2 Seconds later

"Close up Zebra"

Both this and the last post were drawn from photographs taken by my friend Tania, who just so happens to be an amazing photographer. She also is an amazing Diaper Cake maker.

I'll be drawing some more animals from her awesome photographs later today.

B, 2B, 4B, and 6B pencils used in this drawing.

Hopefully I'll have some more overly hilarious animal drawings to show you later today or tomorrow.

Thanks for looking! Have a great weekend, and try not to scare too many children- I know it's tempting.

"Have a Nut"

The title of this piece is purely for my dad to laugh.

I started it and finished it yesterday. I have a weird thing about squirrels. Although, drawing this one didn't entertain me nearly as much as I thought it would. But he does still make me laugh.

HB, 2B, 4B, and 6B pencils were used.

I think I'll do a gallery sometime in the distant future...and have on display animals and vehicles...because lord knows I've drawn plenty...

wait for the next post...it'll be here in like 2 seconds.

Pistons & Paint- Red Rod

I actually don't remember what year of Pistons and Paint this picture was taken at (Denton Texas). It was either 2008 or 2007. I honestly don't remember. But it was started and completed yesterday!
It was done with Hb, H, 2B, 4B, and a little 6B.
I know the wheels don't look round at the bottoms, but it was sitting on grass, so I tried to draw some of that in (although you really can't see it in this image...)
I've got a bunch of animal pictures raring to be drawn today.
I might have some people pictures to draw soon as well...some being requests (possibly- fingers crossed) and some being vacation pictures.
Plus there's hundreds of pictures that Gonzo took at the most recent "Them: The invasion" car show in Deep Ellum. Once I figure out which ones to draw, I'll start on those as well.
Anyway. Happy Halloween :P

I'm back!

It's true, I'm back. I didn't do any drawing or knitting while on my trip. Shocker. I brought a backpack full of stuff to do, and didn't touch it. But I am drawing today, so hopefully by tomorrow I'll have a little something to show you.

Where did I go on vacation you ask? (because that's where I was- "vacation"- I don't know if I said that in any other posts or not) Wisconsin. Land of milk and cheese and the happiest cows on the planet- California can suck it- WI will always hold that title. (I'm a little competitive on that front since I'm from the great cheese state).
It was a wonderful visit. Catching up with old friends, old family friends that I haven't seen in years, and just getting to relax and remember what it's like to have no traffic to worry about. I spent some time on the family pig farm playing "queen of the pigs" and petting them all on the snout (you can't get the H1N1 flu from pigs- so everyone just calm down). I got to hang out with my brother and his girlfriend (who wants some Bella Mittens), and seeing some really great friends that I've known forever. I did miss seeing snow though. Apparently it had snowed in some parts of WI the week before we got there, and then it started snowing at my friend Heather's place about 2 hours after we left. But she sent pictures :)
Some of the old family friends I got to see and visit with, and some of my friends I haven't seen in years and haven't kept in touch with, all asked if I still draw. They also asked if I had anything showing in any galleries and I actually felt kind of ashamed that I don't. That's a dream of mine- to have either a.) my own gallery or b.) my own art work hanging in an art gallery.
Wisconsin was good times. I miss it dearly. I'm putting it back on my list of places I want to move to. I've got some really great friends there that I need to see more than once a year.

Drawings to show you tomorrow. It's good to be back on the blog :)

Knitted mittens

Haven't been drawing a whole heck of a lot lately. After the catastrophe that was a black car with red touches that was supposed to be drawn in color (and turned out horribly horribly wrong), I haven't drawn anything since.

But I have been logging onto Craftster.org for some much needed creativity time. And I stumbled upon this awesome post. Which in turn made me run over to THIS website to get the pattern. Because we all know what a nut I am for Twilight. (Although I'm not one of those crazy people who have already bought tickets for opening weekend of New Moon...Not crazy really- just obsessed people who love the books.) The picture up there is how my version turned out. I used Red Hart yarn, because I had a stash of it in my yarn box (aka a 3 drawer contraption sitting in my closet so Gonzo doesn't notice how much yarn I actually have- that's not including the garbage bag full of yarn that's hiding at my parents house). I actually hate this yarn, it's not soft, but it'll keep me warm. I had to knit these up quick because Gonzo and I are heading up north soon and it's already snowing up there. Gah! Snow. Blah!

Anywho. If you are a fan on Facebook, I know I posted something a few months ago about having prints ready in September (man am I late on that deadline or what?), I finally got all of my supplies in for making prints- so as soon as they are ready (maybe by December), I'll post them here and on my website (and I'll update it on the fan page). Everything was on backorder that I needed to make them, so yeah. That's my excuse...and the mittens. :)

This is probably my last post for a week or so, so everyone have a great weekend, a great week and do something creative, will ya?

Work is slow

So I made a snail...

I knitted it, without a pattern. I was on craftster yesterday and saw someone's avitar had a knitted or crocheted snail and thought it was cute. So I just said "what the heck, let's bust out the DPN's and make it!" Fairly easy. Only took about 5 hours.

If anyone is interested, I'll see about making a tutorial.

have a great weekend everyone!

