank Munny shirt to work on a design months ago. I didn't know what I was going to put on it until a few days ago.

I kept telling him I was going to make it into a pink unicorn with a rainbow background. He didn't seem to like that too much.

But anyway. I know he likes Koi fish, he even has a pair of pants that have Koi on the back pockets. So yesterday, in probably less than an hour, I threw this on the shirt.

Of course I had to practice to see which medium was going to work best on the black part of the shirt. I tried Crayola fabric markers- didn't work (worked on the Munny, but not the black), some other fabric markers- didn't work. And then I tried these pastel crayon looking things (sorry I don't remember the name or brand right now. I'll post that later, if I can remember to)- they worked fabulously (except when it came to heat setting)

This is probably the closest that it looks when seeing it on someone (sorry for the blur, my camera takes some horrible pictures when there's no flash).

And this is what it looks like with a little flash.

I was pretty impressed with the finished results. This took little to no time to do- however heat setting it resulted in the color dimming, so I reapplied the colors 3 times in all, with the last time being the darkest after heat setting it with an iron.

I know I said I was going to add color to the skull with roses that I spoke about last week. I did start on that project, but was only able to work on it on Friday after work. So it's not very far along.

But here's the drawing, pre-scanned in to photoshop. So we'll see how it goes.

anti-art?

I know I've mentioned a certain person that I work with on a daily basis several times on this blog...and the rediculous comments she feels she has to hurl my way.
Well she's at it again.
Today I was sketching a skull with some roses, while waiting for the phone to ring (receptionist...it's what I do 8am-5pm Monday thru Friday), and she was absolutely appalled that I would be drawing a skull.
You know, because that's a logical reaction for a human being to have...since we all have one. Actually it's something that you have to draw in many drawing classes, so you can have a better understanding of the human form.
And actually, it's a focal point of art work in Latin American cultures.
The skull, in my opinion can be a beautiful thing...it can also be a scary thing...but to look at it with absolute disgust like I was drawing human reproductive organs on the clock was absolutely uncalled for.
She obviously had no eye sight in a previous life, and can't stand how things look now that she can see. That has to be it. I don't think I've ever met anyone that opposed to art in my entire life (if you think you can top her- seriously, I'm not 100% sure I would want to meet you...and really, why did you decide to read this blog?).
In any event, I now plan to add some color to it this weekend in Photoshop- hopefully I'll have something to show you by Monday.

"Zeke!!!!"

Because there's nothing greater than the process pictures:

Title: Zeke!!!

Date Began: 01/14/09

Date Completed: 01/15/09

Media: HB, B, 2B, 4B, 6B pencils on White Ink Jet paper

Size: 8 1/2" x 11"

Description: Being on facebook has it's advantages I suppose (I'm still not all for it, social networking sites only work for those who like the social interaction...I'm a hermit). One of those advantages, is finding friends with uncanny photographic skills and amazing subjects. I love that people post fantastically gorgeous pictures on Facebook. And well, since business has been slow, I asked my buddy Drew if I could draw his kid. He has tons of great pictures of him on facebook, and because he's awesome, he sent me a link to his photobucket folder, full of pictures of Zeke. I'll be busy drawing this cutie from now until...well I'm done. But yeah. There will be one or 3 more pictures of this guy in the coming weeks.

Knew it couldn't last

I'm weak ok. I can't stand this "wait until I have something done to post" crap. That's not me. That's not my style. It's the freakin' 15th of January and I've only posted 4 other times. I can't handle it.
Sooooo-
I'm going back to how I rock things.

