Our friend John Malloy sent an update on his most recent gigs:
I recently finished new work for These United States and their forthcoming album, "Everything Touches Everything":
http://johnmalloy.net/html/
I also recently finished an original pinup of X-Men character Kitty Pryde [Shadowcat] for 'Full of Pryde',
a charity auction to benefit Hemophilia Research at OHSU:
http://johnmalloy.net/html/
Next weekend I'll be in Toronto for the Toronto Comic Arts Festival:
http://www.torontocomics.com/
with selected limited edition prints at half price and signed original work.
Hope to see you there!
Ample jaw-dropping illustrations here.
"I can't imagine traveling without my journals. I'm so inspired by being in a new place, it's impossible not to draw. It enables me to slow down and pay more attention to my surroundings: the people, smells, and sounds. It enriches the whole experience for me. And I love being able to look back on trips and events with so much detail that I know I would have forgotten otherwise"
Amanda Kavanagh
View her drawings.
I think I've always had a notebook fetish. When I was little, my mom would take me to the grocery store with her, and I'd spend the whole time in the school supply aisle, playing with the pads of paper. I'd look at all of them, touch them, and then, if any were out of place, I'd put them back where they belonged. I'd use my allowance to buy new and interesting notebooks, even if I had no idea what I'd put in them.
When I was in middle school, I started keeping a written journal. Nothing fancy, just thoughts scribbled with ballpoint pen in an old exercise book. Then, in college, we were required to keep sketchbooks for each of our studio classes. I never really got the hang of using a sketchbook as a tool, though. I either wrote too much in it, or relied too heavily on pasting bits of paper into it. I did very little actual sketching.
I've continued to keep my written journal, but after school, my sketchbooks and art journals fell by the wayside. It wasn't until a few years ago that I picked them back up again. When I did, it was in the form of altered books and gluebooks. From there, I progressed to collage journals, and have lately come full circle, in that I've been using my journals as sketchbooks.
Painting will always be my first and most important love, but by allowing myself to become distracted by other things, like collage and bookbinding, I've discovered that one feeds the other. Collage spills into my paintings, and paintings into my journals. It's all interconnected, so I no longer feel like one steals time or energy from the other.
I usually bind my own books. It's quick and easy (a basic book takes me about an hour) and allows me to have complete control over the materials and size. I prefer 140lb watercolor paper, but I've also made books out of recycled materials, like paper grocery bags. The smallest book I've made was 3/4 x 7/8 inches; my current journal is 6 x 9 1/2 inches. I've worked in just about every size in between, but rarely work larger. My books are sturdy and stand up well to being carried around in my bag for months at a time.
Each journal is an excuse to play, to try something different. Some are full of collage work, and some are full of doodles (why not?). My current journal is an exploration of pears. I started it with the intention of doing a sketch or two, in preparation for a larger painting, but the project took on a life of its own. Instead of becoming bored with it, I've found that every sketch I do gives me five new ideas for things I want to try. It's a bit like the Hydra.
After a discouraging remark made by my high school art teacher in the
early 1970s, I quit drawing - something that I had done throughout
childhood. I ignored art for the next 32 years, while raising a family.
Three years ago, I began to long for the pure joy I had known as a kid
when I drew pictures. Inspired by people like Cathy Johnson, I realized
that it was not too late to learn to draw. Having never tried
watercolor before, I joined a local watercolor group, the Riverside
Watercolor Society, in 2005.
Now I am trying to draw or paint every day, working through the listed
challenges on the Everyday Matters web site, and whatever we are doing
in the RWS. The more I keep up with daily practicing, the better I hope
to become.
As for style, mine is in a more traditional, representational style of
illustration. I would like to paint landscapes & drawings that
cause people to pause and think about happy memories from their past.
I use sketchbooks, 5 x 7" to 7 x 10", and both sizes of Moleskines
(reloading some with watercolor paper). I have also finished some
larger pieces for the RWS. My favorite tools at the moment are 140#
watercolor paper, Pigma Micron pens, and Winsor & Newton
artist-grade watercolors.
Vicky Williamson
View her works on FLICKR
Visit her blog
Discover and join our communities on Facebook, FLICKR and GoogleGroups. Check out our Blank Page discussions. We'll see you on Monday.
