Ups & Downs.

I'm on the brink of something; It's big. I'm not saying it's good because I don't know if it is. I've been dealing with a lot lately; problems...things I don't have control over. Or maybe I do, I don't know anymore. I honestly don't know much lately. I've been grappling with some hard truths. I know I've fallen off the horse. It's going to take me some time, but I will get back on. Rome wasn't built in a day and things don't change over night. The next week will be primarily sketchbook. Let's see how this goes.

On a more POSITIVE note, my little sister, Shelby, was accepted to CCS today! She's being very modest about the whole thing, but If you care to share a word or two of congratulatory goodness, head over to her blog and do so! Shelby, the road is long, but getting in is half the battle. I'm proud of you and can't wait to see you grow.

Characters.

Despite being in a funk, I am drawing. We have the king on the left, a lady, two characters from The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, and a guy. I am continuing to draw, watching Stand By Me, and reading an informative book about Tom Waits.

Hannah Diamond.

I spent all day reading this really great book called Love From Your Friend, Hannah by Mindy Warshaw Skolsky. It's about this little girl that lives in Grand View, New York in 1937. She's probably eleven; I don't think they say, but her best friend moves away and tells Hannah she will write to her, but she doesn't. Well, Hannah starts writing to her grandma, she pulls this boy's name out of the pen pal box named Edward Winchley, and she even ends up writing to President Roosevelt because she's lonely and wants pen pals. The entire book is the letters she sends out and the letters she gets back. There's also little doodles in it (see below). I'm pretty sure it's a junior fiction but sometimes I just like easy reads that are fun. Anyways, I loved Hannah Diamond (that's her name) and I think you will too if you decide to read it.

The Catcher In The Rye.

I thought the entire book was building up to him getting killed; by either his own will or another's, but instead it was rather anticlimactic. I'm just indifferent. Great quotes:

"That's the whole trouble. You can't ever find a place that's nice and peaceful, because there isn't any. You may THINK there is, but once you get there, when you're not looking, somebody'll sneak up and write "Fuck you" right under your nose. Try it sometime. I think, even, if I ever die, and they stick me in a cemetery, and I have a tombstone and all, it'll say "Holden Caulfield" on it, and then what year I was born and what year I died, and then right under that it'll say "Fuck you." I'm positive."

"How do you know what you're going to do till you DO it? The answer is, you don't."

"Don't ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody."

I also rented/watched Return to Oz. Will someone PLEASE tell me they've seen this movie? It's Fairuza Balk's FIRST film. I've also been doing some Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus sketches and I drew my talkboy (which I will discuss in depth once I finish it). Shelby gave me something of a manicure last night. She basically made my cuticles throb and painted my nails this teal color. That was fun. However, my spark is still missing. I'm putting all the blame on FEBRUARY. Suck it, February.

Oh Morrissey.

I'm uninspired and I'm listening to The Smiths too much. The reason for the former is probably because of the latter OR maybe the latter is just making me MIZ. I'm almost finished with Catcher in the Rye. My friend, Rachael, showed me this girl's blog: Brittney Lee. She does paper cut outs that put mine to shame. They're inspiring and great. Check them out AND let me know what YOU'RE inspired by at the moment. Maybe that'll help me out of this funk that I've wandered into.

Dolly Parton.

DP for The Hallway Show. I'm impressed by the other DPs. Head over there to check em out. For the record, Dolly Parton is a LOT harder to draw than you think.

Old & Rusty.

Today I read Pen & Ink Sketching by Peter Caldwell. It didn't teach me much of anything, but it had some encouraging words that I'd like to share."In any job or creative activity, a passion for the subject is half the battle to achieving success. Without this whole-hearted desire to interpret what you see with love and sensitivity, the whole process is merely a mechanical exercise. There is a lot to be said for a quick sketch - however crude and lacking the authority of the professional's hand - if it is carried out with sincerity and commitment. The ability to draw exists in all of us, to a greater or lesser degree - remember that before mankind learned to write, speech and drawing were the only means of communication. With a little guidance, as well as perseverance, we are bound to improve. How much improvement there is lies very much in the hands and enthusiasm of the individual."

