Shiny

I finally ported over pretty much my entire desktop to the new iMac... and it is niiiiice. Except it's so damn bright - I think my eyes are going to take a few days to adjust. And suffer. I fear for my retinas. Anyhow, this is the first drawing I've done on this machine. It's so damn nice to be working with 4 GB of Ram, not to mention a Terrabyte of hard drive space (just you watch, I'll fill it up in no time with porn).

Aah!

I got a new iMac yesterday, and one of the first things it asks you to do is take a picture for your chat id - then the whole screen flashes like a light bulb. This was kind of my reaction.

Phoned In

I spent some time chatting with an old friend Joachim on the phone, and as I told him then, I doodle my best when I don't have to think. I was planning on coloring this but it seems that anything saved as a jpeg in Painter doesn't convert properly in Photoshop, so black and white it remains.

Rami Kashou

I think that Rami, Project Runway's 4th Season contestant, is quite the hottie. While watching Project runway reruns, I was observing his features to decide why I thought he was cute, and realized he had interesting features regardless, so I thought I'd try a drawing. Didn't have anything to copy, so this is more of an impression of him. He might be fun to actually get to sit for a drawing.

Exquisite Corpse

Peter instigated another drawing contest early in the day, after breakfast. This time it was Exquisite Corpse (or os that Corps?) where you fold a sheet of paper and continue the sketch someone else started. We decided to name the final result after the night before's most memorable fake name (in a game of Balderdash. Yes, board games abound). Can you figure which third is mine?

Games

Merry Christmas indeed! I'm glad I accepted my friends invite to join them for Christmas last minute, after deciding that I was too sick to fly to Canada, and they obliged despite my warning that I might infect the lot of them (although it turned out everyone was coming down with a cold already, so misery got company). After a fabulous 7 course dinner cooked by my friend Rainer (including the aforementioned truffle shaved over fresh pasta) and a brief exchange of gifts, we ended up spending the rest of the evening playing games in the den. Who knew men in their forties would be allowed to be such kids? So we made merry. Peter and I started going back and forth with a sheet of paper, adding a bizarre menagerie in efforts to one-up each other. Not the most advanced drawings, but certainly rather fun. Silly is the word, actually. We were quite silly most of the trip. Peter has a bizarre choice of details. Dig the braces on the fish. Yes, I like my friends to be demented. (can you guess which ink color is mine?)

I actually thought I wouldn't get to draw anything which I quickly doodled the truffle-hunting pig (above) before the games, but it seems there was much more doodling to be done than I thought!

Christmas Eve

We had a pretty low-key Christmas (well, after the high-drama of forgetting the truffle back at Peter's place), and we weren't going to celebrate Christmas Eve, but on Christmas Night. So with the Wicked soundtrack playing in the background ( we didn't think of bringing any CDs to our friend's stepmom's upstate house, so we made do with what was lying around the house) I ended up starting something rather magical in theme, until an abrupt change in CD made me lose my inspiration, and the colors got muddy. At least I got to use real watercolors!

Pink Overlay

Between the cold and the holidays, it's hard to sit down and draw. But I'm still doing it. I think I'll continue with this blog even beyond the year, as it should really be as long as I'm able.

Gesture

drkshdw

I like this hoodie design from Rick Owens' drkshdw line, but I really can't justify buying a $450 hoodie just because it has a webbing strap across the chest. So I'll just draw it.

Oink

I've decided on a pig theme for my presents this Christmas. Because of work and deadlines, I won't be traveling to Toronto to visit my brother and his family, so the friends I have in the city who have no family to celebrate with are getting together for dinner on Christmas night. My gift to everyone is I'm buying a truffle (expensive little fungus, that), which is pig related since they hunt those things down. My friend is cooking us some pasta to shave the truffle over it. We will then pig out. But Christmas isn't Christmas without some presents, so I've decided pork-related stocking-stuffers are in order, just because.

...I Really Think So.

Third in my Churning Japanese series. One of the best things about digital drawing is that you can keep revising and making as many versions of a piece as you can save copies of the file.
This is close to what I originally envisioned, although not originally so blue. Still, I like it.

Monolithic

A recent Calvin Klein Spring runway show featured 80s hair that inspired this monolithic sketch. Feels very Stavrinos to me.

I Think I'm Churning Japanese...

Removed all the color and continued the line drawing. I digitally adjusted her features because her face was too long in proportion to the body I drew. I have a sci-fi costume in mind...

