Morian Art

Iggys

2012-01-28T10:30:00.002-06:00

Coloring Pages

2012-01-23T12:14:00.002-06:00

Four Cryptid Coloring pages are now available!
It's actually been a lot of fun to draw simple line drawings stuff for a change. I draw "linework" for my job as an embroidery artist frequently but then I'm having to constantly think about the path the stitches will take, and whether there be a lot of jumps. (where the needle has to jump from one line to the next because they aren't connected. Jumps have to be trimmed after the design is finished sewing. So a lot of jumps means some time-consuming trimming.) It was nice to force that part of my brain to shut down and just have fun drawing. These take more time to create than I had thought they would because I convert them into vector files after drawing them, so hopefully I'll be able to create 4 more this week, but I'm working on 3 paintings at once this week as well so that might now be possible!

Prepare

2012-01-20T09:00:00.000-06:00

Illustration Friday's word this last week was "prepare"

Cryptid Coloring Book

2012-01-19T15:54:00.002-06:00

I'm working on several new things for my etsy shop right now. Most of them won't be listed for a while because they take time to make, but watch out for new pillow pets and necklaces and paintings. But one of the things I'm most excited about because its just been so much FUN to work on is a cryptid coloring book. I'll list some individual printable pages in a few days, and after I have more pages finished I'll offer the whole thing as a printable pdf book. I'm trying really hard to create line drawings that are fun to color. Here's what one of the pages looks like:

And a close up:

I'm not usually a fan of watermarks...I think a lot of artists use them online because they are paranoid about their work being copied--and rightly so. But a painting is just really hard to see with a watermark across it (And most paintings already don't look as good in a photo as they do in real life.)

buuut I think I'm going to watermark my coloring book pages. I'm hoping people can still see them well enough to decide if they want to buy them....

I'd like to thank...

2012-01-18T17:04:00.000-06:00

I received an award! It's an award to help raise awareness of blogs with under 200 followers (which makes it sound like a disease that needs a cure..but hey, I'd love more people to read my blog so I am super honored to have received this award.) I got this from a fellow blogger/pet portrait artist/animal lover Helen at Whiskered Paintings. Go check out her artwork and her adorable dog and cat on her blog.

It's my understanding that upon receiving this award I'm supposed to award 5 blogs I like who also have under 200 followers. I have no idea how to tell how many followers a blog has, besides the little Google thing on Blogspot blogs. So I hope I haven't messed this up.

So without further ado,
the Winners Are:

Bitless horse: Science VS tradition - This is a blog about horse things and hoof things and training things and its just overall awesome.

I am Boyfriend - A beautiful grey horse and his human

Doodling Dogs - a blog about a dog named Leila "doodling" about on her daily adventures

Love and a 6 Foot Leash - more great dog blogging. I just found them.

So I Have This Dog - I love my vet and already appreciated them but this blog makes me appreciate them WAY more.

Dear Winners, please read THE AWARD DIRECTIONS:

Liebster means "dearest" and "favorite" in German. The Liebster Award highlights up-and-coming blogs to help spread the word about their furgoodness. An award brings ceremony, too, and in order to accept the Liebster, you must do the following:

1.) Copy and paste the award on your blog.

2.) Link back to the blogger who gave you the award.

3.) Pick your five favorite blogs with less than 200 followers, and leave a comment on their blog to let them know they received the award.

Another Post About One of My Animals

2012-01-17T00:16:00.005-06:00

Pedro:

Pedro is my second dog. (Bella is my first, I found her in August of 2006 and found Pedro May 2007) For a long time I thought Pedro must be Chihuahua mixed with some sort of terrier. He's energetic enough. When he was a puppy he had a looong body and short legs. Then all the sudden when he was about 9 months old his legs grew like 2 inches. He's pretty small and has springs in his back legs that he uses for leaping straight up in the air and for out-running every other dog at the dog park. I'm not kidding, he's freakishly fast. He also barks way too much and thinks he should be in charge. But Bella likes him so he got to stay because she really doesn't like any other dogs. He stands all the way under her when he thinks he's in trouble and peaks out from between her front legs.

I Digress.

Last year I got both my dog's DNA tested. For fun. And the folks and Wisdom Panel say they think he's part Sheltie, part Chinook, and 50% mystery mutt.

Well maybe there's still some chihuahua in there but apparently not enough to show up on their test. Same thing with my terrier theory. Maybe he has a little teensy bit in him. (He sure doesn't look like a Chinook.)

But what about this extinct dog breed, the English White Terrier? Famous (among dog nerds I guess) for being the terrier breed that was crossed with a bull dog to create the Bull Terrier.