Events worth noting: I cleaned my room and it's spotless. I have had to restart the internet 20 times in the past 5 minutes. My dad keeps sneezing. There is nothing more annoying to me than intermittent sneezes and my house is haunted. Brother Chan is playing Silent Hill 2 and his controller started vibrating for no reason and then this big painting on our living room wall tilted BY ITSELF. We're freaking out.

Detroit!

I spent all day in Detroit at CCS for an info session. Shelby is trying to go there. I enjoy visiting CCS because of how welcoming everyone still is. It was a great time.

Best Horoscope EVER.

Today Was Great.

I didn't let being sick hold me back. The key points (in no particular order): I started reading The Catcher in the Rye (I've never read it before), I cut my toe nails, I solved two jigsaw puzzles via the internet, I vacuumed my room, I watched my friends bowl because bowling sucks and it's for the birds, I got a new DVD player because mine broke like a week ago and I had a piece of my heart missing (movies4L), I had a single slice of bowling alley pizza, and I lifted my futon bed like the HULK so I could vacuum underneath. Also, David Hornbeck told me if you want to send YODA via text, those symbols are the necessary ones to punch in and Josh gave us that quote from his History of Rock & Roll teacher. Righteous! Click image to view it big!

If I Were A Tree.

I know I said I'd post straight up work for a week, but I didn't expect to get sick. I have a lot to scan in, but I haven't had the energy to do so. I thought I'd post something inspiring. I found this children's book at the library today. It's called If I Were A Tree by Dar Hosta. All of it is made with collage. It looks like different pieces of paper/painted paper cut out and put together. She puts so much detail into her work. I'm going to try stepping up my game with my cut outs. I want to experiment with a lot of detail. Here's some photos of the pages that do them no justice at all. Sorry about the flash. Photo booth does what it wants. Click image to enlarge!

Spot The Dog.

I'm still sick which means I'm miz. I decided to mess around on illustrator for this. I need to start using illustrator more because I'm rusty (4REAL), but this is Spot. I gave him little nails. He's hanging out and enjoying the sunshine LIKE I WISH I WAS.

Dave Chappelle.

Over on The Hallway Show, Dave Chappelle was chosen. I was going to try to draw him as Prince or Rick James, but I'm basically dead. I don't really like this, but eh.

Chat Roulette.

My friend, Rhiannon, told me about this site called Chat Roulette and it's where you get paired up with strangers and you can web chat with them. It's basically the weirdest thing in the world and should not be taken seriously by any means. Brother Chan and I had to go check it out, BUT, undercover. Every time we got paired up with someone I would just laugh hysterically and press NEXT because I couldn't stand to actually talk to anyone. This is some guy that we randomly got matched up with that had an ET toy. We did this for about ten minutes. I haven't been on since.

Sick As Hail.

I got sick Saturday. I'm still sick. It's hard to make art when you're sick. I have an insane cut-out that I'm finishing. I'll post it soon. This is the first time I've been sick in a long time. I keep drinking OJ and putting back cough drops like it's no one's business. I hope everyone's in better health than I am. Blogger killed the colors.

Birthday Post!

This post is for my friends that have birthdays around right now (which includes yesterday, today, and tomorrow)! They include: Ben, my cousin Alex, Rhiannon, and Kelvin. I hope you guys have the best birthday ever. You're a great group!

Old Fashioned Gal.

Sorry I'm so late to post today. I stayed up for 25 hours yesterday and then slept for 16 haha. Anyways, I was inspired by both Normal Rockwell and my dear friend, Vince Joy, when I drew this girl. I was at the library when I was overcome by the urge. Brother Chan was annoyed because he wanted to leave, but it had to be done.

King of the Dragons.

I found a makeshift portfolio on the table so I went through it. Low and behold, it was Brother Chan's art portfolio. He got really mad when I looked at it because he thinks all of his stuff sucks, but I found this gem; a DRAGON. I was like, "Brother CHAN! This Dragon RULES!" but he thought I was kidding. I wasn't. I think this is awesome.

The King!

