The Portrait Party

Awhile back I put my name on the list for the portrait party (link), and then I got kinda busy and had to say no to a lot of nice people wanting to trade portraits. But then I wasn't busy for a little while so when Furia (whose portrait you see above) asked, I said "Sure!" But, of course, then I got really busy again, so he's had to wait a really long time for his portrait. Anyhow, here it is finally. Thanks for being patient, Furia!

NPR!

I'm back! I was very excited to be asked to submit a sketch for National Public Radio's 2010 calendar, and even more excited to have it accepted. This is my sketch, and when it is a finished painting, I'll share that with you on the blog. I love NPR so much, and so I'm super-pleased to be able to do a project with them. If you don't listen to NPR, start! You might get hooked.

Here's a peace offering for my delinquency lately. I'm working really hard on a project right now, and that's why I've been gone, but my project is finished on March 19. You know in Apollo 13 when they're about to go around the moon and radio contact will be broken, they say ", see you on the other side." Well, see you on the other side.

Nekomata?

This little video has been blazing its way around the net recently, and I know this is my sketchblog and all, but I loved this sooooo much I had to post it here. Also, I think these people might soon have a Nekomata on their hands.

A Lady

I'm reading The Portrait of a Lady right now, so I suppose this sketch was inspired by the character of Isabel, although strictly speaking it is not supposed to be an illustration of her.

One Hundred

Yay, today my blog turns one hundred posts old!

This sketch isn't supposed to represent that fact, it's just the sketch of the day. And I think it also works for this week's Illustration Friday theme, "climbing." Although maybe it is more like ascending. I used to participate in I.F. all the time, but haven't for awhile, and it occurred to me that as long as I'm doing a sketch-a-day thing, I might as well do something for Illustration Friday while I'm at it.

Two of My Favorite People

I made this little picture for my sister and brother-in-law's Christmas letter. They are happy newlyweds, and are off to a great start at the family tradition of sending out the Christmas letter by tax time.

Happy New Year!

Yesterday was Chinese New Year. So today I am ringing in the year of the ox with, what else, a sketch of an ox.

Bunnies!

Chess Sharks

(Damie, this is what I was sketching when I was on the phone with you today.)

Nekomata

I read about this interesting folklore monster of Japan called a nekomata. It is a cat that has been allowed to grow too large, and so has gained terrible powers. Its tail splits into two, and it can walk on its hind legs and speak as a human; it can even grow to five feet tall. A nekomata can light fireballs in your house, and I'm pretty sure it ought to do this with its forked tail, sparkplug like. So if you have any fat cats, watch out.

Sketch Day Fourteen

A little island paradise.

Day of the Triffid

Any science fiction fans out there may recognize this as a triffid. I just finished reading Day of the Triffids, which was wonderful by the way, and thought I'd draw one for today.

ce n'est pas un titre

I'm running out of things to say about the sketches. Maybe I'll think of something better later, or then again maybe I'll just start posting sans text.

Jessie asked if this sketch has to do with a story, and yes, it kind of does, in a second-hand way. The story of Abraham and Isaac has been a very popular theme throughout the history of art, I suppose partly because it is very dramatic. So I guess this sketch uses that imagery, although it obviously isn't really about Abraham or Isaac. Here are some links to past depictions of this story by Caravaggio, Rembrandt, Brunelleschi, and Chagall. There are many, many more out there.

Sketch Day Eleven

If you can't think of anything to draw that makes sense, well then draw something that doesn't make sense.

Day Ten

It's a little late this evening, but it's here.

Sketch Day Nine

I love houseplants.

Back on the Hook

Well, I thought I was off the hook today because our internet was down, but whadya know it popped back up again!

Orly?

Sooo, this is a total cheat, because I did not sketch this today, but David made me post something. He said I absolutely had to. Oh, he's a meanie all right ;) I was busy painting though, so don't get on my case too much.

The Birds

Today we have some birds blowing bubbles, as you can see. What you cannot see, however, is the rest of this two page spread, which I am even now turning into an oil painting. Probably the biggest reason I didn't post the rest of the sketch is that it is rough, and kind of hard to tell what's going on, but also I don't want to spoil the surprise.