Does this dog not look like he could be pedro's great great great great great great grandfather?

I think so.

Be Amazed

2012-01-15T16:32:00.002-06:00

J.C. Leyendecker is one of my favorite artists--if you've never heard of him, you are in for a treat. (Unless you have terrible taste or just hate amazing art for some reason.) He is famous for illustrating Saturday Evening Post covers (just like Normal Rockwell, only earlier..) So when I stumbled on to this post from December 2010 on Scott Anderson's blog I was in awe. Scott was able to take some very close up photo's of some of Leyendecker's actual paintings and posted them there on his blog. I could spend hours just staring at these close-ups in admiration. Every brushstroke is perfectly exactly where it should be. Click on the images on his blog and you can view them even bigger.

And here's the link again if you missed clicking on the one above!

http://blog.scottandersonstudio.com/2010/12/01/j-c-leyendecker/

Sphynxes

2012-01-13T08:45:00.000-06:00

My latest commissioned portrait:

My Drunk Cat with Clean Teeth

2012-01-11T12:26:00.001-06:00

Gypsy is kind of a strange cat. I’ve had cats my whole lifeso I know, I know—all cats are strange. But I’ve never had a cat before that is so absolutely determined to beup in high places (on people’s shoulders, on top of doors, the highest mostwobbly shelf on the cat tree, etc.) Combine that with the fact that I’ve alsonever known a clumsier cat. Hilarity is inevitable. When I lived at anapartment that had stairs going up the second you walked in the door, I wasalways pounced on from the railing halfway up the stairs when I came home fromwork…and she would stay perched there for as long as I would let her, no matterwhat I was doing. She has fallen asleep and started snoring on my shoulders. Shealso has trouble jumping onto things that are only a couple of feet tall..itslike she doesn’t judge the distance before she jumps. Or she has no depthperception…its hard to tell. She is a strange cat.

Strange cat, Gypsy developed some halitosis recently, so Itook her to the vet to see if it’s herteeth or what. Thankfully it was her teeth (halitosis can be a sign of kidneyor liver failure). So she got her teeth cleaned Monday. They said she was goodto go home when I got off work at 5.

I have never gotten a cat back from the vet that was stillthis drunk from the anesthesia!

First, my already uncoordinated cat was seriously wobbly,but at the same time extremely restless. She would NOT just lay still.

Me: Gypsy, here, stay in your nice warm bed (which is on thecounter in my bathroom)

Gypsy: whaaaaaatttts happening?? I don’t like thisfeeeelinnngg

*stands up and sways back and forth*

Me: Gypsy, lay down

Gypsy: I think I’ll go for a walk

*falls off counter*

*tries to jump onto the toilet and ends dangling by frontpaws*

*makes flying leap for counter and misses by a mile*

I locked her in her kitty carrier while I went and atedinner so she wouldn’t get herself hurt.

Then the next morning her restlessness was gone. Instead shewas a limp noodle who acted half asleep even though her eyes were open. I set herdown in the hallway to see if she could walk. She slouch-ran to the bathroomand fell over upon rounding the corner. *sigh*

I was a little worried, but she was able to jump up onto thecounter just fine (or at least as well as she normally can) and seemed to justwant to sleep on her bed so I decided it was safe to leave her there and go towork. She was wide awake and able to walk normally by the time I got homearound 5:30…I guess she just needed to sleep it off…

Last night she even had a wrestling match with her kickarooand won so I guess she’s back to 100%

Nursery Tree

2012-01-10T06:21:00.000-06:00

This is what I painted over the Christmas/New Year holiday. This is my youngest niece's room. Her older sister already has some butterflies that match her quilt and her name on her wall. This niece has a quilt with dots on it, and the leaves on the tree match the dots. Probably would have been a better picture if I had draped her quilt over the side of her crib--oh well. Mural painting is really fun--the only problem is that since it's someone else's house it's usually a lot harder to wake up at 5:00 in the morning and get some painting in while you're still in your pj's before work. (Fortunately this was the room I was sleeping in while I stayed at their house for a few days.) Anyway, this makes me want to paint a tree in my own room. I plan on organizing my art studio room this week--maybe I'll paint one in there!

Every Day Matters #326

2012-01-09T10:06:00.000-06:00

Draw something you can keep in your pocket

Trail Ride

2012-01-07T16:14:00.004-06:00

Today was an excellent day for a ride.