Currently (um hum), I'm working on my dad's birthday present. I started it last night and got a pretty good chunk out of the way. With a little less than a month to go, I can comfortably say that it will be done in time for his birthday. :)
I'm also rocking the portraits...ok "rocking" is perhaps a bad choice of word here. I have in the works 1 kid portrait; 1 kid and mom portrait; 1 horse portrait; and I think that covers that.
I also have a shirt to work on. I know, I know...A Shirt? What is this, 1980? Yeah...no. It's a munny shirt that my friend Alec has, he wants me to throw some artistic schoolin' on it so he can have a one of a kind shirt to wear around town. However, I have a lack of ideas for said shirt, and don't really own any good paints that wouldn't wash out- any suggestions on shirt paint would be spectacular! I actually have an idea for his shirt, but I'm pretty sure a pink unicorn with rainbow background would lead to a dumpster shirt, and I can't have that.

Anyway. So I'm working away. I've also been designing a giant back tattoo for myself. Ok, maybe not so giant (my mom would disagree if she had any idea- Hi mom! Tattoo's this year...). I want it to be a memorial piece for my grandparents, involving flowers. I actually saw the exact tattoo that I want while at the tattoo festival in Austin this past weekend, but going to El Paso will be expensive, not to mention the price it would cost me for the GIANT tattoo...they aren't cheap (why do all of the amazingly phenominal artists have to be hiding?). If anyone knows of any local tattoo artists (DFW area), that have done fabulous tattoo work that you've seen in person, please let me know names and locations (either leave a comment, or email me ASBTSF@gmail.com ). I'm dead serious. I've been looking myself, but am unsure of where is a good place to go.

So that's that. It didn't take long for me to crack. I'll post pictures when i have them...yeah it's back to that! (What in the...)

"Annie"

Title: "Annie"
Date Began: 01/06/09
Date Completed: 01/08/09
Media: HB, B, 2B, and 4B pencils on White Ink Jet paper
Size: 8 1/2" x 11"
Description: I contacted an old high school friend of mine via facebook to draw one of her photos posted there. I'm attempting to draw more animals, landscapes, and vehicles this year- so why not start the year off with a horse? I started just blocking out the horse on the 6th, not really sure if I should dive right in or not. I wanted to make sure the proportions were correct and that I didn't have any stray lines going anywhere that would confuse me later. By the night of the 7th I skipped working out (new years resolution is going ok so far) to start adding details to the horse. I started with the ears and the hair and started working my way down the face. By the 8th I worked on it for the first 3 hours of work, and low and behold, discovered that I had finished it. I will be shipping it off to it's new home in Iowa early next week.

Re-Formatting

With 2009 comes a change to this none-read blog. I won't be posting "all" projects anymore. Just the drawn ones. As that's what A Shade Better Than Stick Figures TM is all about. I may, from time to time, post things such as completed sculptures- but I won't be posting knitting stuff anymore or pictures from road trips- that will all be left to my facebook account. I really want to concentrate on drawing and making them the best possible for my clients.
Speaking of- I will be posting tomorrow, a picture of a drawing that I completed this morning. I quite like it...but that's for the post coming tomorrow.
Which you will notice, may take on a different tone. We'll see. I may be in a less serious mood by then.

New A Shade Better Than Stick Figures Track Jacket for Sale

By the wonders of Zazzle.com I just finished creating- to share with everyone- my favorite Track Jacket:
http://www.zazzle.com/a_shade_better_than_stick_figures_embroideredshirt-231186378089668795
They're super cool image link isn't working for me at the moment, so I hope this is sufficient for everyone.

Welcome 2009

I'm actually taking a "project" break this week. Rather, since it's the end of this week, I'm finishing up my "project" break week. What a way to ring in 2009, right?
I've got a few ideas-a-brewing for what to start 2009 off with. It'll be drawings and a pair of mittens, that I do know.
I've totalled out how many drawings I did in 2008, and would love to double it this year, if possible. So I'll need roughly 6 drawings a month to accomplish that. START SENDING IN REQUESTS! HA! (just kidding...ok, maybe I'm not kidding)
There will be some changes this year, although nothing to do with pricing or shipping or how I draw, or anything really pertaining to customers, more on my artistic end over here...where the creativity is flowing like a redonkulous river.
I hope everyone had a safe New Years- I was in bed by 10:30 and out-like-a-light by 10:37, so mine was really rather un-eventful.