Illustration Friday: HERO

The week's theme for Illustration Friday is "Hero". And this little diddy
was influenced by my Grandma Amy...who was and always will be a hero to me. Though she looked NOTHING like the generic styled "Super Gram" illustrated here. NO buns or glasses for my Granny and she hardly ever had any gray hair. She didn't wear her apron like a cape either...but, she WAS beloved by ALL her 6 grandkids and she served up a delicious "Sunshine Frosting" cake.

I'm not blown away by this little painting, in fact, I'm a little embarrassed about it. Still, I'm glad I did it. I haven't painted in a long, long time and it just felt kinda good to give it whirl. I should have "designed" this more...you know, paying more attention to composition and character, but, ach, I didn't. Just decided to doodle a light sketch on to a scrap of Stonehedge paper ( such yummy paper!!) and start painting. I did find myself missing my computer while working on this...I missed not being able to change colors on the fly, tweak things, etc. I had hoped doing a little painting would "loosen" me up but the opposite was more true. Argh. Maybe next time!

Post interrupted!

Off to Northern California for a family reunion. I'm so looking forward to seeing my parents, sister, nephews, aunts, uncles, cousins and my grandpa and great uncle too. We're going to eat good food, tell stories, drink some beer (Pooler's love beer) and pose with "bunny ears" in pictures. It's what we do. And I like that.

Hoo wee, just had an earthquake here! Exciting. Scary. Not too sure how major it was somewhere but it shook pretty good here. Oh, news says it was 5.3...so it wasn't too-too major. But still, things were swinging here and I even felt dizzy as I stood patiently in the doorway waiting for it to complete. Earthquakes are always soo crazy. They freak me out but afterwards, it's weirdly euphoric. In the good old days...I used to always yell out "EARTHQUAKE" when they occurred. One time, I was taking a nap with the dogs and cat, alone at home....yet, I still felt the urge to yell aloud, "Earthquake!!!". Which is ridiculous, really...as if Punkin, Pepsi and Phoebe really needed this vital information...all they knew was that their naps had been disturbed.

After the big Northridge quake, I was yelling "Earthquake!" quite a bit. The next day, may parents and sister came up for a visit. We had a nice jolt moments after they arrived. Immediately, I yelled out "AFTERSHOCK!" and my sister was quick to berate me. "Gee Paige, you're getting to be quite an expert in discerning the difference between the two" . tee hee. I swear, I really don't know that I'm saying anything at all...I guess it's just my natural instinct. As silly as that is. This time, I didn't yell or scream anything...but, I'm sure the words "Shit, earthquake" did exit my mouth. I did just run outside to see if there were any neighbors around. But no. Dangit. Anyhoo, this was not what I was going to post about today BUT was interrupted by it. Hoooo weeeee. Maybe it's a REALLY good thing I'm heading north! My legs are still a little shaky.

Ok, I'm a little distracted from what I was going to write about. So, maybe later...I'll talk more about my fabulous family. And they are fabulous.

Edit: I'm back. Quake wasn't too big or bad. It's been downgraded to a 4.9 (News reports say) in the desert. Nothing broke...no reports of injury. Phew. Now, I'm really ready for my drive up North.

Illustration Friday-SUMMER

Woo Hooo! It's SUMMER! How convenient that this week's "Illustration Friday" theme coincides with a drawing I began a few weeks back. Due to tight and endless deadlines the drawing sat unattended far too long and the front page of my website remained spring-themed past Memorial Day!! The horror!! Thank you, Illustration Friday Peeps-- for inspiring me to finish this, update my webpage and to welcome in the Summer too!

Actually, this illustration is three-fold. I love to swim and the neighborhood pool doesn't open for lap swim until June 18. I've been calling Burbank Parks and Recreation for months begging them to open the pools early. But NO! They would have nothing to do with it. So, while I wait for the pool to open, I continue to eat cheese and all-things-bad but imagine that I will quickly get back in shape the moment they open the gates again. ;0) So, ok...the drawing serves as a reminder to get my butt to the pool...JUNE 18th! No excuses.

The third reason for this illustration...or, really the background on it: I was a swimmer for the better part of my childhood and teens. Not exceptional in any way...a steady second placer. I lived across the street from a public, olympic sized pool and I had HUGE crushes on a couple of the local lifeguards. OH, they were so HOT... beautiful surfer types with lean, tan bodies (tan was "in" during the 80's) and I could not resist oogling over them every chance I could. Ahhhh, those teen years.