This is cookie (the cat) and Stormy (my horse). This is stormy's first time wearing saddlebags...and the cat didn't really go a long for the ride. This cat is obnoxious (to say the least)--always wanting constant attention, so he doesn't mind getting stuck weird places if it means he's getting petted more frequently. I often end up setting him on top of stormy while i'm brushing her to keep him from being underfoot/climbing my leg to get to my hand. He is a sweet cat, just sweet in a very pushy sort of way.

Bernese Siblings

2012-01-06T10:07:00.004-06:00

In the past I have always had trouble keeping the Bernese Mountain Dog and the Swiss Mountain Dog straight. I knew one had long fur and the other had short, but its just one of those weird things I had trouble remembering (like when I worked with both a Marsha and a Martha...sorry you two for all the times I probably called you be the wrong name first before getting it right.)

Anyway, after this portrait I'll be able to remember which one is the Bernese! It takes a lot longer to do long fur (generally) but it really is fun to paint. I hope the person that owns these two Berners likes it.

An Attempt to start blogging again

2012-01-05T15:07:00.007-06:00

So I went to the Deluxe Craft Bazaar last month and had a blast again. I sold a lot more than last year, but then I learned a lot since the year before. Lesson #1: Work harder on the booth

Here's my booth at my first ever Craft fair (not Deluxe):

I'm pretty proud of the amount of improvement. But it was a ton of work. And I couldn't have done it without help from my best friend, my boyfriend and my mom.

Lesson #2

Have some cheaper items. I did sell three paintings, but one was very small and therefore rather cheap and one was to my mother so that doesn't really count.

I sold Pillow animals and necklaces and postcards (not pictured):

These Pug Pillows sold out! and fast! That was a nice surprise. The necklaces didn't sell that well for some reason. Probably because there's already a lot of jewelry at the fair.

Lesson #3: Accept credit cards!!

I also dressed up more and worked really hard at greeting every person that came near my booth. But I attribute my rise in sales to those main 3 lessons.

Prickly Lettuce

2009-06-07T09:26:00.008-06:00

Lately I've been trying to make the outside of our house look more...homey/less embarrassing. When we moved in (2 years ago this May) the front lawn looked nice (despite the dead tree in the middle of it) and there were two pretty flower beds. Since then we've planted a Red bud, taken out the dead tree, and planted a maple (that grew up in our untended flowerbed) However, our lawn now has a strict more weeds than grass policy, and our flowerbeds have turned into bare dirt and weeds with only a few hardy plants left that survived our negligence. After several days of weed-pulling and the addition of new mulch one of our flowerbeds now looks like this:

I'm pretty proud of it.

Now, I have to say, I'm pretty good at pulling weeds (and baby trees) and getting the taproot out and all...but one weed I can't seem to ever pull out is this one:

My roommate says she can pull them out no-problem, so I left them for her ;) I don't know how she does it though, as every time i try to, their prickly hollow stem breaks right off and all this nasty milky-white juice drips out. Of course, I had to know what on earth this weed was, so I finally googled it. I'm 99% sure now that it's a plant called "prickly lettuce" Identified not just by it's milky-hollow stem (apparently lots of plants have that) but by these spines on the underside of it's leaves (another reason these are a pain to try and pull.):

Now here's the interesting part. First of all the leaves are edible (I'm not gonna try them) and that milky stuff I always avoided because I assumed it would irritate my skin is actually good for sunburns. Oh ya, and it's a narcotic drug.
From this site: "The dreamy effects are a little bit similar to opium, but milder. Wild lettuce can help reduce the feeling of restlessness, excitability and insomnia."

Another site is filled with more fascinating stuff. "...it is still used for making a lotion for the skin useful in sunburn and roughness. The Ancients held the lettuce in high esteem for its cooling and refreshing properties. The Emperor Augustus attributed his recovery from a dangerous illness to it; built an altar to it, and erected a statue in its honour. "

Good to know. I still want it out of my flowerbed.

Under da Sea

2009-03-26T15:10:00.000-06:00

I recently got my 30 gallon tank filled back up/re-cycled/re-stocked with fish...and I had forgotten how much fun it is to just sit and watch my aquarium. Its very... relaxing.

That dark thing under the fake tree root is a chunk of driftwood for my pleco. It used to sink, but I took it out for a little while, and now I'm just too lazy to get it to really sink again so its just wedged under the root to hold it in place. Said algae eater is to the far right, his name is Dr. Juan Itor. Here's a better pic:

Ohio

2009-03-24T14:06:00.006-06:00

I just got back yesterday from visiting Ohio. The niece turned one on Thursday and that was really the whole point of the visit. I got her a giant blue ball...the kind that are in those 12 foot tall "baskets" in walmart. My dad built her an awesome toy box. Among her other gifts she also got this--which was a huge hit. She ate her first ever piece of cake with two fists.

