A Doubtful Drought...

I haven't spent much time with my arts collection since my last Landscape Architecture class. I would say that's about a few good years. So I haven't really played around with the various mediums I've acquired over the years. That includes, watercolor paints, ink, chalk, chalk pastels, chalk pencils, color pencils, fancy art markers, charcoal (my personal favorite), crayons, and sewing materials.

When I do decide to pick something up I'm undecided as to which medium I'm actually going to stick to, on each project. It's quite a dilemma. Therefore, you'll find most of my art pieces are mixed medium. For this sketch piece I decided to work with colored and chalk pencils. I'm not a fan of color pencils, because I don't think they blend as beautifully as chalk and charcoal. But they're always conveniently nearby.

Well, that's enough texty-text. Here are i pesci (fish) for this surprise rainy weather.

The B/W version:

Pencil sketch of Angel Fish (upper left); simple fish (right); eel (lower left)

Here's the color version I'm still working on...

Angel fish (top left); mechanical fish (right); eel (bottom left)

....as you can see it's a work in progress.

For those of you that know me or have scanned through my pieces, you'll notice a reoccurring mechanical nature to my figures, and that has a lot to do with my interest in Steampunk and Steampunk culture. There's this wonderful playfulness of soft and hard/harsh textures that make objects so interesting.

I may start over on the yellow Angel fish just because I'm not quite happy with how the chalk took to the color pencil surface....because of the waxy-like texture of the color pencil obvi. ugh. I like my mechanical fishy waaaaay better in blending. I started with the chalk pencils and did some highlights in color pencil. It can use more highlights, and shadowing.

I still don't know what I'm going to do with the eel yet. I want to give it an luminescent look. I may attempt using watercolor for that one. Just because watercolor can give it that transluscent quality.

The background was initially going to be charcoal black..but I didn't want to create too much contrast. Sadly I have not a dark blue medium in chalk. I may just paint over with a deeper shade of blue or stick with a charcoal black background. 

I think I'll play around with my watercolors and ink next. I love the flexibility in light-dark shades of color.

Tutti Amo! <3

Aye Aye Captain!

So I was doing an activity with my kids (the ones I tutor) that involved a boat, a crew, and some really silly instructions. Swab the deck! Ships Ahoy! Draw the Anchor! and many more as the kids quickly followed in the Simon Says-like activity. Twas pretty fun for both the kids and I. Aye, but that's not why we are here right!?

Not to say that the little sidebar there isn't relative to the sketch. Another sleepless night I spent thinking of things I might do other than ol computer and drain (<-getting sucked into a computer screen until I pass out...zzz) So I picked up my sketch pad and sketched away. Well...sort of.

A day prior I had gone through my art bin, the one with all my art papers, mags, and landscape notes. Did a little spring cleaning and it got me into the ol creativity mode again. Grabbed my huge sketch pad (I have 3-4 different sizes..this one is like 11"x 14" I think. Scanned through unfinished sketches or ones I could build on. Found my page of bird sketches and went at it. Vuola! I've been kind of lagging the upload time. I hesitate because I still don't feel it's quite finished. So check back for updates. I want to give this guy some color.

11"x14" sketch pencil/pen on sketch paper

Meet Plink! My little scissor-tailed flycatcher inspired friend. I saw an image of bird with a long, beautiful tail and thought it was the coolest thing! Looked up some more google images of "birds with long tails." The Quetzal is another bird with a similar anatomy. Just an F.Y.I. The flycatcher uses it's long, wispy tail in it's aerobatic stunts catching its food. These must be the most graceful hunters to watch. So I drew a sketch of a bird with a long beautiful tail. :)

I played around with beak styles. Going from long and curved (like that of a hummingbird) to very stumpy and sharp. I finally compromised with a little of both. I originally wanted to mirror the tail in the head feathers, but took on a Hermes helmet approach instead. The double winged headpiece kind of deal. It has a military feel to it as well. I was trying to make the bird more mechanical in its features to have more of a SteamPunk-ish feel. I also looked some images up of SteamPunk air-pirate costumes so as to incorporate something into my drawing. Maybe it shows...maybe it doesn't.

