Doodles In The Rough

Ground Beef

2010-03-18T08:24:00.000-07:00

Another quick rough image. It has been a crazy week. And subterranean is not the easiest thing to come up with something for.

This image is of mining/ or underground cows. Which I like to refer to as "ground beef" I remember originally thinking of this on the way to a wedding about 6 years ago. But I don't remember what triggered the mental image in my head. I just remember it making me laugh to myself.

Brave

2010-03-06T15:20:00.000-08:00

No time particularly this week. We are finally seeing some sun so my husband and I are working like mad people trying to get our house ready to put on the market. That leaves very little drawing time. At least I gave it some color... not great color mind you and no shading but still it has color.

You would have to be brave to wish a dragon a happy birthday... or perhaps to be trying to take his cake.

Perspective

2010-03-02T19:52:00.000-08:00

So for IF's "Perspective" assignment I thought I'd share with my almost non-existant readers a game that I play with my daughter. She is 1 1/2 and has just discovered the joys of drawing. It can get somewhat tedious to have every scrap of paper in your house scribbled on, and have any writing utensil you have in your hand cried for. However, we've found a compromise and a game. I let her scribble for a bit with whatever I have in my hand, and then when she lays it down I pick it up and trace what I see in her picture. She seems to enjoy it. After the first time she started handing me the crayon rather than laying it down to do something else. And I think I've ended up with some fun little drawings from it. It's turned into a great creative exercise.. which is something I was really needing.

I think this fits with perspective because she is probably drawing something else or perhaps just enjoying the feeling of making lines.. but my perspective of those lines is completely different.

Here is one of our finished products and a couple of more below that. I call this one Mother Goose

Then there are rabbit and bird - these were our first two and it did not occur to me to scan in her original scribble til later.

Propagate

2010-02-22T17:47:00.001-08:00

prop·a·gate
/ˈprɒpəˌgeɪt/ Show Spelled [prop-uh-geyt] Show IPA verb,-gat·ed, -gat·ing.
–verb (used with object)
1.
to cause (an organism) to multiply by any process of natural reproduction from the parent stock.
2.
to reproduce (itself, its kind, etc.), as an organism does.
3.
to transmit (hereditary features or elements) to, or through, offspring.

First off, I think it is sad that I actually had to look up this word to make sure I knew it's true meaning.. or at least know it enough to make sure my illustration fit it. It's just not a word you hear very often anymore. Or at least I don't.

Anyway, when I did read the word in question my immediate thought was that credit card commercial where the dad is buying his daughter a bunny but while waiting on the credit card to go through the rabbits multiply so rapidly that there are bunnies everywhere! See here for the only link to the commercial I could find: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhieUXAapz8

Then I kind of felt sympathy for all the mama bunnies out there. So that is what brought about this sketch.

Adrift

2010-02-17T14:26:00.000-08:00

Finally getting around to posting this. My work has become rough and rushed since having my daughter. I feel intimidated by the other things I see posted to IF. However I'm trying to look at it in a positive light. 1. I'm actually drawing for the fun of it again. 2. Perhaps the roughness will work its way into a new style for me. Who knows. Positive thinking it can do wonders.

Anyway -Here is my submission for the word "Adrift".
It was the first thing to come to mind with the talk of the Polar Icecaps melting. Though I'm not sure penguins live up there. As you can see it was drawn on a post-it from my husband's office. The last two were drawn on the back of my grocery lists. I'm thinking of changing the name of this blog to "Random Scraps of Paper"

Muddy

2010-02-06T07:31:00.000-08:00

Drawing a memory this time with a few extra details. A while back, back when it was actually warm enough to go outside, I was trying to call my sister to wish her a happy birthday. The thing about one year-olds is if they see you on the phone they suddenly want your attention. So I took her outside so that she could find something else to entertain her. That something else turned out to be an old flower pot filled with mud from a flower that had died long ago. While I chatted with my sister, she spent the whole time scooping mud and dumping it on herself and the dog. Both had a blast. We of course had bathtime and paw cleaning right after that phone call but it was mighty fun to watch.

2010-02-03T18:18:00.000-08:00

back again. It's been over a year I believe since I last posted anything here. Having a little one sucked all my time away, but I've decided I need to exercise my brain and my drawing hand so I'm going to attempt getting back to quick sketching for illustration Friday again. I can't do any finished pieces anymore due to not having any time to do them in. A toddler is taking all my energy and working at night after she is in bed is taking my most of my time. To see how nice and neat my illustrations use to be look back at the past ones.

My drawings will likely be on whatever scrap of paper I can find at the moment and whatever media I can find to draw with during the day. But it's getting back in the game. And that's what I need. I am promising myself not to be intimidated by other people's awesome work this time. I will not worry if no one gets it but me. I will not worry if it fits the word perfectly...it will be whatever first comes to mind when I read the word. I will as they say "just do it".

So without further adu:
Focused
or as I like to call it "When a good eye goes bad"

Petting Zoo

2007-11-25T17:34:00.000-08:00

Ever notice how there is a lack of illustrated stickers for trips to a petting zoo? I made these for my sister by request for Christmas.

