Monday, May 26, 2008

The Great Cate


I am rarely able to capture the essence of a person when I draw him or her, but I think that this time I pulled it off. The above drawing is of Cate Blanchett, who I think is one of the most beautiful women in the world. And the best part is, I think it actually sort of looks like her! A rare accomplishment, indeed!

Materials: 11x14 Strathmore Medum drawing paper, Prismacolor colored pencils and Art Stix.

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Glass!!





One of my all-time favorite things in the world is glass. I *love* glass. It can be in shards, blown into a beautiful vessel, or hanging from a Christmas tree; it matters not. And finally, after this decades-long love affair, I was able to take a glass-blowing class. I suppose it technically was not glass "blowing" because we didn't actually blow into the glass. A better name would be glass-shaping, or glass-molding. It was the most fun I've had in a long, long time. Seeing how glass changes from a liquid to a solid in a matter of minutes was absolutely fascinating, as was watching the colors slowly melt into the glass. I've posted a few pieces above; if you can't tell, they are all flowers. I felt that I did fairly well for my first time (the blue one is the only one I really and truly screwed up on; in full, it looks like the appendage of some alien life form), and I will definitely be taking more glass classes in the future.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Cat In Scarf Sketch


Cats have always been a part of my life and I have always loved them. We always had cats around the house growing up, and for a time, I wanted anything with a cat on it: shirts, cups, folders, you name it. Although I've grown out of THAT stage, my love for the furry feline has not abated. I used to be obsessed with drawing cats. My cats were more like stick figure cats and the girls always wore ribbons on the tops of their heads. I believe I was in the third grade when I wrote a series of one-page comics entitled "I Love Cattie," based off of "I Love Lucy." I actually showed these to my friends who seemed to enjoy them. I realized the other day that I haven't tried to draw a cat since then, and was horrified. I checked out some books on cats from the library, but was ultimately drawn to The Black Apple's cat, Miette. I looked at a picture she had taken of her cat and made a small, quick sketch (on a Post-It note at work, no less!). I hope you like it; I think I've come a long way and it's not bad for my first cat in twenty years.

Saturday, May 10, 2008

Wedding Embroidery


Two of my good friends are getting married this summer, and in addition to the actual wedding gift, I thought it might be nice to make something fun for them. I embroidered the above image and placed it in a 5x7 inch picture frame so they could place it wherever they wished in their new house. It's very basic and intentionally drawing-like, and I hope very much that they like it when I give it to them later this evening. Even though it may not look like it, it took me several hours of work to complete. I've been doing embroidery on and off over the past year or so, and I'm at a stage right now where it's very seductive to me and I'm extremely interested in learning new stitches and techniques.