Last time I saw her she had trouble sitting up on her own. Now she walks everywhere , has teeth, and eats things like cheese ravioli and black olives.

Illustration Monday

2009-03-16T14:26:00.001-06:00

For Illustration Friday topic "Legendary"

Cold

2009-03-12T15:30:00.001-06:00

This weekend was warm. Trees are blooming, flowers are popping up all over the place. I fricken took my dogs to the lake Sunday. I wore shorts.

This morning I had to scrape ice off my car and there's snow on rooftops. What the heck. Turn the heat back on please, God.

Old photoshopped stuff

2009-03-11T18:02:00.005-06:00

Found some old stuff from college. These are from an assignment--Pick a band and make a "best of" compilation CD, and design the case and booklet. I chose Marcy Playground.

For the song "I'd Say Never"

For the song "Pigeon Farm"

And this one was just an illustration I did on my own. I remember being afraid to swim in any pool that looked green. For some reason I thought that meant there would be hippo's in there, and since I've always been such an animal nerd I had already read about how the hippopotamus killed more people than any other animal in Africa.

Basic Obedience

2009-03-02T18:19:00.009-06:00

My eldest furchild has graduated from basic obedience school. I have taken her to a trainer before to work on her dog aggression. That trainer was great....however, he lived in Lawton (2.5 hrs away) and his only group class was Fridays at 5pm. Which meant that I would have had to leave work 3 hours early on Fridays to have time to go get number-one-mutt and drive her all the way to Lawton. (Pedro is number-two-mutt in case anyone was wondering.) The trainer was so great he even offered me a big discount and said I could just come whenever I could, and pay per class instead of asking me to pay up front. I was only able to make it once. Since that time Bella never really got any good experiences around dogs outside her "pack" and her aggression which had gotten a little better, started to get worse again. So I started searching for closer trainers that had experience with aggressive dogs. I found Full Circle Obedience School in OKC. She got 6 weeks of great exposure to other dogs. some of which were well behaved. heh. She graduated this past Saturday and my roomie came to the big event and took pictures. Bella placed second in the fastest come-when-called-and-sit race, and won a bumpy green football that squeaks. She placed fourth (I think) in the longest sit-stay competition. She got up when the weimaraner broke it's stay and came over to sniff her butt. AND GET THIS...she didn't try and kill the weimaraner! I was so proud. At another point in the graduation class I had her sitting butt-to-butt to a cattle dog who even hit her with his waggy tail...and she never even glanced at it. It was awesome.

Next I'm planning on getting her the Canine Good Citizen thing. Their CGC class at full circle is supposed to work even more with teaching dogs to deal with other dogs being around it. And I think she would be a good candidate for the kids reading to dogs program, cus she LOVES kids.

Breezy

2009-02-27T16:24:00.003-06:00

Just a quick sketch for Illustration Friday. Every day on my drive home from work I watch the birds hanging out on the power lines (while I’m stopped at the lights--not when I’m actually driving.) I always wonder what they are thinking and why they keep moving. They will look perfectly happy perched in one spot…and then randomly decide they want to fly over to the power line across the street. Do they see a friend over there? Did the new bird that just flew over to the line they were on offend them in some way? Anyway…this is Oklahoma and half the time the birds get blown backwards no matter how vigorously they flap their wings (the other half of the time is when they actually decide to fly in the direction the wind is gusting.)

Bella got a new seat belt

2009-02-25T10:14:00.004-06:00

I think that carabiner in the back fastens to the buckled seat belt. doesn't seem to be as secure as a human seat belt, but I feel a little better driving down Lake Hefner Parkway with her "buckled in." Thanks cuz Kathy for sending it to me! Isn't she a perfect model? OK so it's a little big...she doesn't have broad enough shoulders..

Did I photoshop out the mess in the background? Yes. Yes, I did.

Bibliophilia

2009-02-19T12:36:00.010-06:00

I love books. Not just reading...books. I always have. I Love the way the pages feel, love the smell, love the way books look. Especially old books. I own several books that I have never read (or ever intend to read) that I got simply because they look awesome. Most of them are kinda old. Some are very old. The oldest one was printed in 1890 something if I remember right. (It's called Elementary Lessons in Logic by WS Jevons. I recomend reading his thoughts on how increased fuel efficiency does not lead to a decrease in that fuel's consumption. Interesting stuff.)