As for the wings...I couldn't decide how to design them. Like I said, I wanted a more mechanical feel for the bird. However, I was having difficulty deciding what I wanted. I ended up with bat-like wings. I suppose it works. The wings still need work as far as mechanical details (how the wing is supposed to extend out and other logistics). Looks like I need to study some Ornithology. So I best get started!

Aye Mate, until our next embarking!

Gimme Some Ocean Breeze

Hey Blogosphere,
  Sorry I've been missing lately. I've had to endure two very long, busy, and hectic weeks. Between waiting aimlessly for Jury Duty and slow days at the gallery and school. However, I have been working on some new stuff.

The weather has been decent, when mother nature isn't driving my sinuses up the wall. Anywho, with the cool weather I've been really yearning some ocean breeze. Well, the ocean in general. I've got my sailor's cap on and my ship ready to sail!

Now let's check out some of the ocean's magnificent creatures!

Captain Starky

These guys aren't anything spectacular, but they were fun to draw. These sketches are really basic, but I do hope to give more character when I figure out what I want to do with them.  

Captain Starky is a mix of a little Steampunk flava flave! haha...I'm still working on my living studies. I think I live too much in my imagination to really be able to sit down and sketch mammals, fish, etc. Maybe I need to take a trip to the zoo? Anywho, here are some more drawings to look at as you scan my blog. Hopefully I have more coming this week. Maybe I'll get on another sculpture. 

Bare Minimum

8"x 11" prismacolor marker w/pen

Hrm...what can I say about this drawing other than it is totally awesome and a nice intro back into the habit of drawing. This was for an internship project at the Design Museum. This was actually my first proposal, but it got turned down because it was too 'out there'...bleh...design students *shrug.

The curator and director of the museum wanted something more simple. It had to be more word based than image based. Psh! Fine, I'll save this drawing for someone with taste. Sorry, bitter resentment coming out. I feel like my drawings are always "too cartoony" "too out there" "too this" "too that"...I get it...be more boring! :/..Maybe I should just start pitching my images to gamers and children's book illustrators. *and end*

For this image, I was going for a bionic bird/dragon of some sort. I found this image of a mechanical, evil-looking bird and configured it to my own taste. The drawing I took influence from had an intricate extended head reaching left (where the head is) and a slightly different wing structure. The body is probably the only portion that is similar to that of the influenced image. 

Other than that, not much to say about this guy. He was just a creation of complete EVILE!!!!muahahahahaha.  

% Under the Cover of Night %

 9"x 11" Charcoal on drawing paper

6"x 8" prismacolor pencil w/ chalk pastels & pen

Decided to make this post Owl Themed. Here is an abstract and representational drawing of owls. As one may have concluded from past drawings...I'm a fan of the feathered friend. They are truly beautiful creatures. My favorite of the birds is the pygmy owl. It's so adorable. I would insert an image, but this isn't a "post cute bird photos" blog. ;P 

A little about each, I suppose I could start with the top one first. I was going through a phase of sleepless nights and late nights make me think of all the things that come alive at night. The owl being the most popular creature of the night, I decided to attempt at a representational drawing of an owl. Of course, I was not going to wait outside in the cold for some magical owl to drop by and pose for me for a few hours. Although I have spotted and heard one on the occasional night. Maybe it's Harry Potter's? eh eh? Yeah, not much of a Harry Potter fan. Sorry, but my loyalty lies with Lion Witch and the Wardrobe and Game of Thrones. But I digress.

So, one night I researched some owl photos (body, wings, etc.), picked up my pencil (in this case charcoal) and started making magic happen. I'm actually quite proud of how this lit'r fell'r turned out. Did not do any erasing, other than to create the feather texture and patterning. 

Now, the abstract drawing of an owl came from a doodle I found in one of my notebooks from school. I believe I was initially trying to draw a swan/dragon of some sort. I think this drawing took place during my sleepless night phase. I tell you, birds of a feather flock together :) I mean, my mind is always soaring and try to dance as gracefully as a swan when no one is looking...ok, maybe I've shared too much. 