Shelby and I went to Burger King recently for breakfast. It's a rare occurrence for both of us to be up in the morning so we had to take advantage of it. While at the drive-thru, I looked out of the window and, hunkering there, was this cat. We decided we had to save it. I said, "Shelby. Try to grab it and if it runs, we'll leave it." The cat didn't run at all. She's a real talker. We put her in the car, got our food, and called Janine to inform her that we were bringing a cat home. She didn't want us to, but we did it anyway. I named her The King. When we got her home, she had blood all over the bottom of her paws and she was missing her bottom teeth. Janine thinks The King was abused, but now she has a warm home, food, and plenty of love.

Art Battle/War.

While out at this restaurant/bar called Frenchie's in Ypsilanti, Jeremiah Walton (JJ) and I engaged in an art battle. An art battle takes place when two opponents draw until something is drawn that can't be killed or stopped. It all started with JJ drawing a dragon and I used Harry Potter to kill it, but then he drew Voldemort so I drew JK Rowling writing Harry Potter without Voldemort. It would take ages to type the entire battle out, but it's a lot of fun and it challenges you creatively. Click for details!

Zach Galifianakis: Part 2.

I finished this for The Hallway Show. Textures worth noting: shag carpet for the beard, wood for hair and eyebrows, and a subtle queen of spades (as a tribute to the counting cards scene in The Hangover) for the nose. Click to enlarge!

Zach Galifianakis: Part 1.

This week's pick over on The Hallway Show is Zach Galifianakis. I'm stoked. I've been drawing a lot of Zach heads, despite the fact that the likeness was rarely captured. I'm going to take that big middle one and do a cut out with the line work over top. I also really liked the way the head directly above it turned out. Either way, here's a myriad of Zach Galifianakis heads (click to enlarge).

Avatar & Stu.

I finally saw Avatar today. I think 2 of the 4 times I cried was based on how overwhelmed I was from the imagery. James Cameron, you lunatic, you've outdone yourself AGAIN. If you haven't seen it, the only way to see it is in IMAX 3D.The Hallway Show pick for this week is Zach Galifianakis so I have been watching The Hangover a lot. I decided to do this blind contour of Stu (Ed Helms) after he pulls out his tooth. I really liked the way the eyes and the tooth spacing came out.(I didn't take that Avatar picture. I found it on famemagazine.co.uk.)

Obama-Punch!

Shelby and I were at Ram's Horn and she drew a picture of Obama. I decided to try my hand at a caricature from memory. It actually turned out well; the guys we were with knew it was Obama. Here's the drawing with a graphic approach to the clothing.I started trying to color the line work and ended up just messing around with the channels in photoshop and came up with these different variations that I really liked. I put them together and here's the finished piece (enlarge to see it up close):

Coffee & Cigarettes.

Janine's birthday was a smash. We'll be eating cake forever, but I don't think anyone is complaining. I went to Ram's Horn the other night with Shelby and our friends Jason and Dane. They had coffee and cigarettes (in shifts because I was an overwhelmed non-smoker) and I had a mountain dew. While there, we discussed: The Yankees, the musical stylings of Nick Jonas, people we knew, and Obama. Ram's Horn is a good place to have beverages and conversations for hours.

Happy Birthday, MOM.

Today is Janine's birthday. She probably doesn't want me to disclose her age, but I will say she's under 50 and that she doesn't look her age. I asked Brother Chan to draw her and I'm posting them in lieu of her birthday. She doesn't really look like either of these. Although this is an oldie, this is what she DOES look like. Janine doesn't like it when people take pictures of her, but she kind of throws that policy out of the window for special occasions. This is from when I graduated in May. I know you don't think it, but I do appreciate you. Happy birthday, mother. You're grand.I just found out via google that it's also Norman Rockwell's birthday. I wish I shared my birthday with someone as BA as Norman Rockwell. I AM JEALOUS.

Alison Goldfrapp.

Alison Goldfrapp was the pick of the week on The Hallway Show. I was blown away by the work everyone turned out. Head over there to check out the submissions! This is my Alison Goldfrapp. I did this tiny portrait in my Andy Warhol sketchbook.

First of February.

I told myself that in February I would get serious about life. Maybe I will next week. I have started, but I am taking baby steps instead of giant leaps. I have been doing lots of sketching in this Andy Warhol book I found laying around my room. Andy's on every page along with his quotes. I drew a great eye on the left page and the right page you have to tilt your head to look at. It's another part of my room. I said I was done, but I was hard up for material so I had to resort back to drawing my room.