One of my favorites in my old book collection is Paris and Environs. It's small, and really old, and full of fold-out maps...a little travellers handbook. It's hardback but has a paper jacket which I think might make it worth something. At least worth more than what I paid. I got it an estate sale where they had a small room absolutely overflowing with books, and I guess the people hadn't wanted to bother putting prices on all those books, so it was just however many you could fit in one paper grocery bag for $5. A friend and I filled a bag together.

I've gotten my books from various places...some of my first I got from library sales at OC. Some from estate sales, a couple from garage sales, and one from a thrift store on 23rd street (Les Trois Mousquetaires, Printed in 1926.) Others came from book sales at the state fairgrounds. I just love rummaging around and finding these little treasures. Now, don't get me wrong...I don't buy every old book I come across, only ones that seem in decent condition. Ant they have to strike me a certain way (Cool illustrations, a famous title or author..intriguing subject matter...)

Anyway, now I'm thinking about selling some of them. I don't ever read them and I feel bad about it. they're just sitting on my shelf and I never even get them down because I don't want to accidentally rip any pages or--heaven forbid--leave one laying around where a dog could get to it. Not sure where I'll sell them online. Craiglist seems to be a bad place to sell things. I guess I'll list them on eBay...poor books.

Scammer Scum

2009-02-16T07:39:00.006-06:00

I listed the above painting on craiglist on Monday, Feb 2nd. I was looking to make some cash, but also happen to like this painting and I have to admit, have a bit of a "To a good home only" mentality about it. Which is unlike me, I don't think I'm usually that attached to my artwork--or at least I didn't used to be. Maybe I've changed in that regard. Anyway, the one and only reply I got was from a guy named "Paul Scott." At least that's what he said his name was. This guy is a scammer...which I didn't see at first, but it got really obvious.

Here are the emails that went back and forth between paull4scott@yahoo.com and I, with his emails in red and mine in blue:

Paul on Feb 4, Wednesday:
hello, i saw your ad on the internet and im interested in buying,if sowhat condition is it in,what is your last asking price?.reply me with allthe necessary information i will need.thanks and i would really liketo buy it.thanks very much

Me, later that same day:
It's in good condition, I painted it about 4 years ago and have had it hanging up in my own house since then. I stretched the canvas myself so the back doesn't look as neat as a store bought canvas. I measured it and the exact size is about a quarter inch short of 3' long by 47" tall. I'm asking $400 but might be willing to sell it for a little less than that.

Paul, Thursday:
thanks for your reply i am currently out of the country on a business trip and dont know when i will be back but will be able to send you a payment,i will send you a check,do get back to me with full name and address you want the payment written in and sent to.paul

(A red light didn't go off at this point for me. Plenty of people have to travel outside the country on business trips. I just thought the guy was pretty weird for thinking he could pay with a check, and for offering to pay way before he would get the painting.)

Me, Thursday:
Are you planning on picking up the painting when you get back in the country? If so I'd rather just wait and be paid with cash. If you want to go ahead and pay while you are out of the country you can send a money order or pay with paypal, but it seems to make more sense for you to pay when you actually get the painting.

Paul, Friday:
hello,thanks for the reply, i have pickup agent who will come and make the pick up for me as soon as you confirm that payment has gotten to you,do send me full name and address you want on the moneyorder and were it should be sent to,and do send me your call contact soi can get to you as soon as i send the payment.

(Ding! here's where the red light went off. A pickup agent?? what the heck is that? This guy obviously wasn't just some dude wanting a painting because he personally liked it and wanted to hang it on his wall. For some reason that instantly made me not want to sell to him. What if he wanted to buy my painting just to sell it to someone else? I didn't know yet that money orders can be forged, so I never should have brought it up. I later googled it, and also noticed a the big warning about them right there on craiglist.)

Paul, Friday:
hello,i have not heard a word from you,i really need you to send me thedetails i asked for(full name and address on the moneyorder),please do get back to ASAP

Me, Monday:
I'm sorry I havn't replied faster, my computer wasn't working this weekend. I'm also sorry, but I've changed my mind about accepting a money order. I will only accept cash. If you want to pay me in cash whenever you can pickup the artwork that's great. I can hold the painting for a few weeks sinse you said you don't know when you will be back in the country.

(I thought about what to say over the weekend. (my home computer wasn't working, that's the truth.) I couldn't tell how exactly this guy was trying to scam me, since I wouldn't be giving him squat until I saw the money actually in my bank account balance, but after reading more about money orders online I decided the best thing would be to go back on what I said and tell him I would only accept cash. I really felt bad about it, but his reply was what made it clear that yes, he defiantly was a scammer. Also, his reply was at 12:45 in the afternoon instead of the middle of the night like they had been. He must have been staying up really late in that imaginary foreign country he was in for business.)

