21 day creative exercise-day 7

I spent all day art directing a photo shoot for a fine men’s clothing client’s catalog (say that three times.) I’m thouroughly enjoying myself, since this particular photographer, the stylist and I work really well together and have become fast friends. If there is a down side, it is that I haven’t had much time to sketch. I did manage to scrawl out this attempt at a forced perspective, monstery dude, in ball point pen.

I’ll be at the shoot for two more days, so I imagine there will be more scratchy, ball point pen scrawls to come.

21 day creative exercise – day 6

EXTREME POGO BUNNY, FIERCE COMPETITOR

For the 21 Day Creative Exercise, I’m still working on series, action and consistency. I have a ways to go, but it’s been a fun process. Also, with a bit of a stretch, it fits the Illustration Friday theme.

Aint’ life grand?

21 day creative exercise-day 5

Tom and I went to a baseball game tonight, (Dodgers vs. Angels,) for the first time in a long, long while. We took off for the stadium right after work, so we were tired and famished. However, after wolfing down a couple of Dodge Dogs, peanuts, beer and partaking in several waves we were completely in the spirit of things.

Things have changed a bit since the last time I was at a game. For one, there are screens everywhere, so you don’t miss a single play. Especially if you are like me and become easily distracted. Also, the peanut vendors, well they’re still there, but they have competition. Some guy was hawking California Pizza Kitchen mini pizzas. I was waiting to see him toss one at a customer, but no dice. Only peanuts get tossed I guess.

Dodgers kicked some Angel arse, by the way.

Got home late and figured I better squeeze out a sketch. So Mr. Bunny obliged by posing as a Dodger pitcher. Of course, he could have dispensed with the chew. We really don’t have to be all THAT authentic, do we?

21 day creative exercise-day 4

SUPER TOM

When Tom and I are goofing around and acting silly, he makes this funny face. He bares his teeth and pokes out his lower lip and… well, it’s hard to explain. Trust me, it’s hysterical… to me anyway. I call it the Super Hero face, because it reminds me of those retro cartoons, where the villain is all pointy and snidely and the hero has this impossibly, huge, toothy grin.

Aaaaaaanywho… it’s funny.

So, there I was, engaged in the exercise, thinking about Tom and the fact that it’s his birthday today and the above image emerged. I was having so much fun drawing it, I didn’t really worry about how technically correct the perspective was. That’s why it looks a bit out of whack… but it makes me giggle to look at it, so all is not lost! I was living in the sketching moment, if you will.

Whoo hooooo, it’s the 4th day of the exercise, it’s Friday and it’s Tom’s birthday! Life is good!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY SUPER HERO!!!

21 day creative exercise-day 3

His form gets a little sloppy towards the end, but… HE STICKS THE LANDING!

So, in an effort to continue studying and practicing action and consistency of character while keeping the sketching pace loose and spontaneous, this little back-flipping bunny just hopped write onto the page of my sketch book. And that would have been just great, if I hadn’t then, gone home and started getting all persnickety with it, which sort of defeats the purpose of this exercise. No matter. It was fun.

I think I may study the actual body movement of a back flip and see if, in the future, I can maybe revisit this acrobatic furball and improve his form. What with the Olympics being just around the corner and all. In the mean time, I am enjoying the process… and TRYING to be looser and more spontaneous.

21 day creative exercise-day 2

While I was busily sketching away at lunch today, this little yoyo dude appeared. Then he started running around and laughing his fool head off. He could use a little more consistency to his look, but hey, it’s a start!

21 day creative exercise – day 1

Back in April, Alicia Padron and Gina Perry initiated a wonderful thing they called the 21 Day Creative Exercise. This is how Alicia explains it.

Many of my blogging buddies (you can find links to most of them on Alicia’s side bar,) joined in and it seemed as though their creativity just took off in leaps and bounds. It just looked like too much fun not to join in. So, although late to the party, I’m going to give it a whirl.

My goal for the next 21 days is to simply sketch whatever comes to mind, loosen up, just let things flow. In other words, spend less time cleaning, finessing and wracking my brain for ideas and just let my pencil have it’s way with the paper and see what happens.

I think this is going to be fun!

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

So, anywho, I started the process today, and the first thing that came to my mind was something I often fantasized about as a kid. When I was about 7 or 8 years old, I thought it would be really neat if there were teeny, tiny people living inside the fruitless mulberry tree in our backyard. I would befriend them and invite them to move into my bedroom. Once they moved in, I would dress them in Little Kiddle clothing, feed them Fig Newtons and build them a comfy little home out of PF Flyer, shoe boxes.

It would have been awesome!

hoard

Ignatz and Spooky were shocked to find out the real reason behind Joey’s ample girth.

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The theme for this week’s Illustration Friday is “Hoard.”

a day in the life

I’ve procrastinated long enough! My dear friends Alicia from My Place Over the Hill and Colleen from The Frog Blog both tagged me for the “Day in the Life” meme. It was great fun reading theirs. Now I hope I can live up to the challenge. This is what a typical week day is like for me. Join me, won’t you?