Don't forget to drop by Myndology.
Laura Nichols likes to fill all her time with drawing with various pens, ink, brushes, and colors on paper. Mainly,
this means compulsively and obsessively putting stuff in her sketchbooks. though she also does larger drawings and paintings as well as sculptures. In her spare time, she is completing her master's degree with the MIT Media Lab's Future of Learning Group. She has been making art all her life, and is very confused as to how she ended up with a degree in mechanical engineering. So far she has compiled two mini comics (plans for many more) from her numerous sketchbooks which one can procure by emailing her and sending her some money. Her email address is wormulus (at) gmail (dot) com.
Laura Nichols
I study Design/Illustration at the Fachhochschule Mainz, Germany. I've been into animation for the last 3 or 4 years but when I recently noticed that I won't make a great animator I decided to focus on illustration more.
Like everyone else I've been drawing almost all my life. I enjoy it a lot. My style is influenced by comics and animation. Artists I love are: Chris Ware, Robert Crumb, Heinz Edelmann, Martin Tom Dieck, Christoph Blaine, Manu Larcenet. Unfortunately I can't keep up with them.
I draw with usual pens and brushes on white 100g paper. I scan my drawings and then color them in Photoshop using my Wacom tablet. Nothing special :)
What I think is important is to have a good light in a picture, that makes it a lot more convincing. What I enjoy a lot is my animation desk I bought recently. It's great for making Illustrations as well! And it looks great!
Sebastian Koch
Mainz, Germany
View his works on FLICKR
Visit his website.
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Discover and join our communities on FLICKR and GoogleGroups. Check out our Blank Page discussions.
We'll see you on Monday.
"I was greatly influenced by the year I spent in France. For my sophomore year of college, I attended an art school on the Riviera and traveled extensively around Europe during my breaks. I was never influenced or even attracted to color before I went to Europe.
"Everything has changed for me since then. It truly opened up my eyes to see things in a new light. Now, color to me is more than just a visual experience."
Traci Bunkers
Visit her site
Copyright © 2004 TB
[Thanks Danny!]
I am a botanical artist and natural science illustrator working in traditional mediums...pencil, ink, gouache. This work often requires working outdoors 'in situ' and for those times I work in any number of various and sundry sketchbooks. Even with all of the time and hours put into a big formal botanical painting, still nothing beats the simplicity, honesty and immediacy of a sketch. Are you putting off beginning the practice? What are we talking about here....a pencil? A sketchpad? Thats all you need to begin. The key to making it a habit is to keep things simple and for heavens sake do not criticize your first attempts. Have you seen the er, uh 'humble' scribbles in the journals from Lewis & Clarks big expedition? If you think you would like attempt some color, a small tin of watercolor pencils are portable and fun to try. Make sure all packs up quickly and stays put together all the time, in one unit. I am passionate about sketchbooks and suppose the fact that one guided me into my career is a reason.
I was, well, 'discovered' while sketching in a small neighborhood nature study center. Just sketching and note taking. This was ages ago. An art major with the summer off sketching in a nature park. The staff naturalists taught me the rules of the artform which combines art and science, and the rules, there were many. Never having liked bugs of any kind, I became fascinated over that summer, carefully drawing the pinned beetles, bugs and butterflies. You know, I had not a clue back then, that wandering about with sketchbook in hand, would someday guide me to my passion. My life's work.-"
Cynthia Padilla
Visit her website.
Join Cynthia sketching the flora and fauna of tropical Guatemala
http://artinstructor.blogspot
© 2006 CP All Rights Reserved
I've kept a journal on and off over the last ten years, but in the last few years I seem to have been a bit more committed to it.
It's not a diary as such more just a place to write down things that interest me and I don't want to forget.
It's interesting to look back over the years and see what I was reading and thinking.
Ty Mawr
Carmel, Wales
View his FLICKR photoset
Visit his website.
Some rights reserved.
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Discover and join our communities on FLICKR and GoogleGroups.
Enjoy your weekend. We'll see you on Monday with the results of our Holiday Giveaways weekly raffle draw. Happy Hanukkah and birthday greetings to our friend Joyce Godsey.
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