Churning Japanese

This image popped into my head while I was exercising a couple of days ago, and then again this evening. It's turning out like the way I imagined, although this version is just an interim color study. I like her kinky hair... it's very 70s.

Premium Fantasy

I loved this scene from Lost In Translation. We were laughing about it all night earlier tonight at a party.

In My Cups

Went out to dinner and drinks with my friend Bob, and am way too tipsy to be drawing. However, managed to eke out a sketch - not much, but hey, all things considered...!

More Doodling

Layering

When I was younger, the pad/calendar beside the phone at home would get doodled on relentlessly. Doodles would get drawn over sketches over more doodles, mostly by myself. I would usually take off on older drawings and expound from there. This is kind of the same thing.

Cocoon

Rick Owens is one of my favorite designers at the moment - I love his almost 50s couture shapes that are also kind of insectoid, and as seen via a post-apocalyptic, Mad Max kind of world of leathers and skins. I was browsing though his previous collections and decided to do an interpretation of his silhouettes.

Claws

Some sketches just aren't worth saving, but I suppose I'm posting everything like a journal. This is Teenage Comicbook George style doodling.

Evil Dragon Lady

I kinda like her.It's like she's up to something.

Atrsy Fartsy

So, thinking about how I'm not experimenting as much as I used to, I came up with this.

I rather like it. Don't ask me what it means, I just went with whatever came to mind.

Obviously.

Bed Head

Spent the night at a friend's place after dinner and a movie, an old-fashioned friendly sleepover for four. We watched "Art School Confidential," which reminded me of how much I've accomplished as far as my abilities goes, but also about how much I'm not doing. I didn't get to draw until I got to bed, so it was just a quick pencil sketch with borrowed materials. Have to say, I miss drawing with good, natural media, instead of just scratch sheets and ballpoint pens. I think I'm going to make at least one piece a week in natural media, if at all possible.

Man, she's got a Shannen Doherty thing going with her uneven eyes, doesn't she? ugh. Didn't even notice that til I opened it up as a file.

Dressed

For some reason I wanted to do this really sketchy, and undefined, kinda like the old Lord & Taylor ads, but even less distinct. I think David Downton was a definite influence, but I wonder why I felt so strongly about the dabs and lack of strong linework? I normally prefer a fashion sketch to be much more defined. Interesting.

Suffering From Zoom

I tried to make a fashion illustration but one of the main problems with using digital media is not being able to consistently see the full silhouette when zooming in and out. Sure it helps when I can go into a detail and really draw it, but the problem becomes whether or not that detail is in proportion to the rest of the drawing, and definitely with fashion illustration, I need to take into account the entire piece because the proportions are all stretched out. Not happy with this base line drawing but hopefully will sort it out when color is applied. This is my friend Peter's dress design.

3 Minute Pig

British pig, to be exact. They were my characters from the 80s, these overly polite pigs that try to talk their way out of danger, often unsuccessfully. I was tired from haveing had a really long day, so I just gave myself 3 minutes to sketch. And my hand hurts.

In Theory

I passed by the Theory store yesterday and thought I saw this ensemble in the window. It was my imagination making something look a bit more exciting.

Bag Hunt

My friend Peter bought a Margiela bag that has become an obsession: it's so perfectly nondescript, and currently so unavailable to me that it's taken on near-fabled status. I'm currently in contact with a few different retailers trying to locate it, but it seems they're getting the model wrong so I drew them a sketch. I'm not sure all the details are exactly right, but it's times like these being able to draw comes in pret-ty handy!

Uhura 2007

I saw this hairstyle pop into my head when I was working out earlier tonight (don't ask me why - I think I misinterpreted a Rihanna video hairstyle 'though I liked this one much better), and decided it was an edgy thing to draw. I originally thought it would look good on a white girl, but decided to draw her black instead, and with more natural features and not necessarily model perffect. I think it's looking more urban than pop/retro 80s/60s, but maybe that's because my makeup job looks cheesy, like it's out of an overly done America's Next Top Model shoot. It was fun to do nevertheless.

3 Minute Goat Thing

Sorry, it's beyond fugly, but I had no desire to draw just now. Have a mild headache, and want to watch videos.

Lost

I've been combing my apartment looking for a lost keychain, which I haven't seen in a week. It's one of my favorite gifts from my friend Rainer, because it was a keychain and pillbox in one. Ugh, I wonder where it is...

I Think I'm In Glove

I've been obsessed with these Raf Simons gloves. I think I just bought a pair.

