Monday, January 28, 2008

Toon Weekly submission

This week, the theme is ZOMBIES...which was a fun one to do. My zombie is based on teenage fans of a musical group I had the misfortune to see as an opening act a few years ago, with my daughter...it seems they are becoming more popular because I heard them on the radio the other day.
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This was done in Photoshop from a pencil sketch.
www.toonweekly.com

Saturday, January 26, 2008

February Sketch contest...

The NCN Forum is lucky to have Jan Opdebeeck step into Court Jones' shoes to moderate our monthly online sketch contests for the foreseeable future. The format now is to draw the famous figure that Jan has selected, in any media, as long as it's NOT digital. The winner gets Jan's sketch, definitely worth having, but his advice and that of peers is the intangible benefit for me.
For February, the subject is Boris Yeltsin. Here is my first attempt, with some coaching from Jan regarding exaggeration around the mouth and chin area.
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Friday, January 25, 2008

Sketchbook caricature...

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One of my new year's resolutions was to try to do more sketches that don't necessarily have to lead to finished projects--- here's one...

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Sculpture progress

TODAY'S IMPORTANT LESSON: Don't make Sculpey sculpture too big for your oven!
Sculpey needs to cure at 275 degrees for 15 minutes per 1/4" of thickness.
I'd cooked Amy's skull by itself at first, with a bare armature wire to support her famous beehive hairstyle, which was to be last. I then crafted a headless body for her, and cooked that, no problem.
When all parts came together, she and her towering hair were too tall for my oven! And she couldn't lie down, because then her long hair wouldn't hang correctly. She ended up on a slant in large pot, wedged in between mini-bread-loaf tins....I did have some breakage-- some hair, one foot and one hand--which will have to be redone.
And I couldn't stop myself from applying some preliminary paint to her face!
(By the way, the pole will eventually be a microphone stand.)
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Some sculpture inspirations:
http://www.hermannmejia.com/
http://www.davidokeefe.com/sculpture.html
http://www.2headsstudios.com/caricature.html

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Toon Weekly submission

This week's theme was clowns...this little doodle was done only with markers.
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Sunday, January 20, 2008

Back in my studio...

...and back to some projects I had begun before I left on my cross-country trip.
My second Sculpey sculpture's subject decided to drastically change her appearance with the New Year, (hint) but I am sticking with the version of her that first became famous.
This time around I am sculpting the head separately from the body, which will be mounted on a small pedestal.
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Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Two Sushi Chefs

If you're ever in Huntington Beach, CA, these are the sushi artists whose masterpieces you'll want to have...
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Marker and artstix.

Digital commission

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She gave it to him for his birthday...:-)

Saturday, January 12, 2008

Toon Weekly!

One of the benefits I've been able to enjoy on my travels is having my laptop and wacom pad with me. I can draw digitally almost anywhere. My detailed couple-caricature commissions, and another I haven't shown yet, have been all done in Photoshop, on the road this week--literally! However, PS is capable of myriad styles, so I decided to try a less-complicated piece.

A parallel field to caricature is character design. Many people confuse the two words when it comes to our art---they are inter-related, but not always the same thing. I'm not an authority on it, but when people say to me in live settings, "Oh, you're a character artist!" I usually explain that I'm a caricaturist, my goal is a specific likeness of a specific person. A character design CAN be a specific person, but not always. A good caricature is always someone in particular.

So, character design is an area I don't have much experience with; (except for my not-wholly-succesful attempt at the two stars of Pulp Fiction in one of last year's NCN Face-offs) but two caricaturists from England have just set up a website devoted to artists showcasing their skills in that area.

www.toonweekly.com
(also newly in my links list)

Mike Giblin and Justin Cook are responsible for a place for fellow artists to tackle weekly character design projects. This week it's rock stars, and I decided to join the fun with this glam guy!
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Thanks Justin and Mike!

Still following PeeWee..

...on our own adventure. More drawings soon...
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Thursday, January 10, 2008

Some current sketching....

...done while bouncing down an interstate in a big truck ( I'm travelling with the BF) listening to this Grammy-nominated waif/junkie with the expressive voice...
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No basement here.....

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Any fan of Pee Wee will understand that sad statement!
This is an old marker-pencil sketch I did of Paul Reubens, aka Pee Wee Herman, whom I have also been a fan of for a long time. My BF and I are doing some cross-county gallivanting, and we stopped at the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas , just as the sun was setting.

Sunday, January 6, 2008

John Lennon

Done by me, in graphite...
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I have been a fan of the Beatles, and John Lennon in particular, since I was twelve years old and first saw "A Hard Day's Night" on television one wintry Saturday afternoon. It's safe to say I have drawn his face many times since then. This past weekend, (another bitterly cold one) my boyfriend and I were in NYC and made the pilgrimage to the Dakota, where Lennon lived---and died. We were certainly not the only ones, almost everyone in the vicinity spoke reverentially, and in different languages, of Lennon and his legacy. It may be twenty-eight years since his death, but his message of peace and love still matters...

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Tuesday, January 1, 2008

Happy New Year!!

Here's the first piece I did in 2008:
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I'd actually drawn it the other day in-between holiday festivies, but finished it this afternoon in PS. Congratulations, Bill and Dorinda!