Paul, Monday:
hello,i dont like this i have already sent the moneyorder earlier today,and i dont know when i will back that is why i have sent you a moneyorder in the first instance,we have already made arrangements and you can just turn around we just have to do it this way,thanks very much

Me, Monday (Feb 9):
How did you send me a money order when I havn't provided you with my name or my address? I'm sorry but I will only accept cash, and if you really want my painting I'll be more than willing to hang on to it for a little while. That way you don't have to pay me in advance, you can just pay when you get it.

Paul, Sunday February 15:
hello,i havent heard a word from you,i hope you are ok,i just want to let you know that i have sent the payment to you,so you should be expecting it this week,i sent you an excess payment i hope you dont mind,upon receiving this payment,you deduct your amount and you will then forward the remaining to my agent who will then move towards pick up.thanks very much

Me, This morning, Feb 16:
I'm sorry Paul, but you did here from me. I replied to your last email and told you that I will only be accepting cash. It is impossible for you to have sent me a money order as you don't know my name or my address, And even if I had given that to you I never agreed to send you're "agent" anything.

I changed my craigslist add to say "cash only" I wonder if I will hear back from Paul. I had tried before to keep him dangling a little with my comment that I would hold the painting for him if he wanted to wait and pay with cash, but thought he'd given up when I didn't hear from him for over a week. Kinda made my day this morning when I checked my email and found he had tried one last time. Wonder where this guy is from.

Cat Portrait: Working with Poor Quality Reference Photos

2008-12-22T15:33:00.006-06:00

Still needs some work...and I think this cat looks way too kitten-like in proportions, but it's deadline is today so this is probably the final portrait.

Here's the reference picture I was given:

And here's the portrait:

And a zoomed in pic of the face:

The aww factor

2008-12-16T10:03:00.004-06:00

Another non art-related post, but the aww factor is so high I can't resist. Neotomrama posted an entry about this blog called Zooborns. Each entry features newborn baby animals born in zoos around the world...such as these Pallas kittens born in The Bramble Park zoo in South Dakota:

And these Red River Hog piglets (an animal I'd never heard of..look at momma's ears!) born in the Cincinnati Zoo:

Go check it out, There's lots of interesting info about each of the newborns...beware the overwhelming cuteness.

pet portraits

2008-12-08T15:07:00.002-06:00

I got a small job doing a pencil portrait of my vet's receptionist's friend's cat (whew.) but haven't been able to do it yet because I'm having computer troubles. See, the picture she gave me it the only picture she's got, so I don't want to get it crumpled or dirty--So I need to scan it in to my computer (then I'm going to enlarge it to the size I want the actual portrait to be before printing it out.) Well, my computer at home doesn't like having things plugged into both USB ports apparently. so when I plug in my scanner/printer then my mouse stops working. And I can't enlarge the picture very well with out a mouse. Very annoying. So I need to bring the photo to work to scan it in and I keep forgetting to. I wish I was better at computer things.

So here's a quick pencil portrait of my cat Gypsy since I haven't finished (or started) the portrait of that lady's cat yet.

Robert Hunt

2008-12-05T15:09:00.003-06:00

Neatorama did a post about the stories behind the logos of various big Hollywood studios. One of the Sudios talked about was dreamworks, Who's logo was painted by Robert Hunt...which led me to go to the guy's website. What an amazing illustrator/Fine artist. Anyone who actually reads this be sure to check out the "alter ego" link on his site.

http://www.roberthuntstudio.com/

EDM

2008-09-17T15:17:00.004-06:00

Challenge #173: Draw something from memory.

I chose My niece, Merrigan. I don't get to see her much. Last time I visited she discovered this cat toy... much to the frustration of my sister's cats. Toby, (one of said cats) in particular, would hear the jingle and come a-running...only to find the baby attached to his toy. The look of chagrin on his face can not be described....

Can you roll your tongue?

2008-09-15T09:20:00.003-06:00

My dog can.

They're like giant windows, with whatever view you want

2008-09-12T11:03:00.008-06:00

A few years ago, I painted a mural at a friend's parent's house by their stairs. Now they are having me paint another mural in a coat closet (that is not being used as a coat closet, the door is left open so its more like...a nook.)

I'll post pics of the new mural later when I have a little more done, but I took pictures of the staircase while I was over there the other day.

It's hard to get good pics of it because there's another wall on the other side of the stairs...

I wish I knew more people who wanted mural's done in their house...they're lots of fun to paint. I'd paint a couple in my own house but I can't really decide what to do exactly. Deciding what to paint in my own house is kinda like picking a tattoo...Its something I'd have to see every day and because it'd by my artwork, I'd start noticing all the flaws in it as soon as it's done. Course..a mural is slightly less permenant than a tat...

