Friday updates!

Fall is descending upon us quickly, which is awesome. I live in the wrong state to really enjoy the fullness of the autumn season, but thanks to the fall line of candles from Bath and Body Works I am able to at least smell some of it. I've burnt through two pumpkin candles already. And it's not even September yet....

I tend to feel more energized, more industrious and therefore more productive as fall draws closer. I have to believe it has something to do with the feeling of starting school. 16 years of looking forward to the fall (I loved school) seems to be rather ingrained in my head.
______

I'm still kinda spread out between multiple projects, although each one is nearly wrapped up. I've finished a small english/macedonian number book for our friends who just had baby. It was a major departure from what I usually do, as it was super cartoony. Very fun project though.

And I've started attending another watercolor workshop on the beach. Small class, great instructor, very excited for the outcome. We had a model come in during the first session, which was a really great way to just dive right in.

I know what you are thinking.
"Wait, is that a picture on this blog NOT taken by a phone?"
Yep, I finally bit the bullet and purchased a scanner. (A real scanner, as opposed to the document scanner we have for office purposes.) I am still calibrating the color output and tweaking all the individual settings, but I love this machine. Will be eating ramen for another two weeks to make up for the cost but I think it will be worth it. And hopefully soon, I should be able to start creating quality prints of some of my recent work :)

Step-by-Step Bluebirds

I've been working pretty steadily on the new website recently, but took a short break today to do a painting of a few bluebirds. AND I actually remembered to take mid-process pictures too, the coffee must be working today.

Pen drawing over a light a pencil sketch.

Starting to fill in with watercolors. A lot of the drippy grayish tones are actually just the pen ink as it runs. It typically dries really nicely, usually separated into blues and reds. I love, love, love that randomness.

Finished!

On another note, the show here on Miami Beach has been confirmed! Sept 20th I'll have 2 or 3 pieces exhibiting at the Miami Beach Botanical Gardens!*(jumps for joy)* There will be a bunch of us attending the opening reception and I can't wait, should be a great time.

And back to the website redesign :)

Pigeons and Busy-ness.

Summer is positively flying by.

I've been out and about for the majority of the season, making stops in San Francisco, Ann Arbor, Canada, and most recently France. With travel and my work, its safe to say I've had a bit of difficulty keeping this space updated.

I'd like to say we didn't have internet, or I forgot my computer... but the truth is I was completely consumed with my watercolor work. If not outside adventuring at one of our destinations, I've been hunched over papers of varying size painting into the night.

If I'm not playing with my watercolors, I've been redesigning my website to showcase more of my recent work. Which... as I am not at all a web-person is a very, very time consuming task. Thankfully, I've got a host of web-people I can turn to for help, but I'd like to get the bulk of it done myself. We'll see how well that actually works out.
Then its a blog redesign, store update... the whole shebang is up for a revamp.

As for news, I've got a few pieces in shows, and some other exciting things on the horizon keeping me fairly well occupied.

- August 16th; Brooklyn, Self-Portrait Project Stop by if you find yourself in Brooklyn, its free and should be a good time!

- Rumors of a possible Sept 20th show here in Miami Beach. More information to follow!

Other than that, I'm trying to put off downloading Dawnguard... I'm already busy, Skyrim DLC isn't going to help my schedule one iota. It's getting harder and harder to resist however :)

I'll leave this post with a fond reminder of our time in Paris these last few weeks... Pigeons. Everywhere. Big ones too, we had a few outside our window that sounded like bobcats.

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.