Does it look like she's in love with a foot or do you "get" that it's a lifeguard??!

Illustration Friday-DIGITAL

Here's another oldie for this week's Illustration Friday. I think it was drawn last summer, maybe last fall. It was for a small press magazine and the article was about "Kids-N-Computers" . It's a little hard to see the details at this size...but, o'well.

I had a break from the deluge of work over this past weekend! It was nice to be free... got to see a movie ("crash"), went to a flea market (Pasadena City College), ate good food (Thai) and consumed a couple cocktails (mohitos). Ahhhhh, I really needed that.

Illustration Friday: AQUATIC

Still unable to find time to draw outside of the current work schedule, I've noticed a particular craving to draw something, ANYTHING that is just for the fun of it. I think I may be suffering from Illustration Friday withdrawals. I really wish to participate, for real. Dangit!!

Suddenly, I remembered drawing this silly illo a couple month's ago (for fun, not an assignment)...there IS water involved....and this week's them is AQUATIC...so, maybe we can all just pretend I drew this today.

It's quite possible that once you see a kid with this kind of look on his face, you might not feel like being very aquatic anymore.

A note and a pic.

My nephew, Wilder, sent me this photo of the two of us (perhaps with some help from my sister).
This boy warms my heart so very much.

.

Aaron C. , the featured artist noted below, sent me an email tonight. Here it is:

Hey Paige, it's me Aaron C. I wanted to say thank you for putting my pictures on your website. I am in the playoff's in baseball. We won our first game on saturday. It was a comebacker. The final score was 5 to 4,I got the winning hit to drive in the runner at third base! Enough about baseball for now,I wanted to tell you that I'm sending you three new pictures I drew. Their names are "Heading South," "John Bimsburg(maybe your new boyfriend)," and the "Fire Serpent." We have your address so I can send the pictures to you.

talk to you soon,
Aaron C.

Congrats on the baseball game, Aaron! Right on!

YAY! A new crop of drawings are being sent my way! I can hardly wait to get them. Plus, I'm looking forward to my newest boyfriend's arrival as Harold hasn't really stepped up to the plate (so so speak) Actually, my father called and left me a voice message...with some warped-pseudo- accent pretending to be Harold. You can't fool me, Pops!

Anyway, I apologize for my lack of entries lately. The freelance has kept me very, very busy. I have lots of ideas brewing for past Illustration Fridays...so, hopefully, I'll get a break and get caught up.

KIDS ART: Featuring Aaron C.

Kids Art amazes me. In the coming weeks, I'd like to introduce and feature some of my favorite kids and their art. Here's the first:
Aaron C.
Aaron C. is 10 years old. He is the son of Shane and Alicia...and Shane has been like a little brother to me since we were kids ourselves. A little background: I brought Shane home from school one day (I was in Eighth, Shane in Seventh) because my sister (in Fifth grade) thought he was really cute. Since that moment, he became a member of the family. Shane's family and my family became very close. His older brother Greg was even my first kiss!! Unfortunately, with our crazy lives and distance between us all we don't get to visit very often. We all got to visit at the Holiday's this past Christmas and this is when I got to see HOW VERY EXCELLENT an artist Aaron has become.
Aaron loves to draw and he's got piles of character drawings, action drawings and stories to go with all of them. He's got the talent and the passion! Not only that, he's a charming, charismatic and sweet boy too. He was so good with my two nephews that evening that he melted my heart. Of course, I felt an affinity with him because of his love for art and drawing. I was honored that he gave me a few drawings too!!!! (They proudly sit with me at my art desk)

Here's the first one. I don't remember what Aaron titled it, so I refer to it as "Serpent Attack!"


Here's a close-up to see the cool character faces and costuming!


And finally, here is a drawing of Harold Jalsone. Aaron told me that Harold was my new boyfriend. I asked him what Harold did for a living and he told me that he was a Skateboard Designer! How cool is that!?!!!! No accountants for me! Woo hooo.

Gimme a call, Harold!

Illustration Friday-AMBITION

I suppose a cat would have to be very ambitious to do this! Right? How many Space Cats in pyjamas have you seen or even heard about?? So, alright...I've chosen this several-months'-old doodle to be my Illustration Friday for this week. It's kinda cheating, I know, but... it'll have to do for now.

A little dog...

Just a little chihuahua doodle so I can say this blog is active!