Pedro

2008-03-17T14:31:00.004-06:00

Now that the sun is setting later lately, I've got more time after work to excercise my dogs...and man do they have a lot of pent-up energy. I took pedro to the dog park this weekend, and he spend much of the time there just zooming past the other dogs at full speed trying to tempt them to chase him. He's so fast! I know i'll probably never capture his chasemechasemechaseme run on camera...but he looks pretty darn cute when he does it. He raises his hackles and his tail gets all weird and curvy and I swear his feet only touch the ground every other stride or so. And so far none of the other dogs even came close to catching him.

Bigfoot again

2008-02-29T10:00:00.001-06:00

Process

2008-02-21T07:12:00.003-06:00

Started working on this illustration last night. It's too late for Illustration Friday, but oh well. I'll add more as I progress.

Bigfoot again

2008-02-18T16:08:00.003-06:00

It's just an Urban legand that Bigfoot stinks. The truth is, he bathes on a regular basis.

destructive dog vent

2008-02-12T11:05:00.000-06:00

Not exactly art-related, but I feel the need to vent. A while ago I traded a portrait for a dog collar. A really nice dog collar that I was extremely proud of. Here's bella modeling it:

Well the collar is no more. Pedro destroyed it. (see below mug shot of the little devil)

I left them alone for maybe 20 minutes, and that was enough time for Pedro to convince Bella to lay still and let him chew her collar off (after which she probably actually helped him eat part of it.)

Choose

2008-02-11T13:46:00.001-06:00

Illustration Friday's theme for this week is "choose." Such a great topic, its hard to choose what to draw. (haha)
ANYway...the first thing that comes to my mind when I think of "choose" is choosing between doing what's right and what's wrong. Again, so many posiblities. I might have to do more than one...
For now though, I decided to go with original sin. Of course, Eve had to choose to take the first bite, but I thought a scene of her handing the already-bitten-into fruit to Adam; and him hesitantly taking it would be more interesting. Here's the rough sketch:

Still need to figure out the bite in the apple, his sholder/arm (to the left of his hand) and his hair...

What's in the basket?

2008-02-04T20:43:00.000-06:00

Really the "wolf" was not a villain, he was just Grannie's pet wolf who had gone out to meet Little Red and walk with her the rest of the way to the house. Then, when they got there, the wolf did not eat Grannie, he ate the dog biscuits little red's mom had been considerate enough to add to her basket.

another one

2008-01-29T16:19:00.000-06:00

my friend Matt and his ball python, George

my friends are weird

2008-01-29T13:37:00.000-06:00

my buddy, robert as a Rob-a-lope:

just a little cartoon

2008-01-23T14:56:00.000-06:00

my sig. other likes bigfoot. so sometimes I draw him stupid cartoons of bigfoot.

Motivation

2007-11-06T13:11:00.000-06:00

I've been mulling over some ideas for illustrations I have yet to do...I really need to get my portfolio out there. I'm actually embarrassed how little I have gotten done art-wise since moving into my house. I actually have a whole room that's just for doing art, and lately, I only go in it to feed the gerbil and the turtle that live there. Well now I'm determined...I'm gonna work on artwork at least a couple times a week. And I'm gonna keep pushing myself to make better art.

And to further motivate myself...I've stumbled upon yet another amazing artist who's work is so awe-inspiring it actually gives me butterflies in my stomach. And makes me want to lock myself in my own art studio for a few days.

a concert poster for a "Rupa" and "The April Fishes" by Mona Caron:

painting

2007-07-06T08:36:00.000-06:00

I finally finished this portrait. I should have gotten it done a while ago. buying a house then packing and moving kind of made it take longer, though. That and I just never have free time anymore...for some reason.

The portrait is a trade for one of these collars http://www.pacocollars.com/pets.php?clid=7

here's the original photo:

horseshorseshorses

2007-06-13T15:10:00.000-06:00

Very occasionally, I get to draw horses for work. I'm working on a pack of just horses right now. Alas, it just makes me miss taking horseback riding lessons. Really bad. For anyone who has never experienced jumping on a horse, or cantering really really fast, or riding bareback or falling off and getting back on, or brushing a horse, or having a horse try and use you as a scratching post, or just having a horse come to the gate when they see you coming...you should try it sometime. It's the best... *sigh*

maybe later I'll finish

2007-04-30T15:18:00.000-06:00

I started this last week, but never finished it. The 116th EDM challenge ("draw something green") really had perfect timing. Just last saturday I found a red eared slider hatchling. He was in the street where I was walking my dog. I named him Koopa.

