The Month Is Still Young

Okay, no. It isn't. But it's not too late for one more October update. I'm pulling some art off backlog in the interest of maintaining regular updates in the midst of an art drought.

These are all quick gestures done from imagination. At work, sometimes I start to lose focus when I've been working on something for a long time and I'll take a couple minutes to doodle and reset my attention span. The first page is a composite of several pages.

Below: You might recognize the drawing of the girl on the left... it's the sketch I based this picure on in August. With tactful adjustments.

Revenge of Dr Sketchy's

My schedule this month has not been forgiving of my need to go out sketching, unfortunately. But I did manage to make it out to Dr Sketchy's this month and the results are in:

I should mention that I made it to the session late (yet again) and had to sit in the back where I couldn't see very well. I didn't intentionally not draw arms/legs or crop things strangely... I simply could not see those areas.

Alls I Got

In all honesty, I haven't drawn much lately worth liking let alone posting. I've actually drawn very little, period, but here's a painted sketch I think I might like. Maybe you'll like it too. To clarify, the drawing isn't of Bean Bag Coffee House, it was done from Bean Bag Coffee House looking across the street.

I've been putting together an art book all summer and starting this month, I'll be capping off art production for the book and making publishing arrangements. Many of the sketches posted here on the blog will be in the book.

Moleskin 2.0

So begins my second Moleskin (we're not counting those couple pages in the watercolor one that I abandoned). Autumn is descending faster than I was prepared for and I'm realizing how limited my time is to get in some good plein air painting before the weather won't allow it. Expect more color sketches in the next post.


Above: I happened to catch the Richmond on a rare sunny day... the district is notorious for relentless fog.

Below: These pages were done in my hometown of Fremont, CA. The drawing on the left would have been a painting if that car hadn't left. The thing sticking out of the back of that man's head is a bike handle... I started drawing a person with a bike on BART and they got off the train seconds after I started.



Above: I was still trying to milk those dead Tombow markers on this page. I kind of like how everything came out soft like vine charcoal. The left page has a wierd tangent between the woman's arm and someone else's hand making her look like she's got a stumpy arm. Those were all done on BART to Berkeley.

Below: Seattle airport drawings done with a fountain pen, which I don't use nearly enough.


Above: Totally killed a pen on that airport truck and it's really obvious.


Below: Here's a preview of a future painting. This is the ink undersketch:


I'm currently working on a book proposal. I'll talk more about that in the next post.

Epilogues, Encores

Ship it, this sketchbook is done. I finished this one in a record 3 months. Of course, it helped that the pages were only 1/4 the size of the old books I used to work in. But still! I think this merits a wrap party of some kind.

3 pens, 4 markers, and 1 waterpen died in the making of this book.

Above: This is from a failed attempt at starting a new sketchbook, last week. I'm not digging the watercolor Moleskin. But I gotta say, it loves the markers. I may hold on to this one and just do marker work in it. This page is the only one I liked out of five.

And see how the page is perforated? I'm morally opposed to that. A sketchbook is a record of your progress as an artist. You accept bad drawings because they allow you to do better drawings. The idea of tearing a page out of a sketchbook horrifies me. No spiral-bound or perforated sketchbooks for me, thanks.

Below: Cafe drawings. North Beach, Haight, Sunset. My Tombow markers were nearly dead at this point, resulting in crusty values.




Above: Spent most of a weekend sketching with my good friend, Jamaica Dyer, after attending SF Zine Fest. She's got a book coming out in a few weeks that you should check out and if you're attending this year's Alternative Press Expo, be sure to check out the panel because she's a guest speaker.

Below: That greenish splotch was going to be a gouache color sketch. I sat outside a cafe to draw the building across the street and got a few minutes into it before realizing that I had picked the table downwind from a slew of smokers. Not to mention, the wind was strong and cold. I doubt I'll return to the location to finish this because I'm rarely ever out in North Beach and would have no reason to have an old sketchbook on me if I did happen to find my way out there in the near future.

Below: Worried people are my favorite kind of people to draw. I love the way their faces wrinkle up and you can instantly empathize. Bottom guy was a great subject, although he may have been worried because I was staring at him so intensely.

For now, I'm using another Moleskin sketchbook but I consider this situation temporary. I'm still on the lookout for a sketchbook that feels like home. Something that accepts wet media... ink, in particular. Something good with washes but hardy enough for paint and multimedia work. I definitely like the smaller format I've been working with, though. And in hardback, please. I'll probably wind up just making my own sketchbook.

Off to Seattle

Later, mans. Catch you bayside next week.

Dr. Sketchy's: ONE

I can't believe it's been over a year since I attended a figure drawing session. My figure drawing skills right now are... well, you know how when you sit with your leg tucked under you for a really long time and then you get up and try to walk and your knee is killing you and your leg is all limp and disobedient and generally just completely lame? Exactly like that. It's painful and wierd and cringe-inducing but it feels great and it's good for me. I just need to keep it up.

These drawings are from two different sessions done at Dr. Sketchy's, a monthly burlesque-themed figure drawing event held at a gallery downtown. I need to find another local figure drawing session so I can start going weekly again. Spoiler alert: Proportional issues!


It's worth noting that I arrived late to the first session and had to sit way in the back where I couldn't see the model's legs below the knees. Rather than fake the rest of the drawings, I just didn't draw her whole legs. I only drew what I could observe. Just so's you know.

Above: My figure drawing sessions have men in drag playing live jazz versions of movie and video game themes. Don't everybody's?

Below: Yeah, that was cropped. You don't want to see the rest. But I like the portion I showed.