Cloudy

My creative life is kinda off nowadays. Things are coming together but they still don't seem to fit, as if I'm waiting for something to happen. I was at a launch for a book I have some work in, but it felt weird to be amongst the crowd and the kind of artwork that was there. I'm feeling uncertain about directions. I know I'm losing interest in what I used to do but I'm not sure what I want to do next. Hunh.

Sounds kinda like a midlife crisis.

Movie Doodle

Took out a sheet that was laying on my desk and just doodled away while watching a movie. I'm not quite sure what it's supposed to be. Maybe a ninja? I dunno. It's not great, is what it is.

2 Minute Bunny, Too

I was too wrapped up in watching online movies so I just gave myself two minutes again to sketch tonight... er, this morning.

The Last Amazons

I'm hoping this is the last I think of this because I'm getting tired of trying to wrap my head around it.

Can't stop wondering...

...if I could come up with a seriously appropos design for this wonder woman thing. But damn, she's a hard one to design for. Can't stay with a variant of the original because it's cheesy beyond believe, yet I can't really stray tooo far because it doesn't seem apt. Started up again but stopped after a few strokes...

Food Coma

Celebrated Thanksgiving at a friend's house out of town and we ended up feasting, chatting, snacking, watching a movie and generally hanging out all night. So I barely had any energy to draw anything of consequence, save for a couple of fashion doodles. Will upload the sheet when I get a pic of it, but really, it's nothing worth waiting for.

Finally uploaded. See what I mean? Meh.

Wonder Woman Redesign

Well, guess this is it. It's too late to enter into the contest by a few hours, but at least I finished it. I'll submit it anyway since I went through the effort (Tom, this is fer you!). It's kinda, Casual Friday Wonder Woman, hee!

I Wonder

... if this will work? I thought of Wonder Woman in a white tank and jeans (kind of a design trope of mine), with parts of her original uniform superimposed over it. Looks promising in black and white, but in color...?

Zenaida!

Nothing is as easy for me to draw as my full, flowy Zenaida, the Venus of the Rice. Based in part on the Venus of Willendorf and (I didn't realize until now) Playboy's Femlin, she's a carefree character I created about 15 years ago, who must always be drawn in a smooth, sketchy way.

Makes Me Wonder

I really don't know where this should go. Normally, I have such a strong opinion about comicbook characters, but I feel wonder Woman's so iconic, how much can you mess with her look? This one is a bit more classic, but when you take away the garish elements (like the blue and stars) she looks more Amazon, but less Wonder Woman. Ugh. Still on the drawing board...!

Still Wondering

This is a crap Wonder Woman design. But I tried to incorporate all the stars and flag colors, and the result is just...ugh. Red, blue and gold make for a garish outfit no matter how you slice it.

3 Minute Face

Had a long day today so I was too tired to do anything time-consuming. Oj said he liked my 2 Minute Bunny, so I decided to do a 3 Minute Face.

Art School

Sat in on a drawing class taught by my friend PJ earlier tonight, and here's the only fully-rendered piece from the evening (I had to leave a bit early). It was interesting that I had this sit-in planned, since by chance I had lunch today with Oj, a former batchmate from my college days at UP Fine Arts, someone I hadn't seen in over 20 years, and we talked about our drawing abilities. Sitting in on PJ's class, I remembered how I was never taught classical drawing structure so it was interesting to me, yet I'm not exactly a newbie so it was hard for me to start from scratch. But Pj was a great teacher - very personal and always really positive. Makes me want to go back to school... although if I had Pj for a teacher back then, I'd probably totally crush on him and be completely distracted...! ;-)

Fiddling

I really like how this drawing turned out. I had no idea what I was doing, but I reacted to the lines I put down and went with them, coming up with this drawing that feels very much like older, more moody pieces I used to do 20 years ago. It's not polished, but it feels so different to me, especially from what I have been doing lately...

More Wondering

Testing out a tiara idea for this Wonder Woman redesign. I still feel odd about uploading my design ideas for fear they'd get copied, so I'm not uploading those til after the contest. Besides, I don't really care for this headdress.

Wonder Woman

My friend Tom wanted me to join an online contest to redesign Wonder Woman's costume. At first I had no desire to, but I always love a costume challenge. Although I'm wondering whether to post my designs here long before I'm finished. Ah well, I'll pop them up when I finalize my entry. So far I have 5 variants...

edit: here's a trio now that I've finished with my Casual Friday Wonder Woman... I love the cener idea, which is based on a Phoenix redesign I did years ago.