I still need to color his shell and add some detail. Here's a photo of my model:

Bartering Artwork

2007-04-17T12:11:00.000-06:00

I confess...I spoil my animals. I rarely buy myself things, but I am always buying new stuff for my cats and dog. But I try and be reasonable about spending ridiculous amounts on things my animals wont even appreciate. However I think my dog might appreciate the obvious craftsmanship that goes into these collars. (ok, well maybe not as much as I do.) but they just look so cool...
However, I don't have $70 or so to spend on a collar for my dog. so I emailed them and asked if they would be willing to trade a collar for a portrait of paco (the owner's dog.) I just got an email back saying yes!
I'm so excited!

an example of a portrait I did of a friend's cat:

Wake me on May 19

2007-04-11T09:52:00.000-06:00

I wish my dog was as tired as I am when I get off work. I have to confess, I havn't walked her or really played with her for a couple days now.

I've been pretty busy with the business of house buying. I never knew it was so complicated. So much stuff to remember, and do, and learn about. We are supposed to close May 18th...I'll be glad when that's over. All this "grown up" stuff just makes me want to crawl into bed and go to sleep.

so long, apartment life

2007-04-05T14:45:00.000-06:00

I haven't posted in a while...I haven't been doing as much art as I should lately. (besides the drawing I do every day at work.) First, I got pneumonia. You'd think that would make a perfect opportunity to get lots of drawing done...but no, I wasted most my time sleeping off my sickness. Then, my friend Ashley and I have been house hunting. First we had decided to rent a house together, but after seeing what we would be getting for our money (crappy houses for $900+ a month) and after considering how many pets we have between us (2 dogs and too many cats) we decided to buy a house instead. Well, we found one. It's perfect...and we got ourselves pre-approved for a loan this morning. We are going to meet with the realtor and make an offer after work...needless to say I'm finding it hard to work.

They look like popcorn trees

2007-03-16T12:59:00.000-06:00

EDM challenge # 59: Draw a sign of spring.

ah....spring in oklahoma.

ah, the putrid smell of bradford pear blossoms. ah, the huge fluctuations between hot and cold weather. ah, the allergies.

but, the thunderstorms are awsome. And when you can't smell them (because of the allergies) the bradord pear trees are actually pretty. Spring really is a great season.

EDM challenge #103

2007-03-08T15:09:00.000-06:00

"Draw some exercise equipment - what you use to stay fit"

My dog is sick

2007-03-05T13:51:00.000-06:00

She had to go to the vet today. I didn't get to talk to the actual vet when I called to check up on her at lunch, but basicaly she has tummy ache. Poor bella's tummy.

What I do at work

2007-03-02T10:49:00.000-06:00

I've truly been blessed with a great job. I sit around and draw for a living. I am an artist at an embroidery company. not the kind you take your little league team's hats to to have their team logo embroidered on, the kind where people buy the designs to embroider on their own stuff at home. (a niche i didn't even know existed before I worked here) There are two of us artists there, we draw artwork in "packs" of 20 or so designs, then hand them over to digitizers, who basically trace them using special software that tells the machine where exactly to stitch and how thick and what direction and when to stop and changethread colors and all that. here are some "before and after" examples of a couple designs from a pack called "Mo' Cuddly Garden"

draw something with folds

2007-03-01T14:54:00.000-06:00

the EDM weekly challenge #40:

my process

2007-02-28T14:35:00.000-06:00

Apperently I took photographs of my process on this piece, "girl with a violen." I did it a couple of years ago, back when I had an OC (Oklahoma Christian University) laptop. I have since dropped out of college and turned in my laptop, but this morning I decided to bring some of my old back up CD's to work, to look at what all they contained. I had totally forgoten that I ever took these pictures.

So here it is:

I drew the different elements of the scene, the girl and the house, on tracing paper.

Then, arranged them where I wanted and taped them together.

Then I traced them onto watercolor paper with a black pen. I didn't trace everything,

and some details were just traced in pencil.

Next, the colored pencil. Only Prismacolors will do.

Then more colored pencil, and some acrylic paint.

More paint, more color, more pen, lots of layers. The final illustration:

Testing 123

2007-02-27T15:48:00.000-06:00

Well I decided to make a blog on blogspot. I've tried livejournal and greatestjournal in the past, and I've got a myspace (*shudder*) actually I only got one to keep in touch with some friends, and have actually found it great for finding new music...but it seems most people don't use their myspace as a blog. I figure I'll use this one as mostly an art blog.
Anyway, I just want to see how this works.