Another day, another color pencil drawing

Yes, I'm still itching...this time it's my forehead. (Thank you Prismacolor colored pencils)

I'm not posting a picture of it (the drawing). It's bad. It looks bad. It's a black car, with some spots that are red. Not only that, but the photo I was provided with is so dark that I had to take it into Photoshop and lighten it just to be able to see any sort of detail. I'm telling you, that didn't really help the case. it's a black car. Maybe I'm just unable to draw a black car? It's so dark. It just looks like a flat image that a second grader colored. Seriously. I would hate to have to tell this person that I can't draw their car, but I really don't think I can in color. (This is the third attempt at me trying to draw it) In fact, I don't think it would look any better drawn in pencil. The photo just isn't a good photo to use, maybe. The background is dark, there's not enough light illuminating the details, so everything just looks...flat.
I don't want to give up on it, but I seriously hate what I just drew. It looks bad! I'll post something when I have something decent to show you.

Back to scratching (it's spread to my palm now)

GMC in color

I did the black and white counterpart to this in August (I think it was the last post for that month).
I don't know how I feel about it. Gonzo seemed to like it, but I'm still undecided. Gonzo actually took the original photograph at the "Them" car show in 2008. He recently met the guy the truck belongs to, who happened to see the black and white drawing and asked him to ask me if I would do it in color for him.
I have issues with color portraits. I'm not the greatest painter on the planet, so I don't do "portraits" using Acrylic, or Oils, or Tempra or any other kinds of paints. I opt for what's familiar to me- which is a pencil. Colored pencils are very much like regular pencils...but there are a few differences for me:
1. They bring out the grain in the paper more so than regular pencils- which I'm not a fan of- some people are- Thank goodness for you all. I just don't seem to be happy with anything I've done in color (unless it was on that awesome brown paper from last year- that I drew the sign, tractor, and farm scene on for my dad...that actually looked kind of cool.)
2. I'm slightly allergic to colored pencils. Within minutes of opening the box my throat starts to itch. If I don't touch them, that's as far as it goes. But the minute I pick up a colored pencil I start to itch, arms, legs, face, neck. I've even broken out into hives before, from using them. I don't know why, or what it is about them that makes me itch, but yeah...it happens.
3. I tried to do a portrait for someone in 2004, it was a color portrait, using colored pencils. They were not happy with the colors that I used- saying that the skin tones didn't match, the clothing color didn't match, etc, etc. I then asked her to go thru my colored pencils and find the correct matching color to use, and I would start over. She couldn't find any, and told me that I should look into making my own colored pencils if I was going to attempt to draw colored portraits. Crayola and Prismacolor I am not. But thanks for trying lady.
So I do the best I can, with what I have.

I've been asked several times in the last few years if I do color portraits...or I've just flat out been told that they are requesting a colored portrait, without even checking to see if I can do that. Just because one artist draws well in black and white, doesn't mean they can do the same thing in color. Nor will the finished product look like what you have pictured in your head.
I'm still weighing the options of doing color portraits. They are time consuming, and a literal pain for me (allergies to the art medium isn't a good thing). Also, what do I charge people for color drawings? (that's a rhetorical question) Then there are days (especially this year), when I just think of deleting this blog, deleting the website, and not offering to do portraits of any kind, and just quietly and secretly complete drawings here and there for myself and no one else. But that won't happen, at least not today. I like drawing. I like how color looks. I like the looks on people faces, or the emails I get when someone receives a drawing that I've done. That makes me happy.

Anyway, I'm rambling...and it's Friday. I've got things to do (art wise), so I'll leave you with this, about the picture above.
I had fun drawing it, itching all the while. It was challenging, and I managed to complete it in about 3 hours...which makes me think I may be getting a little better with the colors (it usually takes me days to complete a color drawing). I'll keep practicing, and when I can afford it, I might try some other colored pencils to see if the itching stops.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Hello October!

Yeah, October is here!

First thing's first here. You have exactly 1 month to request drawings for the 2009 holiday season (that is, if you are giving presents this year). "How's that?" you ask? Well, Christmas/the holiday season, is usually my busy time, what with all the drawings and what-not. What normally takes me a few hours to complete, will probably take days (not because I get lazy, but because of the demand)- in order for me to be able to get everything completed and shipped out by December 24th, they will need to be requested by November 1st. So, if you are thinking of getting that hard-to-shop-for relative/friend/co-worker/pet/etc., a drawing from a photograph this holiday season- the last day to request one will be on November 1st. Of course, if you aren't buying a Christmas/holiday present, but a birthday/anniversary present- then please, by all means ignore that deadline. If someone's birthday happens to fall on...oh I don't know...December 4th, and you want to have a drawing done for them, please allow the normal 2 weeks when requesting. I'll make sure to work you in.

next thing- I'll probably re-read this tomorrow and not understand anything. They are doing construction in my place of business a few feet away from my desk...so everything is loud, and the hammering...makes it hard to concentrate.

Also, because I'm awesome and just told you, that you have a month to request drawings, I'm also fair warning you that for a week in about 16 days, I will be slightly out of pocket. I will have limited access to email (ASBTSF@gmail.com in case you want to order something)- so if you don't get a response from me for a few days, please do not get discouraged- I will email you at the soonest possible moment I can.

I promise pictures of works in progress will be coming soon. I've got a few drawings in the works.