July 7, 2008

• Art Day!

  12:30 PM

  What’s this?? An empty easel??!

  

  What a rip off.

  Matilda the Guinea Pig says, “I found some canvases under here, mummy! you can paint on these!”

  

  Ugmoe the Rabbit agrees.

  

  But I don’t really feel like painting today. And look at my worktable! it’s a friggin’ disaster!

  

  Well, i mean, a CREATIVE disaster. But I need somewhere to work just the same.

  

  That’s better.

  I think I’ll do a drawing today. Get back to basics; just me, a sharpie marker, and an unwitting sheet of paper. Who knows what will become of us?? Only the next couple hours will tell……
  

  ---

  12:45 PM

  Ok, i found the paper I like.
   
  It’s pretty much just 5×8″ unlined index cards, but it’s a nice bright white, fairly smooth, a decent precut size, and, oh, CHEAP AS HELL.
  Because i screw these drawings up more than you would believe (which you might very well witness today), and since i pretty much make everything up on the fly, i would probably go broke or drop dead from sharpie fumes if I were using fancier paper.

  It’s still art though.

  Behold: my badass twin-tip sharpie marker! and so artfully photographed!
  I am unstoppable.

  

  First things first: draw a border with the fat end of the sharpie. I kind of eyeball it to be around 5×7 inches, since 5×8 (the size of the card) is kind of useless. And i don’t use a ruler, because that would be cheating, and i like my lines to look kind of screwy.

  

  Now comes the tough part….. what to draw??

  ---

  1:00 PM

  Think think think think…..

  

  1:15 PM

  Kay, let’s start with some heads.

  

  And then things begin to make more sense….

  

  This is one of those moments where i have to stop and do some complex thinking. I rarely plan out a drawing ahead of time, so I have to consider how I’m going to draw the pose. And because i can’t erase, if i screw this shit up then i have to start all over. Not a huge loss at this point, but still sucky.

  Sometimes this involves some gesturing or flailing around to get it just right. Meet my imaginary bunny rabbit, everyone!

  

  Since i have been known to work on these drawings in public- say, the subway or in a cafe- I have occasionally gotten strange looks from people because i was pretending to have mermaid fins or an invisible squirrel on my shoulder.
  

  ---

  1:45 PM

  Ok, i think i got the hands right. Or at least good enough!

  

  So then i gave the girl some long, straight hair.

  

  Added some details to the eyes…..
  
  

  2:00 PM

  I have this idea  to draw a moon in the sky, but i don’t feel like drawing a circle. i mean, I CAN  draw a pretty perfect looking circle, but i’m a lazy mofo.

  So i’m cheating, with whatever is kicking around on the messy table.

   

  This will do.

  

  The rabbit gazes at the new moon in the paper sky.

  

  I added a few touches to the girl’s gaze, as well.

  

  And some more rabbity details.

  

  ---

  2:15 PM

  Now i have to figure out what to add next.

  Maybe i’ll just spraypaint it instead!!

  

  har har, just kidding. I think the sharpie fumes are getting to me.

  

  (By the way, don’t try that at home, especially with a fresh sharpie. In the time it took to snap a picture, i was definitely feeling woozly.)

  Ugmoe decided to get in on the action. “Oh hai,” he says, “what are you drawin’?”

    

  And when i showed him, he made this goofy face.

  

  I guess everybuns a critic.

  Badump-ching!

  ---

  2:45 PM

  Just finished drawing some bold outlines:

  
  

  And then I drew an “aura”, i guess you would call it.

  

  I dunno really why i do this.

  Actually, i do, and it is for a couple reasons: it sort of flattens out & separates the main figures, which I like, and contrasts them with the background.

  The other reason is a little more esoteric. When i was *ahem* “studying” street art, one of the basic elements of almost every piece is the “force field”. It kinda serves a practical aesthetic purpose, but also has these pseudo-mystical connotations; in a way it’s meant to protect the finished painting.

  So I’ve always liked to include that, even though i can hear my old illustration professors huffing and sneering about it.

  

  ---

  3:00 PM
  
  coloring in the background:

  

  A thoroughly markerfied sky.

  

  Girl, why don’t you smile more?

  That’s better.

  

  Rendering some patches of rabbit fur:

  

  And then a couple of details, like a locket for the bunny to wear.

  

  And there we have it, all finished!

  

  As always, thanks for hanging out with me while i draw, guys.

  • 4:02 pm
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