Still hecka-busy on a really cool project that will probably keep me inside for the better part of the next month. It's all super-OK though, this project is teaching me so much, Though it leaves me no time to draw doodleheads or participate in Illustration Friday. I'm hoping maybe this weekend?!?!?!

Hey, by the way, great news!! I start a (non-freelance) job-job in August. You know, the kind where you to to an office on a daily basis!! I'm very excited to have some normalcy again, a regular paycheck, eventual benefits and all that. Most of all though, I'm excited because it's the only kind of job-job I'd actually WANT to take, if not being freelance anyway. A dream come true, really. I will be joining the "Wubby" team as a character designer for a Nick Jr. Show! Everyone seems so nice and welcoming, I can hardly wait to start. The creator, Bob Boyle, has his own blog too... showing the progress of the show in development. Check it out! http://wubby.typepad.com It's really cool to see all the thought that goes behind all the decisions, watch the fantastic designs come together and it's also just so nice that someone like Bob is willing to share all that. AND welcome his crew too.

Illustration Friday-ALONE

.
I had several ideas for this but opted out for the simplest (and fasted to compose) since I've got tons of freelance right now (YAY!) *Drawn in Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop.

It's interesting... this whole Illustration Friday thang is making me think and draw a little "darker" than what I normally do on my own. I like that. I hope to be able to push things further when my time frees up a little more.

Illustration Friday-TRAVEL

Hello. I'm posting my Illustration Friday WAY late this week! Freelance work came in...so I was glued to my drawing desk and not able to get to this until tonight! I am NOT complaining because I love when work comes my way!!

Anyway, you could call this illustration TRAVEL (which was this past week's theme)...or you could call this CROWDED (the previous week's theme)...or you could call this what I'm calling it... "Flying Coach on United". In any case, this is more a "character study" than it is a full blown illustration...I mean, how else can I explain away the fact that you can't see the back of the plane??? Anyway, this was all prompted by last month's fabulous trip to Ireland. All was great but the air travel bordered on criminal. Please...just gimme an inch or two (maybe even three!!) more for my legs dammit...I'm 6 feet tall!!

Here's a close-up of my misery...

Ireland was pretty though...and the beer was good too!

Happy Easter

Just thought I'd post this "lil bun rab" doodle... since tomorrow is Easter n'all. Happy egg hunting to you!

Illustration Friday-CROWDED

Currently, my head feels a little CROWDED with all the pesky little tasks I should be taking care of...you know... taxes, finding more freelance work, clean out junk drawers, drop off dry cleaning, get a new man...etc. The list is endless

This image was sketched very quickly in photoshop. I'm hoping to revisit and redraw in Illustrator.

**Say, anyone know a quicky tutorial for Blogger sites. I'd love to figure out how to personalize this thing a little more.
Thanks!!

Illustration Friday: BLOOM

Alrighty, so... I've wanted to participate in Illustration Friday for awhile now but needed to start a blog to do so. So, last night I finally signed up and got the BLOG. I check the IlloFri site today and now I'm not entirely sure if I'm early for this week or late for last. Regardless, this is an illo I did a few months back and I think it fits the week's theme which is/ was BLOOM. My depiction here is to illustrate a new love that is blooming.

Nnnnnnkay, another blog is born.

Hellooooo!

Yep, just what the world needs...another self-absorbed blog. ;0) I promise to keep it simple. First off, I'm not sure how often I will update this thing, but I'm going to give "once a week" a try. I'm bewildered as to how so many of you fine folk are able to keep up with your own sites, create your art, read other sites regularly and still manage to eat, work, maintain relationships and bathe. Maybe you're all secretly very stinky and skipping out on those showers? (how would I know?) Or maybe I'm just a really slow reader. ( I don't get to read many blogs on a regular basis) I dunno. BUT, I love blogs. I love the treasures I find while digging around. I love getting snippets of others peoples lives and interests. Mostly, I love to discover wonderful illustration and beautiful (yet funky) crafts . So, if I dig up something good, I'll do my best to post it here and share the resource.

My main objective is not to entertain anyone but myself really. However, if you get something out of it, that is super-fantastic and please, by all means, let me know. Mainly, I figured by starting a blog I might be inspired to push it up a notch and crank out more than the doodleheads I seem to draw over and over and over again. More than likely, it will be a place to post all those doodleheads...

here's a taste of my incessant "eyes wide apart" doodling of doodleheads...