5:30-6:00am
I not only set my clock 15 minutes ahead to “fool” myself, I also set the alarm for 5:30 so I can continuously hit the snooze, and again, “fool” myself that I’m cheating time somehow. The cacophony that ensues: Brrrrrrrrrrraaaaaaangggg, smack, @#%*! Brrrrrrrrrrraaaaaaangggg, smack, @#%*! goes on for about 30 minutes. Finally, however, there is one thing that finally gets my hiney out of bed. It comes in the form of a little black paw, batting gently at my nose, with just a hint of claw. Just a hint mind you. Right about this time, coming from a different direction, a furry white head starts butting the side of my chin and cheek, ever so insistently. So it’s the batting, the butting and eventual wet nose sniffing around my ear area that eventually wakes me up.

As my eyes slowly open,

unicorny toad

As the lovely, breezy Southern California Spring comes to and end and a crippling, eyeball melting Summer imposes itself upon a surprisingly, unsuspecting populace, the one saving grace just might be the unicorny toad.

Why, you ask?

Well, in addition to being cute as the dickens, unicorny toads provide a rather unique service. When the sun is at it’s highest, you will find scores of these little dudes hopping along Ventura Blvd., like mini Lords of the Dance, kicking up their little webbed feet and reaching unusual heights for such small creatures. This consequently works up quite a sweat for the unicornies, causing them to become all the more frantic, hopping and twirling, now, like crazed, whirling dervishes. During the frenzied high-hopping, their uni-horns become lodged in the eaves of surrounding office buildings. As they hang in the eaves, catching their collective breaths, sweat, which from unicornies, is quite sweet and cool, rains down on passersby, supplying them with an unexpected, refreshing spritz.

After this brief but welcome spritzing, the unicorny toads, having recovered a normal heartbeat, gently float back down to the sidewalk, where the whole process starts over again and continues until right before dusk.

I tell you, if it wasn’t for these wee critters, my lunchtime walks, in the summer, would be next to impossible.

punch line

Not only had Morris’ insatiable thirst for punch caused a long line at the Moose Lodge Family Dinner, but he also began to get the sinking feeling, he might have misunderstood the whole “being invited” thing.

punchline

SANDRA BERNHARD

Knock knock!

Who’s there?

Orange.

Orange who?

Orange you glad you had that caricature of Sandra Bernhard you did years ago, as a spot illustration for the Arts & Culture section of the Ventura County Reporter, so you could post it and wriggle out of drawing one more day?

Heee heee, ho ho ho, har har…

ok, so that wasn’t a very funny punchline. I’m going to bed now. Good night!

forgotten

Had I not forgotten to lock the front door last night, I wouldn’t be sitting here, languishing in the less-than-comfortable, belly of a queazinartle.

But I did and I am.

Luckily for me, queazinartles seldom, if ever, mean any harm to humans. Apparently, it’s insatiable appetite, coupled with an acute nearsightedness, caused the confused beast to mistake me for Kraft Mac and Cheese, (a queazinartle delicacy,) and devour me whole.

This whole misunderstanding should… er, um… pass… in about 7 days, (things “move” slowly in the queazinartle bowl realm.)

Unfortunately, all this puts a damper on my blogging for the week. But I assure you, I will gather up sketchbook with pencil, at the very first opportunity, next week, and be back in the saddle in no time at all.

In the mean time, please, please, do not forget to lock your front door. If nothing else, misfortunes like these are almost worth it, if others can learn from them.

Thank you, and see you next week!

kvetchelug

Complain, complain, complain. Always with the complaining, they are!

Have you suddenly become a great big downer? Are you haranguing everyone you meet with a list of complaints, like never before? Do people walk the other way when they see you coming? Chances are a kvetchelug has recently slipped into and has taken up residence in your ear.

A few drops of warm olive oil placed into the affected orifice, should send the kvethelug packing. He’ll begin to back out slowly. Once this happens and his little pincer tail is visible, get a hold of the tail with a tweezers and pull gently but firmly. You’ll feel him resist by wriggling about. Don’t let this deter you. Continue pulling. Soon you will have a kvetchelug, bitching and moaning, in the palm of your hand. For this reason and to protect you from his returning to the sanctuary of your ear, it is suggested that you promptly insert ear plugs.

Once the ear plugs are placed and you can no longer hear what the little bugger is muttering about, the kvetchelug actually makes quite a good pet.

what a big baby!

MONSTER

A monster with horns
as prickly as thorns,
delighted in causing folks dread.

But he shuddered with fright,
at the thought that there might
be a kid hiding under his bed.

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So I seem to be on this monster kick and since I opted to have a pleasant dining experience with my sweetie tonight, instead of drawing (and instead of going to the gym… oh the horror), I dusted of this little chestnut from last year and re-posted it.

All is fair in love, war and blogging, right?