Ready for winter

A couple of doodle pages

Fathers day

I had a hard time coming up with a fathers day gift and at the last minute I not only figured out this fathers day gift but also every gift for my dad from now until I run out of people. I decided to make my dad a wall of badasses because he decorates his apt with only my artwork. It's pretty much like a Brianna museum there. I started with Clint Eastwood because he loves him. Let's face it, I probably won't ever run out of badasses for this project. Next I might do Sean Connery or Richard dean Anderson. this portrait turned out more realistic than I wanted, but stylizing recognizable faces is something I will have to practice. It is especially hard when using reference. I didn't get a chance to scan it because it was very last minute, but here is a crappy cell phone picture of it in progress and then finished.

I exist!

I've been really busy lately, I just started a new part time job and I've been doing a lot. Here is some stuff I have done recently and some stuff I am working on. Mostly I've been sketching, but I downloaded the blogger app on my iphone so that from now on I can force myself to update more often with pictures of sketches and then I can replace them late with scans.

First, the most recent thing I did is a birthday present. I had to sneak it home again to scan it. The construction of the actual book is a bit rushed, but I'm happy with the overall outcome.

This is a piece I have been working on for a few months. It's pretty big and I put a lot of different mushrooms in it so I have been slowly working on it. I sorta lost interest in it for a month or so, but now that I pulled it out to take a quick picture I want to work on it again. I just need to finish inking and then I can paint it. I'm going to try to finish it over the next couple of weeks when I have free time from work.

 

And now, just a few sketches.

Mechanicard commission for Neo-Pangea

So about 2 months ago I did this commission for NeoPangea. They made it their holiday card. The illustration is one long illustration that continues into itself (pretty much it's a drawing of their website) which was then made into a card that would move when you turned a crank on the side of the box that the illustration lived in.

Here is a video of the card in action:

I did a black and white ink drawing and then colored it digitally. Check out Neo-Pangea's website. 

Also, here is an invitation I did for my Mommom's surprise 80th bday party. 

Summer portraits

So I have been doing quite a bit of work (mostly sketching), but I couldn't get my scanner up and running because it's a weird Microtek brand scanner and I upgraded to Lion. But now everything is hooked up and I will be able to update more often. First, a piece I did a couple months ago.

And next is a sketch that I did in my sketchbook towards the beginning of the summer that I will probably turn into a sort of study/finish. It'll probably be like the one above. 

Also, I've been doing embroidery. It's really fun, but difficult and takes forever. I did a self portrait first because I'm totally lame and dorky and want to make portraits of me and my puppy to hang in my house. It's not finished yet, and I look a bit manly, but I like the flowers the best because they are the most fun to make. I will be doing a lot more. Apologies for the crappy lighting, I just took a quick photo. 

Oh yeahhhh. Wood paneling. My studio looks like Mr. Brady's studio. Sometimes I feel like I've stepped into a time machine when I come in here.

I will update again soon, I'm almost finished an invitation I did and I will be starting something for a client soon that should be lots of fun to do. 

Puppy mania.

So I haven't really been doing many finishes lately, though I should be able to start one tomorrow! My problem is my computer. I can't use photoshop and need to completely erase everything on my computer and start over. I can't afford a new computer right now so it's my only option. BUT it's taking longer than expected because my disk drive doesn't work. Anyway, I got a puppy 3 weeks ago today. A Silken Windhound puppy (for my graduation present). I got her from  a wonderful breeder, Gloria,(http://www.coolrunsilkenwindhounds.com/) and she is very hands on so my puppy was plenty socialized and introduced to things before we got her. I also got to visit her all the time before we actually took her home so I got to see her grow from a tiny baby into what she is now. It's been awesome. Stressful, but awesome. I love her so much, even though sometimes she really can be quite the brat! Sometimes she throws puppy tantrums. I usually successfully ignore them so that she will learn that tantrums do not get you attention from mommy, but last night was a big one. She was throwing her tantrum (which she usually does when she's tired and she's trying to force herself to stay awake and play) and she ran up on the couch and peed on it. This sucked because it's a new couch and also she hasn't had any accidents in the house for a while. So, I took her outside immediately and she finished peeing and then started to tantrum on the leash. I picked her up and brought her inside and put her in her ex-pen for a time out and for her to calm down. She calmed down pretty much immediately but I waited about ten minutes. Then I went and got her out and as I was holding her I was gently petting her neck and she started to drift off. Sometimes she won't go to sleep unless I am gently petting her and relaxing her (spoiled!). She fell asleep in my arms chewing on her tail. It was so cute, I tried to take a picture but you can't really tell that she's sucking on her tail like a little baby. Here are some pictures of the little lady. Hopefully I'll have a finished piece to post soon. Meet Laika!