After turning my sketch into an abstract image I added some color. I really like working with the greens and yellows and wanted to practice blending and mixing the different shades and tones. So that explains my color choices. I added the white highlights to sort of embellish different sides facing toward a "light source." I still need work on the lighting aspect, but I think I can slide if I push the abstract concept :). 

In conclusion, owls are beautiful, and may just be my animal spirit. 

Midnight Encounters

6"x4" foam board cut out w/trace paper backing, prismacolor marker

Hrm...haven't posted anything for a while...Suppose my nearly non-existent audience deserves a few new posts for a new year.

I made this for my mom's birthday. My mom is a difficult lady to find a gift for..not to mention having to send whatever I got her via mail would probably be pricey. Being hundreds of miles North and with little to no budget (yeah, college!) I opted for a more affordable gift idea.

Now, who doesn't love homemade gifts, made with love, sweat, and tears...Hey, don't judge. Gift making can get emotional when you're running out of time, ideas, and patience..lol. Luckily, I took my mom's interest in wolves and put it into a light weight card.

Of course, this was going to take a little bit of research. First, I needed an image of a wolf in some kind of pose to draw from. I found an image of a wolf howling and used it as help to create my scene. Did the same with the landscape. I found a few images of a desert and meshed ideas. The research and drawing was the easy part. Carving the image out was more difficult, because I wanted that crisp cut. Yes, I used an exacto knife. However, This foam board was giving me some difficulty. Especially when it came to cutting out the cactus. Hrm...I suppose the fuzzy edges add character :).

Cut and pasted the trace paper onto the back, added some color and blending AND vuola, Magnifico! Packed it, sent it (with a b-day card), stamped it and off it went.

She called me a few days later to tell me she got it and loved it. Of course, she may have just said that she loved it because she's my mom and loves me ;p.

Swan Nouveau

This little fella started off as an 'S' doodle. If you haven't already noticed, I take a great interest in the feathered animals and animals with wings. I'm just drawn to their beauty! It may have started with a California Wildlife and Invertebrate course back in college. I got to touch preserved animals. Way COOL! 

The class was divided into lecture and lab. Lectures were interesting, but lab was the coolest part of the week. My inner kid sort of took control of my body. When the instructor brought out all the birds my eyes nearly popped out of my sockets. Their feathers are soft and gorgeously colored. The birds' anatomy are fascinating. My favorite had to be the pygmy owl. It's small size and cute face are almost too irresistible to hug so closely. 

Anyhow, birds are amazing creatures and I learned a lot about California species in that course. It was a great science experience that just about pulled me into a science major. Sadly, my brain finds it difficult to grasp some of the material in a college bio course. Well, maybe it was just the way the test were designed?....

Well, I know for a fact that I do good in the arts. Writing, reading, and visual creations are more my forte. For this drawing I added something of an armor around the bird's neck. That may be the Steampunk 'Industrialization' influence or the need to guard such a beautiful creature. Ha! It works. Added a body, color, shading, and presto! My drawings typically start with head doodles and I work my way to the body last. I work my way from the top, down. Just my drawing style. I find the body the hardest part of the thought process. Somewhat like an essay. 

6" x 8" prismacolor pencils & charcoal

As the saying goes, "Birds of a feather, flock together"...

Fairies of the forest

I've wanted to draw a hummingbird or a dragonfly for a while. Finally got to it. I got to play more with the colors-blending the yellows and greens. Adding some texture where needed. I'm still working on drawing bird wings; well, wings in general. I don't have much to say about this drawing. I was thinking of my High School Counselor when I thought of it. 

Prismacolor pencils

Kitten LOVE!

9" x 12" charcoal on paper

Look at this guy! Isn't he just snug-able!?

Underwater secrets

9"x 12" charcoal on paper

Another assignment from a college beginning drawing course. The lesson was to focus on not outlining and creating forms using shading. 

Feeling Frisky

Playing with color/ B&W charcoal (9"x 12")

Feline Armor

9" x 12" pencil on paper

Learning Shapes without Outlining

9" x 12" color chalk on drawing paper

Sea Horse

Pen, chalk color pencil on trace paper