Flight without turbulence = sketches!

It's been a long time since I have been on a 100% smooth flight. As someone who claws at the arm rests each time the plane dips, a smooth flight is one of my most favorite things in the whole world.

Thankfully, the 5 hour flight back from Google IO was just that. Smooth, totally uneventful and perfect for a bit of sketching.

Google IO was a great time as usual. I adore San Francisco so any chance to head out there for a few days I will take. The cool breeze, the neato people, the seafood... it's all terrific.

Now that we're back and settled, I've been looking into purchasing a scanner. If I'm not incredibly concerned about the quality of picture (for instance, when I am photographing sketches) I usually just use my camera. Or, *gasp!* my phone. But if I'm making prints, I'll take my work to a print shop on the beach for scanning. This is expensive/time consuming.
So now I'm wondering if I can find a similar quality in a standalone machine that I can just set up in my studio.
If anyone has any suggestions, I'd love to hear them.

Now I'm off to the internet to research :)

Watercolor sketch cards

I've been taking part in a watercolor workshop at the Miami Beach Botanical Gardens on Tuesday mornings. Apart from getting up at the crack of dawn to bike there it's been a fantastic session. Our professor is seriously top-notch, one of those instructors that really sees into the work you are creating.

Tomorrow is the last meeting, so we are all bringing little watercolors for the rest of the class to take home with them.

Here are a few of mine;









Still happily stuck on the fountain pen :) This particular brand of ink (super cheap, therefore incredibly non-waterproof) creates some really interesting results when mixed with the watercolor. Probably not archival in the least bit, but I'll be sure to scan them before taking them to class tomorrow.

Another pen + water illustration

Still playing with inks.
My plan was get outside this morning and draw some plants, but it was 92 degrees. 92!!! I guess I'm going to need to adjust my schedule slightly if I want to draw outside and avoid sweating through my clothes. 7 am should be decent, now if I can only convince myself to roll out of bed that early I'll be all set!

Saying Goodbye.

So I finished Mass Effect 3 last week. (I know, so late!)
I decided to say goodbye to the series I've played since winter of 2007 with a painting of my favorite character. Seemed fitting.

A few random WIP shots: (I need to get better about taking WIP screenshots...)

Mordin was a fantastic character. The final scene on Tuchanka was rough.

A Drippy Bear

I am super in love with my totally-not-waterproof fountain pen right now. I've been experimenting with it all week and am happily coming to the realization that I may have experienced a very "happy accident."

I love the absolute randomness that occurs as the ink separates. On my sketchbook paper it really only changes from dark blue to light blue, but on watercolor paper it can dry anywhere from a light violet to a super dark indigo. I am curious how coffee or tea will effect the dried color... must experiment further :)

Self Portrait - step by step

I finally packed and sent off my submission for the Self-Portrait Exhibition in NYC!
It had been awhile since I've even considered a doing a self-portrait so this was an interesting experience. As I was slightly out of my comfort-zone with the subject, I decided to stick with materials that I was confident with and used only pen and acrylic. The canvas itself is 4 x 4, so working with pen also allowed me to add smaller lines and finer details.

This is the photo I started with, I wanted to work from a mirror instead, but as the project spanned several days it was easier to just use a picture.

This was my initial sketch -- holy disney batman!

After the pen was applied (Micron pigment ink) I had some trouble with smearing. A coat of fixative addressed the problem, but made the canvas impervious to my attempts at watered-down acrylic. I coated the whole canvas with a thin thin layer of buff white, which allowed me to use the watery acrylic I love so much.

Pen has been mostly covered by the paint.

I reapplied the pen in a few areas and painted in the eyes. After another coat of fixative, I think it's pretty much finished.

The show is August 14th and I am going to see if I can journey to New York to go see it. Until then, I will eagerly await the next ArtHouse project :)

Tattoo!

I got to experience an exciting first this weekend; my drawing as someone else's tattoo!

I've drawn the art for all my tattoos, but creating something for someone else was new territory. He knew exactly what he wanted and even drew it out beforehand, so it was pretty easy to come up with a finished image.

I'm so glad to see that he likes it, and also to hear that his whole tattoo experience was positive.
Kind of makes me want another...