A day late and a dollar short

2007-07-20T12:13:00.000-07:00

Just now getting around to IF again. Here is my illustration for last week's topic "Discovery"
Never did get a chance to add color. This week's topic is "Poem" I have no idea if I'll have time to do it or not.
But perhaps.

Wow! Look what I found!

IF: "CITRUS"

2007-05-11T13:56:00.000-07:00

Friday snuck up on me. All week I meant to post an earlier illustration that would have fit for "Neighbor" but never got around to it. I may stick it in here later.

But at least I've had enough down time today to do a quick Adobe Illustrator illustration for "Citrus". Inspired by the Art Nouveau movement and translated into my cartoonish style - I give you "Orange Blossoms"

As soon as I read the word "citrus" my mind went to a song from the 40's called One Dozen Roses in which Orange blossoms are mentioned in the chorus. And this is the image the song conjured.

IF - "Remember"

2007-05-02T20:08:00.000-07:00

Self portrait, the bugs were really more about thoughts and ideas, but could also represent memories. I've been having a lot of memories blinking on and off recently.

IF: "Snap"

2007-03-30T12:06:00.000-07:00

This is another quick sketch and it has a story to go along with it.
You see, we've been having our bathroom remodeled and it is a bit of a nightmare trying to get them to finish the job. I have been complaining about it at work and about how they are driving to the point that one of these days I am just going to "snap" and go postal. So when the illustration Friday topic came up, my co-worker Tammy suggested that I do a self portrait depicting that. So here it is. Me snaping and going postal with my husband's paintball gun (because I'm not a fan of real guns) and growling at the contractors....

"Finish my bathroom or your pretty white truck is gonna get it!! And I might put a few whelps on you to boot!"

IF: I Spy

2007-03-27T06:51:00.000-07:00

Eye Spy Evidence of a Cover Up

Another quickie. No time to really work on these any more.. not with such unusual topics. But my first thought in reading the topic was MIKE! of course you know what Mike I mean. The one from Disney/Pixar's Monsters Inc.. Of course done from my memory and therefore with lots of differences and so not copywrite infringement.

Quicky for IF "Gravity"

2007-02-16T07:28:00.000-08:00

What do you do for the subject "Gravity"? I felt very weighed down by the topic ;)
But as time is pressing this week/weekend this is the quicky that I've come up with.

IF: "Crash"

2007-02-13T20:05:00.000-08:00

Been gone due to all the holiday madness but I officially make this the start of the new year for Illustration Friday exercises.

Here is my very simplistic, monochromatic piece for "Crash"

IF-"Pheonix"

2006-12-29T10:25:00.000-08:00

This is an old one, from when I went through a really difficult ending of a relationship and after a long while finally felt a bit of a connection with a Pheonix rising from the ashes

IF - Peace

2006-12-26T12:29:00.000-08:00

Done not long ago for our Christmas card

I've been absent from IF for a while due to the holidays being so busy. I hope to be back on a weekly basis after the first of the year. It really is excellent exercise.

IF: "Wind"

2006-11-02T07:57:00.000-08:00

I call this "Chipmunk's Fun Way Down"
I had every intention of adding color to this quick sketch but never got around to it and since tomorrow will bring a new Illustration Friday topic, I just bit the bullet and posted the rough.

IF "Ghost"

2006-10-20T07:39:00.000-07:00

And the battle over the thermostat continues.

Be Careful the Path You Chews

2006-10-06T12:00:00.000-07:00

For if you chews wrong, you will be in big trouble

Shhhhhhhhh....

2006-09-29T11:54:00.000-07:00

*whisper* today's Illustrate Friday topic is "quiet", and so you better be because the librarian is looking this way */whisper*

The pig librarian character is from a story I worked on long ago called "It Started With A Thump" kind of an onomatopoeia teaching tool - where a librarian trying to make sure her patrons stay quiet in the library ends up accidently making more noise than anyone else.

Phobia

2006-09-22T09:03:00.000-07:00

Little Miss Muffet was Arachnophobic
(That's what we call it today)
So when that spider
sat down beside her
she decided to runaway

I've never had any problems with spiders myself, but a lot of my friends do.
Personally, I'm acrophobic, slightly clausterphobic and Ferrisphobic (fear of Ferris Wheels)

"Change"

2006-09-19T12:58:00.000-07:00

Quick sketch of a quick change being handled by the bridal party.

"Farm"

2006-09-08T10:02:00.000-07:00

Been away a couple of Fridays, nice to get back in the swing of things.

This was done for a friend who lives on a farm and lovingly refers to it as her "funny farm"

RUN!

2006-08-25T07:41:00.000-07:00

This IF is based off what we like to call our dog's "Crazy Dog Run". We have a hill outside and this is the way she runs down it when she gets all excited about something. Like say.... a ball. This, however, does not look like my dog.

Ahhh My head is on fire!

2006-08-18T06:12:00.000-07:00

For Illustration Friday's topic "Match"

My first ever Illustrate Friday Image

2006-08-08T08:25:00.000-07:00

The Topic was "Capture"

So it isn't Friday anymore, but I'm finally getting a chance to do this. Hopefully this will become a great exercise for me to keep the ol' pen to paper more often.