The Sketchbook Project

I managed to finish (or at least fill...) my book for The Sketchbook Project 2011 in time to meet the deadline, but just barely. I signed up for the project rather late but still had a few months to work on it. Unfortunately, I procrastinated pretty badly with it for a while. Only managing a few half-hearted sketches until well into December. Finally, while doing some Christmas shopping I found this fascinating book on the sale rack outside of Borders.


I had my inspiration for the rest of the sketchbook. But even then I didn't carve out the time to work on it. Thankfully the deadline got extended to Jan. 18th. I went into full-on marathon drawing mode over the MLK weekend (I think I did all or most of 14 drawings and all of the lettering in that time!). I had to pull out four blank pages and I doubled the pages (the paper was so thin that I decided to tape every other page together) so I ended up with only 16 spreads versus the 40 that were originally in the book. I cut a couple other corners by including one of my Jon Stewart stickers on one page and a selection of the ‘Faces of Flickr’ series on another.

Needless to say it was a pretty stressful finish. I really wish I could have ended with a drawing of Martin Luther King's powerfully defiant mug shot (which would have been drawn on the holiday dedicated to him) but I had run out the clock by that point.

I am however proud of most of the work I did manage for the book. And I think I surprised myself with the sheer volume of drawings I was able to crank out in that last frenetic weekend.

Check out the whole set at the ArtHouse Co-Op Site and all of my other work at my flickrstream.

Moly X Portraits

It’s been a while since I’ve posted about the Moly X Portrait Group that I participate in, but with the exhibit at the Minnesota Center for Book Arts opening soon I thought it was time to mention it again.

Also, I've done quite a few entries in the past year and I just finished one that I’m particularly proud of. It is in Brazilian artist, Claudio Ramires’s book. Claudio is one of my favorite artists that I’ve discovered through the Moly X project. He did an amazing entry in my book that even included a Pop-up portion. Check out his awesome Youtube video to see it in action. After seeing that I knew I had to try and knock it out of the park once his book came around to me. I was inspired by elements found in his artwork, especially his blimp-whales. Check it out:

Also, check out our group's blog and/or my moly_x flickr set for more images.

Acey & Maggie (for JKPP)

Thought I try using colored pencils for this latest portrait...and I realized why they never come out of the box. Here's the progression:


I should have left her face alone at this point, but I ended up overworking it a bit:


The dog came out great though!


Too lazy to put much effort into the background:


See Acey & Maggie bigger over on my flickrstream. And check out all the other wonderful portraits done for Julia Kay's Portrait Party here.

The International Moleskine Exchange

So, I've gotten involved in another mail art project, called the International Moleskine Exchange (or Moly_X, for short). This is my entry in Shante's Moleskine for Moly-X-portraitparty2, inspired by yet another collaborative art project, Rama Hughes' The Portrait Party.

Moly_X is a pretty amazing project. Definately check out the Flickr group to see what we've got going on. I've started a new group recently, moly_x_64 (The Sequential One) that's just getting off the ground, so check out our group's progress there as well.

Butterfly Conservatory

Last Weekend Nicole and I went to Niagara Falls. The weather was gorgeous and we had a wonderful time. The fall foliage was at its peak and the views of the falls were truly spectacular. We even had dinner atop the Minolta tower. We were the last table to leave and had the whole restaurant to ourselves for a private viewing of one of the last fireworks displays of the season. Saturday we had lunch at the Secret Garden restaurant and spent the afternoon at the Butterfly Conservatory just north of downtown. What an amazing place! Thousands of stunningly beautiful butterflies dance around you in a lush tropical paradise. It was absolutely beautiful. Here's a drawing I did from one of the many photographs I took there.

Caribou - Alaska sketch reworked

I decided to add a caribou to the left side of this page. I think it rounds out the composition; but now I wish I'd done a better job with the otters.

Alaska

My sister recently returned from a trip to Alaska. Her photos (and those of her friend, Grant) inspired these pages.

Surgery!

So, my girlfriend, Nicole, went in for a minor knee surgery today (is there such a thing as MINOR knee surgery?) and I did a couple sketches. One of her right before they wheeled her into surgery and one of all the books I got for my birthday (July 24th - you can still send gifts!).

By the way, Nicole is home and doing just fine.